The 2010 Le Mans Series was the seventh season of Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. It featured five events between 11 April and 12 September 2010. For the first time in 2010, Formula Le Mans (FLM) cars were run in a fifth class in the series, running alongside Le Mans Prototype cars and GT cars, rather than as a support series.[1] It was also the final season when GT1 cars were allowed to run in the series.

Stéphane Sarrazin won the LMP1 championship despite sharing his car with Nicolas Lapierre for most of the season; Sarrazin did not run with his usual Team Oreca Matmut outfit at the 1000 km of Spa, instead gaining championship points with his Peugeot Sport teammates in a precursor to the 24 Hours of Le Mans the following month. Despite this, Sarrazin won only one race, winning at the 1000 km of Algarve with Lapierre and Olivier Panis. Lapierre was second ahead of Rinaldo Capello, who won at Paul Ricard with Allan McNish. Other class victories went to Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy and Simon Pagenaud at Spa, Greg Mansell and Leo Mansell at the Hungaroring, and Nicolas Minassian and Anthony Davidson at Silverstone. In LMP2, Thomas Erdos and Mike Newton claimed the championship for the second time, after their more consistent finishes helped them to fend off Strakka Racing's Jonny Kane, Danny Watts and Nick Leventis, who won three races to one for Erdos and Newton. The only other win was taken by Miguel Amaral and Olivier Pla at Spa.

The GT1 championship went to Larbre Compétition pairing Gabriele Gardel and Patrice Goueslard, as they were the only team to attempt every race in the championship. Julien Canal and Fernando Rees joined them in various races but were not a factor in the championship. The only team to beat Larbre during the season was the Marc VDS Racing Team car of Eric De Doncker, Bas Leinders and Markus Palttala, who won at Spa. GT2 proceedings saw a second successive title for Felbermayr-Proton duo Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz, winning three of the season's five races. The other two were taken by AF Corse duo Gianmaria Bruni and Jaime Melo at Algarve and at Silverstone. Another tight championship battle was fought out in the Formula Le Mans class, with DAMS' Andrea Barlesi and Gary Chalandon holding off Hope Polevision Racing driver Steve Zacchia by just two points. The season's five races were shared between four different entries, with Barlesi and Chalandon only winning at the Hungaroring with Alessandro Cicognani. Zacchia won at Spa with Wolfgang Kaufmann and Luca Moro, Damien Toulemonde, Ross Zampatti and David Zollinger won at Paul Ricard, while Jody Firth and Warren Hughes won twice, in the Algarve, and at Silverstone.

Schedule

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On 27 October 2009 the ACO released a preliminary calendar for the 2010 season featuring three named events and two unconfirmed events, plus the traditional pre-season test session at Circuit Paul Ricard.[2] The calendar was further revised with two additional events at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve and the Hungaroring. The Paul Ricard race was also extended to eight hours in length.[3] The 1000 km of Silverstone was also the part of the inaugural Le Mans Intercontinental Cup for LMP1s,[4] and it was also the first time that the race had been run on the circuit's "Arena" configuration.

Except for the 8 Hours of Castellet, as the name implied an eight-hour time limit, all races ran for either 1000 km or six hours, whichever came first;[5] partially wet weather and a red flag period caused the 2010 1000 km of Spa to run slightly less than the 143 laps it was originally scheduled; the top three finishers completed 139 laps at the end of six hours. The 2010 1000 km of Hungaroring race was also run at a distance shorter than the 1000-km scheduled distance after six hours.

Rnd Race Circuit Date
 – Official Test Session   Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 7–9 March
1 8 Hours of Castellet   Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 11 April
2 1000 km of Spa   Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium 9 May
3 1000 km of Algarve   Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal 17 July
4 1000 km of Hungaroring   Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Hungary 22 August
5 Autosport 1000 km of Silverstone   Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom 12 September

Season results

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Overall winner in bold.

