On January 16, 1947, Vincent Auriol became the first president of the Fourth Republic. One June 25, 1949, Vincent Auriol served as honorary president at the first edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans after World War II, won by Ferrari thanks to Lord Selsdon and Luigi Chinetti.

24 Heures du Mans

Le Mans Legendes

Historique

In episode 2 of Drivers of Destiny, Théo Pourchaire talks about his deep connection to the 24 Hours of Le Mans — a race he grew up with in a city he called home for four years and a dream that became reality in 2025.

Le Mans is a particularly special place to Théo Pourchaire. He has experienced the city for a long time, even lived here and completed part of his schooling, and watched its legendary race with wonder as a child. His dream to participate came true when he took his rookie start in the 2025 24 Hours in LMP2. Now a Peugeot driver in the Hypercar class, the Frenchman fully grasps this race is an adventure that begins long before the waving of the national flag, and in which every moment counts.

<h2>Le Mans already feels like home</h2>

Théo Pourchaire: For me, Le Mans is a bit like home. He fulfilled part of his schooling in the heart of the Technoparc and watched the race every year on TV. As time went on, a dream gradually began taking hold: to take the start in the 24 Hours of Le Mans one day.

To Pourchaire, the 24 Hours represented the toughest and most exciting race in the world, where everything can change in a split second and where dramatic twists are part and parcel. 

Last year, he finally got his chance to compete at Le Mans. Entered in LMP2 with the Portuguese team Algarve Pro Racing, Pourchaire took his very first start in the 24 Hours, finishing 25th overall and eighth in his class. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the result. Pourchaire: I didn't think it would be so tough mentally and physically.

The challenge of Le Mans is not merely maintaining one’s lap times. It begins 10 days before the start with Scrutineering, practice sessions, qualifying, media activities, the Drivers’ Parade, etc. It all contributes to a sensational atmosphere, but also significant fatigue. You have to manage the pressure without losing sight of your goals.

Two key moments last year really stand out for Pourchaire. First, the Drivers' Parade on Friday afternoon when all the drivers head to the Le Mans city centre greeted by a staggering sea of fans. Pourchaire: We try to interact with as many people as possible. This tends to be the race week event when competitors fully comprehend the passion inspired by the race.

Secondly, the start: a truly surreal moment every driver dreams of experiencing. Taking the start in the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans remains one of Pourchaire's fondest memories and a childhood dream turned reality. Suddenly, everything he had seen on television took on an entirely new dimension.

<h2>Peugeot, the pursuit of a french dream</h2>

Last year, he represented Peugeot in the Hypercar class at the wheel of the #94 9X8 shared with Loïc Duval and Malthe Jakobsen. For a French driver, wearing the colours of a French carmaker at the 24 Hours of Le Mans — as well as competing against seven other global marques and their drivers — meant so much. Pourchaire: It’s one of the ultimate dreams. And now it's all about winning!

He also understands what a victory at Le Mans truly represents. It requires the alignment of countless factors over the course of 24 hours. Never mind the podium, you have to make it to the chequered flag. Pourchaire: Just making it to the end of this race is an achievement in itself.

In episode 2 of Drivers of Destiny, Théo Pourchaire shares his take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans and describes the world’s greatest endurance race from the perspective of someone who long observed it from the outside and relishes living it from the inside.

Drivers of destiny - Theo Pourchaire

Théo Pourchaire and the 24 Hours of Le Mans: childhood dream to monumental challenge

The road to the 95th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (9–13 June 2027) is already underway. Five teams from the European Le Mans Series, along with two drivers recognised in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, have secured invitations to compete in the legendary endurance race. And this is only the beginning.

The line-up for the 95th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is beginning to take shape. Even before the cars hit the track, some teams already know they have earned a place on the starting grid. Thanks to their performances in European and North American endurance championship, five teams and two drivers have secured invitations to compete in the world's greatest endurance race.

