This weekend the 2021 European Le Mans Series will get underway, with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosting Round 1, the 4 Hours of Barcelona, on Sunday 18 April.
Race starts at 10AM BST
LMP2
- 16 LMP2 cars are entered for the 4 Hours of Barcelona, with 13 different teams running either an Oreca 07 or Aurus 01.
- Reigning Champions United Autosports Return with two Oreca 07-Gibsons
- 2020 Driver Champion Phil Hanson is joined in the no22 Oreca by reigning LMP3 Champion Tom Gamble and South African Jonathan Aberdein.
- Former F1 and WRC star Robert Kubica will make his LMP2 debut with Belgian outfit Orlen Team WRT
- Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of double F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, will race for G-Drive Racing in 2021 in the no25 Aurus 01-Gibson.
- Manuel Maldonado, cousin of Pastor Maldonado, is making his ELMS debut in 2021 with United Autosports in the no32 Oreca.
- There are seven eligible cars for the new for 2021 LMP2 Pro / Am class, which is for entries that feature a bronze driver in their line-up. In Barcelona these cars will be: No17 IDEC Sport / No21 DragonSpeed USA / No25 G-Drive Racing / No29 Ultimate / No34 Racing Team Turkey / No37 Cool Racing / No39 Graff
LMP3
- 16 LMP3 cars are entered for Round 1 in Spain, with 12 teams running either a Ligier JS P320 or a Duqueine M30-D08.
- Reigning champions United Autosports are looking to take their 4 th LMP3 title in 2021.
- Current Driver Champions Wayne Boyd and Rob Wheldon are joined by Michelin Le Mans Cup race winner Edouard Cauhaupe.
- Three teams on the grid are current or past category champions – United Autosports, RLR MSport and Eurointernational.
- Double Vice Champion Martin Hippe gets a new teammate, Belgian Ugo De Wilde in the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier.
- Poland’s Team Virage will field an all-North American driver line up with Rod Hodes, Garett Grist and Charles Crews.
- Le Mans Cup race winner Michael Benham returns to the ELMS paddock after a season away, racing for RLR MSport alongside Alex Kapadia and Malthe Jakobsen.
- 2019 ELMS LMGTE Champion Fabien Lavergne will be competing in LMP3 this season with French team MV2S Racing alongside Christophe Cresp and Adrien Chila.
- Double MLMC LMP3 champion Laurents Hörr will be racing for his championship winning team DKR Engineering in the ELMS once again in one of only two Duqueine M30-D08s.
- 2021 ELMS LMP3 race winner David Droux is switching teams, racing in the no8 Graff Ligier alongside Eric Trouillet and Sebastien Page.
LMGTE
- 9 LMGTE cars are entered for the 4 Hours of Barcelona, with 6 teams running either a Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, Porsche 911 RSR-19 or an Aston Martin Vantage AMR
- Reigning drivers champion Christian Ried will once again be at the wheel of the title winning Proton Competition Porsche and is joined by former FIA WEC LMGTE Pro Champion Gianmaria Bruni and New-Zealander Jaxon Evans.
- Ferrari works driver Miguel Molina will be flying the Spanish flag in Barcelona, racing alongside reigning MLMC GT3 champion Rino Mastronardi and Matteo Cressoni in the no80 Iron Lynx Ferrari
- Hollywood’s Michael Fassbender continues with his dream of competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and returns to the ELMS with his 2020 teammates Felipe Laser and Richard Lietz in the no93 Proton Competition Porsche
- The no83 Iron Lynx Ferrari will once again feature an all female driver crew with Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting being joined for the 2021 season by British driver Esmee Hawkey.
- Aston Martin joins the ELMS grid with 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner’s TF Sport fielding one car for all British crew Ross Gunn, Ollie Hancock and John Hartshorne.
- 2017 ELMS LMGTE Drivers Champion Jody Fannin will race for JMW Motorsport, with Andrea Fontana and Rodrigo Sales joining him in the no66 Ferrari.
- Reigning FIA WEC LMGTE AM Champions Francois Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard will race for their world championship winning team AF Corse in the ELMS this season, with Italian Alessio Rovera joining them in the no88 Ferrari.
INNOVATIVE CAR
- A special entry by the no84 Association SRT41 Oreca-Gibson of three disabled drivers, Japan’s Aoki Takuma, Belgium’s Nigel Bailey and French driver Pierre Sancinena.
- The project is the brainchild of Frederic Sausset, who in 2016 became the first quadruple-amputee to race and complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
- The team were due to compete at the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans as the garage 56 entry but had to withdraw due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their preparations.