Rnd. Circuit LMP1 Winning Team LMP2 Winning Team FLM Winning Team GT1 Winning Team GT2 Winning Team Results
LMP1 Winning Drivers LMP2 Winning Drivers FLM Winning Drivers GT1 Winning Drivers GT2 Winning Drivers
1 Paul Ricard   No. 7 Audi Sport Team Joest   No. 42 Strakka Racing   No. 49 Applewood Seven   No. 50 Larbre Compétition   No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Results
  Allan McNish
  Rinaldo Capello
  Danny Watts
  Nick Leventis
  Jonny Kane
  Damien Toulemonde
  David Zollinger
  Ross Zampatti
  Gabriele Gardel
  Patrice Goueslard
  Julien Canal
  Marc Lieb
  Richard Lietz
2 Spa   No.3 Team Peugeot Total   No. 40 Quifel-ASM Team   No. 47 Hope Polevision Racing   No. 70 Marc VDS Racing Team   No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Results
  Sébastien Bourdais
  Pedro Lamy
  Simon Pagenaud
  Miguel Amaral
  Olivier Pla
  Wolfgang Kaufmann
  Steve Zacchia
  Luca Moro
  Eric De Doncker
  Bas Leinders
  Markus Palttala
  Marc Lieb
  Richard Lietz
3 Algarve   No. 4 Team Oreca Matmut   No. 25 RML   No. 44 DAMS   No. 50 Larbre Compétition   No. 96 AF Corse Results
  Olivier Panis
  Nicolas Lapierre
  Stéphane Sarrazin
  Mike Newton
  Thomas Erdos
  Ben Collins
  Jody Firth
  Warren Hughes
  Gabriele Gardel
  Patrice Goueslard
  Fernando Rees
  Gianmaria Bruni
  Jaime Melo
4 Hungaroring   No. 5 Beechdean Mansell   No. 42 Strakka Racing   No. 43 DAMS   No. 50 Larbre Compétition   No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Results
  Greg Mansell
  Leo Mansell
  Nick Leventis
  Danny Watts
  Jonny Kane
  Andrea Barlesi
  Alessandro Cicognani
  Gary Chalandon
  Gabriele Gardel
  Patrice Goueslard
  Fernando Rees
  Marc Lieb
  Richard Lietz
5 Silverstone   No. 1 Team Peugeot Total   No. 42 Strakka Racing   No. 44 DAMS   No. 50 Larbre Compétition   No. 96 AF Corse Results
  Nicolas Minassian
  Anthony Davidson
  Danny Watts
  Jonny Kane
  Nick Leventis
  Jody Firth
  Warren Hughes
  Gabriele Gardel
  Patrice Goueslard
  Fernando Rees
  Gianmaria Bruni
  Jaime Melo

Championship Standings

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Points were awarded to all race finishers, with unclassified entries failing to complete 70% of the race distance or entries failing to reach the finish not earning championship points. One bonus point was awarded for winning pole position (denoted by bold), and a further bonus was awarded for the entry which sets the fastest race lap (denoted by italics). Entries which changed an engine prior to the required two race minimum were penalized two points, with a four-point penalty for every subsequent engine change.

Points were allocated in one of two ways, dependent on race length.

Points System[6]
Race Distance Position Pole Position Fastest Lap
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th And Lower
1000 km 15 13 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 1
Over 1500 km 30 26 22 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 2

Teams Championships

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The top two finishers in the LMP1, LMP2 and GT2 championships earned automatic entry to the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans, provided that the team was running for the full season. Partial season entries (teams that run on a part-time basis, e.g. race-by-race) were not eligible for automatic entries for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

GT1 championships were not awarded any automatic entries as the GT1 category was phased out by the end of the year (see New 2011 regulations section).

