The 2024 European Le Mans Series season comes to a close this weekend with the 39-car field set to do battle in a four-hour Saturday race at Portimão.
Fireworks are expected in all four classes as no champions have yet been crowned. So, expect high drama up and down the order as the teams battle for championships and of course, for those all-important invitations to the Le Mans 24 Hours next June, which will be awarded to the championship-winning teams in all four classes and the runner-up in LMP2.
The 2024 season has been electric, with each of the five races so far this year delivering thrilling on-track battles between some of the best talent sportscar racing has to offer.
But, all good things must come to an end, and for the European Le Mans Series in 2024, the curtain is about to come down on another extraordinary campaign.
AO by TF’s title to lose in LMP2?
With podiums at Paul Ricard and Imola, plus a win at Spa, AO by TF finds itself at the top of the table in LMP2 with its Louis Deletraz-Jonny Edgar-Robert Kubica combination.
Heading into the season, AO by TF’s line-up was widely considered one of the favourites. And since their slow start to the season at Barcelona, all three drivers have been impressive and lived up to the pre-season expectations.
They lead Inter Europol Competition’s #43 trio by eight points after finishing fifth at Mugello and, crucially, three places up the road from Sebastián Álvarez, Tom Dillmann and Vladislav Lomko. (In the Teams’ championship, the gap is slimmer, just six points separate the #14 and #43)
Inter Europol’s season has been somewhat of an enigma. Both its ORECAs have shown race-winning pace throughout the year, but the race results tell a different story.
The #43 crew’s campaign, which featured a win, fourth and second in the middle portion of the season, has been superb and put them firmly in contention for the title.
The #34 drivers, meanwhile, sit seventh in the table after a DNF at Paul Ricard and just two top-five finishes, one being a well-earned podium at Mugello last time out.
For the sake of the championship, Inter Europol will hope the #43’s fine form continues in Portugal, as it looks to secure its first ELMS LMP2 title and a spot on the grid for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Two other cars are mathematically still in play. The #65 Panis Racing entry of Arthur Leclerc, Charles Milesi and Manuel Maldonado is one of them. Off the back of its win at Imola – the French team heads to Portugal on 60 points, 15 points behind AO by TF in the Drivers’ and Teams’ standings.
IDEC Sport’s ORECA is also in with a chance, though the odds are stacked against it. The French team is 25 points off the lead, meaning pole and a victory – plus a heavy dose of luck – are required.
Ultimately, barring major drama, it looks set to be an AO by TF-Inter Europol Competition duel. Assuming neither car takes the point for pole position, victory in Portugal for either team will secure them the title. Even so, it still feels like a ‘clash of the titans’.
Mugello struggles pile pressure on AF Corse in Pro/Am
After the weekend in Spa, in which AF Corse’s #83 ORECA of Francois Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Alessio Rovera claimed their second win of the season and Richard Mille by TDS’ contending car retired, it appeared that the pendulum had firmly swung the Italian team’s way in the LMP2 Pro/Am title race.
However, Mugello’s classification saw TDS’s Mathias Beche, Rodrigo Sales and Gregoire Saucy claim a second victory and all the momentum ahead of the final weekend.
Just two points now separate the two teams, giving us the tantalising prospect of a winner-takes-all contest.
However, this is still a four-way battle. The #20 Imola-winning Algarve Pro Racing ORECA is just eight points adrift after a standout campaign for Richard Bradley Kriton Lentoudis and Alex Quinn. And Proton’s car, which has racked up three podium finishes and four pole positions, is also in with an outside chance, sitting 17 points off the lead.
Which team will come out on top with the heat dialled up? We will find out soon enough…
Two points between three contenders in LMP3
The LMP3 championship battle has been brewing nicely during the season and will reach its crescendo on Saturday when Eurointernational, Team Virage and RLR MSports’ front-running Ligiers go head-to-head for the crown.
There’s almost nothing to separate the three contenders, with Adam Ali and Matthew Richard Bell from Eurointernational leading by just a single point over Julien Gerbi and Gillian Henrion from Team Virage (Bernardo Pinheiro wasn’t classified at Paul Ricard due to a drive time infringement and is therefore six points off his teammates) and two points over Nick Adcock, Michael Jensen and Gaël Julien from RLR.
Eurointernational has two wins and a third to its name in 2024; Team Virage has two wins and a second, and RLR’s trio have finished no lower than fourth all year. All that adds up to create a final encounter that looks destined to be a barn burner!
Inconsistency and drama create nine-car LMGT3 showdown
While LMP2, LMP2 Pro/Am and LMP3’s title battles all promise their fair share of excitement, LMGT3’s points table has a ‘hold my beer’ look to it. Nine cars – that’s right NINE cars – of the 11 in the class are still in the hunt with four hours of racing remaining. What a debut season for LMGT3 it has been!
Throughout the year the entire field has struggled to string strong results together, leaving us with this extraordinary situation where a team with two retirements and just two top-five finishes – Spirit of Race – is ninth in the points tally and in with a shot at glory if it takes pole, wins the race and trouble strikes practically the entire field around it.
Up top, Ferrari team Kessel Racing – after two wins on the bounce at Spa and Mugello – is tied on 64 points with Aston Martin customer team Racing Spirit of Leman.
Moving down the order, three more cars have at least 50 points and, therefore, head into the 4 Hours of Portimao with high hopes. GR Racing – with two second-place finishes, is third, Iron Lynx’s #63 Huracan is fourth, and the Grid Motorsport by TF Aston Martin, which has steadily improved throughout the season, is fifth.
AF Corse’s #51 Ferrari, the #85 Iron Dames Porsche and the #50 296 LMGT3 from Formula Racing, meanwhile, sit sixth through eighth and within 20 points of the Kessel’s crew.
Who’s going to take the prize? Your guess is as good as ours…
The 4 Hours of Portimao is set to get underway on Saturday, the 19th of October.
