LMGTE Am class: the end of a wonderful era!

Epic contests have been fought between hundreds of drivers and legendary marques such as Aston Martin, Porsche, Ferrari and Chevrolet Corvette.

The end of an era 🧡

The 8 Hours of Bahrain marks the final FIA World Endurance Championship outing for LMGTE machinery. They have been part of the series since day one, and the cars have competed in all WEC races held to date.

Thank you to all the manufacturers and teams… pic.twitter.com/44RuKQhEVP

— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) November 3, 2023

Below we look at some of the remarkable facts and stats of the class over the last 11 years*

• All four marques which won a GTE Am race also won Le Mans – Corvette won the great race in 2012 and 2023, Porsche in 2013, 2018 and 2019, Ferrari in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020, and Aston Martin won in 2014, 2020 and 2022
• Aston Martin end the era as the only brand to win more than 30 races in the class, 33 to date, with rivals Porsche on 23 victories
• Portugal's Pedro Lamy ends the era with the most wins in LMGTE Am (19)
• Paul Dalla Lana won the most races as a Bronze-ranked driver in GTE Am, 17, ahead of Christian Ried's 13 and Francois Perrodo's eight
• Francois Perrodo ends the era as the only three-time GTE AM Champion, in 2016, 2019/20 and 2021. Emmanuel Collard (2016, 2019/20) and Nicklas Nielsen (2019/20, 2021) won their titles alongside Perrodo, and beating (2022, 2023) is the only other driver to win multiple class titles
• 2014 Saw David Heinemeier Hansson and Kristian Poulsen crowned GTE AM Champions with a 100% podium rate, oven wins and finishes. To-date, they are the only crew to win this title having finished on the podium at every round
• In 2013, Aston Martin Racing drivers Jamie Campbell-Walter and Stuart Hall won the GTE Am Drivers' title by one point ahead of 8star's Rui Aguas and Enzo Potolicchio
• To-date, the record points-haul in a GTE Am campaign is 198, by 2014 and 2017's champions with Aston Martin. This record could be beaten in Bahrain, if Corvette's #33 crew win
• Fifteen Italian drivers won in GTE Am, the most of any nation: Paolo Ruberti, Gianluca Roda, Pierguiseppe Perazzini, Marco Cioci, Matteo Malucelli, Davide Rigon, Mirko Venturi, Andrea Bertolini, Matteo Cairlo, Francesco Castellacci, Riccardo Perara, Alessio Rovera , Giorgio Sernagiotto, Roberto Lacorte and Antonio Fuoco
• Three drivers won with two or more brands in GTE Am: Pedro Lamy (Corvette then Aston Martin), David Heinemeier Hansson (Aston Martin then Porsche), and Ben Keating (Porsche, Aston Martin and Corvette)
• Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana and Mathias Lauda won 13 races together, which remained the series' record win total by a trio until Mike Conway, Kamui and Kobayashi overtook them in Monza 2023
• A trio of drivers from the same country won nine races in GTE Am. France at Spa 2012 and Le Mans 2013, Denmark at Bahrain 2013, Silverstone, Le Mans, Fuji and Bahrain 2014, USA at Le Mans 2016 and Italy at Portimao 2021
• P13 was the highthst overall finish by a GTE Am with this occurring at Bahrain 2013, Sao Paulo 2014 and Bahrain 2020
• Aston Martin Racing achieved the longest winning streak in LMGTE Am, winning eight conseucitve races from Le Mans 2014 through Spa 2015. Porsche's longest streak was seven races by Dempsey Proton and Project1 from Le Mans 2018 through Le Mans 2019. Ferrari's longest streak was four wins by AF Corse and Cetilar Racing from Spa 2021 through Le Mans 2021. Corvette's best run of two was by Larbre Competition in Fuji and Shanghai 2012, and by Corvette Racing in Sebring and Portimao 2023
• Eighty-one different drivers have won in GTE Am. The first winners were Paolo Ruberti, Gianluca Roda and Christian Ried at Sebring 2012, whilst the newest winner, and the series' first-ever female winner, was Lilou Wadoux at Spa 2023
• Drivers representing 25 nations have won in GTE Am. Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Denmark, UK, Argentina, Russia, USA, Switzerland and Holland have all produced more than one winner, whilst one driver has won from each of Republic of Ireland, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, Austria, UAE, Malaysia, Japan, Belgium, Spain, Australia, Norway, Turkey and Luxembourg
• The smallest winning margin in GTE Am was 0.221 seconds, between Aston Martin #98 and TF Sport #90 at Spa 2018
• The biggest winning margin in GTE Am was three laps between Aston Martin #95 and Larbre Competition #50 at Silverstone 2013
• Julien Andlauer ends the era as the youngest GTE Am winner, 18 years, 347 days at Le Mans 2018
• Italy, France, or both together will end the era with their drivers achieving the most GTE Am wins. Before Bahrain 2023, both nations have seen their drivers combine for 30 wins. Italy's most recent victories by Davide Rigon and Francesco Castellacci at Fuji, after France's Julien Andlauer won in Monza.
• Francois Perrodo and Nicklas Nielsen became the first drivers to win consecutive GTE Am titles, in 2019/20 and 2021, both with AF Corse Ferrari, before Ben Keating repeated the feat, winning the 2022 title with TF Sport Aston Martin, and again in 2023 with Corvette Racing.

*With Thanks to Alex Harrison [WEC Data] for compiling these stats.