2013 European Le Mans Series: LMGTE Comes Alive

The Championship included four categories, with Sports Prototypes (LMP2 and LMPC) and GT (LMGTE and GTC) cars sharing the track. As the European Le Mans Series was brought back to life, so the LMGTE class, or Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance, also was refreshed.  At the end of the season, the top two LMGTE teams would be given a free ticket to participate in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans 2014 event.

A quick reminder about the category:

Grand Touring cars are part of the tradition of endurance races and particularly the 24 Hours of Le Mans and GTE remains the preserve of sports car manufacturers! The link between the track and the road is very real. In order to be homologated, a GTE (E for Endurance) must derive from a road car of which 100 examples have been made (25 for a "small manufacturer", 300 for a carbon chassis). The "race" version must retain the shape of the "street" model from which it is derived. The engine must retain its position, orientation and original location.  In the ELMS cars in this class must be at least one year old.

The regulations for this category in the ELMS are based on the technical regulations of the FIA WEC's GTE Am class. During the 2013 season 26 drivers were listed as LMGTE competitors. They represented seven nationalities (Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, Austria and USA) and competed with six teams and at the wheel of nine cars.  Two manufacturers battled throughout the season, and in the end it was Ferrari who headed Porsche, but not without some difficulty.

To begin the 2013 season, the 25 ELMS entrants were alongside the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Silverstone circuit in England in April, eight of which were entered in the LMGTE category.  Despite dire weather and a race shortened by 25% due to impossible track conditions, the No.77 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Proton Competition opened its account in the 2013 LMGTE standings by winning the class with the driving trio of Christian Ried, Nicholas Tandy and Gianluca Roda.  It was ahead of the two Ram Racing Ferrari 458 Italias, No.52 and No.53 respectively driven by Briton Johnny Mowlem and Ireland's Matt Griffin, and the American duo of Gunnar Jeannette and Frankie Montecalvo.  Andrea Bertolini and Joel Camathias (No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia) finished the first race in fourth place ahead of the No.75 Prospeed Competition Porsche from Belgium (François Perrodo, Manu Collard and Sébastien Crubilé) and the No.67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche. The two AF Corse Ferraris, No.55 and No.54, brought up the rear.

In the second round at the Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari in Imola, during a weekend of racing shared with the FFSA GT Tour, Ferrari shone on its home turf. Eight LMGTE cars took the start for the second race of the season: five Ferraris and three Porsches.  While Matt Griffin took class pole position at the wheel of the No.52 Ferrari Ram Racing, American Patrick Long in the No.67 IMSA Performance Matmut wasn't going to let him go so easily. During the first two hours of the race the duel between the two held the spectators at Imola spellbound.  IMSA made life difficult to start with for Ram Racing, but didn't count on the No.55 Ferrari 458 of local team AF Corse (Piergiuseppe Perazzini, Marco Cioci and Federico Leo) which wanted to show itself well on the Italian circuit.  It was ultimately an all-Ferrari podium much to the delight of the aficionados. Victory for the No.52 Ram Racing ahead of the No.55 AF Corse and No.53 Ram Racing entries.  The No.66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari rounded out the success for the Prancing Horse marque by finishing in fourth place in front of the No.77 and 67 Proton Competition and IMSA Performance Matmut Porsches and the No.54 AF Corse Ferrari.

The third round of the 2013 ELMS took place in mid-July within a different context of racing as spectators had the chance to enjoy the mixed worlds of endurance racing and single-seaters in the same paddock, courtesy of the World Series by Renault. On the fabulous Red Bull Ring track in Austria, 80 km from Graz, no fewer than 26 cars made ​​up the ELMS grid and, among them, nine were entered in the LMGTE category – one more than in previous rounds. The German Proton Competition indeed entered an additional car, the reinforcement driven by a 100% Austrian line up composed of Horst Felbermayr Senior and Junior and Klaus Bachler.  After an eventful race, led initially by the No. 77 Proton Competition Porsche which started from pole position, the fight for the top three spots was eventually played out between three Prancing Horses. Victory finally went to the No.52 Ram Racing Ferrari 458 Italia ahead of the No.66 JMW Motorsport F458 (Joel Camathias and Andrea Bertolini), closely followed by the No.53 of Frankie Montecalvo and Gunnar Jeannette (Ram Racing).  Ferrari therefore achieved a 1-2-3 which was further backed up by the fourth place of the No.55 AF Corse Ferrari.  The Porsches 911 GT3 RSRs of Prospeed Competition (No.75) and Proton Competition (No.88 – the Austrian trio) followed behind.  IMSA Performance Matmut (No.67) and AF Corse (No.54) rounded out the standings.

