The European Le Mans Series is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by 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 the Le Mans Series in 2006, the series was renamed once more in 2012, reusing a name previously utilized by IMSA in 2001.
Stéphane Jean-Marc Sarrazin is a French racing and rally driver. He has won races across a number of single-seater, sportscar and rallying disciplines and competitions, was French Formula Renault champion in 1994, and Le Mans Series champion in both 2007 and 2010. Although he has never won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, he has finished on the podium six times, including four outright second positions. He participated in one Formula One Grand Prix, the 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix, for Minardi as a replacement for Luca Badoer, who had injured his wrist. He suffered a big spin in the race coming up to the start-finish straight on lap 31 and scored no championship points. He also carried out testing duties for the Prost Grand Prix team during the 1999–2001 Formula One seasons and for Toyota Racing in their first season in 2002.
Fernando Rees is a retired Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, and has recently competed in various international racing championships.
Warren Hughes is a racing driver from Sunderland, England.
Gregor Fisken is a British racing driver and businessman who currently races historic and modern-day sportscars. He is one of only a handful of racing drivers to have driven in all four classes at the famous Le Mans 24 Hours motor race.
The 2009 Le Mans Series was the sixth season of Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. It was contested over five events between 5 April and 13 September 2009.
Thor–Christian Ebbesvik is a professional racing driver from Norway.
The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand tourer race cars—based on production road cars and conforming with the GT1 (2010–2011) and GT3 (2012) regulations—that competed in one-hour races on multiple continents. All cars were performance balanced, with weight and restrictor adjustments, to artificially equalise their performance. Championships were awarded each season for drivers and teams.
The 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship was the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship, a motor racing competition reserved for FIA GT1 cars. The championship was a replacement for the FIA GT Championship which had been held annually from 1997 to 2009. It was the first sports car racing series to be sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as a World Championship since the demise of the World Sportscar Championship at the end of the 1992 season.
The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010. The plans were first announced in June 2009 and confirmed in December of the same year.
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.
Nicholas Leventis is a retired British racing driver and founder of Strakka Racing. One of his most memorable successes was winning the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 category with Danny Watts and Jonny Kane, breaking five records in the process.
Nick Catsburg is a Dutch professional racing driver, currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports. He was also a factory driver for BMW from 2011 to 2022.
The Toyota TS030 Hybrid is a Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) sports car built by Toyota Motorsport GmbH and used by the manufacturer in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012 and 2013. It was Toyota's first all new prototype since the GT-One last competed in 1999, and was the first petrol-hybrid engine car to participate in the World Endurance Championship. Work on designing the car began in late 2010 when early chassis designs were presented to Toyota Motorsport. The project was stopped briefly after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, but the car's building was approved six months later. The TS030 Hybrid featured a Kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) regenerative braking device to charge a super capacitor. Its engine, a naturally aspirated petrol 3.4-litre (210 cu in) V8 power unit, was mounted at a 90-degree angle, produced 530 horsepower, and was based on Toyota's Super GT project.
Gary Chalandon is a French racing driver. He is most notable for competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Formula Le Mans Cup and the Le Mans Series. He won the Formula Le Mans class of the Le Mans Series in 2010, whilst driving for DAMS.
Jody Firth is a British racing driver, who most recently competed in the British GT Championship.
Greaves Motorsport is a British racing team, currently competing in the European Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
John Timothy Greaves is a British former racing driver and the team principal of Greaves Motorsport. He raced in various Radical series during the 2000s and also drove in the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans between 2004 and 2010.
The Toyota TS040 Hybrid is a Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) sports car built and used by Toyota Motorsport GmbH in the 2014 and 2015 seasons of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Work on the car's design began in November 2012, when the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) published its 2014 technical regulations and Toyota utilised its resources after the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car is an aerodynamic improvement on its predecessor, the TS030 Hybrid, and its design allowed four-wheel drive. It has two kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) regenerative-braking devices at the front and rear axles to charge a supercapacitor and, in accordance with the 2014 regulations, was placed in the 6 MJ (1.7 kWh) class. The TS040's engine was carried over from the TS030; its displacement was increased from 3.4 L (210 cu in) to 3.7 L (230 cu in) for better efficiency, producing 513 horsepower (383 kW) to the rear wheels.
The 2018 European Le Mans Series was the fifteenth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit Paul Ricard on 15 April and finished at Algarve International Circuit on 28 October. The series is open to Le Mans Prototypes, divided into the LMP2 and LMP3 classes, and grand tourer-style racing cars in the LMGTE class.
Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium 
Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal 
Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Hungary 
Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom 
