Looking towards the European Le Mans Series 2016
News in brief...
• The date of the official launch test session had been confirmed at the Circuit Paul Ricard on 22 / 23 March, the same week as the WEC Prologue (25/26 March 2016).
• The date of the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps has been confirmed and will take place, as previously announced, on September 23rd to 25th in Belgium.
• The ACO confirmed that the winners of the LMP3 seasons had a Nissan Test session in an LMP2 car. Chris Hoy and Charlie Robertson, winners of the LMP3 category, were the first drivers to benefit from this opportunity on November 2nd and 3rd in Estoril, at the wheel of the 2015 Champion's car from Greaves Motorsport.
• The LMP3 competitors entered in the 2016 season will have a chance to participate, within the limit of the number of places available, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 24 opening race with the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup entries, on the legendary La Sarthe circuit, under the eyes of more than 200000 spectators.
• Access to the events will keep on being free for the general admission and depending on the race tracks, there will be a small ticket price for the paddock access, as we did this season. We also want to increase the fan area and offer more and more entertainment opportunities for race lovers. A great platform for the fans to enjoy motorsports.
• As previously confirmed, the ELMS meetings in 2016 will be over three days (Friday-Saturday-Sunday), with the exception of Silverstone, and will include the RS01 Trophy with Renault Sport Technology, single-seater races with the Formula Renault 2.0, the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup and endurance with the ELMS title race of the event.
• Also, after three years, the first cycle of the new European Le Mans Series, the ACO, the promoter of the ELMS, has decided to provide prize money to the winners of the classes.
European Le Mans Series 2016 Calendar
Official Test / Prologue 22/23 March Le Castellet France
Round 1 15/16 April Silverstone Great Britain
Round 2 13-15 May Imola Italy
Round 3 15-17 July Red Bull Ring Austria
Round 4 26-28 August Le Castellet France
Round 5 23-25 Sept. Spa-Francorchamps Belgium
Round 6 21-23 October Estoril Portugal