2014 European Le Mans Series

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The 2014 European Le Mans Series season was the eleventh season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's European Le Mans Series. The five-event season began at Silverstone Circuit, in conjunction with the FIA World Endurance Championship, from 18–19 April and ended at Autódromo do Estoril on 19 October.[1]

In the lead LMP2 class, five different teams won the five races that were held during the 2014 season. However, it was Signatech Alpine and their triumvirate of Paul-Loup Chatin, Nelson Panciatici and Oliver Webb that won the respective titles; they won the race at the Red Bull Ring, and ultimately won the championship by four points from the Jota Sport trio Filipe Albuquerque, Simon Dolan and Harry Tincknell, who won at Imola. Third place in the championship went to Le Castellet winners Gary Hirsch and Christian Klien for Newblood by Morand Racing. Other race winners included Pierre Ragues – who was part of the Hirsch-Klien Le Castellet entry – having joined the team mid-season, Sébastien Loeb Racing duo Vincent Capillaire and Jimmy Eriksson were winners at Estoril, while the opening race at Silverstone was won by Thiriet by TDS Racing, with their drivers Ludovic Badey, Tristan Gommendy and Pierre Thiriet.

In the GTE class, SMP Racing and their drivers Andrea Bertolini, Viktor Shaytar and Sergey Zlobin took their respective titles with a final round victory at Estoril while the pre-race championship leaders AF Corse, with drivers Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin struggled in the race; having led by 21 points going into the race, Cameron and Griffin eventually lost the title by 3.5 points to Bertolini, Shaitar and Zlobin. The teams shared all five wins during the season; SMP Racing won two races, while AF Corse won three, with Cameron and Griffin being joined by Michele Rugolo for the victories; however, as Rugolo missed the Imola event, he finished six points behind them in the championship.

SMP Racing also took the honours in the GTC class, as Olivier Beretta, Devi Markozov and Anton Ladygin finished all five races on the podium – with a victory at Le Castellet – to take class honours by 15.5 points ahead of Formula Racing duo Johnny Laursen and Mikkel Mac, who won with Andrea Piccini at Imola. Third in the class championship went to another SMP Racing entry, with drivers Kirill Ladygin, Aleksey Basov and Luca Persiani, who won the race at the Red Bull Ring. Other race victories went to Team Ukraine at Silverstone with drivers Andrii Kruglyk, Sergey Chukanov and Alessandro Pier Guidi, and BMW Sport Trophy Marc VDS at Estoril, with their trio of Bas Leinders, Markus Palttala and Henry Hassid.

Regulations[]

The top class continued to be LMP2, where a car of 2–3 drivers had to include at least one silver or bronze-ranking driver. GTE and GTC cars had to include one bronze and silver driver or two bronze drivers. Finally, LMPC was not a part of the 2014 season. Unlike in 2013, tyre warming was allowed in the 2014 season.[1]

Calendar[]

The provisional calendar was announced during the final round of the 2013 European Le Mans Series season at Circuit Paul Ricard. However, to avoid date clashes with the FIA World Endurance Championship, a revised schedule was released, with rounds 2 and 5 being moved back one week. The first round was held alongside the first round of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season at Silverstone Circuit.[2] Additionally, all races lasted an hour longer than in 2013, from three hours to four.

Rnd Race Circuit Date
1 4 Hours of Silverstone United Kingdom Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, United Kingdom 19 April
2 4 Hours of Imola Italy Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy 18 May
3 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring Austria Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria 20 July
4 4 Hours of Le Castellet France Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 14 September
5 4 Hours of Estoril Portugal Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril, Portugal 19 October

Entry list[]

The entry list was announced on February 13. It featured 42 cars, comprising 13 LMP2, 13 GTE and 16 GTC:

  • LMP2 featured four Orecas (Boutsen Ginion, Sébastien Loeb, Race Performance and Murphy), three Zyteks (Greaves, Jota and Caterham), three Morgans (Pegasus, Morand and Larbre), two Alpines (Signatech) and a Ligier (Thiriet by TDS).
  • GTE featured 8 Ferraris (AF Corse, AT Racing, JMW and Kessel), four Porsches (IMSA, Gulf and Crubilé) and an Aston Martin (Gulf).
  • GTC featured 11 Ferraris (AF Corse, SMP, SOFREV-ASP, Formula and Ukraine), two McLarens (ART), a Porsche (Pro GT by Almeras) and a BMW (Barwell).