LMP1 Standings

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With one victory over the season, Team Oreca Matmut won the LMP1 teams title.
Pos No. Team Chassis Engine Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5 Total
1 4   Team Oreca Matmut Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel) 4 Ret 1 4 2 63
2 008   Signature Plus Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 6 8 3 3 6 55
3 12   Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60 Rebellion 5.5 L V10 7 Ret 2 2 5 53
4 7   Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI plus Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10 (Diesel) 1 3 Ret 45
5 13   Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60 Rebellion 5.5 L V10 3 6 4 Ret 10 44
6 009   Aston Martin Racing Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 2 4 38
7 5   Beechdean Mansell Ginetta-Zytek GZ09SB Zytek ZJ458 4.5 L V8 8 1 7 34
8 1   Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel) 4 1 27
9 8   Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI plus Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10 (Diesel) 8 3 21
10 3   Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel) 1 18
11 6   AIM Team Oreca Matmut Oreca 01 AIM YS5.5 5.5 L V10 5 17
12 2   Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel) 2 15
13 9   Audi Sport North America Audi R15 TDI plus Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10 (Diesel) 5 10
14 11   Drayson Racing Lola B09/60 Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10 8 7
15 20   Team LNT Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S Zytek ZJ458 4.5 L V8 9 6
- 007   Aston Martin Racing Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 NC 0

LMP2 Standings

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RML, and drivers Thomas Erdos and Mike Newton, won their respective LMP2 class championships.
Pos No. Team Chassis Engine Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5 Total
1 25   RML Lola B08/80 HPD AL7R 3.4 L V8 3 2 1 4 4 75
2 42   Strakka Racing HPD ARX-01C HPD AL7R 3.4 L V8 1 Ret Ret 1 1 69
3 24   OAK Racing Pescarolo 01 Judd DB 3.4 L V8 4 4 4 3 6 53
4 35   OAK Racing Pescarolo 01 Judd DB 3.4 L V8 2 3 Ret 7 3 52
5 41   Team Bruichladdich Ginetta-Zytek GZ09SB/2 Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8 5 Ret 2 5 8 46
6 40   Quifel ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek GZ09SB/2 Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8 Ret 1 Ret 2 2 44
7 30   Racing Box Lola B09/80 Judd DB 3.4 L V8 6 5 10 5 39
8 36   Pegasus Racing Courage-Oreca LC75 AER P07 2.0 L Turbo I4 7 6 3 Ret Ret 34
9 39   KSM Motorsport Lola B08/47 Judd DB 3.4 L V8 8 Ret 9 17
10 27   Race Performance Radical SR9 Judd DB 3.4 L V8 Ret 7 9 10 17
11 29   Racing Box Lola B09/80 Judd DB 3.4 L V8 Ret 6 7 15
12 31   RLR MSport MG-Lola EX265 AER P07 2.0 L Turbo I4 8 NC 7
- 37   WR / Salini WR LMP2008 Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8 Ret 0

FLM Standings

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All teams in the Formula Le Mans category utilized the Oreca FLM09 chassis and General Motors 6.3 L V8.

Pos No. Team Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5 Total
1 43   DAMS 3 Ret 2 1 4 59
2 47   Hope Polevision Racing 4 1 Ret 3 2 57
3 45   Boutsen Energy Racing Ret 2 3 4 5 41
4 46   JMB Racing Ret 3 4 2 6 40
5 48   Hope Polevision Racing 2 Ret Ret 3 39
6 49   Applewood Seven 1 Ret Ret Ret 32
7 44   DAMS Ret 1 Ret 1 31

GT1 Standings

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Pos No. Team Chassis Engine Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5 Total
1 50   Larbre Compétition Saleen S7-R Ford 7.0 L V8 1 4 1 1 1 97
2 66   Atlas FX-Team FS Saleen S7-R Ford 7.0 L V8 6 2 Ret 25
3 70   Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT1 Ford 5.3 L V8 1 18
4 60   Matech Competition Ford GT1 Ford 5.3 L V8 2 15
5 61   Matech Competition Ford GT1 Ford 5.3 L V8 3 13
6 72   Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R Corvette LS7.R 7.0 L V8 5 10
- 52   Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DBR9 Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 Ret 0

