European Le Mans Series 2024 Season Review
European Le Mans Series 2024 Season Review
Features, Racing
28 Oct 2024
Images by
Matt Haworth
& European Le Mans Series
A pivotal step on the endurance racing ladder, the European Le Mans Series delivers intense, multi-class battles and showcases emerging talent alongside established teams. Ken Pearson captures the thrill and complexity of this year’s season, following every dramatic turn across Europe’s top circuits — from LMP2 prototypes to GT3 machines, and the races that have granted five teams the coveted entries to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Ken Pearson
By
E
A pivotal step on the endurance racing ladder, the European Le Mans Series delivers intense, multi-class battles and showcases emerging talent alongside established teams. Ken Pearson captures the thrill and complexity of this year’s season, following every dramatic turn across Europe’s top circuits — from LMP2 prototypes to GT3 machines, and the races that have granted five teams the coveted entries to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
very world championship has its own feeder series, but in recent years the rungs on the sportscar racing ladder have evolved to become as hotly contested and filled with talent as the series that sit above them. One such series is the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), which has been the breeding ground for drivers and teams in the sportscar racing world aiming to gain experience in running longer multi-driver and multi-class races with prototype and grand touring-based cars, before stepping up to the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) or the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (IMSA).
The championship is run by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) — the organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the WEC — and, since the decision to make the WEC a two-class series, it has become one of the de-facto world championships for the second tier of ACO-rules prototypes known as LMP2, and the outfits that run them. Some of the “super teams” of the category — COOL Racing, Inter Europol, Panis Racing and United Autosports — join fellow privateer entries with prototype and GT3 machinery for six endurance races across some of the finest tracks that Europe has to offer. They’re all on the entry list to race for wins every time the red lights go out, but the top prizes available for each of the four classes are what everyone wants to get: a guaranteed entry to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The cars, drivers and rules
The ELMS doesn’t feature the top-tier Hypercar or GTP classes seen in the WEC and IMSA, so the top category here is LMP2, and the top two finishers earn tickets to the Circuit de la Sarthe. These cost-capped prototypes all feature a 572bhp, 4.2-litre naturally aspirated V8 made by Gibson Technology in Derbyshire. Although four LMP2 chassis are available, the 2017 ruleset saw the ORECA 07 become the car to beat in this class. Most of the cars have dark blue number panels, but some display their racing numbers on turquoise backgrounds for the mixed-ability driver teams in the LMP2 Pro/Am sub-class. I’ll explain more on this later.
The next prototype category is LMP3, a step down in performance for closed-cockpit prototypes, designed for teams and drivers learning to run prototypes in endurance racing. Two types of LMP3 feature this year: the Ligier JS P320 and Duqueine D-08, both powered by a 448bhp, 5.6-litre naturally aspirated Nissan V8 — which sounds utterly glorious — but will be replaced by new V6-powered machines in 2025. LMP3 cars carry purple number panels.
Then there’s the LMGT3 category, featuring production-based cars built to GT3 specs. Entries include the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, Ferrari 296 LMGT3, Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2, and Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3. It’s reported these cars reach 75mph in less time than it takes to say their names. All display orange number panels.
Typically, each car has a team of three drivers, each with a slightly different skill level. Drivers are rated based on performance and skill — ratings go (in descending order) from Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Those in the first two categories are professionals in factory-backed cars, while the latter two are semi-professionals. LMP2 teams must have one Silver-rated driver, LMP2 Pro/Am must have one Bronze driver, and GT3 teams must have one Bronze-rated driver with no more than one Gold or Platinum. Still with me?
Here’s the easy bit: each race is four hours long, with the drivers splitting driving time. Pit stops may involve only refuelling, or refuelling and tyre changes — although tyres cannot be changed while refuelling takes place. A “full service” pit stop includes fuel, fresh tyres, and a new driver. If a mechanical fault occurs, the cars are pulled back into the garage, as only a limited number of team personnel are allowed in the pit lane. Mid-race repairs — like fitting new exhausts, turbochargers, or crash repairs — are routine in endurance racing. Unlike Formula or Touring Car racing, where races are a set number of laps, here the goal is to drive as far as possible within the time limit. The winner is the car that completes the most laps, with simultaneous races happening in LMP2, LMP2 Pro/Am, LMP3, and LMGT3.
