The GTE era was magnificent, it produced stunning racing around the world, spectacular looking and sounding cars, and launched countless careers of aspirant racers looking to climb the motorsport ladder and compete at the highest level of endurance racing.
To gain further insight into what that era was like to be a part of, DSC polled a selection of GTE drivers, with varying levels of experience, to find out what they’ll miss from behind the wheel, which cars stood out and which races lived longest in the memory.
Is there a race you’ll never forget?
Matt Griffin: “There are so many memories. I am lucky to have been around at the start of GTE era and still around for the end of it. If I were to pinpoint one, it would be 2017 at Silverstone in the WEC. I was there with Clearwater Racing, a brand new team with a cool ethos, they were so popular. Rather than a Singaporean team come and put their name on a car and have other people run it all for them, they wanted to come with their guys.
“They had guys over from all over Asia, and they had mainly GT3 experience from Asian Le Mans and Bathurst, but no GTE experience. It was the debut for them in the WEC, the race was topsy-turvy, wet-dry. And what stands out is that the beauty of a GTE car is that you can only drive it at 100 per cent. Other cars you might not be at the limit, GTE demands you to be there. Mok Weng Sun, Keita Sawa and I were maximum attack the whole race, we were leading but had to do a splash. They told me the win was out the window, we were 10 seconds from Miguel Molina and Pedro Lamy.
“I was so in tune with the Ferrari. All GTE cars are great but the 488 GTE is an amazing car and everything fell into place. I found myself driving at the limit, enjoying it, and on the last lap I caught Miguel and Pedro. As we went into Stowe Miguel tried an over-ambitious move, they touched and it was a ‘Days of Thunder’-style move. Both cars lost control and I found a gap through the middle. And we won the race.
“Yes it’s an important win for my career in the GTE era, but it was more because it was the debut for the team in the World Championship. They were a proper team, so if I had to pick one memory, it is that one.”
Earl Bamber: “When we had the years where we had 17 GTE Pro cars at Le Mans (2018 and 2019), that was something really special. To be able to enjoy top-class sports car racing at that highest level and fighting against the best outfits and best manufacturers in the world was really, really cool. It’s a shame that it’s going away but I think it’s going to be reborn in some way in GT3.”
Gianmaria Bruni: “There are two memories. One is 2014 when we won Le Mans after a long battle with Aston Martin in the #51 Ferrari, it was the last Le Mans we won together. Then the last one I won with Porsche in 2022. It was so emotional and such an achievement.
“I also think of Silverstone in the WEC back in 2019, I fought so hard and won. It was the first win for the 911 RSR 19, and I was so happy that day, in the perfect environment with Richy (Lietz). I’m so proud to have won the 911 RSR 19’s first race at Silverstone and its last as a factory car at Le Mans.
“It’s a shame we are going to GT3 for the future, but it makes sense.”
Jonny Adam: “I have so many memories of GTE with AMR. The first time I drove one was in the WEC at Silverstone in 2012 with Paul White and Andrew Howard in a one-off in a Gulf-liveried car stands out.
“The highlight though is Le Mans in 2017, to get the win at the end of the race. And at that time there were so many cars, with so many pro drivers. That was the pinnacle.”
Richard Westbrook: “Lots of people use the term ‘the Golden Era of GT Racing’, and they’re not wrong. You have to pinch yourself when you look back at years like 2017, 2018 and 2019. You had this train of GTE Pro cars at Le Mans… 20 cars nose-to-tail for 24 hours.
“It really was an arms race with manufacturers and everyone being so close. There were top brands in there. I was fortunate enough to drive for four manufacturers during that period – Porsche, Corvette, Ford and Aston Martin. It really was a special time, there’s no doubt about it. It will be something that people will look back on in 20 years’ time and a father will tell his son a story of how he was at Le Mans during that time, and the kid probably won’t believe it! It was that close… just intense racing from start to finish.”
What did the GTE era mean for your career?
Matt Griffin: “I think of the platform it created to work with gentlemen drivers and the natural progression for a guy like Duncan Cameron.
“We’d done GT3 and all the time I was racing for Ferrari and AF in GTE and Duncan wanted to race at Le Mans. Obviously, you couldn’t with GT3, so it was the only option. You can’t just arrive at Le Mans either if you want to be competitive, you need preparation.
“The pro side was competitive, and arguably the best class in the WEC in terms of pure competition, but in Pro/Am it was equally feisty. Sometimes I was in a Pro car, sometimes an Am, and I’d jump between it.
