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.
Ferdinand Zvonimir Maria Balthus Keith Michael Otto Antal Bahnam Leonhard Habsburg-Lothringen is an Austrian motor racing driver and heir apparent to the headship of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. He is driving in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Alpine Endurance Team and European Le Mans Series with Cool Racing.
Risi Competizione is an Italo-American auto racing Ferrari factory-backed team formed by Giuseppe Risi in 1997. Initially, the team had a partnership with Doyle Racing using the name Doyle-Risi Racing, but soon Giuseppe Risi took full control of the project and it was rebranded with its current name in 2000. Risi Competizione has won races and championships in the IMSA GT championship, American Le Mans Series, and Rolex Sports Car Series, as well as earning three class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998, 2008 and 2009. Much of Risi Competizione's success has come through the use of Ferrari machines.
The 2009 American Le Mans Series season was the 39th season for the IMSA GT Championship, with it being the eleventh season with the American Le Mans Series moniker. It began on March 21, 2009, and ended on October 10, 2009 after ten events. The series was composed of Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Grand Tourer (GT) race cars divided into four classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. A fifth category, known as the Challenge class, was also added for select races and featured Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars from the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. 2009 was also the final year for GT1, with Corvette Racing abandoning the class after Long Beach and switching over to much more competitive GT2 class.
Alexander Brundle is a British racing driver and broadcaster. He was the 2016 European Le Mans Series champion (LMP3) and is the son of Formula One driver-turned-commentator Martin Brundle. He attended Oakham School in Rutland.
The 2009 1000 km of Spa was the second round of the 2009 Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, on 10 May 2009. Several teams used Spa as a test prior to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including eventual winners Team Peugeot and Team Essex Porsche, as well as the Jetalliance Racing Aston Martin. This is the 28th European Le Mans Series race since 2004.
The 2009 ADAC 1000 km-Rennen Nürburgring was the fourth round of the 2009 Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Nürburgring GP-Strecke, Nürburg, Germany, on 23 August 2009. Aston Martin Racing, with third entry AMR Eastern Europe, swept the overall podium for this race, led by the No. 007 of Jan Charouz, Tomáš Enge, and Stefan Mücke. Quifel ASM Team led the LMP2 category for the second straight race, while the Larbre Compétition Saleen outlasted its only competition in GT1. The No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche won their third race of the season.
James John Calado is a British professional racing driver from England who is competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He won the LMGTE Pro class of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship and 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans, and overall victory in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. He drove for Panasonic Jaguar Racing in Formula E. His career has been funded by the Racing Steps Foundation.
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.
W Racing Team is a Belgian auto racing team founded in 2009 by engineer and former head of Volkswagen Motorsport René Verbist, racing driver Vincent Vosse, and entrepreneur Yves Weerts. Between 2010 and 2022 the team campaigned Audi R8 LMSs in several international sports car series. In 2010 the team won the Belcar Drivers' and Teams' Championships, while in 2011 they won the Spa 24 Hours. After winning multiple titles in various GT championships, WRT is considered to be one of the best teams worldwide in GT racing. In 2019 and 2020 WRT ran two Audi RS5 Turbo DTMs in the highly competitive DTM championship. In 2021 WRT added a full time LMP2 program, by entering an Oreca 07 in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series, and won the LMP2 class of the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans. From 2023 on WRT switched their partnership in GT racing from Audi to BMW and will run the BMW M4 GT3. The team will also run two factory backed BMW M Hybrid V8s in the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar category from 2024.
Norman Nato is a French professional racing driver who is currently driving in Formula E for Andretti Formula E and the 2024 World Endurance Championship for Jota Sport in the Hypercar category.
Romain Dumas is a French racing driver and driver for Glickenhaus in the World Endurance Championship. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest races of the discipline, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 24 Hours of Spa, the 24 Hours Nürburgring, and the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring. He has been one of Porsche’s factory drivers since 2004.
The 4 Hours of Imola was an endurance motor race held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari near Imola, Italy on 17–18 May 2014, and served as the second round of the 2014 European Le Mans Series.
Jota Sport is a British sports car racing team. Founded as Team Jota by Sam Hignett and John Stack, Jota Sport is part of the Jota Group which is owned by Sam Hignett and David Clark. The team is based in Tunbridge Wells in England. Jota Sport has finished on the overall podium of 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with two Oreca in an alliance with Jackie Chan DC Racing. In 2018/2019 Jota competed, in partnership with Arden International, RP Motorsport, Jackie Chan DC Racing and Aston Martin in the FIA World Endurance Championship with two ORECA 07 LMP2 and in the GT World Challenge Europe with Mclaren 720S GT3 cars.
The 2019 European Le Mans Series was the sixteenth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit Paul Ricard on 14 April and finished at Algarve International Circuit on 27 October.
Lorenzo Colombo is an Italian racing driver who last competed for Prema Orlen Team in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship. He previously raced in the 2021 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Campos Racing.
Kyffin Simpson is a Caymanian racing driver competing in the IndyCar Series with Chip Ganassi Racing. He won the 2023 European Le Mans Series championship with Algarve Pro Racing.
The 2022 4 Hours of Monza was an endurance sportscar racing event that was held on 3 July 2022, as the third round of the 2022 European Le Mans Series.
The 2022 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was an endurance sportscar racing event that was held on 25 September 2022, as the fifth round of the 2022 European Le Mans Series.
The 2021 4 Hours of Barcelona was an endurance sportscar racing event that was held on 18 April 2021, as the first round of the 2021 European Le Mans Series.
