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50-560: SMP Racing were participating in the European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class, fielding a Dallara P217 chassis. In 2017, with the help of Dallara, BR Engineering and Russian university students designed and built a brand-new chassis, the BR1. Mikhail Aleshin had an arm injury during the first test at Ciudad del Motor de Aragón due to car failure. Prior the official launch at Bahrain the car

100-515: A round in Australia. These races would serve as a precursor to what would become the separate European Le Mans Series in 2001. The European Le Mans Series was launched for 2001 with five races, including a premier 1000 km race at Estoril , which would be the European equivalent of the 1000 mile Petit Le Mans and earn automatic entries to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for each class winner. To aid in

150-639: A twenty-nine car field was announced, with eleven in the LMP2 class, ten in the LM GTE class, and five in the new GTC class, which used GT3 technical rules. The calendar featured five races with a duration of 3 hours. In 2014, the LMPC class was dropped and all races were expanded to 4 hours. The 2015 season saw the introduction of the new LMP3 prototype class with cars built from Ligier , Ginetta , ADESS & Norma . Each of these cars chassis are powered by 5.0L Nissan V8 naturally aspirated engines ( VK50VE ) In 2016,

200-586: The 1000km Monza , 1000km Nürburgring , 1000 km Silverstone and the Spa 1000 km . Many competitors participated, making the racing very exciting. 2005 saw the series expand to a five race format with the addition of the Istanbul Racing Circuit . In 2007 , the Le Mans Series held its first and single overseas race in the continent of South America with Mil Milhas Brasil as the sixth round. In 2010,

250-587: The 1978 - 1981 seasons) and Grand Touring (GT) (except of the 1953 - 1961 and 1982 seasons). In 1985 - 1992 seasons titles were awarded only to teams entering sports prototypes (instead of manufacturers of sports prototypes), excluding teams entering GT cars. In 1962 - 1967 seasons titles in both categories were awarded in several engine capacity divisions . In 1962 - 1963 seasons titles were also awarded in three engine capacity subdivisions (or series ) within each division of GT cars category. Key: Winning manufacturer = The company that owned

300-728: The 24 Hours of Le Mans , the 12 Hours of Sebring , the Tourist Trophy and Nurburgring 1000 km. Manufacturers such as Ferrari , Maserati , Mercedes-Benz , Porsche , and Aston Martin fielded entries, often featuring professional racing drivers with experience in Formula One , but the majority of the fields were made up of gentleman drivers ( privateers ) in the likes of Nardis and Bandinis . Cars were split into Sports Car and GT (production car) categories and were further divided into engine displacement classes. The Ferrari and Maserati works teams were fierce competitors throughout much of

350-560: The 4 Hours of Silverstone race would be dropped from the calendar due to a date not being able to be found. The 4 Hours of Barcelona would also be replaced by a second 4 Hours of Le Castellet race at Circuit Paul Ricard . New ACO Generation II LMP3 ruleset regulation built cars were also eligible for the LMP3 Class in the category featuring manufactured chassis's such as the Ginetta G61-LT-P3 , Ligier JS P320 , Duqueine D-08 , and

400-583: The ADESS-03 Evo all of which use a VK56DE 5.6L Nissan V8 naturally aspirated engine. In the 2021 season of the ELMS a LMP2 Pro-Am Cup Trophy was introduced aimed at teams who have bronze rated contracted drivers. In the 2023 season of the ELMS, it marks as the last season of the LMGTE class as it will be replaced with a GT3-Specification class to be known as LMGT3 starting in the year 2024 season with Goodyear being

450-587: The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the former American Le Mans Series (ALMS) based in the United States and Canada that was running with ACO and IMSA between 1999 and 2013. ELMS team champions and runners-up receive an automatic entry to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Originally titled the Le Mans Endurance Series before becoming simply

500-550: The BMW M1 engine or the new Cosworth DFL , but, like in the main class, a variety of solutions were employed by each individual manufacturer. Alba , Tiga , Spice and Ecurie Ecosse were among the most competitive in this class. While the Group C formula had brought manufacturers back to the sport, it was again Porsche - with its 956 & 962 Group C line - that continued their domination of

550-664: The Formula Le Mans Cup was integrated into the Le Mans Series, running alongside Le Mans Prototype cars and GT cars. As the FIA World Endurance Championship was reestablished in 2012, the ELMS had a reduced car count including officially dropping the LMP1 Prototype class from the category and its calendar was reduced to three rounds in Paul Ricard, Donington Park and Road Atlanta (Petit Le Mans). For 2013,

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600-580: The Le Mans Series in 2006, the series was renamed once more in 2012, reusing a name previously utilized by IMSA in 2001 . When he was allowed to bring the rules and racing formulae of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to North America with the creation of the Petit Le Mans in 1998, Don Panoz attempted to build a series inspired by the Petit Le Mans. The aged IMSA GT Championship was taken over and became