This is what I love about multi-class racing: there’s always so much happening at once. It’s crucial to be quick over one lap of a clear track to qualify well and earn an extra championship point for pole position, but consistency matters when six cars are vying for the same square of tarmac. It doesn’t take long for the leading prototypes to catch and work through the GT ranks. And unlike in F1, where lapped cars must yield to leaders, here it’s the faster prototypes that must find their way around cars they catch.
Naturally, contact does happen, and the Race Director can intervene with penalties or race neutralisations as needed. A Full Course Yellow (FCY) slows all cars to 50mph, with overtaking prohibited and the pit lane closed. FCY periods are used for shorter neutralisations, such as removing stray bodywork or recovering a car near a marshall’s post. For more serious incidents, the safety car will pick up the overall leader and control the field’s pace. New for 2024 is the Virtual Safety Car (VSC), which will be used briefly ahead of a full safety car period. This is similar to the FCY protocol with a 50mph speed limit on the track, but cars may pit until the safety car is deployed.
The grid includes rising stars aiming to etch their names on future Le Mans winner’s trophies, as well as plenty of drivers who have already done so. The depth of established talent and exciting prospects is at an all-time high for the 2024 season. The calendar features six races, with the first stop at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. As tickets to the 24 Hours of Le Mans sold out before I could book any, my friends and I headed to Spain to get our endurance racing fix, and see the ELMS season opener first hand.
Round 1: Barcelona
For just 17€ (£14.53), we had a choice of grandstands and vantage points all around the track, along with a grid walk prior to the green flag falling, allowing us to get up close and personal with the fantastic new liveries in all classes. Highlights for me were the Sean Bull-designed not-Marlboro design on the #18 AO by TF entry, and the #24 and #27 from Nielsen Racing which featured horizontal stripes going from white to maroon, complete with a fighter jet-style shark mouth design on the antennas above the engine’s air intake. Next to the the #27 car was two time Le Mans class winner Will Stevens, to whom I said “Good luck out there - the last time I saw you, you had just won LMP2 at Le Mans!” He replied “So that must mean we’re going to win today, right?”
Not long after, the grid was cleared of anything other than racing cars, and following two formation laps behind the pace-setting Nissan GT-R safety car, 43 racers hurtled towards turn 1 creating a feast for the ears from the screaming Gibson flatplane crank V8 LMP2s, the loud rumble of the crossplane Nissan V8s in the LMP3s, and the unmistakable shrieks of the V10, V8, V6 and flat-6 powered GTs.
The overall lead would change hands between the #22 United Autosports and #37 COOL Racing ORECAs in the early stages of the race, with the latter being able to stretch its advantage and hold on to the top position for the rest of the race, even with a series of FCY and safety car periods. The GT field was lead by the #85 Iron Dames Porsche for the majority of the race while the two Aston Martin Vantage AMRs traded paint multiple times during their scrap battle for position.
The LMP3 field settled into its own rhythm with their straight line speed advantage over the GTs but identical cornering speeds making for plenty of action as the two classes came together at multiple points around the track, although at one stage my eyes did wander from the racing to my copy of RUSH XP1 that came with me to the circuit. With just over an hour to go, there was heartbreak following what looked to be a routine stop for fuel and tyres, as the LMGT3 class leading #85 Porsche came to a halt at the pit lane exit, owing to a wayward wheel nut which lodged itself between the wheel and the calliper, causing irreparable damage to the right rear corner and forcing the car to retire.
The class lead was handed to the #50 Formula Racing team, leading home a Ferrari 1-2 with British team GR Racing finishing second. The Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan took third place. Overall honours went to the #37 COOL Racing crew who took their first win in the LMP2 category, ahead of the the #25 Algarve Pro Racing and #22 United Autosports ORECA 07s. In LMP2 Pro/Am, AF Corse led the #29 Richard Mille by TDS and the #24 Nielsen Racing entries to the silverware - the 24 car getting a huge cheer as Albert Costa Balboa crossed the line in his home city. The LMP3 category was won by the #19 Team Virage, followed by the COOL Racing’s #17 and the #11 of Eurointernational, making it an all Ligier podium for the class.
With the champagne sprayed and the team garages already being stripped and packed up, my friends and I headed into central Barcelona for dinner, and the ELMS circus moved on to its second venue in France.
Round 2: Le Castellet