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.
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]
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 | Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, United Kingdom | 19 April |
2 | 4 Hours of Imola | Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy | 18 May |
3 | 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring | Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria | 20 July |
4 | 4 Hours of Le Castellet | Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France | 14 September |
5 | 4 Hours of Estoril | Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril, Portugal | 19 October |
The entry list was announced on February 13. It featured 42 cars, comprising 13 LMP2, 13 GTE and 16 GTC:
Entrant/Team | Car | Engine | Tyre | Drivers | Rounds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AF Corse | Ferrari F458 Italia | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 54 | Marco Cioci | All | |
Michael Lyons | All | |||||
Piergiuseppe Perazzini | All | |||||
55 | Duncan Cameron | All | ||||
Matt Griffin | All | |||||
Michele Rugolo | 1, 3–5 | |||||
Mirko Venturi | 2 | |||||
65 | Lorenzo Casè | 2 | ||||
Raffaele Giammaria | 2 | |||||
Peter Mann | 2 | |||||
70 | Emmanuel Collard | 3–5 | ||||
Yannick Mallegol | 3–5 | |||||
François Perrodo | 3–5 | |||||
AT Racing | Ferrari F458 Italia | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 56 | Pierre Kaffer | All | |
Alexander Talkanitsa, Sr. | All | |||||
Alexander Talkanitsa, Jr. | 1–3, 5 | |||||
Mirko Venturi | 4 | |||||
Team Sofrev ASP | Ferrari F458 Italia | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 58 | Soheil Ayari | All | |
Fabien Barthez | All | |||||
Anthony Pons | All | |||||
JMW Motorsport | Ferrari F458 Italia | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 66 | Daniel McKenzie | All | |
George Richardson | All | |||||
Daniel Zampieri | 1–2, 5 | |||||
Rob Bell | 3 | |||||
James Walker | 4 | |||||
IMSA Performance Matmut | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 67 | Éric Hélary | All | |
Erik Maris | All | |||||
Jean-Marc Merlin | All | |||||
76 | Nicolas Armindo | All | ||||
Raymond Narac | All | |||||
David Hallyday | 1–2 | |||||
Christina Nielsen | 3–5 | |||||
SMP Racing | Ferrari F458 Italia | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 72 | Andrea Bertolini | All | |
Viktor Shaytar | All | |||||
Sergey Zlobin | All | |||||
Proton Competition | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 77 | Horst Felbermayr, Jr. | 3 | |
Horst Felbermayr, Sr. | 3 | |||||
Richard Lietz | 3 | |||||
Kessel Racing | Ferrari F458 Italia | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 80 | Michał Broniszewski | 1–2, 4–5 | |
Giacomo Piccini | 1–2, 4–5 | |||||
81 | Matteo Cressoni | 1–4 | ||||
Thomas Kemenater | 1–4 | |||||
Crubilé Sport | Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 82 | Emmanuel Collard | 1–2 | |
Sébastien Crubilé | 1–2 | |||||
François Perrodo | 1–2 | |||||
Gulf Racing UK | Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | 85 | Daniel Brown | All | |
Roald Goethe | All | |||||
Stuart Hall | All | |||||
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Porsche 911 RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 86 | Adam Carroll | All | ||
Michael Wainwright | All | |||||
Ben Barker | 1–2, 4–5 | |||||
Michael Meadows | 3 |
Entrant/Team | Car | Engine | Tyre | Drivers | Rounds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Audi R8 LMS ultra | Audi 5.2 L V10 | 51 | Henry Hassid | 1 | |
Olivier Lombard | 1 | |||||
Mike Parisy | 1 | |||||
SMP Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 57 | Maurizio Mediani | 2–5 | |
Boris Rotenberg | 2–5 | |||||
Mika Salo | 2–5 | |||||
71 | Aleksey Basov | All | ||||
Kirill Ladygin | All | |||||
Luca Persiani | All | |||||
73 | Olivier Beretta | All | ||||
Anton Ladygin | All | |||||
Devi Markozov | All | |||||
Team Sofrev ASP | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 59 | Jean-Philippe Belloc | All | |
Christophe Bourret | All | |||||
Pascal Gibon | 1–2, 4–5 | |||||
Jean-Luc Beaubelique | 3 | |||||
Formula Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 60 | Johnny Laursen | All | |
Mikkel Mac | All | |||||
Jan Magnussen | 1, 3–5 | |||||
Andrea Piccini | 2 | |||||
AF Corse | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 62 | Jean-Marc Bachelier | 1–2 | |
Howard Blank | 1–2 | |||||
Yannick Mallegol | 1–2 | |||||
63 | Mads Rasmussen | All | ||||
Dennis Lind | 1 | |||||
Ilya Melnikov | 2–3 | |||||
Filipe Barreiros | 4–5 | |||||
Francisco Guedes | 5 | |||||
94 | Francesco Castellacci | 2, 4 | ||||
Thomas Flohr | 2, 4 | |||||
Andrea Rizzoli | 4 | |||||
95 | Adrien De Leener | All | ||||
Cédric Sbirrazzuoli | All | |||||
Prospeed Competition | Porsche 911 GT3-R | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 75 | Gilles Vannelet | All | |
Maxime Soulet | 1–2, 5 | |||||
Paul van Splunteren | 1–2 | |||||
Max van Splunteren | 3–5 | |||||
Mike Parisy | 3–4 | |||||
