Grand Touring Endurance, shortened to GTE, was a set of regulations maintained by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and IMSA for grand tourer racing cars used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 hours of Daytona GTLM, and its associated series. The class was formerly known as simply Group GT (Group N-GT in the FIA GT Championship) between 1999 and 2004, and later referred to as Group GT2 between 2005 and 2010. The GT2 name has since been revived for a different set of regulations.
History The class, derived from the 1998-1999 GT3 class in 1998, debuted in 1999 under the name of 'GT' in 24 Hours of Le Mans, American Le Mans Series and European Le Mans Series, and as 'N-GT' in the FIA GT Championship, and in 2000 as 'GTU' in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, and 'GTO' in the British GT Championship.
In 2005 the class was renamed GT2, below the faster GT1 class (formerly known as GT/GTS). Originally it was dominated by the Porsche 911 GT3 in its R, RS and RSR versions, but the Ferrari 360 Modena, Ferrari F430 and Panoz Esperante were also successful, as well as the BMW M3 in the United States. Other models entered were the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Morgan Aero 8, Spyker C8 and TVR Tuscan.
After the GT1 class was dropped from ACO competitions for the 2011 season, the GT2 class was renamed LM GTE in Europe and as GT in the United States. The new main rivals for the Porsche 911 were the Ferrari 458 Italia, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Chevrolet Corvette, BMW M3, BMW Z4 (E89) and SRT Viper. Other less successful models in the early 2010s were the Jaguar XKR, Lamborghini Gallardo, Lotus Evora and Ford GT.
In 2015, the two dominant cars were the Porsche 911 RSR and the Ferrari 458 Italia GT2.
In the 2018/19 season the most competitive LM GTE cars were the Porsche 911 RSR, the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and the Ford GT (by points scored).
In 2021, IMSA announced that the GTLM class would be replaced with a GT3-based 'GTD pro class'. The ACO also announced that GTE in the WEC would be replaced by GT3 in 2024, with the GTE Pro class seeing its final race in 2022 and the GTE Am class in 2023.
The final race for the GTE regulations saw the Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR-19 take the win at the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain with an all female driver lineup consisting of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting.
Regulations
The ACO had defined limits and requirements for the LM GTE category to ensure that cars were legitimately production-based. The car had to have "an aptitude for sport with 2 doors, 2 or 2+2 seats, opened or closed, which could be used perfectly legally on the open road and available for sale." The ACO modified its regulations for “small manufacturers” (less than 2000 cars produced a year). In order to be eligible, a big manufacturer must produce at least one car a week or a small manufacturer one car a month. The cars were eligible to race when 100 road cars for big manufacturers or 25 road cars for small manufacturers were produced. The car must have had an official launch campaign and sales network. The engine must have been used in a production car; while this is usually the engine from the road car, the ACO had made exceptions for cars like the BMW Z4 GTE which use engines from other models. Carbon fiber, titanium, and magnesium were banned except for special parts like spoilers or wheels. Cars with carbon cockpits (that are not directly attached to the suspension) were allowed. The engine displacement was limited to 5.5L naturally aspirated or 4.0L turbo/supercharged. The SRT Viper was granted a special waiver to 8.0L. The minimum weight was 1,245 kg (2744 lbs) including driver, fuel, helmet, and liquids. Cars had to have working lights and windshield wipers at all times. To distinguish from faster Le Mans Prototypes at night, LM GTE cars must use yellow headlights (not in WEC). Four-wheel drive was banned while engine-based traction control was allowed. Gearboxes were limited to six forward gears. All cars also had to have rear-view cameras in addition to side mirrors.
+LM GTELM GTE ProLM GTE Am Minimum weight (possibly subject to Balance of Performance) including driver, fuel, helmet and liquids Maximum length Maximum width (excluding rear view mirrors) Engine displacement naturally-aspirated: forced-induction: Fuel tank size (subject to BoP) Drivers free composition 2 to 3 drivers, at least 1 Bronze plus 1 Bronze or Silver
Cars were allowed one set of modifications every two years. Brand new cars were allowed one extra set of modifications in the first year of competition. Small aerodynamic modifications were allowed for 24 Hours of Le Mans each year. If the road car was upgraded with a new part, that part could also be used on the LM GTE car through updating the homologation. Manufacturers could also apply for waivers to allow the homologation of cars or parts that would normally be banned by the rules.
Overall, the technical regulations were focused on keeping LM GTE cars relatively close to road cars in terms of parts and dimensions. Aerodynamic devices such as spoilers were heavily regulated. There were also minor requirements that were holdovers from the earlier era of Le Mans, such as requiring at least 150 cubic decimetres of luggage space.
