Video: Le Mans Endurance Series Final Season 2005

My last video upload was the inaugural season of the Le Mans Endurance Series in 2004 so it might surprise you that this time I'm uploading the final season already. It came just a year later in 2005. Actually the series didn't go away but it did decide to rename itself to simply the Le Mans Series the following year so yes, technically 2005 was the farewell tour for the LMES. (Looking further into the future the series would again rebrand to the European Le Mans Series or ELMS in 2012 either to confuse furriners or just because "elms" is easier to say than "li-mus", you tell me, but that's the name is stuck with ever since).

The start of LMES coincided with the reign of Audi's dominating R8 LMP1 prototypes and just like at the flagship 24 Hours of Le Mans race that the series was named after the R8 ruled the roost in LMES too. For 2005 there was a shake-up in the order though because Audi was given a smaller air restrictor. The expected loss of power meant less financially-gifted entries from Pescarolo and Zytek could finally fight it out on equal footing with the four-ring beasts from Ingolstadt.

In the GT1 category the sexy Ferrari 550 Maranello would return but instead of mainly dicing it out with the upstart American Saleen S7 it would have to fend off a new challenger from James Bond's favorite car brand: the Aston Martin DBR9.

Heavy rain at several of the rounds would add to the craziness so if you're looking for more great racing action or just have about 45 minutes to kill while your laundry finishes cycling then be sure to check out this video!