Team Russia by Barwell | BMW Z4 GT3 | BMW 4.4 L V8 | 78 | Jonny Cocker | All | |
Leo Machitski | All | |||||
Timur Sardarov | All | |||||
BMW Sport Trophy Marc VDS | BMW Z4 GT3 | BMW 4.4 L V8 | 87 | Henry Hassid | 5 | |
Bas Leinders | 5 | |||||
Markus Palttala | 5 | |||||
Ombra Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 92 | Mario Cordoni | 4–5 | |
Andrea Montermini | 5 | |||||
Marco Zanuttini | 4–5 | |||||
Pro GT by Alméras | Porsche 997 GT3-R | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 93 | Franck Perera | 1–4 | |
Eric Dermont | 1–2, 4 | |||||
Lucas Lasserre | 1–2, 4 | |||||
Henry Hassid | 3 | |||||
Matthieu Vaxivière | 3 | |||||
Team Ukraine | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 96 | Sergey Chukanov | 1 | |
Andrii Kruglyk | 1 | |||||
Alessandro Pier Guidi | 1 | |||||
ART Grand Prix | McLaren MP4-12C GT3 | McLaren 3.8 L Turbo V8 | 98 | Grégoire Demoustier | All | |
Yann Goudy | All | |||||
Kevin Korjus | All | |||||
99 | Karim Ajlani | All | ||||
Alex Brundle | All | |||||
Ricardo González | All |
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Other Classified | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0.5 |
Pos | Driver | Team | SIL | IMO | RBR | LEC | EST | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Andrea Bertolini | SMP Racing | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 85 |
Viktor Shaytar | SMP Racing | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1 | ||
Sergey Zlobin | SMP Racing | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1 | ||
2 | Duncan Cameron | AF Corse | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 81.5 |
Matt Griffin | AF Corse | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 | ||
3 | Michele Rugolo | AF Corse | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 75.5 | |
4 | Daniel McKenzie | JMW Motorsport | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 70 |
George Richardson | JMW Motorsport | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||
5 | Pierre Kaffer | AT Racing | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 62 |
Alexander Talkanitsa, Sr. | AT Racing | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | ||
6 | Marco Cioci | AF Corse | 6 | Ret | 5 | 4 | 2 | 48 |
Michael Lyons | AF Corse | 6 | Ret | 5 | 4 | 2 | ||
Piergiuseppe Perazzini | AF Corse | 6 | Ret | 5 | 4 | 2 | ||
7 | Alexander Talkanitsa, Jr. | AT Racing | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 44 | |
8 | Daniel Zampieri | JMW Motorsport | 5 | 3 | 3 | 40 | ||
9 | Matteo Cressoni | Kessel Racing | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 39.5 | |
Thomas Kemenater | Kessel Racing | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |||
10 | Nicolas Armindo | IMSA Performance Matmut | 3 | 6 | Ret | 8 | 9 | 29 |
Raymond Narac | IMSA Performance Matmut | 3 | 6 | Ret | 8 | 9 | ||
11 | Adam Carroll | Gulf Racing UK | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 28 |
Michael Wainwright | Gulf Racing UK | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 4 | ||
12 | Ben Barker | Gulf Racing UK | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 26 | |
13 | Mirko Venturi | AF Corse | 7 | 24 | ||||
AT Racing | 2 | |||||||
14 | David Hallyday | IMSA Performance Matmut | 3 | 6 | 23 | |||
15 | Daniel Brown | Gulf Racing UK | 11 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 20.5 |
Roald Goethe | Gulf Racing UK | 11 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 5 | ||
Stuart Hall | Gulf Racing UK | 11 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 5 |
Pos | Driver | Team | SIL | IMO | RBR | LEC | EST | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Olivier Beretta | SMP Racing | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 94 |
Anton Ladygin | SMP Racing | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
Devi Markozov | SMP Racing | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
2 | Johnny Laursen | Formula Racing | 3 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 78.5 |
Mikkel Mac | Formula Racing | 3 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 2 | ||
3 | Aleksey Basov | SMP Racing | DNS | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 67 |
Kirill Ladygin | SMP Racing | DNS | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
Luca Persiani | SMP Racing | DNS | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
4 | Jan Magnussen | Formula Racing | 3 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 52.5 | |
5 | Grégoire Demoustier | ART Grand Prix | 7 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 45 |
Yann Goudy | ART Grand Prix | 7 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 5 | ||
Kevin Korjus | ART Grand Prix | 7 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 5 | ||
6 | Henry Hassid | Sébastien Loeb Racing | 6 | 41 | ||||
Pro GT by Alméras | 6 | |||||||
BMW Sport Trophy Marc VDS | 1 | |||||||
7 | Karim Ajlani | ART Grand Prix | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | Ret | 38 |
