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Le Mans / ALMS
ELMS: Zolder Round Canceled
Low entry forces organizers to cancel next month's Six Hours of Zolder; ELMS seeks out additional teams for Donington Park round in July...
The European Le Mans Series took a blow last weekend when it was forced to cancel its round in Zolder, Belgium due to low car count. (Photo: DPPI/ELMS)
Following a meeting during last weekend's season-opener in Paul Ricard, the European Le Mans Series has canceled its upcoming round in Zolder due to a low car count.
Nineteen cars had been entered for the Belgian race, originally scheduled for May 18-20. That compares to the 21-car starting field that took the green in Sunday's Six Hours of Le Castellet, the first race for the new-look championship which has abandoned the LMP1 category for 2012.
"This decision, the outcome of a long discussion, was taken because the number of entrants for the Belgian round was judged to be insufficient to ensure that the race unfolded in the best possible manner to ensure media fallout worthy of a 6‐hour event," an official statement read.
"The various partners involved in the European Le Mans Series have given themselves the time to assemble a field of 25 cars minimum for the Donington round on July 13-14-15."
While Paul Ricard saw a respectable LMP2 field of 11 entries, only three GTE-Pro cars turned up, while a few late additions to GTE-Am bolstered that category to five entries. Two cars made up the LMPC category, while the newly formed GTC division, eligible for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, Ferrari F430 Challenge and Lotus Evora GT4s, didn't see a single entry last weekend.
In order to achieve its self-mandated minimum entry for the next round at Donington, discussions have begun of expanding the GTC category to additional cars, with a technical assessment currently set to be carried out by the ACO.
With no replacement round for Zolder announced, the ELMS appears to have scaled back to a four-round championship, with three remaining races at Donington (July 13-15), Brno (Sept. 7-9) and Algarve (Nov. 2-4), each apparently subject to achieving a 25-car entry.
Speculation of the ELMS joining the FIA World Endurance Championship at next month's Six Hours of Spa has evaporated, although the series is awaiting on a waiver from the FIA Endurance Commission that would allow ELMS LMP2 and GTE-Pro/Am teams to be accepted for that round as a warm-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
LMP2 teams JOTA, Race Performance, Extreme Limite ARIC, Boutsen Energy Racing and TDS Racing all have confirmed entries for Le Mans, with GTE-Pro/Am efforts from JMW Motorsport, IMSA Performance Matmut and Prospeed Comptition also potential additions to the Spa grid if the entry extension deadline is approved.
There are currently 37 entries for the second round of the FIA WEC, which is scheduled for May 3-5.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
Nineteen cars had been entered for the Belgian race, originally scheduled for May 18-20. That compares to the 21-car starting field that took the green in Sunday's Six Hours of Le Castellet, the first race for the new-look championship which has abandoned the LMP1 category for 2012.
"This decision, the outcome of a long discussion, was taken because the number of entrants for the Belgian round was judged to be insufficient to ensure that the race unfolded in the best possible manner to ensure media fallout worthy of a 6‐hour event," an official statement read.
"The various partners involved in the European Le Mans Series have given themselves the time to assemble a field of 25 cars minimum for the Donington round on July 13-14-15."
While Paul Ricard saw a respectable LMP2 field of 11 entries, only three GTE-Pro cars turned up, while a few late additions to GTE-Am bolstered that category to five entries. Two cars made up the LMPC category, while the newly formed GTC division, eligible for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, Ferrari F430 Challenge and Lotus Evora GT4s, didn't see a single entry last weekend.
In order to achieve its self-mandated minimum entry for the next round at Donington, discussions have begun of expanding the GTC category to additional cars, with a technical assessment currently set to be carried out by the ACO.
With no replacement round for Zolder announced, the ELMS appears to have scaled back to a four-round championship, with three remaining races at Donington (July 13-15), Brno (Sept. 7-9) and Algarve (Nov. 2-4), each apparently subject to achieving a 25-car entry.
Speculation of the ELMS joining the FIA World Endurance Championship at next month's Six Hours of Spa has evaporated, although the series is awaiting on a waiver from the FIA Endurance Commission that would allow ELMS LMP2 and GTE-Pro/Am teams to be accepted for that round as a warm-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
LMP2 teams JOTA, Race Performance, Extreme Limite ARIC, Boutsen Energy Racing and TDS Racing all have confirmed entries for Le Mans, with GTE-Pro/Am efforts from JMW Motorsport, IMSA Performance Matmut and Prospeed Comptition also potential additions to the Spa grid if the entry extension deadline is approved.
There are currently 37 entries for the second round of the FIA WEC, which is scheduled for May 3-5.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa
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