650-616: The World Championship for Sports Cars , but this was to last only for two seasons (1976–1977). In 1981, the FIA instituted a drivers championship. In 1982, the FIA attempted to counter a worrying climb in engine output of the Group 5 Special Production Cars by introducing Group C , a new category for closed sports-prototypes (purpose built racing cars) that limited fuel consumption (the theory being that by limiting fuel consumption, engine regulations could be more relaxed). While this change

700-441: The #11 SMP Racing BR1 experienced an engine failure, retiring it from the race. However, due to both Toyota hybrids being disqualified, the #17 finished third overall behind both Rebellion R13s. Dragonspeed's #10 experienced technical issues, causing it to finish 25th overall but still 4th in-class. At Fuji, SMP's #17 BR1 lost its front right wheel after it became dislodged. It also experienced technical issues and had to be towed off

750-605: The ACO launched their own international championship, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup , the same year. Following the success of the ACO's Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC), the FIA reached an agreement with the ACO to create a new FIA World Endurance Championship for 2012. The series shares many elements of the ILMC, including the use of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of the series schedule. The series continued to utilise

800-678: The ACO's regulations in order to help attract privateer teams, as well as the failure of the FIA Sportscar Championship to succeed in Europe. Seeing the success of the American Le Mans Series, the ACO decided that a series run by themselves would be a better alternative for Europe. The ACO would instead attempt to attract factory backed teams with longer endurance races than ALMS and FIA SCC ran. The series would also be European based instead of international, thus it could be closer to

850-761: The ACO's two primary classes, Le Mans Prototypes and GT Endurance (GTE). Hypercar replaced LMP1 as the primary class in 2021, running LMH and LMDh cars, the same as used in the IMSA Sportscar Championship's top class GTP . Championship titles are awarded for constructors and drivers in prototypes, while a constructors cup are awarded in the GTE categories. From 2017 championship titles are awarded also for constructors and drivers in GTE category. LMGT3 replaced GTE in 2024. Note: In 1953 - 1984 seasons titles were awarded to manufacturers of sports cars belonging to two main categories: Sports prototype (except of

900-476: The FIA's newly renamed World Championship for Makes from 1972 to 1975. From 1976 to 1981 the World Championship for Makes was open to Group 5 Special Production Cars and other production based categories including Group 4 Grand Touring cars and it was during this period that the nearly-invincible Porsche 935 dominated the championship. Prototypes returned in 1976 as Group 6 cars with their own series,

950-552: The Ford's won four years in a row, in what is now considered the Golden Age of sports car racing. In 1972 the Group 6 Prototype and Group 5 Sports Car classes were both replaced by a new Group 5 Sports Car class. These cars were limited to 3.0 L engines by the FIA, and manufacturers gradually lost interest. The new Group 5 Sports Cars, together with Group 4 Grand Touring Cars, would contest

1000-627: The GTC class was dropped from the series and moved to a new support series, the GT3 Le Mans Cup . This tournament was held on the same weekends as the European Le Mans Series 4-hour events, as well as on the same week as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with shorter races than the ELMS. In 2017, it was established by ACO that the lower teams from LMP3 would drop to the year's Michelin Le Mans Cup , while

1050-637: The International Sports Racing Series which evolved into the short-lived FIA Sportscar Championship in 2001 until 2003. Sports prototypes then came exclusively under the control of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and their sanctioned series, the American Le Mans Series in North America and the Le Mans Series in Europe. The FIA's championship for GTs was eventually promoted to world championship status in 2010 , while

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1100-467: The LMES championship would go on to earn automatic entries in the 24 Hours of Le Mans , similar to the American Le Mans Series. The series was initially previewed in an open race run under the LMES banner in 2003 at the 1000km of Le Mans , a one-off event before the season started in 2004. For the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series , the series participated in four events, including resurrecting classic races like

1150-524: The World Sportscar Championship. In 1982, the race was dropped as the series attempted to cut costs by both keeping teams in Europe and running shorter races. Among others, the following races also counted towards the championships in certain years: In the early years, now legendary races such as the Mille Miglia , Carrera Panamericana and Targa Florio were part of the calendar, alongside

1200-473: The best LMP3 teams from this competition would be promoted to ELMS. During this year's season new ACO LMP2 Prototype Class regulations were introduced with licensed manufacturers such as Dallara , Onroak Automotive (Ligier), Oreca and the joint-venture Riley Tech / Multimatic with Gibson Technology being the exclusive engine supplier. In 2020, with the season heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic ,