At Le Mans, LM GTE was divided into two classes: GTE-Pro and GTE-Am. GTE-Am cars had to be at least one year old or be built to the previous year's spec, and had limits on the qualification of drivers allowed in the lineup.
The Endurance Committee of the ACO had the absolute right to modify the Balance of Performance between LM GTE cars through adjusting the weight, engine, or aerodynamics. Air restrictors were used with default values for specific engine capacities.
2016 updates At the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, the ACO announced a range of changes for the LM GTE class for the 2016 season. The aim of the changes was to increase the performance of the cars relative to the GT3-spec machinery that they competed against in certain series, whilst reducing cost and improving the safety of the cars. The regulations became restrictive, so there was a reduced reliance on waivers to allow certain cars to compete. One example of this was the increased freedom of aerodynamic development within specific regions of the car.FIA WEC: 2016 GTE Regulations, Key Points, Summary of New Regulations From DSC. The new cars were able to compete in LM GTE Pro from 2016 alongside the 'old' specification of the car, before becoming available for LM GTE Am in 2017. In 2018, the 'old' specification of the car was out of competition.
Replacement of GTE Regulations Autosport magazine reported that on 20 August 2021 the ACO had announced that they would be dropping the GTE class in favour of GT3 cars from the 2024 season onwards. The GTE class was to remain in place for the 2022 and 2023 WEC seasons, including Le Mans, following the decline of GTE racing with only four cars in the WEC Championship and three in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2021.
List of LM GTE cars
Manufacturer Model Developer Photo Year Notes Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 Prodrive 2008–2011 V8 Vantage GTE 2012–2017Fourth generation Vantage GTE, includes Vantage GTE upgrades for 2016 V8 Vantage AMR GTE (AM6) 2018–2023Fifth generation Vantage BMW M3 GTR (E36) Prototype Technology Group 1999–2000Includes 2 and 4-door variants M3 GT (E46/2) 2000–20036-cylinder E46 M3 M3 GTR (E46/2)BMW Motorsport 2001–2006Includes 6-cylinder version raced in ALMS in 2006 M3 GT (E92) 2009–2012 Z4 GTE (E89) 2013–2015 M6 GTLM (F13) 2016–2017 M8 GTE (F92) 2018–2021 Chevrolet Corvette LM-GT (C5)Pratt & Miller 2001–2005 Corvette ZR1 C6.R 2009–2013Includes upgrades to GTE spec in 2012 Corvette C7.R 2014–2019Includes upgrades for 2016 Corvette C8.R 2020–2023 Dodge SRT SRT Viper GTS-R (VX I) Riley Technologies 2012–2015Includes upgrades in 2015 Ferrari 360 N-GT (F131) 2000–2002 360 GT (F131) 2002–2004 360 GTC (F131) 2004–2005 F430 GT (F131) 2006–2007F430 GTC (F131)2008-2010 458 Italia GT (F142) 2011–2015Includes upgrades to GTE spec in 2012 488 GTE (F142M) 2016–2017488 GTE Evo (F142M)2018-2023 Ford GT-R (Mk. VII) Doran Enterprises 2008–2011 GT (Mk. VIII) Ford Performance 2016–2019 Jaguar XKR (X150) RSR Racing 2010–2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560 GT2 Reiter Engineering 2009–2011 Lotus Evora GTE (Type 122) Ycom 2011–2012 Panoz Esperante GT-LM Panoz Auto Development 2003–2009Includes Evo version introduced in 2008 Abruzzi 2011 Porsche 911 GT3 R (996.I) Porsche Motorsport 1999–2000 911 GT3 RS (996.I) 2001–2003 911 GT3 RSR (996.II) 2004–2005 911 GT3 RSR (997) 2006–2012 997.I & 997.II generations 911 RSR. There were upgrades every year. 911 RSR (991.I) 2013–2016 First 991 generation 911 RSR, includes upgrades for 2016 911 RSR (991.II) 2017–2019 Second 991 generation 911 RSR 911 RSR-19 (991.II) 2019–2023 Third generation 911 RSR Spyker C8 Double-12RReiter Engineering 2002–2003 C8 Spyder GT2-R 2005–2007Includes upgrades introduced in 2007 C8 Laviolette GT2-R 2008–2010 TVRTuscan RTVR Engineering Ltd2001–2006Unrelated to the Tuscan. Renamed T400R in 2003. Source:
See also Group GT3 SRO GT2 Automobile Club de l'Ouest
References
External links LM GTE regulations as of March 8, 2013