For the fourth consecutive year, competitors in the European Le Mans Series will visit the Imola circuit in Italy for the second of six rounds on the 2016 calendar. No less than 42 cars will be on the starting grid.

Le Mans Series

ELMS

The 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup calendar will feature the same six venues as this season with one important difference. The annual trip to Le Mans in June will now, for the first time, feature a single three-hour race on the full 13.6km Circuit de La Sarthe on Friday 12th June instead of the two 1-hour races run at previous events in support of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The six-round series will begin in Barcelona, with the Collective Test on April 8th&nbsp;followed by Round 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Saturday 11th&nbsp;April.

Le Castellet will be the first of two events held in France, with Round 2 on Saturday 2nd&nbsp;May, followed by Road To Le Mans on Friday 12th&nbsp;June, as a curtain-raiser of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

After the summer break, the MLMC returns in August for Round 4 at Spa-Francorchamps, followed by the second visit to Silverstone by the MMC on the 12th&nbsp;September. For the tenth time since 2017, the season finale will be held at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal on Saturday 10thOctober.

All of the races, with the exception of Road To Le Mans, will be in support of the European Le Mans Series.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest:&nbsp;&ldquo;The Michelin Le Mans Cup will be ten years old next year. In the space of a decade, the series has proved to be an essential stage on the route to excellence in this discipline. The quality and variety of circuits offer an outstanding competitive environment enabling teams and drivers to work their way up the endurance ladder towards the FIA World Endurance Championship. 
The three-hour race on the full Circuit des 24 heures is a major milestone on that journey. Road To Le Mans&rsquo; new format reflects the close relationship between the series and the classic French 24-hour race, offering competitors a real taste of the spirit of Le Mans. We are looking forward to the new season.&rdquo;

Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Lequien, Le Mans Endurance Management (LMEM) CEO:&nbsp;&ldquo;The Michelin Le Mans Cup remains a very important step on the endurance racing ladder that leads to the ELMS, FIA World Endurance Championship and, ultimately, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 2026 calendar mirrors the six locations of 2025, allowing LMEM to strengthen events and grow fan support. 
The move to a single 3-hour Road To Le Mans race in support of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is an important step in the development of the series, which gives the teams and drivers more track time at the &lsquo;crown jewel&rsquo; event on the MLMC calendar. We look forward to welcoming everyone to another exciting Michelin Le Mans Cup season.&rdquo;

Three hour Road To Le Mans race is the highlight for the 2026 calendar

The calendar for the 2026 European Le Mans Series will once again feature six 4-hour races at the same circuits visited this year – Barcelona, Le Castellet, Imola, Spa-Francorchamps, Silverstone and Portimão.

Following a record attendance in 2024, with over 100,000 fans across the six events, the 2025 season is already set to break this record with the return to the British Home of Motorsport at Silverstone this 12&ndash;14 September.

The 2026 season will follow the same format, starting in Spain with the Prologue and Round 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at the beginning of April, which moves forward one week compared to 2025. The ELMS will then move to France for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet at the start of May.

After a break in June for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the ELMS returns for Round 3 in Italy with the 4 Hours of Imola and then it&rsquo;s off to the Ardennes for the longest circuit on the calendar, the 7km Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in August.

The ELMS will return to the UK in September for 4 Hours of Silverstone, and, for the tenth time in a row, the season finale will take place at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal, one week earlier compared to this season.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest: &ldquo;Year after year, the European Le Mans Series confirms its place as a reference in European endurance. Spectator enthusiasm is buoyant and the continued record-breaking attendance augurs well for seasons to come. 
The popular series remains attached to its star fixtures and the 2026 calendar features the continent&rsquo;s most prominent circuits. We are grateful to all our hosts who contribute to the notoriety of the championship. The ACO is proud to witness the growth of the ELMS and to see more and more enthusiasts enjoy endurance racing.&rdquo;

Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Lequien, Le Mans Endurance Management (LMEM) CEO:&nbsp;&ldquo;The 2026 calendar is all about providing the teams and our partners with a stable platform, which will enable everyone involved to continue to build on the considerable success enjoyed by the ELMS since 2013.&nbsp; 
With six 4-hour races on six of Europe&rsquo;s leading circuits, the 2026 season will provide the teams and drivers with continuity and different challenges, while providing exciting racing for our many fans around the world to enjoy whether in person at the track or watching at home. We look forward to welcoming all our competitors, partners, fans and the media next season.&rdquo;

Record breaking calendar returns for 2026 ELMS

The BMW M Hybrid V8 will benefit from an overhauled aero design for next year's FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seasons.

A new front end, smaller grille, improved aerodynamics: the BMW M Hybrid V8 is getting a new look for 2026. BMW M Motorsport is modifying&nbsp;the car&#39;s aerodynamics (subject to homologation) in response to&nbsp;experience gained in competition since 2023.

The biggest change is to&nbsp;the front end of the German Hypercar.&nbsp;A slightly smaller grille,&nbsp;revised splitter and redesigned headlights aim to&nbsp;optimise&nbsp;airflow.&nbsp;

<h2>Aerodynamic Modifications for More Consistency and&nbsp;performance</h2>

These improvements offer&nbsp;two main advantages. Firstly, they ensure more consistent performances across all the circuits on the calendar. The data collected over&nbsp;the last two WEC and IMSA seasons revealed weaknesses that needed to be overcome. Secondly, the new air&nbsp;circulation around the car woll&nbsp;aid in cooling.

