The 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship draws to a close with the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain in Sakhir on Saturday 2 November. Here’s all you need to know ahead of what promises to be a thrilling finale.

<h2>a unique dEsert CHALLENGE</h2>

With its demanding racetrack and extreme conditions, the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir has a reputation for conjuring up some memorable battles. Brake wear is probably more an issue here than anywhere else and the four long straights put a lot of strain on the engines. The high atmospheric pressure and low humidity add extra stress. Drivers frequently drop to first gear to accelerate out of the track&rsquo;s sharp turns with constant gear shifting a major factor in this race. 
With intense heat, sand and rapid tyre damage added to the mix, the desert circuit calls for unwavering concentration and total commitment from drivers and pit crews. It is the ideal venue to crown the champions following an action-packed season.

<h2>A three-way fight for the Hypercar title</h2>

The tussle for the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&rsquo; Championship promises to be fierce.&nbsp;Porsche currently leads the way with a ten-point advantage over Toyota, and Ferrari a further 17 points behind. Everything is still to play for in this final round. 
Andr&eacute; Lotterer, K&eacute;vin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor (#6 Porsche) are ideally placed to pick up the drivers&rsquo; title. However, the #50 Ferrari line-up and the duo formed by Kamui Kobayashi/Nyck de Vries (#7 Toyota) won&rsquo;t rest while there is still a mathematical chance.&nbsp;A faultless race will be crucial&nbsp;in determining who will be crowned. 
In LMGT3, however, Manthey PureRxcing wrapped up the title at the 6 Hours of Fuji.

<h2>BMW M Team WRT and Alpine Endurance Team looking to finish in style</h2>

The #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 entered by BMW M Team WRT and the #36 Alpine A424 of Alpine Endurance Team sealed a sparkling race in Japan with a podium position. They will undoubtedly be looking to conclude their inaugural Hypercar season on a positive note. It will be a particularly special occasion for Alpine as Nicolas Lapierre will be making his d&eacute;but in his new role as the team&rsquo;s Sporting Director.

<h2>Rookie&nbsp;Tests &ndash;&nbsp;a golden opportunity for budding talent</h2>

The traditional season-end tests for newcomers will be held on Sunday 3 November &ndash; the day after the race.&nbsp;The official tests are crucial for talented youngsters to show off their potential to team bosses. Several renowned drivers, such as Robert Shwartzman and Norman Nato, launched their Hypercar career at the Rookie Tests.

This year&rsquo;s batch of rookies include Reshad de Gerus who will drive the Championship-winning Hypercar, while Gillian Henrion will take the wheel of the Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R. Cl&eacute;ment Novalak&nbsp;and Th&eacute;o Pourchaire&nbsp;will have the opportunity to get a feel for the Peugeot 9X8 of Team Peugeot TotalEnergies, with experienced drivers such as Paul di Resta and Malthe Jakobsen on hand to offer advice. 
Alpine, meanwhile, has selected Formula Two driver&nbsp;Victor Martins, a member of the Alpine Academy, for these tests.

Check out the provisional entry list for the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/fiawec-prod/assets/ressources/2024/Bahrain/2024_FIA_WEC_Bahrain_Provisional%20Entry%20List_v1.pdf" target="_blank">HERE</a>.

FIA WEC – all you need to know about the season finale in Bahrain

Porsche Penske Motorsport is changing its factory driver squad for the new season with only two drivers per car competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The 2024 FIA WEC season still has one round to run but Porsche is already preparing the ground for 2025 by introducing changes to the Porsche Penske Motorsport driver line-ups. Julien Andlauer&nbsp;has been promoted to the works driver ranks for next year.&nbsp;Andr&eacute; Lotterer, three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Dane Cameron, four-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title holder, will leave the 963 programme at the end of the year. Meanwhile, Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Makowiecki&nbsp;and Porsche Motorsport have agreed to end their 11-year collaboration.

Andlauer will team up with Michael Christensen&nbsp;at the wheel of the #5 Porsche 963 for the 2025 FIA WEC. The sister car will be driven by Laurens Vanthoor&nbsp;and K&eacute;vin Estre. Porsche Penske Motorsport will call up a third driver for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mathieu Jaminet&nbsp;will join up with Andlauer and Christensen, while Matt Campbell will be in the #6 car. These drivers will also compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to thank Dane Cameron, Andr&eacute; Lotterer and Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Makowiecki for their incredible work over the past few years. All three have played a significant role in us being able to celebrate great successes with the Porsche 963 on both sides of the Atlantic &ndash; in just the second year of competition,&rdquo; said Porsche Motorsport Vice President Thomas Laudenbach.&nbsp;&ldquo;We compete in 2025 with a changed lineup.&nbsp;Our squad continues to be among the top echelons of endurance racing internationally. Plus, we&rsquo;re remaining dedicated to our very successful initiative by supporting another former Porsche Junior to climb to the top of the career ladder. Over the past few seasons, Julien Andlauer has impressed us at the wheel of every Porsche racing car from Weissach. He absolutely deserves this promotion into the works driver squad.&rdquo;