The ELMS runners met again next in September in Hungary for the penultimate round of 2013 at the Hungaroring circuit. Following the torrential rain which yielded a rather surprising outcome to the qualifying session (as the first GT car turned out to be a GTC), the field started on a damp track.  The No.66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia (Andrea Bertolini and Joel Camathias) led away from LMGTE pole position ahead of the No.77 Proton Competition Porsche.  The stand-out performance was that of Jean-Karl Vernay (No.67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3) who, after starting from third place, performed brilliantly lap after lap to move up the order and eventually take command of the LMGTE race.  Victim of technical problems, JMW Motorsport was forced to retire mid race, while IMSA Performance Matmut were a little over-optimistic and were granted a penalty for having passed under yellow flags ... and so the protagonists of the first hour gave way to the No.77 Proton Competition Porsche, driven by Nick Tandy, Klaus Bachler and Christian Ried. The only German team on the grid thus took control to finish on the top step of the LMGTE podium in front of the No.52 Ram Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Johnny Mowlem and Matt Griffin and the No.55 AF Corse Ferrari of Piergiuseppe Perazzini, Marco Cioci and Federico Leo.  The No.75 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Emmanuel Collard and François Perrodo (Prospeed Competition) recorded its best result of the season in Hungary thanks to a good race strategy and a quick turnaround in the pits, finishing fourth in class. They were ahead of the No.67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche (Jean-Karl Vernay and Patrice Milesi) and the No.53 Ram Racing Ferrari (Gunnar Jeannette and Frankie Montecalvo).  By the end of the season's penultimate race, it was still wide open in terms of who could win the 2013 titles and trophies.

The Paul Ricard circuit would host the final round of the European Le Mans Series, the Var circuit also being the venue at which the 2013 trophies would be attributed at the end of a colorful season. Eight LMGTE cars made the trip. On arrival at Le Castellet, the No.52 Ram Racing Ferrari 458 Italia and the No.77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR both had two victories each to their credit. While Ram Racing led the standings with an advantage of 17 points, there was still all to play for by the German team.  The No.52 Ram Racing Ferrari took pole position for the last race, and held station right to the end as night fell over the Paul Ricard circuit.  JMW Motorsport (No.66 Ferrari 458 Italia of Andrea Bertolini and Joel Camathias) finished on the second step of the podium and Proton Competition was on the third with Nick Tandy, Christian Ried and Klaus Bachler.  AF Corse's No.55 Ferrari placed fourth, ahead of the No.53 Ram Racing Ferrari, the Porsches of Prospeed Competition (No.75) and IMSA Performance Matmut (No.76) and the No.54 AF Corse Ferrari.

Consistently strong throughout the season, the British Ram Racing team therefore left Le Castellet with the European Le Mans Series Trophy for the top GTE team. Johnny Mowlem and Matt Griffin were the first winners of the European Le Mans Series Trophy for best GTE Drivers.

But the prizes didn't end there as the top two GTE teams of the season have also been offered entry to the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans 2014.  Ram Racing and Proton Competition will therefore each be able to enter a car in the LMGTE Pro category of the French endurance classic. Final ELMS LMGTE Classification:

RAM Racing                                No. 52 Ferrari F458 Italia              114 points

Proton Competition                                No.77 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR        80 points

AF Corse                                      No.55 Ferrari F458 Italia                               63 points

RAM Racing                                 No.53 Ferrari F458 Italia                               63 points

JMW Motorsport                      No.66 Ferrari F458 Italia               61 points

Prospeed Competition          No.75 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR        40 points

IMSA Performance Matmut                No. 67 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR       38 points

AF Corse                                       No.62 Ferrari F458 Italia               16 points

Proton Competition                                No.88 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR        8 points

8 points