2015 European Le Mans Series


The 2015 European Le Mans Series season was the twelfth 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, on 11 April and finished at Autódromo do Estoril on 18 October.
In the lead LMP2 class, three teams did battle for the championship title; Greaves Motorsport, Thiriet by TDS Racing and Jota Sport. Jota Sport, and drivers Filipe Albuquerque, Simon Dolan and Harry Tincknell led the standings into the final race at Estoril, having won previously at the Red Bull Ring. However, it was Greaves Motorsport with the triumvirate of Gary Hirsch, Jon Lancaster and Björn Wirdheim who won the championship title; after winning at Silverstone, and Le Castellet, the trio finished second to Thiriet by TDS Racing in Estoril to secure the title by two points. Thiriet by TDS Racing's victory in Portugal – the team's second after a previous win at Imola – also allowed them to move ahead of Jota Sport in the teams' standings, with Ludovic Badey and Pierre Thiriet finishing as runners-up in the drivers' championship standings. Badey and Thiriet's victories were shared with Tristan Gommendy at Imola and Nicolas Lapierre at Estoril. In the new-for-2015 LMP3 class, Lawrence Tomlinson's Team LNT outfit won four of the five races during the season; three of which were won by former cyclist Chris Hoy and his teammate Charlie Robertson as they won the championship title with a round to spare. Hoy and Robertson finished 35 points clear of another Team LNT driver Gaëtan Paletou, who won the final race of the season with Michael Simpson at Estoril. Third place in the championship went to SVK by Speed Factory, and their drivers Konstantīns Calko and Dainius Matijošaitis. LNT's only defeat during the season occurred at Imola, when Morten Dons and Rob Garofall won for the University of Bolton team.
Successive victories at the Red Bull Ring and Le Castellet allowed the Formula Racing team with drivers Johnny Laursen, Mikkel Mac and Andrea Rizzoli to clinch their respective LMGTE championship titles. They won the championship by four points from the BMW Sports Trophy Marc VDS outfit of Henry Hassid, Jesse Krohn and Andy Priaulx, who were the race winners at Estoril. Third place in the championship went to the AF Corse team of Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and Aaron Scott. Two other teams won races during the season; Gulf Racing UK won on home soil at Silverstone with an all-British crew of Adam Carroll, Phil Keen and Michael Wainwright, while AT Racing won at Imola with the father-and-son crew of Alexander Talkanitsa Jr. and Alexander Talkanitsa Sr. along with Alessandro Pier Guidi.
While in GTC, TDS Racing finished 20 points clear of their closest rivals to take the respective titles in the class. The all-French crew of Eric Dermont, Dino Lunardi and Franck Perera won two races at Silverstone and at Le Castellet, and sealed the title with second at Estoril. Second place in the championship went to another crew that won two races during the season; Francesco Castellacci and Stuart Hall won successive races at Imola and the Red Bull Ring for AF Corse, sharing victories with Rino Mastronardi and Thomas Flohr. Another AF Corse crew finished in third in the drivers' championship, as Francisco Guedes and Mads Rasmussen were able to fend off Marco Cioci, Ilya Melnikov and Giorgio Roda for the position despite the latter trio winning the final race at Estoril.

Regulations

The 2015 season saw the introduction of the new LMP3 class, which was announced by the ACO during the 2014 season. The aim of the new class was to introduce young drivers and teams to endurance racing before they progressed to the higher classes of prototype racing, LMP2 and ultimately LMP1.
The chassis, which could be built by any constructor, was powered by a 5-litre normally-aspirated V8 Nissan VK50 engine, producing 420hp. Gearboxes were provided by Xtrac. The approximate running costs for a car over the course of the season was estimated to be between 350,000 and 400,000 euros.

Calendar

The provisional 2015 calendar was announced at the final round of the 2014 season in Estoril. The calendar once again comprised five events, featuring the same five circuits that hosted events in 2014. For the third consecutive season, Silverstone hosted the opening rounds of both the European Le Mans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
RndRaceCircuitLocationDate
14 Hours of Silverstone Silverstone CircuitSilverstone, United Kingdom11 April
24 Hours of Imola Autodromo Enzo e Dino FerrariImola, Italy17 May
34 Hours of Red Bull Ring Red Bull RingSpielberg, Austria12 July
44 Hours of Le Castellet Circuit Paul RicardLe Castellet, France6 September
54 Hours of Estoril Autódromo do EstorilEstoril, Portugal18 October

Entry list

The entry list was announced on 5 February 2015.

LMP2

LMP3

LM GTE

GTC

Season results

CircuitLMP2 Winning TeamLMP3 Winning TeamLMGTE Winning TeamGTC Winning TeamResults
CircuitLMP2 Winning DriversLMP3 Winning DriversLMGTE Winning DriversGTC Winning DriversResults
1Silverstone No. 41 Greaves Motorsport No. 3 Team LNT No. 86 Gulf Racing UK No. 59 TDS RacingReport
1Silverstone Gary Hirsch
Jon Lancaster
Björn Wirdheim
Chris Hoy
Charlie Robertson
Adam Carroll
Phil Keen
Michael Wainwright
Eric Dermont
Dino Lunardi
Franck Perera
Report
2Imola No. 46 Thiriet by TDS Racing No. 7 University of Bolton No. 56 AT Racing No. 62 AF CorseReport
2Imola Ludovic Badey
Tristan Gommendy
Pierre Thiriet
Morten Dons
Rob Garofall
Alessandro Pier Guidi
Alexander Talkanitsa Jr.
Alexander Talkanitsa Sr.
Francesco Castellacci
Stuart Hall
Rino Mastronardi
Report
3Red Bull No. 38 Jota Sport No. 3 Team LNT No. 60 Formula Racing No. 62 AF CorseReport
3Red Bull Filipe Albuquerque
Simon Dolan
Harry Tincknell
Chris Hoy
Charlie Robertson
Johnny Laursen
Mikkel Mac
Andrea Rizzoli
Francesco Castellacci
Stuart Hall
Thomas Flohr
Report
4Paul Ricard No. 41 Greaves Motorsport No. 3 Team LNT No. 60 Formula Racing No. 59 TDS RacingReport
4Paul Ricard Gary Hirsch
Jon Lancaster
Björn Wirdheim
Chris Hoy
Charlie Robertson
Johnny Laursen
Mikkel Mac
Andrea Rizzoli
Eric Dermont
Dino Lunardi
Franck Perera
Report
5Estoril No. 46 Thiriet by TDS Racing No. 2 Team LNT No. 52 BMW Sports Trophy Marc VDS No. 63 AF CorseReport
5Estoril Ludovic Badey
Nicolas Lapierre
Pierre Thiriet
Gaëtan Paletou
Michael Simpson
Henry Hassid
Jesse Krohn
Andy Priaulx
Marco Cioci
Ilya Melnikov
Giorgio Roda
Report

Championship Standings

;Points system
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Other Classified
Points2518151210864210.5

Teams Championships

LMP2

LMP3

LM GTE

GTC

Drivers Championships

LMP2 Standings (top-10)

LMP3 Standings (top-5)

LM GTE Standings (top-5)

GTC Standings (top-5)