LMP2[]

Entrant/Team Car Engine Tyre No. Drivers Rounds
France Sébastien Loeb Racing Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 M 24 France Vincent Capillaire 1–2, 4–5
Czech Republic Jan Charouz 1–2
France Arthur Pic 4
Italy Andrea Roda 4
Sweden Jimmy Eriksson 5
United Kingdom Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 D 28 United Kingdom James Littlejohn 1
United Kingdom James Walker 1
United Kingdom Anthony Wells 1
United Kingdom Luciano Bacheta 3–5
Russia Mark Shulzhitskiy 3–5
41 United States Matt McMurry All
United Kingdom Tom Kimber-Smith 1–3
United States Chris Dyson 1
United States Mark Patterson 3
United Kingdom Johnny Mowlem 4
Portugal Miguel Faísca 5
United Kingdom James Fletcher 5
Germany Pegasus Racing Morgan LMP2 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 D 29 United Kingdom Jonathan Coleman All
Switzerland Nicolas Leutwiler All
France Julien Schell All
Switzerland Race Performance Oreca 03 Judd HK 3.6 L V8 D 34 Switzerland Michel Frey All
France Franck Mailleux All
Switzerland Patric Niederhauser 5
France Signatech Alpine Alpine A450 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 M
D
36 France Paul-Loup Chatin All
France Nelson Panciatici All
United Kingdom Oliver Webb All
United Kingdom Jota Sport Zytek Z11SN Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 D 38 Portugal Filipe Albuquerque All
United Kingdom Simon Dolan All
United Kingdom Harry Tincknell All
Switzerland Newblood by Morand Racing Morgan LMP2 Judd HK 3.6 L V8 D 43 Switzerland Gary Hirsch All
Austria Christian Klien All
France Romain Brandela 1–2
France Pierre Ragues 3–5
France Thiriet by TDS Racing Morgan LMP2[N 1]
Ligier JS P2[N 2]
Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 D 46 France Ludovic Badey All
France Tristan Gommendy All
France Pierre Thiriet All
Republic of Ireland Murphy Prototypes Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 D 48 Venezuela Rodolfo González 1–2, 4
India Karun Chandhok 1–2
United Kingdom Alex Kapadia 1
France Nathanaël Berthon 2, 4
Brazil Pipo Derani 4–5
United Kingdom James Littlejohn 5
United Kingdom Anthony Wells 5
France Larbre Compétition Morgan LMP2 Judd HK 3.6 L V8 M 50 Japan Keiko Ihara 1
Colombia Gustavo Yacamán 1

LM GTE[]

Entrant/Team Car Engine Tyre No. Drivers Rounds
Italy AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 54 Italy Marco Cioci All
United Kingdom Michael Lyons All
Italy Piergiuseppe Perazzini All
55 United Kingdom Duncan Cameron All
Republic of Ireland Matt Griffin All
Italy Michele Rugolo 1, 3–5
Italy Mirko Venturi 2
65 Italy Lorenzo Casè 2
Italy Raffaele Giammaria 2
United States Peter Mann 2
70 France Emmanuel Collard 3–5
France Yannick Mallegol 3–5
France François Perrodo 3–5
Austria AT Racing Ferrari F458 Italia Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 56 Germany Pierre Kaffer All
Belarus Alexander Talkanitsa, Sr. All
Belarus Alexander Talkanitsa, Jr. 1–3, 5
Italy Mirko Venturi 4
France Team Sofrev ASP Ferrari F458 Italia Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 58 France Soheil Ayari All
France Fabien Barthez All
France Anthony Pons All
United Kingdom JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 66 United Kingdom Daniel McKenzie All
United Kingdom George Richardson All
Italy Daniel Zampieri 1–2, 5
United Kingdom Rob Bell 3
United Kingdom James Walker 4
France IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 M 67 France Éric Hélary All
France Erik Maris All
France Jean-Marc Merlin All
76 France Nicolas Armindo All
France Raymond Narac All
France David Hallyday 1–2
Denmark Christina Nielsen 3–5
Russia SMP Racing Ferrari F458 Italia Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 72 Italy Andrea Bertolini All
Russia Viktor Shaytar All
Russia Sergey Zlobin All
Germany Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 M 77 Austria Horst Felbermayr, Jr. 3
Austria Horst Felbermayr, Sr. 3
Austria Richard Lietz 3
Switzerland Kessel Racing Ferrari F458 Italia Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 80 Poland Michał Broniszewski 1–2, 4–5
Italy Giacomo Piccini 1–2, 4–5
81 Italy Matteo Cressoni 1–4
Italy Thomas Kemenater 1–4
France Crubilé Sport Porsche 997 GT3 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 M 82 France Emmanuel Collard 1–2
France Sébastien Crubilé 1–2
France François Perrodo 1–2
United Kingdom Gulf Racing UK Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 M 85 United Kingdom Daniel Brown All
Germany Roald Goethe All
United Kingdom Stuart Hall All
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR[N 3]
Porsche 911 RSR[N 4]
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 86 United Kingdom Adam Carroll All
United Kingdom Michael Wainwright All
United Kingdom Ben Barker 1–2, 4–5
United Kingdom Michael Meadows 3

GTC[]

