The 4 Hours of Castellet is a Blancpain Endurance Series sports car race held at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France. The race began in 1970 as a round of the European 2-Litre Sportscar Championship, and World Sportscar Championship rounds were held in 1974 and 1977. The race was a French national championship race in the 1980s. It was revived in 1998 by the International Sports Racing Series and again in 2010 by the Le Mans Series as an 8-hour race. In 2015, the event returned to its 1000 km format making it only the second time to use that distance since 1974.

4 Hours of Castellet
Blancpain Endurance Series
VenueCircuit Paul Ricard
First race1970
First BES race2015
Distance1000km
Laps171
Duration6 hours
Previous namesTrophée Paul Ricard
Most wins (driver)Jean-Pierre Jarier (3)
Most wins (team)Bentley Team M-Sport (3)
Most wins (manufacturer)Oreca (10)

Depending on the class-type and the year run, the race has been run as a 2 hour, 2.5 hour, 3 hour, 4 hour, 6 hour or 8 hour event, or as a 200 mile, 225 km, 500 km or 1,000 km event – as shown in the race results in the tables below.

Results

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Sports car races

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Year Overall Winner(s) Entrant Car Distance/Duration Race Title Championship Report
1970   Brian Redman   Chevron Cars Ltd Chevron B16 200 mi (320 km) Trophée International Paul Ricard European 2-Litre Championship report
1971   Helmut Marko
  Jean-Pierre Jabouille
  Karl von Wendt Racing Lola T212 3 hours Trophée Paul Ricard European 2-Litre Championship report
1972   Gérard Larrousse   Radio Monte Carlo Lola T210 2 hours Trophée Paul Ricard European 2-Litre Championship report
1973   John Lepp   Red Rose Racing Chevron B23 2 hours Trophée Paul Ricard European 2-Litre Championship report
1974   Alain Cudini   Equipe Switzerland Archambeaud Alpine A441 225 km (140 mi) Trophée d'Europe European 2-Litre Championship report
  Jean-Pierre Beltoise
  Jean-Pierre Jarier
  Equipe Gitanes Matra-Simca MS670C 1,000 km (620 mi) 1000 Km Le Castellet World Championship for Makes report
1975–1976: Not held
1977   Jean-Pierre Jarier
  Arturo Merzario
  Autodelta SpA Alfa Romeo T33/SC/12 500 km (310 mi) 500 Km Paul Ricard World Sportscar Championship (Group 6) report
1978–1997: Not held
1998   Didier Theys
  Fredy Lienhard
  Horag-Lista Racing Ferrari 333 SP 2 hours, 30 minutes 2 hours, 30 minutes of Paul Ricard International Sports Racing Series report
1999–2009: Not held
2010   Rinaldo Capello
  Allan McNish
  Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI 8 hours 8 Heures du Castellet Le Mans Series report
2011   Emmanuel Collard
  Christophe Tinseau
  Julien Jousse
  Pescarolo Team Pescarolo 01 Evo 6 hours 6 Heures du Castellet Le Mans Series report
2012   Pierre Thiriet
  Mathias Beche
  Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 03 6 hours 6 Heures du Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2013   Brendon Hartley
  Jonathan Hirschi
  Murphy Prototypes Oreca 03 3 hours 3 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2014   Christian Klien
  Gary Hirsch
  Pierre Ragues
  Newblood by Morand Racing Morgan LMP2 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2015   Gary Hirsch
  Jon Lancaster
  Björn Wirdheim
  Greaves Motorsport Gibson 015S 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2016   Mathias Beche
  Mike Conway
  Pierre Thiriet
  Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 05 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2017   Matevos Isaakyan
  Egor Orudzhev
  SMP Racing Dallara P217 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2018   Norman Nato
  Paul Petit
  Olivier Pla
  Racing Engineering Oreca 07 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2019   James Allen
  Ben Hanley
  Henrik Hedman
  DragonSpeed Oreca 07 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2020
(4 Hours)
  Alex Brundle
  Will Owen
  Job van Uitert
  United Autosports Oreca 07 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2020
(Le Castellet 240)
  Philip Hanson
  Filipe Albuquerque
  United Autosports Oreca 07 4 hours Le Castellet 240 European Le Mans Series report
2021   Franco Colapinto
  Roman Rusinov
  Nyck de Vries
  G-Drive Racing Aurus 01 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2022   Lorenzo Colombo
  Louis Delétraz
  Ferdinand Habsburg
  Prema Racing Oreca 07 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2023   James Allen
  Alex Lynn
  Kyffin Simpson
  Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report
2024   Sebastián Álvarez
  Tom Dillmann
  Vladislav Lomko
  Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 4 hours 4 Hours of Le Castellet European Le Mans Series report

