Dorianne Pin is one of two women racing at Le Mans this weekend, along with Lilou Vadoux who is in one of the LMGT3 Ferraris. Sadly, the Iron Dames team lost funding.
Credit: Kerr Robertson/Getty Images
Dorianne Pin is one of two women racing at Le Mans this weekend, along with Lilou Vadoux who is in one of the LMGT3 Ferraris. Sadly, the Iron Dames team lost funding.
Credit: Kerr Robertson/Getty Images
lmgt3
The final category is for cars that began their life as actual road cars. In the past, Le Mans has had several different flavors of what the sport calls GT cars, some more distinctive than others. Eventually the costs became too high for GT1, then GT2 (later called GTE, or GTLM in IMSA), and in 2024 the ACO decided to import the GT3 category, which was created in 2005 by Stéphane Rattle to make sports car racing less expensive for amateurs. (Note: less expensive does not equate to cheaper.)
Under the old system (GT1 and GT2), the ACO published a rulebook with acceptable amendments; Automakers would build their cars according to those rules and then race to see who was fastest. But there can only be one winner in each race, and if one starts to dominate, their rivals will either start spending more, increasing costs for everyone, or give up and do something else instead. The GT3 solved that problem again with its balance of performance.
Each OEM builds its new car, then it is benchmarked by class, and power and weight are adjusted to keep it in the right range. Different cars will have different lap times, and some cars will be better than others on particular tracks, but the category has been successful around the world. And you can race GT3 cars at the Rolex 24 at Daytona or the Spa 24 Hours or the Nurburgring 24, as well as smaller but no less grueling events like the Bathurst 12 Hour or the 12 Hours of Sebring, not to mention many other series and events. This year’s race features 25 LMGT3 cars, all from Pro-Am teams that must have at least one bronze and one silver driver in their crews.
Classification of GT3 cars during testing.
Credit: Photography/Getty Images
Classification of GT3 cars during testing.
Credit: Photography/Getty Images
Further reading
Millions or perhaps billions of words have been spent about Le Mans during its 94 running, some better than others. I can highly recommend Richard Williams’s recent book 24 hourWritten for the race’s centenary in 2023.
The race starts tomorrow at 4 p.m. local time—10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Pacific—and you can watch it in the US on HBO or True, or finally via the FIAWEC+ streaming service, which is no longer geoblocked. There is also an excellent Radio Le Mans commentary, which is broadcast online for free.
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