<h2>European Le Mans Series champions secure their invitations</h2>

The 2026 European Le Mans Series season has delivered its coveted tickets to Le Mans. Results across the different classes have earned five teams invitations to the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans:

<ul><li>United Autosports, 2026 ELMS champions (invitation to be used in LMP2);</li>
	<li>Forestier Racing by Panis, 2026 ELMS runners-up (invitation to be used in LMP2);</li>
	<li>Algarve Pro Racing, 2026 LMP2 Pro/Am champions (invitation to be used in LMP2);</li>
	<li>CLX Motorsport, 2026 ELMS LMP3 champions (invitation to be used in LMP2);</li>
	<li>TF Sport, 2026 ELMS LMGT3 champions (invitation to be used in LMGT3).</li>
</ul>Five teams, five different stories, but one shared ambition: to take on the challenge of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and add their names to the race's illustrious roll of honour.

<h2>Invitations awarded to two drivers</h2>

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has also handed out its coveted invitations following the 2026 season:

<ul><li>George Kurtz, recipient of the Jim Trueman Award (invitation to be used in LMP2);</li>
	<li>Orey Fidani, the highest-ranked Bronze-rated driver in the GTD class and recipient of the Bob Akin Award (invitation to be used in LMGT3).</li>
</ul>For them, too, the road now leads to Le Mans.

The list of invitees for the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans is far from complete. Further invitations will be awarded following the 2026–2027 Asian Le Mans Series, which gets underway on 13 November.

The starting grid for the 95th edition will therefore take shape gradually, as championships are decided, victories celebrated and racing stories converge on Le Mans.

Because an invitation is a promise: the promise of being there in June 2027, ready to face 24 of the most intense hours in motorsport. A promise made to teams, drivers and everyone who will come to experience this story from the grandstands, the campsites or trackside.

24 Hours of Le Mans 2027: The First Invitations Revealed

A drama filled 4 Hours of Portimão provided a fitting end to the 2026 European Le Mans Series season, with the no22 United Autosports Oreca taking the chequered flag for the second time this year to secure the LMP2 title for the first time since 2020 and the drivers crown for Griffin Peebles, Grégoire Saucy and Ben Hanley.

European Le Mans Series

Starting from pole position Peebles controlled the race from the front, with his teammates also leading the race.  Hanley took the flag 12 seconds ahead of the no18 IDEC Sport and the no43 Inter Europol Competition Orecas.  2025 champion Esteban Masson finished 4th, which secured the second automatic invitation to the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans for the Forestier Racing by Panis team.

In LMP2 Pro/Am the title looked to be going the way of TDS Racing, with Scott Huffaker leading the race in the final hour, with the no20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of Malthe Jakobsen closing on the leader in during the final stages but the Dane did not have enough time to complete the job.  

However, in a dramatic twist, Huffaker was penalised for track limits and given a drive through penalty on the final lap of the race.  This was converted into a time penalty, which dropped the no14 car back to third behind the no47 CLX Motorsport Oreca. 

The win for the Algarve Pro Racing Oreca was enough for Michael Jensen, Enzo Trulli and Malthe Jakobsen to claim the LMP2 Pro/Am title for themselves and the Portuguese team.     

The no83 AF Corse was leading the championship going into the final race but a technical issue forced the car into the pits and the Italian team finished 11th in class.

The LMP3 title was won by the no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier for the second year in a row with a convincing victory from pole position for the Swiss team. 2025 ELMS LMP3 Champion Paul Lanchere claimed his second title in a row, with Alexander Jacoby adding the ELMS crown to the ALMS LMP3 title he took last February with Lanchere and CLX.  Louis Iglesias had missed the first two races of the season and finished the season as Vice Champion. 

The no17 Ligier finished a lap ahead of the rest of the class field led by the no5 Rinaldi Racing Ligier with the no4 DKR Engineering Ligier finishing third. 

The pressure had been taken of the no17 crew earlier in the race when their only challengers for the title, the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine, went a lap down when they tried to take two long pitstops under the Virtual Safety Car, only to have a pit exit red light spoil their plans and their championship aspirations.

