ELMS LMP2 - a true springboard to global endurance racing

Four categories were at the heart of the championship and shared the same track: LMP2 Sports Prototypes, Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC), Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LM GTE) and Grand Touring Challenge (GTC).

The 102 drivers listed on the final classifications represented 17 nationalities.  These performers were behind the wheel of 4 LMPC, 9 LMGTE, 10 GTC and 11 LMP2 cars, the latter being the top ELMS class following the disappearance of LMP1 when the FIA World Endurance Championship was created in 2012.

The first season of the new-look European Le Mans Series, consisting of five races in five European countries (England, Italy, Austria, Hungary and France), saw the French Signatech Alpine team win the title. The No.36 Alpine (ORECA chassis), driven by Frenchmen Pierre Ragues and Nelson Panciatici, took overall victory after a non-stop battle throughout with its rival, the No.1 ORECA 03 Nissan of Thiriet by TDS Racing (driven by Pierre Thiriet  and Mathias Beche). The two French teams were followed by the British Jota Sport (Oliver Turvey and Simon Dolan) and Irish Murphy Prototypes teams (Brendon Hartley, Mark Patterson, Jonathan Hirschi).  The Swiss Morand Racing team (Natacha Gachnang, Franck Mailleux, Christian Klien) was fifth overall ahead of its Swiss compatriot Race Performance (Michel Frey, Patric Niederhauser). The Belgian Boutsen Ginion Racing team took seventh place ahead of the Russians from SMP Racing, the Britons from Greaves Motorsport and the Luxembourg DKR Engineering squad.  HMV Status GP, who took part in only one ELMS race, completed the tally of 11 LMP2s for the season.

A total of 35 drivers figured on the entry list for LMP2 cars in 2013. The season began alongside the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Silverstone circuit in England, a wonderful opportunity for the youth of the series to show off their endurance racing skills to the great and good of the FIA WEC. One never knows...

Coping well in the dire weather conditions, victory for the first round of the season – a race shortened by 25% because of the conditions – went to the English Jota Sport team.  After clinching pole position, Oliver Turvey took the start in front of the Murphy Prototypes ORECA 03 Nissan driven by Brendon Hartley. During the 75% of the race completed by the teams, Jota Sport, Signatech Alpine, Murphy Prototypes, as well as Morand Racing and Thiriet by TDS Racing, all led the gruelling race at one time or another thanks to the special local weather and the concerto of non-stop pit stops for tyre changes. The first race of the season thus provided victory for Jota Sport, ahead of the Swiss Race Performance team (Michel Frey and Patric Niederhauser). The ORECA 03 Nissan of Thiriet by TDS Racing featuring the No.1 (Pierre Thiriet and Jonathan Hirschi) completed the LMP2 podium. For its first appearance on track, the Signatech Alpine finished just off the podium in front of Boutsen Ginion Racing (Bastien Brière, Thomas Dagoneau and John Hartshorne), DKR Engineering (Olivier Porta and Romain Brandela) and the No.18 Murphy Prototypes ORECA 03 Nissan of Brendon Hartley and Mark Patterson. Victims of the rain and aquaplaning were Greaves Motorsport and Morand Racing who were both forced to retire.

The Autodromo Enzo & Dino Ferrari in the Italian city of Imola hosted the European Le Mans Series' competitors in warm sunshine for the second round of the season. The weekend offered great motorsport entertainment combining endurance and GT racing, thanks to the presence in the paddock and on the track of the FFSA GT Tour. The nine LMP2s present at Silverstone welcomed a newcomer to their ranks, the Lola B12/80 Coupe-Judd of HMV Status driven by the Swiss-Canadian duo of Jonathan Hirschi and Tony Burgess. For the second consecutive time, Oliver Turvey took pole position for Jota Sport, but the car had to retire following a collision with a competitor.  