GT2 Standings

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Felbermayr-Proton won the GT2 class title for the second successive season, with drivers Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz.
Pos No. Team Chassis Engine Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5 Total
1 77   Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 1 1 3 1 5 87
2 95   AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 3 3 2 4 12 66
3 96   AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 Ret 2 1 5 1 59
4 88   Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 2 8 5 7 10 55
5 76   IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 GT3 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 7 5 10 3 6 47
6 91   CRS Racing Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 Ret 6 8 2 4 40
7 94   AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 5 11 6 8 9 38
8 85   Spyker Squadron Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R Audi 4.0 L V8 8 7 9 9 7 38
9 90   CRS Racing Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 4 15 11 12 13 33
10 92   JMW Motorsport Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 Ret NC 4 6 3 30
11 78   BMW Team Schnitzer BMW M3 GT2 BMW 4.0 L V8 6 12 8 26
12 75   Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 Ret 9 Ret Ret 2 19
13 79   BMW Team Schnitzer BMW M3 GT2 BMW 4.0 L V8 4 18
14 89   Hankook Team Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 Ret 10 7 10 Ret 17
15 86   Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 11 4
16 99   Gulf Team First Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 11 4
17 98   Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 13 3
18 93   JWA Racing Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 14 3

Drivers Championships

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LMP1 Standings

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Pos Driver Points
1   Stéphane Sarrazin 78
2   Nicolas Lapierre 63
3   Rinaldo Capello 57
4=   Vanina Ickx 55
4=   Franck Mailleux 55
4=   Pierre Ragues 55
7=   Neel Jani 52
7=   Nicolas Prost 52
9=   Allan McNish 45
10=   Andrea Belicchi 14
10=   Jean-Christophe Boullion 44
12   Olivier Panis 39
13=   Greg Mansell 34
13=   Leo Mansell 34
15=   Adrián Fernández 28
15=   Stefan Mücke 28
15=   Harold Primat 28
18   Anthony Davidson 27
19   Guy Smith 23
20   Timo Bernhard 23
21=   Sébastien Bourdais 18
21=   Simon Pagenaud 18
21=   Pedro Lamy 18

LMP2 Standings

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Pos Driver Points
1=   Thomas Erdos 75
1=   Mike Newton 75
3=   Jonny Kane 69
3=   Nick Leventis 69
3=   Danny Watts 69
6=   Matthieu Lahaye 53
6=   Jacques Nicolet 53
8=   Richard Hein 52
8=   Guillaume Moreau 52
10=   Thor-Christian Ebbesvik 46
10=   Karim Ojjeh 46
12=   Miguel Amaral 44
12=   Olivier Pla 44

FLM Standings

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Pos Driver Points
1=   Andrea Barlesi 59
1=   Gary Chalandon 59
3   Steve Zacchia 57
4   Alessandro Cicognani 46
5   Luca Moro 44
6=   Dominik Kraihamer 41
6=   Nicolas de Crem 41

GT1 Standings

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Pos Driver Points
1=   Gabriele Gardel 97
1=   Patrice Goueslard 97
3   Fernando Rees 64
4   Julien Canal 33
5=   Julien Schroyen 25
5=   Carlo van Dam 25
7=   Bas Leinders 18
7=   Markus Palttala 18

GT2 Standings

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Pos Driver Points
1=   Marc Lieb 87
1=   Richard Lietz 87
3=   Jean Alesi 66
3=   Giancarlo Fisichella 66
3=   Toni Vilander 66
6=   Martin Ragginger 55
6=   Christian Ried 55
8=   Gianmaria Bruni 50
8=   Jaime Melo 50
10=   Patrick Pilet 47
10=   Raymond Narac 47
12=   Andrew Kirkaldy 40
12=   Tim Mullen 40
14=   Luis Pérez Companc 38
14=   Matías Russo 38
16   Peter Dumbreck 38
17   Patrick Long 35

References

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  1. ^ "Formula Le Mans to join LMS Field". Autosport. 2009-11-15. Archived from the original on 18 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
  2. ^ "2010 Provisional Calendar". Le Mans Series. 2009-10-27. Retrieved 2009-10-27.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "2010 Calendar". Le Mans Series. 2009-12-05. Retrieved 2009-12-09.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "The ACO launches the "2010 Le Mans Intercontinental Cup"". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-12-08. Archived from the original on 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  5. ^ "2010 Sporting Regulations" (PDF). Le Mans Series. 2009-12-18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-01-06. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
  6. ^ "Regulations evolution". Le Mans Series. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2009-11-27. Retrieved 2010-04-12.[permanent dead link]
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