Alex Brundle | ART Grand Prix | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | Ret | ||
Ricardo González | ART Grand Prix | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | Ret | ||
8 | Adrien De Leener | AF Corse | 12 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 32 |
Cédric Sbirrazzuoli | AF Corse | 12 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 7 | ||
9 | Andrea Piccini | Formula Racing | 1 | 26 | ||||
10 | Sergey Chukanov | Team Ukraine | 1 | 25 | ||||
Andrii Kruglyk | Team Ukraine | 1 | ||||||
Alessandro Pier Guidi | Team Ukraine | 1 |
Pos | Team | Car | SIL | IMO | RBR | LEC | EST | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | #36 Signatech Alpine | Alpine A450 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 78 | |
2 | #38 Jota Sport | Zytek Z11SN | Ret | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 74 | |
3 | #43 Newblood by Morand Racing | Morgan LMP2 | 3 | Ret | 5 | 1 | 2 | 68 | |
4 | #24 Sébastien Loeb Racing | Oreca 03 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 57 | ||
5 | #34 Race Performance | Oreca 03 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 57 | |
6 | #41 Greaves Motorsport | Zytek Z11SN | 4 | 4 | 6 | Ret | 7 | 38 | |
7 | #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing | Morgan LMP2 | 1 | 5 | 35 | ||||
Ligier JS P2 | Ret | Ret | Ret | ||||||
8 | #28 Greaves Motorsport | Zytek Z11SN | 6 | 4 | 5 | Ret | 30 | ||
9 | #48 Murphy Prototypes | Oreca 03 | 8 | Ret | 3 | 6 | 28 | ||
10 | #29 Pegasus Racing | Morgan LMP2 | Ret | 6 | 7 | Ret | 8 | 18 | |
11 | #50 Larbre Compétition | Morgan LMP2 | 9 | 2 |
Pos | Team | Car | SIL | IMO | RBR | LEC | EST | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | #72 SMP Racing | Ferrari F458 Italia | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 85 | |
2 | #55 AF Corse | Ferrari F458 Italia | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 81.5 | |
3 | #66 JMW Motorsport | Ferrari F458 Italia | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 70 | |
4 | #56 AT Racing | Ferrari F458 Italia | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 62 | |
5 | #54 AF Corse | Ferrari F458 Italia | 6 | Ret | 5 | 4 | 2 | 48 | |
6 | #81 Kessel Racing | Ferrari F458 Italia | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 39.5 | ||
7 | #76 IMSA Performance Matmut | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | 3 | 6 | Ret | 8 | 9 | 29 | |
8 | #86 Gulf Racing UK | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | 9 | 8 | 9 | 28 | |||
Porsche 911 RSR | 6 | 4 | |||||||
9 | #85 Gulf Racing UK | Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE | 11 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 20.5 | |
10 | #58 Team Sofrev ASP | Ferrari F458 Italia | 7 | 5 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 17 | |
11 | #80 Kessel Racing | Ferrari F458 Italia | 10 | Ret | 5 | 7 | 17 | ||
12 | #70 AF Corse | Ferrari F458 Italia | 8 | Ret | 8 | 8 | |||
13 | #82 Crubilé Sport | Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | 8 | 10 | 5 | ||||
14 | #67 IMSA Performance Matmut | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 3 | |
15 | #77 Proton Competition | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | 11 | 0.5 | |||||
16 | #65 AF Corse | Ferrari F458 Italia | 12 | 0.5 |
Pos | Team | Car | SIL | IMO | RBR | LEC | EST | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | #73 SMP Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 94 | |
2 | #60 Formula Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 78.5 | |
3 | #71 SMP Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | DNS | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 67 | |
4 | #98 ART Grand Prix | McLaren MP4-12C GT3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 45 | |
5 | #99 ART Grand Prix | McLaren MP4-12C GT3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | Ret | 38 | |
6 | #95 AF Corse | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 32 | |
7 | #96 Team Ukraine | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 1 | 25 | |||||
8 | #87 BMW Sport Trophy Marc VDS | BMW Z4 GT3 | 1 | 25 | |||||
9 | #78 Team Russia by Barwell | BMW Z4 GT3 | 4 | 9 | Ret | 10 | 6 | 23 | |
10 | #63 AF Corse | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 19.5 | |
11 | #93 Pro GT by Alméras | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 8 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 18.5 | ||
12 | #94 AF Corse | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 7 | 6 | 14 | ||||
13 | #59 Team Sofrev ASP | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 13 | |
14 | #51 Sébastien Loeb Racing | Audi R8 LMS ultra | 6 | 8 | |||||
15 | #75 Prospeed Competition | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 9 | Ret | 8 | 9 | Ret | 8 | |
16 | #57 SMP Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 4 | ||
17 | #92 Ombra Racing | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 14 | 9 | 2.5 | ||||
18 | #62 AF Corse | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | 13 | 13 | 1 |