Petit Le Mans
The Petit Le Mans (French for little Le Mans) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Georgia.
The race was first run on October 10, 1998, and in 1999 became one of the original events of the American Le Mans Series. It uses the rules established for the 24 hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which are slightly modified if necessary, mainly to allow additional cars to compete.
The race covers a maximum of 1000 miles or a maximum of 10 hours, whichever comes first; in its history the leading team has never failed to complete 1000 miles. In addition to the overall race, teams of two or three drivers per car compete for class victories in four different classes of cars, two for prototypes and two for GT cars. Class winners of this event receive an automatic invitation to the succeeding year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The race was founded by Dr. Don Panoz, the owner of the Panoz Motor Sports Group. Panoz also owns the American Le Mans Series, Road Atlanta, Sebring Raceway, and Mosport International Raceway.
Past winners
| Year | Pilots | Car |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Wayne Taylor / Eric van de Poele / Emmanuel Collard | Ferrari 333 SP |
| 1999 | David Brabham / Eric Bernard / Andy Wallace | Panoz LMP-1 |
| 2000 | Allan McNish / Rinaldo Capello / Michele Alboreto | Audi R8 |
| 2001 | Emanuele Pirro / Frank Biela | Audi R8 |
| 2002 | Tom Kristensen / Rinaldo Capello | Audi R8 |
| 2003 | Johnny Herbert / J.J. Lehto | Audi R8 |
| 2004 | J.J. Lehto / Marco Werner | Audi R8 |
| 2005 | Emanuele Pirro / Frank Biela | Audi R8 |