The LMGT3 title battle proved to be ‘edge-of-the-seat’ stuff, with the no75 Proton Competition Porsche of Tom Sargent leading the race by a big margin but needing the TF Sport Corvette to finish lower than second place for the German team to take the championship. 

2025 LMGT3 Champion Charlie Eastwood was running in second place in the no33 Corvette but was having to defend his position from the determined challenge of the no54 High Class Racing Porsche of Benjamin Paque and the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Mathys Jaubert.  For lap after lap the three cars battled, with the no57 Ferrari getting past the Porsche, but Eastwood was holding on to his place using every trick in his extensive playbook.  

As the final lap approached, Jaubert was given a 3 minute stop and go penalty for pitting under a Full Course Yellow and this took the pressure off Eastwood and the Irish driver crossed the line 21 seconds behind the no75 Porsche to claim the 2026 LMGT3 title for the second year in a row for himself and TF Sport, with his American teammates Blake McDonald and Alec Udell claiming their first ELMS crown. The no54 High Class Racing Porsche took the final podium position.

The championship leading no62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG had started from pole position but a mid race penalty for speeding in the pitlane dropped the Qatari flagged car out of contention for the race win and the title, eventually finishing in 8th place.

<a href="https://www.europeanlemansseries.com/en/page/results" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CLICK HERE </a>for the final result from the 4 Hours of Portimão.

<a href="https://www.europeanlemansseries.com/en/page/classification-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CLICK HERE</a> for the championship positions after Round 6.

ELMS : United Autosports Win in Portugal to Lift 2026 LMP2 Title

The Portimão round of the European Le Mans Series, the last in the 2026 season, will decide the outcome of the championship. Aside from the title, the 47 competitors will be vying for an invitation to compete in the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The season hangs on the last four hours. This weekend, the European Le Mans Series heads to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve for the sixth and last round of the season. The 47 cars on the grid, divided into four categories, will be jostling for position. There are ELMS titles to be claimed, and with them, the opportunity to take part in the 95th 24 Hours of Le Mans, 9–13 June 2027. The pecking order in all four classes – LMP2, LMP2 Pro/Am, LMP3 and LMGT3 – remains undecided.

Check out the <a href="https://www.fiawec.com/umbrella_media/2026-elms-4-hours-of-portimao-entry-list-v1-6abcbf5683191413026334.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">provisional entry list</a> for the 2026 4 Hours of Portimão.

<h2>LMP2: High stakes for Forestier Racing by Panis and United Autosports</h2>

In LMP2, the battle for the title is a head-to-head between the #22 Oreca 07-Gibson of United Autosports in the hands of Grégoire Saucy, Griffin Peebles and Ben Hanley, and the #45 Oreca of Forestier Racing by Panis driven by Louis Rousset, Esteban Masson and Oliver Gray. Their 13-point lead gives United Autosports the advantage, especially as they can be sure of an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Forestier Racing by Panis need to finish in the top five to lay hands on the second invitation.

Several teams could cause an upset. The #25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of Matthias Kaiser, Jake Hughes and Alex Lynn (replacing Ben Barnicoat) could overtake the French team. So could the #18 IDEC Sport of Jamie Chadwick, Valerio Rinicella and Laurents Hörr and the #34 Inter Europol Competition shared by Reshad de Gerus and Bijoy Garg.

This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 winners Nick Yelloly, Tom Dillmann and Kuba Smiechowski in the #43 Inter Europol Competition are not in a position to take the title but will be looking to finish on a high note. Also watch out for Paul Lafargue, Job Van Uitert and Paul-Loup Chatin (#28 IDEC Sport) who claimed their second podium place of the season at Silverstone.

<h2>LMP2 Pro/Am: eight crews, one crown</h2>

In LMP2 Pro/Am there is even more suspense. On paper, eight crews are still in the running for the championship title, and only six points separate the top four.

AF Corse heads the table, with a five-point lead. François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxiviere are aiming for their third title in four years, while Antonio Fuoco, winner of the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, is in a position to add another ELMS crown to his silver cabinet.