Entrant/Team Car Engine Tyre No. Drivers Rounds
France Sébastien Loeb Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra Audi 5.2 L V10 M 51 France Henry Hassid 1
France Olivier Lombard 1
France Mike Parisy 1
Russia SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 57 Italy Maurizio Mediani 2–5
Russia Boris Rotenberg 2–5
Finland Mika Salo 2–5
71 Russia Aleksey Basov All
Russia Kirill Ladygin All
Italy Luca Persiani All
73 Monaco Olivier Beretta All
Russia Anton Ladygin All
Russia Devi Markozov All
France Team Sofrev ASP Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 59 France Jean-Philippe Belloc All
France Christophe Bourret All
France Pascal Gibon 1–2, 4–5
France Jean-Luc Beaubelique 3
Denmark Formula Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 60 Denmark Johnny Laursen All
Denmark Mikkel Mac All
Denmark Jan Magnussen 1, 3–5
Italy Andrea Piccini 2
Italy AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 62 France Jean-Marc Bachelier 1–2
United States Howard Blank 1–2
France Yannick Mallegol 1–2
63 Denmark Mads Rasmussen All
Denmark Dennis Lind 1
Russia Ilya Melnikov 2–3
Portugal Filipe Barreiros 4–5
Portugal Francisco Guedes 5
94 Italy Francesco Castellacci 2, 4
Switzerland Thomas Flohr 2, 4
Italy Andrea Rizzoli 4
95 Belgium Adrien De Leener All
Monaco Cédric Sbirrazzuoli All
Belgium Prospeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 M 75 France Gilles Vannelet All
Belgium Maxime Soulet 1–2, 5
Netherlands Paul van Splunteren 1–2
Netherlands Max van Splunteren 3–5
France Mike Parisy 3–4
Russia Team Russia by Barwell BMW Z4 GT3 BMW 4.4 L V8 M 78 United Kingdom Jonny Cocker All
Russia Leo Machitski All
Russia Timur Sardarov All
Belgium BMW Sport Trophy Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT3 BMW 4.4 L V8 M 87 France Henry Hassid 5
Belgium Bas Leinders 5
Finland Markus Palttala 5
Italy Ombra Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 92 Italy Mario Cordoni 4–5
Italy Andrea Montermini 5
Italy Marco Zanuttini 4–5
France Pro GT by Alméras Porsche 997 GT3-R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 M 93 France Franck Perera 1–4
France Eric Dermont 1–2, 4
France Lucas Lasserre 1–2, 4
France Henry Hassid 3
France Matthieu Vaxivière 3
Ukraine Team Ukraine Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 M 96 Ukraine Sergey Chukanov 1
Ukraine Andrii Kruglyk 1
Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi 1
France ART Grand Prix McLaren MP4-12C GT3 McLaren 3.8 L Turbo V8 M 98 France Grégoire Demoustier All
France Yann Goudy All
Estonia Kevin Korjus All
99 Switzerland Karim Ajlani All
United Kingdom Alex Brundle All
Mexico Ricardo González All

Season results[]

Rnd. Circuit LMP2 Winning Team LMGTE Winning Team GTC Winning Team Results
LMP2 Winning Drivers LMGTE Winning Drivers GTC Winning Drivers
1 Silverstone France No. 46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Italy No. 55 AF Corse Ukraine No. 96 Team Ukraine Report
France Ludovic Badey
France Tristan Gommendy
France Pierre Thiriet
United Kingdom Duncan Cameron
Republic of Ireland Matt Griffin
Italy Michele Rugolo
Ukraine Sergey Chukanov
Ukraine Andrii Kruglyk
Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi
2 Imola United Kingdom No. 38 Jota Sport Russia No. 72 SMP Racing Denmark No. 60 Formula Racing Report
Portugal Filipe Albuquerque
United Kingdom Simon Dolan
United Kingdom Harry Tincknell
Italy Andrea Bertolini
Russia Viktor Shaytar
Russia Sergey Zlobin
Denmark Johnny Laursen
Denmark Mikkel Mac
Italy Andrea Piccini
3 Red Bull France No. 36 Signatech Alpine Italy No. 55 AF Corse Russia No. 71 SMP Racing Report
France Paul-Loup Chatin
France Nelson Panciatici
United Kingdom Oliver Webb
United Kingdom Duncan Cameron
Republic of Ireland Matt Griffin
Italy Michele Rugolo
Russia Aleksey Basov
Russia Kirill Ladygin
Italy Luca Persiani
4 Paul Ricard Switzerland No. 43 Newblood by Morand Racing Italy No. 55 AF Corse Russia No. 73 SMP Racing
Switzerland Gary Hirsch
Austria Christian Klien
France Pierre Ragues
United Kingdom Duncan Cameron
Republic of Ireland Matt Griffin
Italy Michele Rugolo
Monaco Olivier Beretta
Russia Anton Ladygin
Russia Devi Markozov
5 Estoril France No. 24 Sébastien Loeb Racing Russia No. 72 SMP Racing Belgium No. 87 BMW Sport Trophy Marc VDS
France
Sweden Jimmy Eriksson
Italy Andrea Bertolini
Russia Viktor Shaytar
Russia Sergey Zlobin
France Henry Hassid
Belgium Bas Leinders
Finland Markus Palttala

Notes[]

  1. ^ Rounds 1–2.
  2. ^ Rounds 3–5.
  3. ^ Rounds 1–3.
  4. ^ Rounds 4–5.

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Changes of the European Le Mans Series in 2014". European Le Mans Series. 5 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  2. ^ Dagys, John (5 November 2013). "Revised 2014 ELMS Schedule Released". Sportscar365. Retrieved 4 October 2014.

External links[]

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