Five Le Mans Auto Invites Awarded After Portimao Finale

Five automatic invitations to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans have been awarded to leading contenders in the European Le Mans Series following last weekend’s 4 Hours of Portimao finale.

United Autosports was already guaranteed an entry into the LMP2 class for Le Mans in 2027 as the No. 22 Oreca 07 Gibson crew of Griffin Peebles, Gregoire Saucy and Ben Hanley were assured of finishing in the top-two in the overall ELMS standings prior to the Portuguese decider.

But victory for this crew cemented the title, while championship runners-up the No. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis squad — that was triumphant in the ELMS last year — has again secured an auto invite having finished fourth in Portimao.

The Le Mans invite for the team winning the LMP2 Pro-Am division was only decided on the final lap when a track-limits penalty for the No. 14 TDS Oreca cost it the win and the title, with Algarve Pro Racing instead securing the honors.

CLX Motorsport and TF Sport are other teams to have secured a Le Mans invite via the ELMS for the second year in a row as both successfully defended their respective LMP3 and LMGT3 crowns.

CLX has secured an LMP2 berth, while Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R squad TF will be able to have an extra presence in the LMGT3 class.

Meanwhile, the R-ace GP squad has also secured an invite after winning the overall Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 title with a race to spare, thanks to the efforts of Danial Frost and Enzo Peugeot aboard its Duqueine D09 Toyota.

Further places on the Le Mans grid will be awarded to the LMP2 and GT Asian Le Mans Series class champions.

Jim Trueman Award winner George Kurtz and Bob Akin Award recipient Orey Fidani have already secured invites courtesy of their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship performances, along with Action Express Racing, which won the GTP teams’ title and the sanctioning body’s third berth to the French endurance classic.