As we head towards the second race of the 2023 European Le Mans Series at Le Castellet on Sunday 16 July, the Circuit Paul Ricard in the South of France has been a regular feature on the ELMS schedule since Le Mans Endurance Management took over as the promoter of the series in 2013.
In fact, Le Castellet is the only venue that has featured on every ELMS calendar over the past 10-years (and the previous three prior to that as well).
So why is Le Castellet a firm favourite with the teams and drivers?
THE STATS
ELMS Race Lap Records
Most Victories for Manufacturers
Most Driver Victories
THE RACES
Since 2013 the Circuit Paul Ricard has hosted 11 races, becoming the first circuit to host two races in the same season in two separate visits in 2020, due to Barcelona being unable to accommodate a race due to Spanish Covid-19 restrictions.
The French track has also hosted the official pre-season test on eight occasions, with Monza hosting the test in 2017 and Barcelona in 2021 and 2023.
2013: The Circuit Paul Ricard hosted the 2013 season finale in the 28th September, with the no18 Murphy Prototypes Oreca 03-Nissan securing the win at the end of the 3-hour race. Jonathan Hirschi was joined on the top step by Brendon Hartley, the only ELMS victory for the Kiwi who would go onto to become the FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Champion with Porsche and Toyota and also win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The LMGTE class was won by the RAM Racing Ferrari of 2013 champions Matt Griffin and Johnny Mowlem, ahead of JMW Motorsport and Proton Competition.
2014: The 2014 season saw a switch to 4-Hour races and the 4 Hours of Paul Ricard was moved to Round 4, but still in September, with the season finale now hosted by Estoril. The race was won by the no43 Newblood by Morand Racing Morgan-Judd, while Matt Griffin took his second LMGTE victory in a row at Paul Ricard in the no55 AF Corse Ferrari alongside Duncan Cameron and Michele Rugolo.
2015: Another September race saw the no41 Greaves Motorsport Gibson-Nissan secure the win for Jon Lancaster, Bjorn Wirdheim and Gary Hirsch, while the LMGTE win went to the Formula Racing Ferrari of Johnny Laursen, Mikkel Mac and Andrea Rizzoli. 2015 was also the first season for LMP3, with Team LNT taking the win with Charlie Robertson and Sir Chris Hoy.
2016: With an increase to six races in 2016, the event at the Circuit Paul Ricard moved back a couple of weeks to the end of August. The win went to the no46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 05-Nissan of Pierre Thiriet, Mathias Beche and another driver destined to be World Champion, Mike Conway. For the 4th year in a row the LMGTE victory went to a Ferrari, with the no66 JMW Motorsport F458 taking the win. Graff won the second LMP3 encounter at Le Castellet and the first ELMS win in France for Ligier.
2017: The 4 Hours of Le Castellet saw the only win for a Dallara P217-Gibson during the 2017 season with Matevos Isaakyan and Egor Orudzhev standing on the top step.Matt Griffin claimed his third LMGTE victory, and Duncan Cameron his second, at Le Castellet ahead of TF Sport, while United Autosports took the LMP3 win ahead of Inter Europol Competition.
2018: The 4 Hours of Le Castellet switched positions on the calendar again, this time to the start of the year.Spanish outfit Racing Engineering claimed the first home win for the Oreca 07 chassis at Le Castellet, with an all French line up - Norman Nato, Olivier Pla and Paul Petit. JMW Motorsport took their second win in Le Castellet and made it six wins in a row for Ferrari. RLR MSport won the highly contested LMP3 class, with Job Van Uitert, John Farano and Rob Garofall.
2019: The opening race of the 2019 ELMS season saw the no21 Dragonspeed Oreca take the win, with Henrik Hedman, James Allen and Ben Hanley finishing ahead of the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca of Paul-Loup Chatin, Paul Lafargue and Memo Rojas.Ferrari won again, with the no51 Luzich Racing F488 of Fabien Lavergne, Niklas Nielsen and 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Alessandro Pier Guidi taking the win ahead of Manuela Gostner, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting. Ultimate won the LMP3 class, with Mathieu and Jean-Baptiste Lahaye and Francois Heriau.
2020: Due to a late start to the season because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Round 1 was held in July. United Autosports took the overall win, with Will Owen and Alex Brundle standing alongside Job Van Uitert, who added an LMP2 victory to his 2018 LMP3 win. The Anglo American team also took the LMP3 victory. Proton Competition broke the Ferrari run of victories at Le Castellet, with Christian Ried, Alessio Picariello and Michele Beretta taking the win in a Porsche 911.
2020: The ELMS returned to the Circuit Paul Ricard in August for Round 3, the Le Castellet 240, when Barcelona was unable to host the race in Spain. United Autosports won the LMP2 class again, this time with Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque. The no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari beat the Proton Competition Porsche, with Matt Griffin notching up his fourth win at Le Castellet and Duncan Cameron his third. Esteban Garcia and David Droux won the LMP3 class with Realteam Racing.
2021: The 4 Hours of Le Castellet moved to Round 3 for the 2021 season, with the no26 G-Drive Racing Aurus 01 winning the June race ahead of the two United Autosports Orecas. The LMGTE winner was another Ferrari, this time the no80 Iron Lynx 488 of Matteo Cressoni, Miguel Molina and Rino Mastronardi, while multiple MLMC champions DKR Engineering secured their first ELMS LMP3 victory with Laurents Hörr and Jean-Philippe Dayraut.
2022: The 4 Hours of Le Castellet opened the 2022 season, the fourth time the French event has been the season opener.Prema Racing won the LMP2 category, with Ferdinand Habsburg, Louis Deletraz and Lorenzo Colombo. The no32 Rinaldi Racing 488 GTE Evo secured Ferrari’s 10th victory in 11 races at Le Castellet, with Pierre Ehret, Nico Varrone and Memo Gidley. Cool Racing won the LMP3 class with Malthe Jakobsen, Maurice Smith and Michael Benham.
The 2023 4 Hours of Le Castellet will take place from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 July.