Switzerland's Mathias Beche took over from Jonathan Hirschi at the wheel of the Thiriet by TDS Racing ORECA 03 Nissan and, at the end of a race which was hotly contested between all the LMP2 protagonists (Jota Sport, Thiriet by TDS Racing, Signatech Alpine, Murphy Prototypes and Morand Racing), the 2012 champions reprised their winning ways, finishing 46 seconds ahead of the other French team, Signatech Alpine (Pierre Ragues, Nelson Panciatici).  On the third step of the podium, Natacha Gachnang and Franck Mailleux could be proud of their performance at the wheel of the Morand Racing team's No.43 Morgan Judd.  Michel Frey and Patric Niederhauser (Race Performance) finished off the podium in front of the No.3 Zytek Z11SN of Greaves Motorsport driven by David Heinemeier Hansson and Tom Kimber-Smith which had been delayed by a penalty imposed for a pit lane infringement. The No.18 Murphy Prototypes ORECA 03 Nissan finished the race in 6th place after encountering starter motor problems at the first round of pit stops, ahead of No.4 Boutsen Ginion Racing Lola B12/80 Coupe Judd and HVM Status. DKR Engineering and Jota Sport were unclassified.

The third ELMS round took place alongside the World Series by Renault: a weekend of fantastic racing in July. Spectators had the chance to see the worlds of endurance and single-seaters combined in one single paddock.  On the Red Bull Ring circuit in Austria 80 km from Graz, 26 cars made ​​up the ELMS, among which were eight LMP2s. HVM Status GP entered at Imola in the run up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans but it didn't maintain its entry for the remainder of the ELMS season, and neither did Greaves Motorsport or DKR Engineering.  However, a new team, SMP Racing, made ​​its debut appearance in Austria with the No. 37 ORECA 03 Nissan driven by Italian Maurizio Mediani and Russian Sergey Zlobin.

Thanks to another pole position, Oliver Turvey (Jota Sport) led away the third round ahead of the No.18 Murphy Prototypes entry, the No. 1 Thiriet by TDS Racing and the No.43 Morand Racing Morgan Judd. Following another hotly contested race, Murphy Prototypes (Jonathan Hirschi and Brendon Hartley) finished at the back of the field after having encountered starter motor problems which caused them to lose precious time. Pierre Thiriet and Mathias Beche won the race in the No.1 ORECA 03 Nissan, followed by Signatech Alpine's Pierre Ragues and Nelson Panciatici.  The No.43 Morgan Judd of Morand Racing was third, giving European endurance racing fans an LMP2 podium identical to that in Imola. Delayed by a penalty awarded for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane, the No.38 Zytek Z11SN of Oliver Turvey and Simon Dolan (Jota Sport) finished in fourth place ahead of Race Performance's ORECA 03 Judd and SMP Racing's Nissan-powered ORECA.  Boutsen Ginion Racing ‘s No.4 entry, driven for the event by two FIA WEC pilots, Thomas Holzer and Dominik Kraihamer, was forced to retire on the 69th lap.

The penultimate round took place in September in Hungary at the Hungaroring track and three new drivers opened their account in the ELMS. John Hartshorne was teamed up with Kuwaiti Khaled Al Mudhaf and Briton Alex Kapadia in Boutsen Ginion Racing's No.4 ORECA 03 Nissan. Morand Racing's line up was also altered; Franck Mailleux replaced by Austrian ex F1 driver Christian Klien, alongside Natacha Gachnang.

