Petit Le Mans

Last updated
Petit Le Mans
Petit le mans 2018 logo.jpg
Road Atlanta track map.svg
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Venue Road Atlanta
Corporate sponsor Motul
First race1998
First USCC race2014
Laps394
Duration1998–2013:
1,000 miles (1,600 km) or 10 hours [lower-alpha 1]
2014–present:
10 hours
Most wins (driver) Rinaldo Capello (5)
Most wins (team) Audi Sport North America (6)
Most wins (manufacturer) Audi (9)

The Petit Le Mans (French for little Le Mans) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. It has often used the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which are slightly modified if necessary, mainly to allow additional cars to compete.

Contents

The race was founded by Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz and first run on October 10, 1998 as part of the IMSA season. The 1999 edition was one of the original events of the American Le Mans Series. The 2010 and 2011 editions were also part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, but the 2012 race for the brand-new World Endurance Championship was controversially dropped in favour of Bahrain. Since 2014 the race has been one of the crown jewel events of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

From 1998 until 2013, Petit Le Mans covered a maximum of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) (which is approximately 394 laps) or a maximum of 10 hours, whichever came first; only once, in the rain-stopped 2009 race, had the leading team failed to complete 1,000 miles (1,600 km). Since 2014, the duration is 10 hours, without distance limitations. [1] [2] In addition to the overall race, teams of two or three drivers per car compete for class victories in different categories, divided into prototypes and grand tourers. Class winners of the event originally received an automatic invitation to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, however this was removed in 2012.

The race is regarded as one of the major endurance races in the world and is among the biggest sports car races in North America alongside the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. [3] [4] Rinaldo Capello holds the record of most race wins, having won in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

History

A Cadillac DPi-V.R and Porsche 911 GT3 R competing at the 2021 race DSC4291 (51950244077).jpg
A Cadillac DPi-V.R and Porsche 911 GT3 R competing at the 2021 race

The 2009 and 2015 races were shortened due to heavy rains making the track impassable. The 2015 race featured the first time a GT car won overall against the faster prototypes. Rain created a flooded track the entire race causing multiple cautions and a red flag, allowing GTLM cars to leap-frog the prototypes that were struggling for grip in the conditions. [5] Nick Tandy, winner of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, and co-driver Patrick Pilet took the checkered flag when officials called the race with a little over two hours remaining.