&ldquo;We put much thought into our squad for next season&rsquo;s international racing campaign. With the new lineup, I believe we&rsquo;ve put together a winning combination for 2025,&quot; explained&nbsp;Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh.&nbsp;&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have two very experienced drivers in both series, plus two drivers in sister cars, all of whom have come up through the ranks of Porsche&rsquo;s junior programme and completely won us over as talented youngsters.&nbsp; I&rsquo;d also like to thank Dane Cameron, Andr&eacute; Lotterer and Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Makowiecki.&nbsp; All three have contributed to getting the Porsche Penske Motorsport campaign to where it now stands in global endurance racing: at the top.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

Porsche reshuffles lineups for 2025

The 2024 European Le Mans Series season has earned five teams entry into the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans on 11-15 June 2025.

The 2024 European Le Mans Series and 2024&nbsp;Michelin Le Mans Cup have decided five teams granted invitation to the&nbsp;2025&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans:

<ul>
	<li>AO by TF, 2024 ELMS champion&nbsp;(invitation to compete in LMP2)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Inter Europol Competition, 2024 ELMS runner-up&nbsp;(invitation to compete in LMP2)</li>
	<li>AF Corse, 2024 ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am champion&nbsp;(to compete in&nbsp;LMP2)</li>
	<li>RLR M Sport, 2024 LMP3 champion&nbsp;(invitation to compete in&nbsp;LMP2)&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Iron Lynx, 2024 LMGT3&nbsp;champion&nbsp;(invitation to compete in&nbsp;LMGT3)</li>
</ul>

Invitations have also been awarded after the&nbsp;2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season:

<ul>
	<li>Porsche Penske Motorsport, 2024 IMSA champion&nbsp;(invitation to compete in&nbsp;Hypercar)</li>
	<li>Nick Boulle, 2024 IMSA LMP2 champion and winner of the&nbsp;Jim Trueman trophy (invitation to compete in&nbsp;LMP2)</li>
	<li>Orey Fidani, 2024 IMSA best&nbsp;Bronze driver and winner of the Bob Akin trophy</li>
</ul>

The 2024/2025 Asian Le Mans Series season&nbsp;kicking&nbsp;off on&nbsp;7 December will result in additional&nbsp;invitations to take the start in the 2025&nbsp;24 Hours of Le Mans. The LMP2 and GT&nbsp;champions will earn one each.

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Five new invitations to the 93rd running

The 4 Hours of Portimao saw drama and excitement all the way from the start to the chequered flag with all of the 2024 titles going down to the wire, with two championships decided by a change on the final lap of the race.

Three Safety Car periods and three Full Course Yellows also kept the competitors on their toes, with strategies being changed at a moment&rsquo;s notice.

<h2>LMP2</h2>

The LMP2 title was going to be decided by three teams &ndash; AO by TF, Inter Europol Competition and Panis Racing, with AO by TF holding the advantage of 6 points going into the final race.

The race saw several teams making a bid to take the final win of the season and it was the no37 COOL Racing Oreca that eventually came out on top, Malthe Jakobsen taking the chequered flag to secure the second win of the year for himself, the team and his teammates Lorenzo Flux&aacute;&nbsp;and Ritomo Miyata.

The no14 AO by TF Oreca of Louis Del&eacute;traz finished second to secure the LMP2 title for the third time for himself, the second time for Robert Kubica and the first time for Jonny Edgar in his ELMS debut year and the AO by TF team.

The no43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca finished in 4th&nbsp;at the end of the four-hour race, with Tom Dillmann crossing the line 4 seconds behind the winning car. However, there was massive disappointment at the team when a 10 second pitstop penalty was issued early in the race, which the team served straight away, only for the penalty to be cancelled after it had been served. The Polish team could only contemplate what could&rsquo;ve been as the win in Portugal would&rsquo;ve secured the championship.

<h2>LMP2 Pro/Am</h2>

The LMP2 Pro/Am race was won by the no77 Proton Competition Oreca after Giorgio Roda secured the pole position for the fifth time in 2024 the day before.A strong battle between the title contenders &ndash; AF Corse, Richard Mille by TDS, Algarve Pro Racing and Proton Competition &ndash; took place for the entire four hours of the race.

However, it was the final few laps that had everyone on their seats. The no20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of Alex Quinn was leading the class by not coming in for a last-minute splash and dash for fuel unlike his rivals. The British driver was trying every trick to save fuel as the chequered flag approached as he knew that the victory in Portugal would secure the championship title.