The new aerodynamics were executed in&nbsp;a close collaboration between&nbsp;the engineers at&nbsp;BMW M Motorsport and its chassis partner,&nbsp;Dallara. Private testing sessions have been&nbsp;conducted the last few weeks and now the BMW M Hybrid V8 will make its first public appearance for a collective shakedown&nbsp;at&nbsp;Lone Star Le Mans, the sixth round of the 2025 WEC. Suject to final homologation, the car&#39;s first race will be the Rolex&nbsp;24 at&nbsp;Daytona at the end of January 2026.

Head of BMW M Motorsport, Andreas Roos: Since we began racing in the IMSA series in 2023 and the FIA WEC in 2024, we have learned a great deal about our BMW M Hybrid V8. After optimising the brakes for the current season, it is now time for an aerodynamically improved version of the car. With these updates, we are responding to the insights gained from our previous race outings. Following the tests we&rsquo;ve already conducted, we are confident that the changes to the BMW M Hybrid V8 will allow us to compete more consistently at the front on all types of tracks, taking another step toward the top. A big thank you to everyone involved for their hard work. In the coming months, we will continue to work intensively to ensure we are optimally prepared for the start of the 2026 season at Daytona in January.

BMW is currently fifth in the&nbsp;2025 WEC Hypercar Constructors standings behind Ferrari, Cadillac, Porsche and&nbsp;Toyota. At the Qatar&nbsp;1812 km, the #15&nbsp;BMW M Hybrid V8 finished fourth overall.

The BMW M Hybrid V8's new aerodynamics for 2026

The no48 VDS Panis Racing crew of Oliver Gray, Esteban Masson and Charles Milesi took their second win in a row at the end of an exciting 4-hour race in Belgium and head to Silverstone as championship leaders.

The no20 Algarve Pro Racing topped the LMP2 Pro/Am standings at the chequered flag with Kriton Lentoudis, Olli Caldwell and Alex Quinn finishing ahead of United Autosports. The LMP3 victory went to the n&deg;8 Team Virage Ligier crew of Julien Gerbi, Rik Koen and Daniel Nogales.

Aston Martin become the fourth different LMGT3 manufacturer to win in the ELMS this season when Valentin Hasse Clot in the no59 Racing Spirit of L&eacute;man Vantage held off the challenge from Fabien Schiller in the no63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG on the final lap after a quick late pitstop by the Swiss team put Hasse Clot into the lead. The two cars were just 0.9 seconds apart at the chequered flag. 
 
VDS Panis Racing leads the provisional overall standings. The team holds a 20-point advantage over Inter Europol Competition and 26 over IDEC Sport. In LMP2 Pro/Am, the battle is tighter, with Algarve Pro Racing three points ahead of AO by TF, while Proton Competition trails by 13 points. In the LMP3 category, CLX Motorsport enjoys a comfortable 31-point lead over Inter Europol Competition. Finally, in LMGT3, Racing Spirit of Leman capitalizes on its victory and Spirit of Race&rsquo;s misstep to take the lead. However, the French squad holds only a one-point advantage over Iron Dames and five over Richard Mille AF Corse. Having led prior to the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Spirit of Race has dropped to fourth place.

The next race is the Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone on Sunday 14 September, Round 5 of the 2025 European Le Mans Series. 
In the meantime, relive the best moments of the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with the video below.

Race Highlights | 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 2025 | ELMS

ELMS : revivez les 4 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps 2025

Photo credit : Twenty-one creation

Victory for VDS Panis Racing in drama filled 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

The entry list revealed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans press conference in early February contained 44 names, but two of the competitors have since withdrawn: the Greaves Motorsports outfit decided to shelve the Gibson that took it to victory at the end of 2015 and to enter only one car, whereas TDS Racing has chosen not to bring the Aston Martin Vantage expected in the LM GTE class.

	The field at Silverstone, the first race, was certainly quite packed, but it was about preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans when it comes to Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Sausset and the SRT41 by OAK Racing and to do well at home for the other two outfits, the SMP Racing team, though Russian, being located in the U.K. So it&#39;s no surprise the entry list is for 42 cars at the 4 Hours of Imola, final rehearsal before the 24 Hours on June 18th and 19th.

	Unlike at Silverstone, the three qualifying sessions - one per class - will take place on Saturday, and the start of the race will be given on Sunday, May 15th at 2:00 p.m. Spectators are welcome and it will only cost 10 euros to attend the race and have access to the paddock.

	<a href="http://europeanlemansseries.com/web/assets/PDF/2016/01-Entry-List/29042016_Provisional%20Entry%20List_imola.pdf" target="_blank">Entry List</a>

	<a href="http://europeanlemansseries.com/assets/1/course/114/Timetable_V14_4_Hours_of_Imola2016_280416_723996.pdf" target="_blank">Program</a>

	C&eacute;cile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

	PHOTO: TOWCESTER (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, U.K.), SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, ELMS, 4 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE, SATURDAY APRIL 16 2016, RACE.

24H LE MANS

ELMS - A grid of 42 cars at the second round at Imola

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