Overall winners

YearDriversTeamChassis-EngineChampionship(s)
1998 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Eric van de Poele
Flag of South Africa.svg Wayne Taylor
Flag of France.svg Emmanuel Collard
Flag of the United States.svg Doyle-Risi Racing Ferrari 333 SP Professional SportsCar Racing Championship
1999 Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham
Flag of France.svg Éric Bernard
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Andy Wallace
Flag of the United States.svg Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S-Ford American Le Mans Series
2000 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Allan McNish
Flag of Italy.svg Rinaldo Capello
Flag of Italy.svg Michele Alboreto
Flag of Germany.svg Audi Sport North America Audi R8
2001 Flag of Germany.svg Frank Biela
Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro
Flag of Germany.svg Audi Sport North America Audi R8 American Le Mans Series
European Le Mans Series
2002 Flag of Denmark.svg Tom Kristensen
Flag of Italy.svg Rinaldo Capello
Flag of Germany.svg Audi Sport North America Audi R8 American Le Mans Series
2003 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert
Flag of the United States.svg ADT Champion Racing Audi R8
2004 Flag of Germany.svg Marco Werner
Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto
Flag of the United States.svg ADT Champion Racing Audi R8
2005 Flag of Germany.svg Frank Biela
Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro
Flag of the United States.svg ADT Champion Racing Audi R8
2006 Flag of Italy.svg Rinaldo Capello
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Allan McNish
Flag of the United States.svg Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI
2007 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Allan McNish
Flag of Italy.svg Rinaldo Capello
Flag of the United States.svg Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI
2008 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Allan McNish
Flag of Italy.svg Rinaldo Capello
Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro
Flag of the United States.svg Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI
2009 Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny
Flag of France.svg Stéphane Sarrazin
Flag of France.svg Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP
2010 Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny
Flag of France.svg Stéphane Sarrazin
Flag of Portugal.svg Pedro Lamy
Flag of France.svg Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP American Le Mans Series
Intercontinental Le Mans Cup
2011 Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny
Flag of France.svg Stéphane Sarrazin
Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Wurz
Flag of France.svg Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908
2012 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani
Flag of France.svg Nicolas Prost
Flag of Italy.svg Andrea Belicchi
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota American Le Mans Series
European Le Mans Series
2013 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani
Flag of France.svg Nicolas Prost
Flag of Germany.svg Nick Heidfeld
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota American Le Mans Series
2014 Flag of the United States.svg Jordan Taylor
Flag of the United States.svg Ricky Taylor
Flag of Italy.svg Max Angelelli
Flag of the United States.svg Wayne Taylor Racing Chevrolet Corvette DP United SportsCar Championship
2015 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nick Tandy
Flag of France.svg Patrick Pilet
Flag of Austria.svg Richard Lietz
Flag of the United States.svg Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR
2016 Flag of the United States.svg John Pew
Flag of Brazil.svg Oswaldo Negri Jr.
Flag of France.svg Olivier Pla
Flag of the United States.svg Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2-Honda IMSA SportsCar Championship
2017 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ryan Dalziel
Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Hartley
Flag of the United States.svg Scott Sharp
Flag of the United States.svg Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Onroak DPi
2018 [6] Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hunter-Reay
Flag of the United States.svg Jordan Taylor
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Renger van der Zande
Flag of the United States.svg Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R
2019 Flag of Brazil.svg Felipe Nasr
Flag of Brazil.svg Pipo Derani
Flag of the United States.svg Eric Curran
Flag of the United States.svg Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R
2020 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ryan Briscoe
Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Renger van der Zande
Flag of the United States.svg Konica Minolta Cadillac Cadillac DPi-V.R
2021 Flag of the United States.svg Jonathan Bomarito
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Oliver Jarvis
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Harry Tincknell
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Mazda Motorsports Mazda RT24-P
2022 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Blomqvist
Flag of Brazil.svg Hélio Castroneves
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Oliver Jarvis
Flag of the United States.svg Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-05
2023 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Blomqvist
Flag of Brazil.svg Hélio Castroneves
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Colin Braun
Flag of the United States.svg Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06

Statistics

Multiple wins by driver

RankDriverWinsYears
1 Flag of Italy.svg Rinaldo Capello 52000, 2002, 2006–2008
2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Allan McNish 42000, 2006–2008
3 Flag of Italy.svg Emanuele Pirro 32001, 2005, 2008
Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny 2009–2011
Flag of France.svg Stéphane Sarrazin 2009–2011
6 Flag of Finland.svg JJ Lehto 22003–2004
Flag of Germany.svg Frank Biela 2001, 2005
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani 2012–2013
Flag of France.svg Nicolas Prost 2012–2013
Flag of the United States.svg Jordan Taylor 2014, 2018

Wins by manufacturer

RankManufacturerWinsYears
1 Flag of Germany.svg Audi 92000–2008
2 Flag of France.svg Peugeot 32009–2011
Flag of the United States.svg Cadillac 2018–2020
3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lola 22012–2013
Flag of Japan.svg Acura 2022–2023
4 Flag of Italy.svg Ferrari 11998
Flag of the United States.svg Panoz 1999
Flag of the United States.svg Chevrolet 2014
Flag of Germany.svg Porsche 2015
Flag of Japan.svg Honda 2016
Flag of Japan.svg Nissan 2017
Flag of Japan.svg Mazda 2021

Multiple wins by team

RankMakerWinsYears
1 Flag of France.svg Peugeot Sport Total 32009–2011
Flag of Germany.svg Audi Sport North America 2000–2002
Flag of the United States.svg Audi Sport North America 2006–2008
Flag of the United States.svg ADT Champion Racing 2003–2005
Flag of the United States.svg Wayne Taylor Racing 2014, 2018, 2020
Flag of the United States.svg Meyer Shank Racing 2016, 2022–2023
2 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Rebellion Racing 22012–2013

See also

Notes

  1. From 1998 to 2013, the race was held for whichever of the two durations came first.

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References

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  3. "24 Hours of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans | A French connection in the U.S." 24h-lemans.com. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  4. Staff, Sportscar365 (2014-10-01). "Scrogham (GB Autosport): "I've Seen Petit Le Mans Change Over Time" – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2024-01-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  6. "Official Race Results" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association . 2018-10-15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-09.