ELMS 2015 - Regulation Part IV - Driver categorisation

As the name suggests Endurance racing is for events of several hours duration and the ELMS races have been set to four hours.   Each team must have two or three drivers and these drivers are organised into different categories depending on their level of experience.  A driver line up must be a mixture of professional and amateur drivers – the driver crews cannot be 100% professional – and to achieve this the drivers are graded as Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. 

For the LMP2 category only: the rule governing the composition of the crews derives from the categorisations of the drivers as follows:

a crew of 2 or 3 drivers must include at least one Silver or Bronze driver. 

For the LMGTE and GTC categories, the rule governing the composition of the crews derives from the categorisations of the drivers as follows:

a crew of 2 or 3 drivers must include at least one Bronze and one Silver driver, or two Bronze drivers 

For the LMP3 category, the rule governing the composition of the crews derives from the categorisations of the drivers as follows:

a crew of 3 drivers must be made of as following:

·         one Platinum + two Bronze drivers,

·         one Gold, one Bronze, + one Silver or a second Bronze

·         three Bronze or Silver drivers. 

a crew of 2 drivers must be made of as following:

·         one Platinum + one Bronze driver,

·         one Gold + one Silver or Bronze

·         two Bronze or Silver drivers. 

The categorisation of the drivers is set on the race experience of each drivers.

Explanation :

Platinum:Professional driver generally recognized as a well-known driver on the international scene, under the age of 50 and satisfying at least one of the following criteria:

Ø  has held a Super Licence (for Formula One);

Ø  has won the Le Mans 24 Hours outright;

Ø  has been a Works Driver, paid by a car manufacturer;

Ø  has finished in the top 10 in the general classification in F3000, CART/Champcar, IRL or GP2;

Ø  has finished in the top 6 in the general classification of an F3 international series (British/Euro F3) or a major international single-seater Championship (e.g. World Series by Renault);

Ø  is a driver whose performances and achievements, despite note being covered by one of the definitions above, may be considered as Platinum by the Endurance Committee.

Gold:Semi-professional driver in international series or who has distinguished himself in national Championships and satisfying at least one of the following criteria:

Ø  driver satisfying the criteria of the category A (Platinum) but aged 50 to 59;

Ø  has competed competitively in the World Karting Championship or single-seater series and is under 35 years of age;

Ø  has finished in the top 10 in the general classification of a secondary international single-seater series (A1 GP, Renault V6, FR2000 international…);

Ø  has finished in the top 6 in the general classification of a national single-seater series (F3, FR2000…);

Ø  has finished in the top 5 in the general classification of an entry level single-seater series (F-Ford, F-BMW, F-Zip, Autosport Academy…);

Ø  has finished in the top 6 in the general classification of the Porsche Supercup;

Ø  has finished in the top 3 of the general classification of a national or international series organised by a manufacturer (Porsche, Seat, Peugeot, Renault…);

Ø  is a driver whose performances and achievements, despite note being covered by one of the definitions above, may be considered as Gold by the Committee.

Silver:Amateur driver satisfying at least one of the following criteria:

Ø  driver aged under 30 and not satisfying the criteria of categories A (Platinum) and B (Gold) ;

Ø  driver satisfying the criteria of the Platinum category but aged 60 or over;

Ø  driver who has finished in 1st place in the general classification of national Championships or international series in association with a professional driver;

Ø  driver who has won a non-professional drivers' series (Ferrari Challenge, Maserati Trofeo, Lamborghini Supertrophy…);

Ø  is a driver whose performances and achievements, despite note being covered by one of the definitions above, may be considered as Silver by the Endurance Committee.

Bronze:Amateur driver, any driver holding an International B licence without a significant record of achievements in motor sport but whose level of performance can be considered as Bronze by the Endurance Committee.