“The majority of am drivers are extremely successful people, success and hard work in life is linked. I think Duncan, Christian Ried and guys like Claudio Schiavoni, they relish the challenge of racing a GTE car and what it means. It is so difficult and we will lose that challenge in GT3. The competition will be the same but the pure act of driving is so much tougher in a GTE car than GT3.”
Matteo Cairoli: “These cars are special, and the racing with them is another level. It helps to show the ability of a driver and it certainly allowed me to show what I could do. Without GTE it’s possible that I might not have had the career I have enjoyed. And every single time you drive these cars it is a total pleasure.”
Nico Varrone: “It’s been really special to drive in GTE this year. This class has been the heart of Le Mans for a lot of years now. It’s attracted some of the best drivers and teams, fantastic battles, great cars, great development. It marks the end of a golden era.
“The C8.R is such a beautiful racecar. There is no ABS, it’s super fast, it feels a lot like a prototype. Driving that around Le Mans is pretty unique, and any driver who has taken a GTE car around Le Mans knows what I’m talking about.”
Richard Westbrook: “I was fortunate enough to be in the IMSA category for a number of years, and it was just ridiculously good racing. Every track you went to, you didn’t know who was going to win. If you weren’t in a position to win, you weren’t going to finish 30 seconds behind. It was that close.
“It was all down to strategy, driver performance on used tires, lots of fuel mileage… it had every ingredient to make classic sports car racing. It’s something that I doubt we will ever see again. I think fans related to it because for instance, someone could own a Corvette road car and they’d be cheering on the Corvette Racing team. It was the same with Aston Martin, Porsche and Ford. It really struck a chord with fans.”
Gianmaria Bruni: “I think about my teammates. I was lucky to race in the early years of my GT career with Giancarlo Fisichella as a teammate. And over the years with Toni Vilander, who has become one of my best friends.
“I moved forward and went to Porsche, I met Richard (Lietz), he’s a different character, who has a different approach. But he has taught me a lot. I’ve learned something from everybody I’ve raced with.”
What will you miss the most?
Matt Griffin: “It’s totally different to other GT cars. The 488 GTE and GT3 have the same platform but feel completely different. The GTE is much more visceral, you don’t have ABS, it feels like you have more downforce. Most of the time you’re on a confidential tyre too, so you feel the grip, the physicality. It all feels so much better. I am happy to have driven to the 430 GT2, the 458 GTE car and the 488, and the 458 stands out because of the noise.
“It’s funny, the GT3 car feels numb compared to the GTE. It’s an amazing car, progress is what it is, and next year in the WEC there will be excitement with more variety, but as a driver and this will be echoed, it’s super sad to see the back of GTE.”
Richard Westbrook: “GTE just had everything, except fighting for overall wins. With 200 horsepower more, we all dreamed of that. But it was something special. I will miss the arms race. The bar kept changing, manufacturers threw everything at it. I was lucky enough to be there with Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin and Ford.
“The tyres changed a lot too, the tyre development was insane. The manufacturers kept coming out and resetting the bar. By the end things were so different, if I compare the first Porsche to the Ford GT. There really should always be a pro class in GT racing because it attracts the best drivers.”
Nicky Catsburg: “I absolutely love the GTE class. It’s probably been my favourite class throughout my career. Those cars are real thoroughbred racers. When you look at GTE Pro, for me that was potentially the highest level of racing across all levels. I always thought that GTE Pro was the most difficult class to win at Le Mans in terms of outright quality and amount of cars.
“It was a class where I always wanted to be and always wanted to measure myself against the best. I absolutely loved GTE. GTE Am is a little bit of a step down from GTE Pro, but I still believe it’s a class that is extremely cool to race in. It’s a shame to see it go and say goodbye. Of course, GT3 will still be very exciting and it will be very cool to drive in. There will be more cars and more opportunities. It’s a worldwide, unified class that has so many benefits.”
James Calado: “GTE Pro, at its best, was amongst the very best racing in the world, every car was right there, the teams were absolutely world class and the depth of driver talent meant that if you won you new t was a real achievement. With many of those guys now in Hypercar a hole new audience is getting to see how good they all are, trust me I already knew!”
Earl Bamber: “For me, the GTE era was just a pure form of racing. I started my GT career in GTLM career in America. I remember when I did LMP1 and that programme stopped, I was asked where I’d like to go race and I said that I’d really like to go race GTLM or GTE cars.
“It was one of the only places in the world left where you had constant development of the cars with manufacturers, and you had constant open tire development as well. Obviously, the manufacturers with all the best drivers in the world going at it said it all.”