However, TDS Racing are raring to go. Steven Thomas, Sami Meguetounif and Scott Huffaker II achieved an excellent result at Silverstone, banking 26 points to take second place, with a total of 62.

Algarve Pro Racing is only one point behind, neck and neck with the #30 Duqueine Team. Having triumphed in Barcelona, the Portuguese team and drivers Michael Jensen, Enzo Trulli and Malthe Jakobsen would be overjoyed to win at home.

The championship title is within the reach of Vector Sport, Rossa Racing by Virage, AO Racing and United Autosports. With 45 points, defending champions PJ Hyett, Louis Delétraz and Dane Cameron need a win to retain their title. Daniel Schneider, Marino Sato and Oliver Jarvis (#21 United Autosports) also need to win the race to have a chance of winning the championship.

<h2>LMP3: CLX Motorsport on course to remain champions</h2>

Looking at the LMP3 rankings, three crews are in a position to win the championship. CLX Motorsport has a nine-point lead over R-ace GP.

Paul Lanchère, Alexander Jacoby and Louis Iglesias have amassed 84 points thanks to victories at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps, and a second place at Silverstone. R-ace GP and drivers Fabien Michel, Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Hugo Schwarze finally won a race, at Silverstone, and remain in the running.

On paper, Rinaldi Racing still have a chance with the #5 Ligier driven by José Fernandes Cautela, Alvise Rodella and Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen. However, they are 25 points behind CLX Motorsport and winning the title hinges not only on winning the race, but on their opponents having a particularly bad day.

The winner of LMP3 will also receive an invitation to compete in the LMP2 class at the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans. The seven other teams competing at Portimão are sure to want a positive end to their season too.

<h2>LMGT3: six teams still in line for the title</h2>

The LMGT3 class is particularly evenly matched. Of the 14 cars entered, six crews could still win the class championship.

TEAM Qatar by Iron Lynx took the lead after its first win at Silverstone. The #62 Mercedes-AMG of Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi, Julien Hanses and Ralf Aron boasts a total of 73 points – three more than reigning champions TF Sport.

A win this weekend would be enough for the #33 driven by Alec Udell, Blake McDonald and Charlie Eastwood to retain the title.

The two Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3s are not far behind. The #77 of Martin Berry, Huub Van Eijndhoven and Harry King has 62 points, and the #75 has 61, thanks to a win in Barcelona for Matt Kurzejewski, Thomas Sargent and Richard Lietz.

Kessel Racing and GR Racing also need a win to have a hope of claiming the championship. The Ferrari #57 of Takeshi Kimura, Mathys Jaubert and Daniel Serra is 21 points behind the leader, and the Ferrari #86 of Michael Wainwright, Lorcan Hanafin and Mex Jansen has 23 points to make up.

However, there are 26 points available, so everything is possible at Portimão.

The chequered flag will signal the end of the race, and the result of the 2026 European Le Mans Series. Portimão will also decide who goes to Le Mans: the champions and vice-champions of LMP2, and the winners of LMP2 Pro/Am, LMP3 and LMGT3 all earn an invitation to the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans.

<h2>Watch the 4 Hours of Portimão on FIAWEC+</h2>

Race fans can tune into free live coverage of the 4 Hours of Portimão, the last round of the 2026 European Le Mans Series on FIAWEC+, the official endurance streaming platform. ELMS season highlights and replays are available too. Head to <a href="https://plus.fiawec.com/fr/european-le-mans-series?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FIAWEC+</a> to watch the 2026 season finale.

ELMS: Portimão is the last chance to claim a title and earn an invitation to Le Mans

24 Heures du Mans 1949

As many as 83,000 spectators attended the renaissance of the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans and witnessed the stunning exploit of&nbsp;Luigi Chinetti, who despite crippling heat, drove for&hellip;23 hours! Though there were big guns at the start, the&nbsp;&quot;little&quot; 2-liter, V12&nbsp;Ferrari 166 crossed the finish line in first plac!

Photo (Copyright - Archives/ACO): President Vincent Auriol is welcomed at the 1949&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans.

Today's Photo Story - Vincent Auriol, honorary president at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1949)

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