LMP1 Category

These cars are designed for the Le Mans 24 Hours and for endurance races in the Le Mans Series in Europe, the American Le Mans Series in North America and the Asian Le Mans Series in Asia. Provided there are no major upsets, victory in the overall distance classification should go to an LM P1 prototype.

They can have open or closed bodywork and compete in the LM P1 and LM P2 categories depending on their technical data, weight and power. All cars have air restrictors on the inlet manifold to balance the performance between the two categories. 

The aim of introducing a new, less powerful engine this season is to prevent lap times falling below the 3m 30s barrier on the Le Mans circuit, so the output has been reduced to around 520 bhp. The diameter of the restrictors varies according to the engine configuration: number of valves, cubic capacity, supercharger pressure (for turbos or superchargers) and the type of fuel (petrol or diesel).

The ACO reserves itself the right to balance performance by means of Article 19 (the ACO retains the possibility, even during the season, to balance performance between the different engines and technologies) as well as the 2% rule. In the latter case, the aim is to bracket the lap times of the quickest cars in each technology within a 2% range in relation to the fastest, all engines combined, by decision of the ACO.

2010 cars can still race in 2011. The technical configuration must comply with that of 2010, but the engine air restrictors will be modified and the fuel tanks reduced to 75 litres (petrol) and 65 litres (diesel) to adapt the cars to the new regulations aimed at reducing the overall power output.

Bodywork: Obligatory vertical aerodynamic device (shark’s fin) on the engine covers of brand-new cars to improve safety. Systematic checks of the deflection of the wings.
Red numbers and diodes on the flanks.
Drivers: those in the bronze category (see driver categories below) are not eligible. 

Engines

Fuel: the ACO will supply only one type of fuel for the petrol and diesel engines. They must be on sale: petrol with 9% ethanol minimum (10% max) – Diesel with a sulphur content of 10 mg.kg maximum.

Main technical characteristics