Nico Varrone: “GT3 is the next big thing coming, but it’s not the same… ABS and more electronics. Some drivers may like it and it may take away a lot of technique. I will miss GTE a lot because those are cars that required more from the driver, and it was really a pleasure to drive.”
Jonny Adam: “With GT3 nowadays you have electronic aids like ABS, and am drivers enjoy not having that. The cars have so much downforce now too. That with a confidential tyre from Goodyear, Dunlop of Michelin, it’s special, particularly at Le Mans during the night in Qualifying.
“Ferrari, Porsche and Aston have been so loyal and it’s a shame it’s ending. But at the same time, things move on.”
Ben Keating: “What I loved about GTE is that you had a Pro class, and all the BoP was set based on the Pro class in the previous year. So you didn’t have a need for these big, sweeping changes from week to week to week. They knew where the cars were, and you always knew that you had a chance instead of being pencil-whipped by the technical team. Going forward with no pro GT class, they won’t have that information. I have faith they’ll do a good job, but it’s going to be tough. You’re not going to have the ability to do well every weekend, whereas currently, we have the ability to perform well, which I really enjoy.
“I spend a lot of money and a lot of time to be here, and I don’t want to go into a race weekend without feeling like I at least have a shot at doing well. I really love that about GTE. I love that the tire from Michelin is designed specifically for each individual car. That’s a big deal to have a tyre designed for your car, and the Michelins that are on the Corvette are different than the ones on the Porsche, on the Ferrari or on the Aston Martin. That’s a really big deal for the performance level of these cars. I really love in GTE Am, every car is required to have a Bronze, a Silver and either a Gold or Platinum. With how the WEC handles safety cars, you don’t get them very often.
“So my time in the car matters racing in GTE. I really like that, and I like that these cars don’t have ABS. I feel like that is the big separator between Bronze drivers and of who has the skill of braking without locking up and still going fast. When everyone has ABS like they will next year, you step on the brake like an 800-lb gorilla and let the computer do the work. It makes everyone a hero in the braking zone. I’m a little disappointed that that skill will be going away from GT racing.
“The cars are so well-designed. Most of the GT3 cars are designed to be customer cars. All the GTE cars are designed to be pro-level racecars. There’s just a little bit little extra in every way. I love that. It’s definitely a skill that you have to develop, and it’s been a lot of fun to develop the skills to be fast in these cars.”
Gianmaria Bruni: “I’ve been racing GTs since 2007, in FIA GT then ELMS, then ILMC then FIA WEC. What will I miss? You had to be so fast, and consistent and manage the tyres. They’re so beautiful and powerful. Over the years they have evolved too.
“In terms of driving, the cars were much faster down the straights but slow through corners in the beginning. Now they’re super fast in corners but slow in a straight line. We lost a lot of straight-line speed but in terms of corner speed, electronics and safety, an amazing step forward.
“The biggest improvements in terms of aero and downforce was clearly down to Ford in 2016, it raised the game. Every new car tried to match that car with its corner speed.”
Which car stands out to you?
David Perel: “I just love 488 GTE. It’s is the best car I’ve ever driven. I have driven enough race cars to know the 488 GTE is special. I understand why it should go away, but I am sad. I am privileged to have raced one of these things. They just feel different, and I love that you’re always in a mixed-class race dealing with being lapped.”
Nicky Catsburg: “The C8.R is the best GTE car that I’ve ever driven. It’s such a versatile car that is good at anything you throw at it. Tracks like Le Mans, little tracks, big tracks, high-speed corners, low-speed stuff… the car is just a championship-winner.
“It’s not just good at one thing, and that’s what makes it so strong. We’ve always been able to adjust our setup and car to the tracks and perform well everywhere. It’s an amazing car. It’s a car that I’ve always felt comfortable in, and it’s a car that I will miss driving, although it’s clear that the Corvette GT3 will be similar.”
James Calado” “The Ferrari 488 GTE was just the perfect GT car. Great power, great torque, great balance. You could push very hard and find a little something that could make the difference. I love the new Hypercar, and I have raced some amazing cars in my career but the 488 will always be special, we had some bad days, but the good days were very, very good indeed!”
Christian Ried: “The Porsche 911 RSR changed everything for me. I have driven Porsches for over 20 years but this car is another world. In some ways it was this that decided for me to stop, that’s how good it was, The 911 RSR ruined everything else for me because after racing it everything else seems less impressive.”