GT races

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Year Overall Winner(s) Entrant Car Distance/Duration Race Title Championship Report
1994   Bob Wollek
  Jean-Pierre Jarier
  Jesús Pareja
  Larbre Compétition Porsche 911 Turbo S LM-GT 4 hours 4 hours of Paul Ricard BPR Global GT Series Report
1995   Ray Bellm
  Maurizio Sandro Sala
  Gulf Racing GTC McLaren F1 GTR 4 hours 4 hours of Le Castellet BPR Global GT Series Report
1996   Ray Bellm
  James Weaver
  Gulf Racing GTC McLaren F1 GTR 4 hours 4 hours of Le Castellet BPR Global GT Series Results
1997: Not held
1998   Geoff Lister
  Maxwell Beaverbrook
  Barrie Williams
  #9 BVB Motorsport Porsche 911 GT2 Evo 4 hours 4 hours of Paul Ricard GTR Euroseries Results
1999–2005: Not held
2006   Mike Hezemans
  Bert Longin
  Anthony Kumpen
  GLPK-Carsport Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 500 km 500 km of Paul Ricard FIA GT Championship report
2007–2008: Not held
2009   Enrique Bernoldi
  Roberto Streit
  Sangari Team Brazil Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 2 hours 2 hours of Paul Ricard FIA GT Championship report
2010–2011: Not held
2012   Stéphane Ortelli
  Christopher Mies
  Christopher Haase
  Belgian Audi Club WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra 3 hours 3 hours of Paul Ricard Blancpain Endurance Series report
2013   Bas Leinders
  Maxime Martin
  Yelmer Buurman
  Marc VDS Racing Team BMW Z4 GT3 3 Hours 3 hours of Paul Ricard Blancpain Endurance Series report
2014   Steven Kane
  Guy Smith
  Andy Meyrick
  M-Sport Bentley Bentley Continental GT3 3 hours 3 hours of Paul Ricard Blancpain Endurance Series report
2015   Wolfgang Reip
  Katsumasa Chiyo
  Alex Buncombe
  Nissan GT Academy Team RJN Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 1000 Km 1000 km Paul Ricard Blancpain Endurance Series report
2016   Côme Ledogar
  Shane van Gisbergen
  Rob Bell
  Garage 59 McLaren 650S GT3 1000 Km 1000 km Paul Ricard Blancpain Endurance Series report[1]
2017   Maxime Soulet
  Andy Soucek
  Vincent Abril
  Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 1000 Km 1000 km Paul Ricard Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup report
2018   Albert Costa
  Christian Klien
  Marco Seefried
  Emil Frey Lexus Racing Lexus RC F GT3 1000 Km 1000 km Paul Ricard Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup report
2019   Jules Gounon
  Steven Kane
  Jordan Pepper
  Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 1000 Km 1000 km Paul Ricard Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup report
2020   Tom Blomqvist
  Côme Ledogar
  Alessandro Pier Guidi
  AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 1000 Km 1000 km Paul Ricard GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup report
2021   Matthew Campbell
  Earl Bamber
  Mathieu Jaminet
  GPX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R 1000 Km 1000 km Paul Ricard GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup report
2022   Antonio Fuoco
  Davide Rigon
  Daniel Serra
  Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GT3 1000 Km 1000 km Paul Ricard GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup report
2023   Timur Boguslavskiy
  Jules Gounon
  Raffaele Marciello
  AKKodis ASP Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 1000 Km 1000 km Paul Ricard GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup report
2024   Augusto Farfus
  Dan Harper
  Max Hesse
  Rowe Racing BMW M4 GT3 3 Hours 3 hours of Paul Ricard GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup report

References

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