ELMS Champions were rewarded in Paris

Alasdair McCaig, driver/owner of Ecurie Ecosse, finished the 2013 season in third place in the GTC class. The team which entered the only BMW Z4 on the grid (until Paul Ricard) started the season well. You had to fight hard against Ferrari, how was your season in GTC? "It went very well, but in fact the competition was tough and the Ferraris were growing in number throughout the season. We will return to win the title!"

In second place in GTC was the Ferrari F458 Italia GT3 of the Italian team AF Corse.  Amato Ferrari collected several trophies during the evening (from different GT categories in the ELMS and WEC) was happy with the results for his team: "I am delighted to see the work done by the teams in the different championships and different categories, and to see it so well rewarded. In the ELMS GTC class, we lost the last race behind SMP Racing who arrived in strength in 2013. But we don't give up, and will be back to fight for the title."

On the top step of the GTC podium was SMP Racing, newly arrived in motorsport, and represented in Paris by its owner Boris Rotenberg and one of its drivers, Kirill Ladygin.  After a debut season which kicked off in Imola, the Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 wearing the navy blue and red colours of the SMP Bank definitely made its mark. Boris Rotenberg was thrilled: "It was our first season and everything on both the technical and sporting sides were completely new, and we won the European title.  So, yes, we are happy and proud of our work.  Now we intend to be there next year for the whole season to defend that title.”

Amato Ferrari then received the trophy for 3rd place in LMGTE, won by AF Corse.  In second place was Christian Ried. The German had quite a full programme in 2013, entering both the European ELMS Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship for Proton Competition. "I loved this season,” enthused Christian Ried. "For sure we didn't have time to get bored ... In 2014 we will certainly be in the WEC, and why not return to the European championship?"

Daniel Shufflebottom was invited to go on stage to receive the LMGTE class trophy for the RAM Racing team. The boss should be happy with the performance of his team which took part in its first season of racing with two cars in the European Championship. "We won the title, and with it an invitation to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2014 and that's great. It wasn't so easy, however, because we had some very strong competition."

The LMPC, or Le Mans Prototype Challenge, category was represented mainly by Team Endurance Challenge, ably led by Philippe Leloup who received the winning trophy for both Team and Drivers. "We are very happy and very proud to have been able to bring young drivers like Gary Hirsch and Paul Loup Chatin to endurance racing," said the boss of Team Endurance Challenge.

Despite a very good start to the season, four out of five pole positions and one win, the English Jota Sport team, represented by Sam Hignett finished third overall in the LMP classification. "The season was hotly contested in the LMP2 category and right up to the final hour of the final race, the suspense kept us on the edge of our seats.” Oliver Turvey, one of the team's drivers went further: "I'd love to go for the LMP2 ELMS title next year, but I'm also very tempted to see what happens in the world championship…”  Watch this space...

After finishing in second place this year, the objective of Pierre Thiriet, driving for the 2012 winning Thiriet by TDS Racing team is very simple: "I want to get the number 1 back on my car!"

Bernard Ollivier, accompanied by his drivers Pierre Ragues and Nelson Panciatici, was beaming when they took to the stage to collect the Winners' Trophy for Signatech Alpine in LMP2, the top class in the ELMS.  "Had we known that the return of Alpine to endurance racing would be marked in this way, we would have signed up immediately. I am very happy and proud of Philippe Sinault's team; this title was hotly contested and ultimately there wasn't much in it.  I also like to sincerely congratulate Pierre Thiriet and TDS Racing because they gave us a hard time... we'll meet again!"

Among the distinguished guests in attendance at this great celebration of 2013 endurance racing were: François Fillon, Jacky Ickx, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Andrew Craig, Yoshiaki Kinoshita plus Nick Craw (FIA) and Sheikh Salman Bin Isa al Khalifa (Bahrain Circuit's CEO).

In addition to the trophies awarded for the best teams and the best drivers of the season, Gérard Neveu's team also wanted to honour some of the special performances or personalities encountered throughout the season in the ELMS paddock.

Paul Loup Chatin, one of the young LMPC winners but also the third driver for the LMP2 championship-winning team, received a special ' REVELATION OF THE YEAR' prize. Boris Rotenberg, thanks to the performance of his young team, received the special ‘TEAM OF THE YEAR' award, while Philippe Sinault boss of Signatech Alpine was unable to hide his astonishment when he was called on stage to receive the ‘MAN OF THE YEAR' award.  “I am very surprised, but very happy for the team.  We wrote the first chapter of the new Alpine endurance racing story, and this is only the beginning... we hope it will be a very long story."