The series was open toLe Mans Prototypes, divided into theLMP2 andLMP3 classes, andgrand tourer-style racing cars in the newLMGT3 class. The season was the first for the LMGT3 class, replacing LMGTE.
The No. 14 car and the AO by TF team are the LMP2 Drivers' and Teams champions. The No. 83 car and the AF Corse team is the LMP2 Pro/Am Drivers and Teams champions. The No. 63 Iron Lynx drivers are the LMGT3 Drivers' champions. Not pictured: The No. 15 RLR MSport car as the LMP3 Drivers' and Teams champions.
The provisional calendar for the 2024 season was announced on 12 September 2023.Mugello Circuit was added to the calendar for the first time, replacing the round atMotorLand Aragón, and theImola Circuit round returned after being cancelled the previous year.[1][2]
All cars in theLMP2 class use theGibson GK428V8 engine andGoodyear tyres.[4] Entries in the LMP2 Pro-Am class, set aside for teams with a Bronze-rated driver in their line-up, are denoted with icons.
Le Castellet yielded chaos at the front of the LMP2 field, as the leading #37 Cool Racing and later #34Inter Europol Competition squads both retired with mechanical problems inside of the final hour.[72] That leftTom Dillmann, who had previously passed polesitterJob van Uitert (#28IDEC Sport) with a daring move at Signes, to inherit the win in the remaining #43 Inter Europol (alongsideVladislav Lomko andSebastián Álvarez).[73][74] Cool Racing's #47 and the #14AO byTF completed the podium, while Richard Mille by TDS won Pro-Am after the #83 fell down the order late on due to high tyre wear.[75] Despite incurring a starting infringement penalty, the #15 RLR MSport won LMP3 with a fuel saving final stint fromGaël Julien; LMGT3 was won by the #55Spirit of Race team led byDavid Perel.[75]
Following the race, the #65 Panis car of Milesi,Arthur Leclerc, andManuel Maldonado received a 35-second penalty in lieu of a drive-through for a FCY-infringement, giving the win to the #14.[80][81] However, the original result was reinstated weeks later following an appeal.[82]
Belgium saw a commanding performance from the #14 AO by TF: the team took pole with Delétraz and recovered its lead thanks to an overtake fromRobert Kubica on the off-strategy #22 United.[83][84] Delétraz narrowly won ahead of Dillmann's #43 Inter Europol, with IDEC Sport finishing third after the Panis car of Milesi dropped off in pace during the closing laps.[85] A collision for Richard Mille by TDS driverGrégoire Saucy with a GT car gave a championship advantage to the #83 AF Corse crew, who won the race in dominant fashion.[85] A dramatic collision occurred in LMGT3, where the championship-leading #63Iron LynxLamborghini, damaged by prior contact with an LMP2 entry, heavily damaged the sister #85 Iron Dames entry. This allowed the #57Kessel Racing Ferrari ofDaniel Serra,Esteban Masson, andTakeshi Kimura to win ahead of GR Racing's #86 and the AF Corse #51 in a Ferrari 1-2-3.[86] Eurointernational meanwhile completed a recovery drive from the Les Combes gravel trap to the win in LMP3, putting the #11 crew of Bell and Ali to the top of the standings.[85]
The first ELMS race atMugello was controlled by the #9 ofIron Lynx –Proton. Led byMatteo Cairoli, the team took pole and, after an overtake fromMacéo Capietto on Olli Caldwell, drove out to a victory ahead of the #25 APR and #34 Inter Europol.[87][88] In LMP3, Gillian Henrion, helped by a slow final stop for the leading #15 RLR crew, was able to take Team Virage to victory again by stretching his fuel during a long final stint.[89] Contact forAlessio Rovera with the #63 Iron Lynx meanwhile put the #83 AF Corse Oreca out of contention for the LMP2 Pro-Am win, which was taken byMathias Beche's #29.[90] The LMGT3 win was once again taken by the #57 Kessel Ferrari, as Serra made his way past the #97 Grid MotorsportAston Martin of Lorcan Hanafin with six minutes to go.[91]
The race was red-flagged following an incident between Rahel Frey andClaudio Schiavoni, the latter being tapped into the right-side wall in hisPorsche.[92]
Going into the season finale inPortimão, there were three-way fights for the LMP2, LMP2 Pro-Am, and LMP3 championships, whilst LMGT3 included nine entries which had a mathematical chance of claiming the title.[93] Aided by a falsely applied penalty to the #43 Inter Europol car, which ended up second in the standings, the #14 AO by TF crew ofJonny Edgar, Robert Kubica, and Louis Delétraz won the ELMS LMP2 drivers' title with a second place.[94] They were beaten in the race by Cool Racing's #37, which became the only LMP2 squad to win multiple races throughout the campaign.[95][96] They snatched third in the standings as Charles Milesi, the polesitter, caused a late collision with the #10 Vector Sport which gave the #65 Panis car a penalty.[97][98]
The other three classes brought huge drama: in LMP2 Pro-Am, an audacious fuel saving strategy fromAlex Quinn nearly gave the #20 Algarve Pro the title, before a last-lap overtake by race-winningBent Viscaal of the #77 Proton team gave it to the #83 AF Corse outfit. In LMP3, Gaël Julien helped the #15 RLR MSport (co-driven by Michael Jensen and Nick Adcock) to win the title by overtaking Adam Ali in the #11 Eurointernational, which finished second overall; the race was won by the #17 Cool Racing led byManuel Espírito Santo. LMGT3, in turn, was decided at the last turn, where the leading Iron Dames let the sister #63 Iron Lynx team ofHiroshi Hamaguchi,Axcil Jefferies, andAndrea Caldarelli through to take the victory and, by extension, the championship.[99]
^abLomko and Bukhantsov are Russian, but they compete under a French licence and an Emirati licence respectively as Russian national emblems were banned by theFIA following theRussian invasion of Ukraine.
^abPinheiro and García did not fulfil their mandated minimum drive time at the4 Hours of Le Castellet, meaning that they did not receive points for that event.
^Bernardo Pinheiro did not fulfil his mandated minimum drive time at the4 Hours of Portimão, meaning that he did not receive points for that event.
^Matthieu Lahaye did not fulfil his mandated minimum drive time at the4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, meaning that he did not receive points for that event.
^abMatthieu Lahaye and Pedro Perino did not fulfil their mandated minimum drive time at the4 Hours of Mugello, meaning that they did not receive points for that event.
^abPerino and Adam did not fulfil their mandated minimum drive time at the4 Hours of Imola, meaning that they did not receive points for that event.