But it wasn&rsquo;t to be as Bent Viscaal in the Proton Competition Oreca caught and passed Quinn to take the win by just 0.995 seconds. The victory for Proton Competition meant the 4th&nbsp;placed no83 AF Corse Oreca, with Matthieu Vaxiviere at the wheel, secured the 2024 titles by just two points for Francois Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Alessio Rovera.

<h2>LMP3</h2>

The LMP3 title race was between three cars &ndash; no11 Eurointernational, no8 Team Virage and no15 RLR MSport, with just 2-points splitting the three teams.

The race for the title was also decided on the final few laps. The no17 COOL Racing Ligier of Portuguese drivers Miguel&nbsp;Crist&oacute;v&atilde;o&nbsp;and Manuel Espirito Santo made the most of their pole position to lead the race in the final laps and secure their first victory of the 2024 season.

It was the drama behind that had everyone on the edge of their seats. Adam Ali in the no11 Eurointernational Ligier was in second place and on course to take the title. The no8 Team Virage Ligier of Gillian Henrion was keeping in touch with Ali but a clash with the no88 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Pedro Perino dropped the no8 Ligier down to 6th&nbsp;and out of contention.

However, Ali faced another danger as the no15 RLR MSport Ligier of&nbsp;Ga&euml;l&nbsp;Julien was coming up through the field. With less than 15-minutes on the clock Julien caught the Canadian and at T14 he swept by the no11 Ligier to take second place.At the chequered flag the no17 COOL Racing Ligier was 10 seconds ahead of the RLR MSPort Ligier, with Eurointernational securing the final podium place.

Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock and&nbsp;Ga&euml;l&nbsp;Julien celebrated their 2024 LMP3 European titles on the podium.

<h3>LMGT3</h3>

The LMGT3 title was being decided by no less than eight teams after qualifying. The no85 Iron Dames Porsche led from pole, with Sarah Bovy handing over to Rahel Frey and then Michelle Gatting.

The calculations for the title were further complication when the championship leading cars &ndash; the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari and the no59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin hit problems early in the race and were languishing towards the back of the field in 8th&nbsp;and 9th&nbsp;places.

As the race entered the final stages the no85 Iron Dames Porsche had the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Andrea Calderelli pushing them hard.In the meantime Daniel Serra had pushed the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari up the order to 5th, which meant they would take the championship on countback if Michelle Gatting crossed the line in first place. However Serra needed to finish in 4thplace if the Iron Lynx Lamborghini won the race.

As the race entered the final lap the Lamborghini was right behind the leading Porsche, with Calderelli looking to force a mistake from Gatting. Gatting soaked up the pressure but at T14 on the run through the final corner&nbsp;Caldarelli&nbsp;pounced and got alongside the Porsche to take the lead and take the chequered flag.

This meant the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan crew of Hiroshi Hamaguchi, Axcil Jefferies and Andrea&nbsp;Caldarelli&nbsp;were the first ever LMGT3 ELMS Champions by just two points, securing the second title for Iron Lynx and the first ELMS win for Lamborghini.

&nbsp;

The 2024 European Le Mans Series has now come to an end, with the 2025 season beginning in Barcelona in April 2025.

<a href="https://www.europeanlemansseries.com/race/4811" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;for the result from the 4 Hours of Portim&atilde;o

<a href="https://www.europeanlemansseries.com/ranking/2024?type=74" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;for the championship positions after Round 6

Highlights | 4 Hours of Portimão 2024 | ELMS

4 Heures de Portimão 2024 : les meilleurs moments

ELMS : dramatic end to 2024 season in Portimao

<img alt="" src="../../wpphpFichiers/1/1/ressources/Image/actualites/2011/autres/11_03/2011_03_02_lotus.jpg" style="width: 650px; height: 435px; " />

	The concept unveiled at Geneva is the precursor to the GTE version which will compete in the the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup &nbsp;this season.

	The car soon to be approved by the ACO in the GTE category will be derived from this Enduro Evora, itself developed around the GT4 presented in August 2010. The black and gold livery, similar to that of F1 car placed next to it, indicates the intention of the manufacturer to commit formally to certain races. Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the British marque will be represented by the Austrian team Jet Alliance.

	The name of Bruno Senna appears on the door ... interesting! Will he announced the coming integration of the Lotus reserve driver in Lotus Renault GP be seen in the endurance programme, or is it a nod to Uncle Ayrton defending the same colors in 1985 and 1986?

	Julien Hergault

	Photo: GENEVA (Switzerland), Geneva Motor Show, March 2, 2011. &nbsp;Lotus hope to see a comeback at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in partnership with the Jet Alliance team. 
	&nbsp;

24H LE MANS

The Lotus Evora GTE is waiting ...

Related News

FIA WEC – all you need to know about the season finale in Bahrain

Porsche reshuffles lineups for 2025

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Five new invitations to the 93rd running

ELMS : dramatic end to 2024 season in Portimao

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