1250-512: The championship (as Group C Category 2 cars) during the one transitional year. They were however seriously handicapped in terms of weight, fuel allocation and grid positions. For 1991 the championship took on yet another new name, the FIA Sportscar World Championship and the new 3.5 litre rules took full effect for the 1992 championship with the old Group C cars no longer included. The new generation of WSC racing engines, with

1300-516: The championship, which now had about 15 races per season. The famous races like Le Mans still counted towards the prototype championship, however, the points valuation wasn't very tabular so the FIA returned to the original form of the championship with about 6 to 10 races. For 1963 the three engine capacity classes remained but a prototype category was added. For 1965 the engine classes became for cars under 1300 cc (Class I), under 2000 cc (Class II), and over 2000 cc (Class III). Class III

1350-431: The circuit. Despite this, the #11 finished 4th overall. Dragonspeed's #10 also developed technical issues and had to be towed off the circuit. Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap. European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS ) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by

1400-539: The class (and European GT racing altogether) disappeared from the series, with sports-prototypes dominating the championship. Porsche was the first constructor to join the series, with the 956 , but soon several other makes joined the series, including Jaguar Cars , Mercedes-Benz , Nissan , Toyota , Mazda and Aston Martin . As costs increased, a C2 class (originally named C Junior) was created for privateer teams and small manufacturers, with greater limits to fuel consumption. In this lower class, most cars used either

1450-565: The decade, but although Maserati cars won many races the make never managed to clinch the World title. The Mercedes-Benz work team pulled out of the championship after 1955 due to their crash at Le Mans , while the small Aston Martin factory team struggled to find success in 1957 and 1958 until it managed to win the championship in 1959. Notably absent from the overall results were the Jaguar works team, who did not enter any events other than Le Mans, despite

1500-422: The development of the ELMS, the 2001 season shared some races between both ALMS and ELMS. The 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans , normally ALMS races, were considered optional races for ELMS teams. At the same time, the ELMS races at Donington Park and Jarama were considered optional for ALMS teams. This allowed for the possibility of boosting the draw from international teams to either series. The series

1550-408: The entry lists for each race fell from 25 at the beginning of the season to a mere 14 at season's end, with some classes only having one or two competitors. With a lack of involvement from teams, and less interest from the media due to the lack of teams, the European Le Mans Series folded following the 2001 season. The ACO was not completely satisfied with the fact that IMSA did not fully comply with

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1600-518: The exclusive tyre supplier. World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world endurance racing series run for sports car racing , sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 to 1992 . The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance , and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at

1650-567: The factories of many sportscar teams to help attract them to the series. In 2003, the ACO announced their intentions to create their own European-based series, named the Le Mans Endurance Series, which would be similar to the original European Le Mans Series, but feature only 1000 km races instead of the shorter, 2 hour 45 minute races used by the ELMS, and fewer races in a season than the ALMS and FIA SCC to help keep costs down. Winners of

1700-559: The grid to a professional racing series where the world's largest automakers spent millions of dollars per year. The official name of the series frequently changed throughout the years but was generally known as the World Sportscar Championship from its inception in 1953. Alongside the Formula One World Championship , it was one of the two major World Championships in circuit motor racing. The championship

1750-607: The manufacturers left the top class of sportscar racing, the series essentially collapsed. A lack of entries meant the 1993 season was cancelled before the first race. In 1994, the World Sportscar title would return, this time in the hands of the International Motor Sports Association in North America for use in the IMSA GT series. The name would be used for the series' top class of prototypes until 1998 when

1800-488: The new American Le Mans Series, and met with much success in 1999 . Europe had lacked a major sports prototype series since the demise of the World Sportscar Championship in 1992. Following the success of the ALMS, Panoz attempting to bring sports prototype racing back to Europe. This led to the 2000 American Le Mans Series season , which included two races in Europe as the Nürburgring and Silverstone Circuit , as well as

1850-589: The potential of the C- and D-Types . In 1962, the calendar was expanded to include smaller races, while the FIA shifted the focus to production based GT cars. The World Sportscar Championship title was discontinued, being replaced by the International Championship for GT Manufacturers . They group cars into three categories with specific engine sizes; less than one litre, less than two litres, and over two litres. Hillclimbs , sprint races and smaller races expanded

1900-414: The race, retiring it from the event. The #17 also had an accident at the Porsche curves, severely damaging its rear. Matevos Isaakyan attempted to get it running again but the engine was damaged beyond repair, stopping the car again after rolling for a few meters. The #11 experienced technical issues earlier in the race but was able to rejoin later, finishing in 14th overall and 5th in-class. At Silverstone,

