Europe lacked a major sports prototype series after the demise of the World Sportscar Championship in 1992. Following the success of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), Don Panoz attempted to bring sports prototype racing back to Europe. This led to the 2000 American Le Mans Series season, which included two races in Europe at the Nürburgring and Silverstone Circuit, as well as a round in Australia. These races served as a precursor to what would become the separate European Le Mans Series in 2001.
The European Le Mans Series was launched for 2001 with five races, including a premier 1000 km race at Estoril. This race would be the European equivalent of the 1000 mile Petit Le Mans and earn automatic entries to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for each class winner. To aid in the development of the ELMS, the 2001 season shared some races between both ALMS and ELMS. The 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans, normally ALMS races, were considered optional races for ELMS teams. At the same time, the ELMS races at Donington Park and Jarama were considered optional for ALMS teams. The series was unable to earn much attention from European sportscar teams, especially since the final FIA Sportscar Championship and FIA GT Championship series used similar cars, but different rules. With a lack of involvement from teams, and less interest from the media, the European Le Mans Series folded following the 2001 season.
The ACO decided that a series run by themselves would be a better alternative for Europe. In 2003, the ACO announced their intentions to create their own European-based series, named the Le Mans Endurance Series. This series would be similar to the original European Le Mans Series, but feature only 1000 km races instead of the shorter, 2 hour 45 minute races used by the ELMS. Winners of the LMES championship would earn automatic entries in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The series was initially previewed in an open race run under the LMES banner in 2003 at the 1000km of Le Mans, a one-off event before the season started in 2004. For the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series, the series participated in four events, including resurrecting classic races like the 1000km Monza, 1000km Nürburgring, 1000 km Silverstone and the Spa 1000 km. 2005 saw the series expand to a five race format with the addition of the Istanbul Racing Circuit.
In 2007, the Le Mans Series held its first and single overseas race in South America with Mil Milhas Brasil as the sixth round. In 2010, the Formula Le Mans Cup was integrated into the Le Mans Series, running alongside Le Mans Prototype cars and GT cars. As the FIA World Endurance Championship was reestablished in 2012, the ELMS had a reduced car count including officially dropping the LMP1 Prototype class from the category and its calendar was reduced to three rounds in Paul Ricard, Donington Park and Road Atlanta (Petit Le Mans).
For 2013, a twenty-nine car field was announced, with eleven in the LMP2 class, ten in the LM GTE class, and five in the new GTC class, which used GT3 technical rules. The calendar featured five races with a duration of 3 hours. In 2014, the LMPC class was dropped and all races were expanded to 4 hours. The 2015 season saw the introduction of the new LMP3 prototype class with cars built from Ligier, Ginetta, ADESS & Norma. Each of these cars chassis are powered by 5.0L Nissan V8 naturally aspirated engines (VK50VE). In 2016, the GTC class was dropped from the series and moved to a new support series, the GT3 Le Mans Cup. This tournament was held on the same weekends as the European Le Mans Series 4-hour events, as well as on the same week as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with shorter races than the ELMS.
In 2017, it was established by ACO that the lower teams from LMP3 would drop to the year's Michelin Le Mans Cup, while the best LMP3 teams from this competition would be promoted to ELMS. During this year's season new ACO LMP2 Prototype Class regulations were introduced with licensed manufacturers such as Dallara, Onroak Automotive (Ligier), Oreca and the joint-venture Riley Tech/Multimatic with Gibson Technology being the exclusive engine supplier. In 2020, with the season heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 4 Hours of Silverstone race would be dropped from the calendar. The 4 Hours of Barcelona would also be replaced by a second 4 Hours of Le Castellet race at Circuit Paul Ricard. New ACO Generation II LMP3 ruleset regulation built cars were also eligible for the LMP3 Class in the category featuring manufactured chassis's such as the Ginetta G61-LT-P3, Ligier JS P320, Duqueine D-08, and the ADESS-03 Evo all of which use a VK56DE 5.6L Nissan V8 naturally aspirated engine. In the 2021 season of the ELMS a LMP2 Pro-Am Cup Trophy was introduced aimed at teams who have bronze rated contracted drivers. In the 2023 season of the ELMS, it marks as the last season of the LMGTE class as it will be replaced with a GT3-Specification class to be known as LMGT3 starting in the year 2024 season with Goodyear being the exclusive tyre supplier. In the year 2025 season of the European Le Mans Series, it'll mark the debut of the new ACO Generation III LMP3 built car set eligible for the category featuring manufactured chassis's such as the Ginetta G61-LT-P3 Evo, Ligier JS P325, Duqueine D09, and the ADESS AD25 all of which use a V35A 3.5L Toyota V6 twin turbo engine and Michelin tyres.
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