Petit Le Mans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Petit Le Mans
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
VenueRoad Atlanta
Corporate sponsorMotul
First race1998
First USCC race2014
Laps394
Duration1998–2013:
1,000 miles (1,600 km) or 10 hours[a]
2014–present:
10 hours
Most wins (driver)Rinaldo Capello (5)
Most wins (team)Audi Sport North America (6)
Most wins (manufacturer)Audi (9)

The Petit Le Mans (French for little Le Mans) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. It has often used the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which are slightly modified if necessary, mainly to allow additional cars to compete.

The race was founded by Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz and first run on October 10, 1998 as part of the IMSA season. The 1999 edition was one of the original events of the American Le Mans Series. The 2010 and 2011 editions were also part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, but the 2012 race for the brand-new World Endurance Championship was controversially dropped in favour of Bahrain. Since 2014 the race has been one of the crown jewel events of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

From 1998 until 2013, Petit Le Mans covered a maximum of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) (which is approximately 394 laps) or a maximum of 10 hours, whichever came first; only once, in the rain-stopped 2009 race, had the leading team failed to complete 1,000 miles (1,600 km). Since 2014, the duration is 10 hours, without distance limitations.[1][2] In addition to the overall race, teams of two or three drivers per car compete for class victories in different categories, divided into prototypes and grand tourers. Class winners of the event originally received an automatic invitation to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, however this was removed in 2012.

The race is regarded as one of the major endurance races in the world and is among the biggest sports car races in North America alongside the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring.[3][4] Rinaldo Capello holds the record of most race wins, having won in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

History[edit]

A Cadillac DPi-V.R and Porsche 911 GT3 R competing at the 2021 race

The 2009 and 2015 races were shortened due to heavy rains making the track impassable. The 2015 race featured the first time a GT car won overall against the faster prototypes. Rain created a flooded track the entire race causing multiple cautions and a red flag, allowing GTLM cars to leap-frog the prototypes that were struggling for grip in the conditions.[5] Nick Tandy, winner of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, and co-driver Patrick Pilet took the checkered flag when officials called the race with a little over two hours remaining.

Overall winners[edit]

Year Drivers Team Chassis-Engine Championship(s)
1998 Belgium Eric van de Poele
South Africa Wayne Taylor
France Emmanuel Collard
United States Doyle-Risi Racing Ferrari 333 SP Professional SportsCar Racing Championship
1999 Australia David Brabham
France Éric Bernard
United Kingdom Andy Wallace
United States Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S-Ford American Le Mans Series
2000 United Kingdom Allan McNish
Italy Rinaldo Capello
Italy Michele Alboreto
Germany Audi Sport North America Audi R8
2001 Germany Frank Biela
Italy Emanuele Pirro
Germany Audi Sport North America Audi R8 American Le Mans Series
European Le Mans Series
2002 Denmark Tom Kristensen
Italy Rinaldo Capello
Germany Audi Sport North America Audi R8 American Le Mans Series
2003 Finland JJ Lehto
United Kingdom Johnny Herbert
United States ADT Champion Racing Audi R8
2004 Germany Marco Werner
Finland JJ Lehto
United States ADT Champion Racing Audi R8
2005 Germany Frank Biela
Italy Emanuele Pirro
United States ADT Champion Racing Audi R8
2006 Italy Rinaldo Capello
United Kingdom Allan McNish
United States Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI
2007 United Kingdom Allan McNish
Italy Rinaldo Capello
United States Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI
2008 United Kingdom Allan McNish
Italy Rinaldo Capello
Italy Emanuele Pirro
United States Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI
2009 France Franck Montagny
France Stéphane Sarrazin
France Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP
2010 France Franck Montagny
France Stéphane Sarrazin
Portugal Pedro Lamy
France Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP American Le Mans Series
Intercontinental Le Mans Cup
2011 France Franck Montagny
France Stéphane Sarrazin
Austria Alexander Wurz
France Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908
2012 Switzerland Neel Jani
France Nicolas Prost
Italy Andrea Belicchi
Switzerland Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota American Le Mans Series
European Le Mans Series
2013 Switzerland Neel Jani
France Nicolas Prost
Germany Nick Heidfeld
Switzerland Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota American Le Mans Series
2014 United States Jordan Taylor
United States Ricky Taylor
Italy Max Angelelli
United States Wayne Taylor Racing Chevrolet Corvette DP United SportsCar Championship
2015 United Kingdom Nick Tandy
France Patrick Pilet
Austria Richard Lietz
United States Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR
2016 United States John Pew
Brazil Oswaldo Negri Jr.
France Olivier Pla
United States Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2-Honda IMSA SportsCar Championship
2017 United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel
New Zealand Brendon Hartley
United States Scott Sharp
United States Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Onroak DPi
2018[6] United States Ryan Hunter-Reay
United States Jordan Taylor
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
United States Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R
2019 Brazil Felipe Nasr
Brazil Pipo Derani
United States Eric Curran
United States Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R
2020 Australia Ryan Briscoe
New Zealand Scott Dixon
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
United States Konica Minolta Cadillac Cadillac DPi-V.R
2021 United States Jonathan Bomarito
United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
United Kingdom Harry Tincknell
Canada Mazda Motorsports Mazda RT24-P
2022 United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
Brazil Hélio Castroneves
United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
United States Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-05
2023 United Kingdom Tom Blomqvist
Brazil Hélio Castroneves
United Kingdom Colin Braun
United States Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06

