Within the broader LM GTE framework, the ACO separated GT competition at Le Mans into two parallel classes: GTE Pro for fully factory-backed professional line-ups and GTE Am for semi-professional and privateer teams. The eligibility requirements for GTE Am imposed specific constraints that distinguished it from its Pro counterpart.
GTE Am cars were required to be at least one year old or built to the previous season's homologation specification, meaning teams ran machinery a generation behind the current factory cars. This rule was intended to reduce costs and create a natural separation in performance while still placing Am competitors in genuinely capable racing hardware. Driver qualification rules were also more restrictive: GTE Am line-ups were required to include at least one bronze-rated driver, limiting the overall talent ceiling of the crew compared to the all-professional factory GTE Pro entries.
The underlying technical regulations governing car construction, production requirements, weight, engine displacement limits, and Balance of Performance were shared with GTE Pro. The ACO's Endurance Committee retained authority to adjust the Balance of Performance between manufacturers and between the two class tiers.
The GTE Am class occupied a distinct space in endurance racing as one of the few top-level international championships where amateur and gentleman drivers competed at the same circuit and in the same event as factory-backed professionals. The class attracted a blend of wealthy enthusiast drivers, up-and-coming professionals seeking seat time, and established privateer teams running support programmes for manufacturers such as Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Corvette.
Porsche was consistently the most successful manufacturer in GTE Am, with the Porsche 911 RSR and its successor the 911 RSR-19 forming the backbone of the privateer entry list across multiple seasons. Ferrari and Aston Martin also maintained regular Am programmes through customer racing departments.
The GTE Pro class concluded after the 2022 WEC season, but GTE Am continued into 2023 as its final competitive year. The last race contested under the GTE regulations was the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain, where the Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR-19 took the class victory. The all-female driver line-up of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting gave the class a historic and widely celebrated send-off.
From 2024, GTE Am was replaced in the WEC by the LMGT3 class, which uses FIA Group GT3-homologated machinery and maintains provisions for lower-rated drivers in Pro-Am entry formats. The transition extended GT3's already dominant position in international GT racing to encompass the most prestigious endurance events on the calendar, including Le Mans itself.
The GTE Am class is remembered as one of the most inclusive competitive formats in top-level motorsport, regularly producing genuine battles for class honours between well-funded privateer operations and giving bronze-rated drivers the opportunity to race at Le Mans in machinery representative of real factory sports car programmes.