Five Le Mans Auto-Invites Granted After Portimao Finale

Five teams have been granted automatic invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a result of championship success in the European Le Mans Series following last weekend’s season finale at Portimao.

The champions in each of the four categories, as well as the runner-up in the LMP2 standings, have all qualified for the 93rd running of the French endurance classic.

Four out of five invitations extended are for the LMP2 category, which includes the top two teams in the overall standings (AO by TF and Inter Europol Competition).

Additionally, AF Corse has received an invite for winning the LMP2 Pro-Am category, while RLR M Sport has been given a means of returning to the Le Mans grid as a result of winning the LMP3 championship.

The British squad was last present at the event in 2019, when it fielded a single Oreca 07 Gibson for John Farano, Arjun Maini and Norman Nato after similarly gaining an auto-invite because of winning the LMP3 title the previous year.

Finally, Iron Lynx has been given an invitation to compete in LMGT3 after Hiroshi Hamaguchi, Axcil Jefferies and Andrea Caldarelli secured the title on the final lap during Saturday’s season finale.

The five invites extended at Portimao add to three previous entry slots already assigned to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors after Motul Petit Le Mans.

There, Nick Boulle and Orey Fidani won the Trueman and Bob Akin Award titles, while Porsche Penske Motorsport received an additional invite for securing the GTP championships.

The two final auto-invites will be handed out to the LMP2 and GT champions of the Asian Le Mans Series, which kicks off on Dec. 7 at Sepang International Circuit.