Statistics[edit]

Multiple wins by driver[edit]

Rank Driver Wins Years
1 Italy Rinaldo Capello 5 2000, 2002, 2006–2008
2 United Kingdom Allan McNish 4 2000, 2006–2008
3 Italy Emanuele Pirro 3 2001, 2005, 2008
France Franck Montagny 2009–2011
France Stéphane Sarrazin 2009–2011
6 Finland JJ Lehto 2 2003–2004
Germany Frank Biela 2001, 2005
Switzerland Neel Jani 2012–2013
France Nicolas Prost 2012–2013
United States Jordan Taylor 2014, 2018

Wins by manufacturer[edit]

Rank Manufacturer Wins Years
1 Germany Audi 9 2000–2008
2 France Peugeot 3 2009–2011
United States Cadillac 2018–2020
3 United Kingdom Lola 2 2012–2013
Japan Acura 2022–2023
4 Italy Ferrari 1 1998
United States Panoz 1999
United States Chevrolet 2014
Germany Porsche 2015
Japan Honda 2016
Japan Nissan 2017
Japan Mazda 2021

Multiple wins by team[edit]

Rank Maker Wins Years
1 France Peugeot Sport Total 3 2009–2011
Germany Audi Sport North America 2000–2002
United States Audi Sport North America 2006–2008
United States ADT Champion Racing 2003–2005
United States Wayne Taylor Racing 2014, 2018, 2020
United States Meyer Shank Racing 2016, 2022–2023
2 Switzerland Rebellion Racing 2 2012–2013

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ From 1998 to 2013, the race was held for whichever of the two durations came first.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "IMSA | TUDOR United SportsCar Championship | Petit le Mans". IMSA.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  2. ^ Dagys, John. "Sportscar365 su Twitter: "#DidYouKnow that the Petit le Mans is no longer a 1,000-mile race? It's 10 hours, not 1,000-mile/10-hour (Whichever came first)."". Twitter.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  3. ^ "24 Hours of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans | A French connection in the U.S." 24h-lemans.com. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  4. ^ Staff, Sportscar365 (2014-10-01). "Scrogham (GB Autosport): "I've Seen Petit Le Mans Change Over Time" – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2024-01-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Dagys, John (20 January 2018). "Michelin Memories: 2015, Porsche's Overall Petit Le Mans Triumph – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  6. ^ "Official Race Results" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. 2018-10-15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-09.

External links[edit]