As in Austria, eight LMP2s took the start of the 3 Hours of Hungaroring.  After a qualifying session run in torrential rain, Brendon Hartley seized his first pole position of the season for the Irish Murphy Prototypes team.  Racing in similar weather conditions to the opening round in England, the fourth race of the ELMS season saw competitors do battle in the rain, forcing them to play a skillful hand when it came to tyre choice. Signatech Alpine, the only LMP2 on Michelins, judged it perfectly while all the other teams had to make several pit stops before getting it right. The French Signatech Alpine team thus brilliantly recorded its first victory of the season, ahead of the No.18 ORECA 03Nissan of Murphy Prototypes and Jota Sport's No.38 Zytek Nissan Z11SN. The No.37 SMP Racing ORECA, driven by Sergey Zlobin and Maurizio Mediani, finished just off the podium with a lap in hand ahead of the No.43 Morand Racing Morgan Judd (Christian Klien, Natacha Gachnang). Victim of a collision with another competitor on the first lap, Thiriet by TDS Racing had to pit to change the car's front bodywork. The team lost a good many places as a result but staged a fight back through the whole field to eventually finish in 6th place overall ahead of Boutsen Ginion Racing. At the end of the season's penultimate race, the 2013 ELMS title fight was still wide open.

The Paul Ricard circuit in France hosted the final round of the European Le Mans Series.  Five drivers and three teams would go into battle to win the inaugural LMP2 titles of the re-launched ELMS. Pierre Thiriet, Pierre Ragues and Nelson Panciatici each had 73 points, while Simon Dolan and Oliver Turvey were only 18 points behind.  In the teams' points standings, Signatech Alpine and Thiriet by TDS Racing were tied, followed by Jota Sport...if they won and if the leaders had a problem, anything was still possible. The same eight LMP2s which were entered at Red Bull Ring and Hungary made ​​the trip for the final round, with 17 drivers passionate and motivated to win. The British Jota Sport team opened proceedings with another pole position, its fourth of the season from five races. The first hour of the race offered up a tremendous battle between Jota and Murphy Prototypes, but also between the No.1 Thiriet by TDS Racing ORECA 03 Nissan and the No.43 Morand Racing Morgan Judd for third place overall.

Blows came for each of the protagonists.  Mathias Beche lost his left rear wheel, pitching the car into a spin. Back in the pits, the mechanics repaired the damage but any hopes of victory and the European title were long gone for the 2012 Teams champion.  In the Signatech Alpine camp another mishap related to a recalcitrant steering wheel lost the French team valuable time.  As the chequered flag was shown, Brendon Hartley clinched a first victory for Murphy Prototypes, 6.6 seconds ahead of the No.43 Morgan Judd of Natacha Gachnang (Morand Racing), their best result of the season. Simon Dolan claimed the third step of the podium for Jota Sport in the No.38 Zytek Nissan 15.4 seconds behind Natacha and 62 seconds ahead of Nelson Panciatici in the No.36 Signatech Alpine. Fourth place was enough for the French team to win the European championship title and trophy, as well as an automatic invitation to the entry list for next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In the paddocks of the Paul Ricard circuit, once the chequered flag had fallen and night had set in, it was time for everyone to party, thanks to a fabulous season which was full of dynamism, surprises, and endless excitement.  See you in 2014 for a new season of European endurance racing.

Meanwhile, everyone within the ELMS is very proud to see Brendon Hartley join the list of drivers for the new Porsche LMP1 team in the FIA ​​WEC.

Final ELMS LMP2 Standings

Signatech Alpine                             No.36 Alpine Nissan                                      85 points Thiriet by TDS Racing                     No.1 ORECA 03 Nissan                                  77 points Jota Sport                                          No.38 Zytek Nissan Z11SN                          71 points Murphy Prototypes                       No.18 ORECA03 Nissan                                64 points Morand Racing                                                No.43 Morgan Judd                                       58 points Race Performance                         No.34 ORECA03 Judd                                    46 points Boutsen Ginion Racing                 No.4 ORECA03 Nissan                                   32 points SMP Racing                                       No.37 ORECA03 Nissan                                                28 points Greaves Motorsport                     No.3 Zytek Nissan Z11SN                            10 points DKR Engineering                             Lola B11/40 Judd                                             8 points HVM Status GP                                               Lola B12/80 Judd Coupe                              4 points