1950-401: The race. SMP Racing also had technical issues with their #17 entry. Despite this, their #11 entry was able to finish fifth in qualifying. Come race time, car #17 was involved in an accident at the top of Raidillon which sent it flipping through the air. The #11 managed to finish 5th overall. At Le Mans, DragonSpeed's #10 BR1 crashed at the exit of the Porsche curves with roughly 7:40:00 left in

2000-425: The same engine used by Rebellion in their R13 prototypes. The debut of the car at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was overshadowed by a qualifying accident involving DragonSpeed's driver Pietro Fittipaldi , in which he sustained fractures to both legs. The car suffered from an electrical problem which caused the car to lose control and run straight into the wall whilst climbing Raidillon and could not be entered into

2050-529: The series ended. 1994 also signaled the return of an international GT series after an absence of over a decade with the introduction of the BPR Global GT Series . The success of the series lead to a friendly takeover by the FIA in 1997, becoming the FIA GT Championship . Prototypes were mainly absent from European tracks (Le Mans being the sole notable exception) until 1997, which saw the creation of

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2100-426: The series in the '70s and early '80s. In addition, most races ran for either 500 or 1000 km, usually going over three and six hours, respectively, so it was possible to emphasize the "endurance" aspect of the competition as well. Group B cars, which was a GT class, were also allowed to race, but entries in this class were sparse; combined with fatal accidents in rallying where the Group B class saw more popularity,

2150-773: The sport. For 1986, the World Endurance Championship became the World Sports-Prototype Championship . Although the Group C formula was a success, with regular crowds of 50,000 to 70,000 at WSC events (a modern Grand Prix in Europe will have similar crowds), and upwards of 350,000 at the 24 hours of Le Mans, the FIA introduced new rules for 1991 at the behest of FIA vice president Bernie Ecclestone; 750 kg machines with contemporary normally aspirated engines, which were purpose-built 3500cc racing units. The new classification, known as Group C Category 1 ,

2200-521: The stated intent of cost reduction and improved competition, quickly proved highly suspect. Costs rose massively as works teams developed cars capable of qualifying around halfway up a Formula 1 grid, despite weighing some 200 kg more. Manufacturers again abandoned the sportscar series, realising they now had an engine suitable for F1. In particular, Mercedes and Peugeot elected to either concentrate on or move solely to F1. The more exotic engines were unaffordable for teams like Spice and ADA , thus after

2250-476: Was also tested by Kirill Ladygin , Vitaly Petrov , Viktor Shaytar and Sergey Sirotkin . For the 2018-19 super season, three BR1 chassis were entered; two by SMP Racing and one by DragonSpeed . The cars for the two teams differed by their engine choices; SMP utilizing AER-built P60B 2.4 litre V6 turbocharged engines and DragonSpeed utilizing the Gibson-made GL458 4.5 litre V8 naturally aspirated engine,

2300-584: Was designed to attract more American manufacturers, with no upper limit on engine displacement. The period between 1966 and 1971 was possibly the most successful era of the World Championship, with S (5 L sports cars ) and P (3 L prototypes) classes, and cars such as the Ferrari 512S , Ferrari 330 P4 , Ford GT40 , Lola T70 , Chaparral , Alfa Romeo 33 , and Porsche 's 908 , 917 battled for supremacy on classic circuits such as Sebring , Nürburgring , Spa-Francorchamps , Monza , Targa Florio , and Le Mans where

2350-441: Was designed to mandate Formula One engines. Although power was generally less than existing Group C cars (around 650 bhp compared to around 750 bhp upwards) the new cars are considered to be among the quickest sportscars ever. However, the take up of these new regulations was slow and only a handful of Category 1 cars were ready for the 1991 season. Consequently, the FIA also allowed cars complying with pre-1991 Group C rules to contest

2400-555: Was revived in the 2012 season under the new name as the FIA World Endurance Championship . The series was known under different names throughout the years: Titles were given to manufacturers from 1953 to 1984 and to teams from 1985 to 1992. The most famous event was the 24 Hours of Le Mans which was the part of the championship in every season except of the 1956 , 1975 – 79 and 1989 – 90 seasons. The 24 Hours of Daytona followed near-continuous inclusion on

2450-530: Was unable to earn much attention from European sportscar teams, especially since the final FIA Sportscar Championship and FIA GT Championship series used similar cars, but different rules which would require teams to modify their cars or buy new cars to comply with ELMS rules. For the ELMS events that included ALMS teams, very few teams actually bothered to make the trip across the Atlantic to participate in races that appeared to have very few serious competitors. Thus

2500-471: Was unwelcome amongst some of the private teams, manufacturer support for the new regulations was immense. Several of the 'old guard' manufacturers returned to the WSC within the next two years, with each marque adding to the diversity of the series. Under the new rules, it was theoretically possible for normally aspirated engines to compete with the (expensive to maintain) forced induction engines that had dominated

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