The LMP2 farewell: top stats and facts
Like LMGTE Am, the LMP2 category has been an ever-present in the WEC era with countless rivalries, battles and careers made from the prototype class that has been universally popular among racers, teams and fans alike.
Next week's Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain will be final time in the WEC that we will see LMP2 action. But fear not because the category will continue its famous fights in the Asian Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series and of course at 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Below are a list of stats and facts about LMP2 from over the years*
1. Enzo Potolicchio, Luis Perez Companc, Julien Canal, Bruno Senna, Will Stevens, David Heinemeier Hansson, Harry Tincknell and Dries Vanthoor all won in both LMP2 and GTE Am.
2. Nineteen different team names have won in LMP2 – the first win by American-flagged Starworks, in a Honda, on Dunlop tires, and the most recent new winner Poland's Inter Europol, in a Gibson-powered Oreca, on Goodyear tires
3. G-Drive Racing won the most races in class, 17, and is the only team's name to achieve double-figures
4. Nine LMP2 teams won at Le Mans, with more victors there than at any other circuit on the calendar
5. Six teams won a single race in LMP2 – DragonSpeed (Spa 2019), Cool Racing (Silverstone 2019), Racing Team Nederland (Fuji 2019), RealTeam by WRT (Monza 2022), Hertz Team JOTA (Sebring 2023) and Inter Europol (Le Mans 2023)
6. Sergey Zlobin won the 2014 LMP2 drivers' title without winning a race, marking the only such occurrence in series history
7. Signatech Alpine's Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Pierre Thiriet recorded a 100% podium rate in 2018/19, including winning both Le Mans races that season, becoming the first and only LMP2 champions to achieve these two unique feats
8. 2015 champions Sam Bird, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal, 2019/20 champions Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque, and 2021 champions Robin Frijns, Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg claimed top honors with a 50% win rate, the highest in class history
9. Three nations end the LMP2 era with 10+ wins – Russia's G-Drive Racing won 17 times, the UK has also won 17 races by Jota Sport, ADR Delta and United Autosports, and France has won 10 times by OAK Racing and Signatech Alpine
10. Twenty-one British drivers won a race in LMP2, or the most of any nation in any WEC class: Ryan Dalziel, Sam Hancock, Simon Dolan, Tom Kimber-Smith, James Walker, Martin Plowman, Mike Conway, Harry Tincknell, Oliver Turvey, Matt Howson, Richard Bradley, Sam Bird, Nick Tandy, Alex Brundle, Will Stevens, Oliver Jarvis, Alex Lynn, Jordan King, Anthony Davidson, Phil Hanson and Paul di Resta
11. A trio of drivers from the same country won five races in LMP2: UK at Le Mans 2014 and Nurburgring 2015, France at Shanghai 2015, Malaysia at Fuji 2018 and Netherlands at Fuji 2019
12. P2 was the highest finishing position at any race by an LMP2 car, by the history-making Jackie Chan DC Racing #38 of Oliver Jarvis, Thomas Laurent and Ho-Pin Tung
13. Six races featured an LMP2 car on the overall podium: Starworks at Sebring 2012, G-Drive at Bahrain 2013, both Jackie Chan DC Racing cars at Le Mans 2017, and one JCDC car at Bahrain 2020, United Autosports at Monza 2021 and most-recently WRT at home in Spa 2022.
14. United Autosports and Jackie Chan DC Racing achieved the LMP2 record streak of four consecutive wins. United #22 achieved the feat by one car, from Bahrain 2019 through Le Mans 2020. Jackie Chan DC achieved the feat with two cars, using three different driver crews, from Silverstone 2018 through Sebring 2019.
15. 85 drivers have won an LMP2 race before Bahrain 2023. The first winning crew was Enzo Potolicchio, Ryan Dalziel and Stephane Sarrazin at Sebring 2012, whilst the newest drivers to win are Pietro Fittipaldi and Oliver Rasmussen at Monza 2023.
16. Drivers representing 27 nations have won in LMP2. Current points-leader Rui Andrade is the only driver to win under the flags of two countries, firstly at Monza 2022 under Portugal, and then at Spa and Fuji 2023 representing Angola.
17. Venezuela, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Brazil, Belgium, Mexico, Portugal, USA, Netherlands, Malaysia, Denmark and Poland all produced multiple winning drivers in LMP2, whilst Czech Republic, Thailand, Australia, Argentina, Russia , New Zealand, Monaco, Austria, Indonesia, China, Angola and Spain produced one winner.
18. Under various names, JOTA's teams won the most LMP2 races, with 19. Seven as Jota Sport/Jota, one as Hertz Team JOTA, eight as Jackie Chan DC Racing and three as G-Drive Racing. Before Bahrain 2023, only OAK also experienced 10 wins, two as themselves to become 2013 champions, and eight as G-Drive Racing in 2014 and 2015. WRT currently sit on 9 wins, and have won all three of their races in Bahrain.
19. The smallest winning margin in LMP2 was 0.684 seconds, between United Autosports' #23 and #22 at Portimao 2023
20. The biggest winning margin in LMP2 was 18 laps, between KCMG #47 and SMP Racing #27 at Sao Paulo 2014
21. Josh Pierson ends the LMP2 era as its youngest winner - 16 years, 32 days at Sebring 2022, and will compete in Bahrain
22. Julien Canal (G-Drive Racing in 2015 and Rebellion Racing in 2017), and Nicolas Lapierre (Signatech Alpine in 2016 and 2018/19) are the only drivers to win two LMP2 titles. Only United Autosports' Phil Hanson can match this feat, but must win in Bahrain to stand any chance.
23. Drivers from France combined for six LMP2 titles – two by Julien Canal, two by Nicolas Lapierre, and one each for Pierre Thiriet and Charles Milesi. This feat can only be matched if United Autosports' Phil Hanson and Frederik Lubin are crowned champions for 2023.
24. (includes Bahrain 2023) Gibson Technology ends the era with 44 wins, ahead of NISMO's 38 wins and three by Honda HPD
25. (includes Bahrain 2023) Oreca ends the era having won 59 races under its own branding, and a further eight as Alpine. Ligier also has won eight races, whilst Morgan won four and Honda won three. Zytek won two races, before the rebranded manufacturer won once more as Gibson.
*With thanks to Alex Harrison [WEC Data]
