The decision to replace GTE with GT3-based competition was announced by the ACO in August 2021, following a sustained decline in manufacturer participation in the GTE classes. By 2021, only four cars were contesting the WEC GTE championship and three in IMSA's equivalent GTLM class, reflecting the high homologation and development costs of maintaining bespoke GTE-spec cars that could not be shared with the broader customer racing market.
The GTE Pro class ran its final season in the WEC in 2022. GTE Am continued for one additional year in 2023, with its final race at the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain. LMGT3 then launched for the 2024 WEC season, giving manufacturers the ability to enter a car at Le Mans using the same GT3 homologation already developed and sold to customer teams around the world, dramatically reducing the barrier to entry.
LMGT3 entries at the 24 Hours of Le Mans include both full-season WEC entries and additional invitations extended to teams via championship results in the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series, and GT World Challenge Europe. The class at Le Mans accommodates mixed Pro and Pro-Am line-ups, with Pro-Am entries designated for teams that include a lower-rated bronze driver in their crew, following a similar structural principle to the former GTE Am arrangements.
The Grid typically includes 18 full-season WEC competitors in LMGT3, with additional Le Mans-only invitations expanding the field. Cars from manufacturers including Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Lexus, Chevrolet Corvette, McLaren, and Mercedes-AMG have competed in the class.
The LMGT3 cars are built to the same Group GT3 regulations maintained by the FIA that govern competition across the GT World Challenge series and other international GT championships. GT3 cars must be based on production road car models and are built either directly by manufacturers or by racing specialists at manufacturer behest. Performance among different marques is equalised through Balance of Performance, with weights, power outputs, and aerodynamic parameters adjusted to prevent any single manufacturer dominating.
GT3 cars typically weigh between 1,200 and 1,300 kg and produce between 500 and 600 horsepower, with all cars required to feature traction control, ABS, and built-in air jacks. The shared hardware and broadly available homologated machinery mean teams and manufacturers can distribute costs across multiple championships running the same car.
In the inaugural 2024 LMGT3 season at Le Mans, Manthey's Porsche 911 GT3 R won the class. The following year, Manthey recorded a second consecutive LMGT3 class victory at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Richard Lietz joined by Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera. Qualifying for LMGT3 at Le Mans uses the same Hyperpole format as other classes, with an initial qualifying session filtering the field and the fastest cars advancing to a dedicated shootout session to determine the final grid order.
LMGT3 has been broadly welcomed as a sustainable model for GT competition at the top level of endurance racing, reducing cost barriers while expanding the range of competing manufacturers and ensuring that Le Mans GT racing remains tied to the wider international GT3 market.