The 2010 8 Hours of Le Castellet (8 Heures du Castellet) was the inaugural round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France on 11 April 2010. It was the first Le Mans Series race that is longer than the standard 1,000-km distance the LMS use since the 2007 Mil Milhas Brasil. Audi Sport Team Joest won the race overall in their first use of the Audi R15 TDI in the Le Mans Series, with drivers Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello. Aston Martin Racing and Rebellion Racing completed the overall podium five laps behind the winning Audi. Strakka Racing also brought Honda Performance Development a win on their debut in the LMP2 category, leading the OAK Racing Pescarolo by 33 seconds. Applewood Seven won the Formula Le Mans category, the first event in which this class participated in the Le Mans Series. Team Felbermayr-Proton dominated the GT2 category by finishing in the top two positions, ahead of the first of the AF Corse Ferraris.
Qualifying saw Oreca take pole position in their first outing with their new Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, beating the factory Audi R15 TDI by 0.4 seconds. Strakka Racing had a similar story taking LMP2 pole in their first outing with their HPD ARX-01C. They qualified two seconds before the next nearest car, the Quifel Ginetta-Zytek. AF Corse took GT2 pole and DAMS took the first pole position in Le Mans Series history in the new Formula Le Mans class.
Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold. [1]
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC). [2]
The Acura ARX-01, later known as the HPD ARX-01 is a series of Le Mans Prototype built for sports car racing, specifically in the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is the first purpose-built race car by the Acura division of Honda Motor Company, part of their multi-year program to eventually compete in endurance race. The car debuted in 2007 in the American Le mans Series before expanding to customers in Europe. Over the years various specifications of the ARX-01 chassis have been developed, each signified by a letter suffix. In 2010 Acura withdrew their name from the program and Honda Performance Development which developed the car for Acura continued the program into 2011.
The 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 77th Grand Prix of Endurance, an endurance auto race run over 24 hours. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France, and was organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) over 13–14 June 2009 and was started by Fiat and Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo at 15:00 local time. A test day was initially scheduled for 31 May that year, but was canceled by the ACO due to economic concerns. The race was attended by 234,800 spectators.
The 2008 Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New Mazda6 was the eleventh running of the Petit Le Mans and the tenth round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States of America on October 4, 2008. This race marked the first time that the American Le Mans Series awarded victors in their Green Challenge, in preparation for a full championship in the 2009 season.
The 78th 24 Hours of Le Mans was a non-championship 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Grand Touring (GT) cars held from 12 to 13 June 2010 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France, before 238,150 spectators. It was the 78th 24 Hours of Le Mans as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO).
The 79th 24 Hours of Le Mans was a 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars held before 249,500 spectators on 11 and 12 June 2011 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France. It was the third round of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, and the race's 79th edition as organised by the automotive group the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. On April 24, six weeks prior, a test day was held.
The 2010 Le Mans Series was the seventh season of Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. It featured five events between 11 April and 12 September 2010. For the first time in 2010, Formula Le Mans (FLM) cars were run in a fifth class in the series, running alongside Le Mans Prototype cars and GT cars, rather than as a support series. It was also the final season when GT1 cars were allowed to run in the series.
The 2010 1000 km of Spa was the second round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 9 May 2010.
The 2010 1000 km of Algarve was the third round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve on 17 July 2010.
The 2010 1000 km of Hungaroring was the fourth round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Hungaroring, Hungary on 22 August 2010. It was the first time a Le Mans Series event took place at the Hungarian track.
Strakka Racing was a British auto racing team founded by Nick Leventis. The team was based at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire. The team made history at the 2010 1000 km of Hungaroring when they became the first team in Le Mans Series history to win overall in an LMP2 class car. They also became the first team in LMS history to take overall pole position in an LMP2 class car.
Elton Julian is an American racecar driver and team owner. After driving at the International Formula 3000 and the FIA World Endurance Championship, he has entered DragonSpeed at the FIA WEC, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and IndyCar Series.
The 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup was the second and final Season running of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, an international auto racing championship for manufacturers and teams. The Cup featured endurance races from the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and a stand-alone event in Zhuhai, China. Championships were held for Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance – Professional and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance – Amateur category cars.
The 2011 Le Mans Series was the eighth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. The series began on 3 April with the 6 Hours of Castellet and ended after five rounds on 25 September. It is a series for Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring style cars broken into 4 classes. LMP1, LMP2 and FLM are retained from last year, while GT1 is removed, and GT2 split into GTE-Pro and GTE-Am.
The 2011 6 Hours of Castellet was the opening round of the 2011 Le Mans Series season. It took place at Circuit Paul Ricard on April 3, 2011. It was also the first Le Mans Series race with the two new GT classes, GTE Pro and GTE Am, contesting the event after the demise of the GT1 class.
The 80th 24 Hours of Le Mans was an 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 16 to 17 June 2012 at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, France before 240,000 spectators. It was the 80th running of the event, as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. The race was the third round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, with 30 of the race's 56 entries contesting the championship. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 3 June.
The 81st 24 Hours of Le Mans was a 24-hour automobile endurance racing event for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 19 to 23 June 2013 at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, France. It was the 81st running of the event, as organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. The race was the third and the premier round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship, with 32 of the race's 56 entries contesting the championship. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 9 June. Approximately 245,000 spectators attended the event.
The Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S was a LMP1-class Le Mans prototype race car, built by Zytek Engineering following their partial merger with Ginetta. It was an evolutionary update of the Zytek 07S, with the bodywork altered for the 2009 LMP regulations. The GZ09S/2 was a LMP2-class version of the same car In 2011, its successor, the Nissan-engined Zytek Z11SN, made its competitive debut, following the latest rule changes to the LMP regulations. The GZ09S was retired at the end of that season, as it was no longer eligible to compete.
The 82nd 24 Hours of Le Mans was an 24-hour automobile endurance racing event for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 11 to 15 June 2014 at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, France. It was the 82nd running of the event, as organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. The race was the third round and the premier event of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship, with half of the race's fifty-five entries contesting the championship. Approximately 263,000 spectators attended the event, the largest crowd since 1989.
The 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans was an 24-hour automobile endurance event for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 10 to 14 June 2015 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, close to Le Mans, France. It was the 83rd running of the 24 Hour race organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest as well as the third round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 31 May. A record-breaking 263,500 people attended the event.
The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the fourth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars meeting four ACO categories. World championship titles were awarded for Le Mans Prototypes drivers and for manufacturers in the LMP1 category, and several World Endurance Cups and Endurance Trophies were also awarded in all four categories. The season began at the Silverstone Circuit in April and ended at the Bahrain International Circuit in November after eight rounds, and included the 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.