Julien Antoine Jules Canal[1] (born 15 July 1982 in Le Mans) is a French racing driver. Having won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010, 2011 and 2012 whilst driving GT cars, Canal became a staple of the LMP2 category, winning the WEC class title in 2015 and 2017.
| Julien Canal | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Canal in 2023 | |||||||||||
| Nationality |  French | ||||||||||
| Born | 15 July 1982 Le Mans, France | ||||||||||
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |||||||||||
| Debut season | 2012 | ||||||||||
| Current team | Alpine Elf Team | ||||||||||
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver | ||||||||||
| Car number | 36 | ||||||||||
| Former teams | G-Drive Racing, Manor, Vaillante Rebellion, Larbre Compétition, Panis Barthez Competition | ||||||||||
| Starts | 45 (45 entries) | ||||||||||
| Wins | 15 | ||||||||||
| Podiums | 26 | ||||||||||
| Poles | 4 | ||||||||||
| Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||||||
| Best finish | 1st (LMP2) in 2015, 2017 | ||||||||||
| Previous series | |||||||||||
| 2011 2011 2010–11 2009 2008 2008, 10 2007–09 2003–2006 2003–06 2003 | Intercontinental Le Mans Cup American Le Mans Series Le Mans Series Formula Le Mans FIA GT Championship FFSA GT Championship Porsche Carrera Cup France Eurocup Formula Renault French Formula Renault Formula Renault 2.0 Germany | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Early career
editSingle-seaters
editAfter competing in karting, where he finished third in the French Championship Elite in 2000, Canal stepped up to single-seaters in 2003. He raced in French Formula Renault for four seasons, scoring his first podium in his final season in 2006 and finishing sixth overall.[2] He also raced in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series in each of those four seasons.
GT racing
editCanal switched to GT racing in 2007 when he started racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup France. He finished ninth, tenth and eighth in the three seasons he contested, scoring one podium finish and two pole positions. In 2010 he took part in the FFSA GT Championship.
He joined the Larbre Compétition team to race their Saleen S7-R in the opening round of the 2007 Le Mans Series season at Circuit Paul Ricard, where they were the only team entered in the GT1 class. He returned to the team for the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, where they won the GT1 class.[3] Canal remained with the team for the 2011 season, racing in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. The team's highlight came at Le Mans once again, as Canal and Gabriele Gardel, as well as new teammate Patrick Bornhauser, repeated their victory, this time triumphing in the LMGTE Am class.[4] Canal and the team returned to the LMGTE Am category in 2012, this time entering the newly-formed FIA World Endurance Championship.[5] The year yielded three wins, which included Canal's third win at Le Mans, with Pedro Lamy making the pass for the class lead during the final hour.[6] In 2013, Canal remained with Larbre for his fourth and final season with the team, getting two podiums and ending up fifth in the LMGTE Am standings of the WEC.[7]
Prototype career
editCanal switched to prototype racing for the 2014 season, competing in the LMP2 class with G-Drive Racing.[8] Alongside Olivier Pla and Roman Rusinov, the Frenchman garnered four victories, although a retirement at Le Mans and a major accident for Pla caused by a brake failure at the season finale in São Paulo eventually consigned them to second in the championship.[9][10][11] For 2015, Canal remained with G-Drive, this time being joined by pro driver Sam Bird along with Rusinov.[12] In the burgeoning class, the trio led by Bird dominated, scoring podiums in all but one race and winning the title with four victories.[13][14]
Canal moved to Greaves Motorsport in 2016, competing in the European Le Mans Series.[15] He and Memo Rojas failed to finish on the podium during the year, ended up sixth at Le Mans, and finished seventh in the ELMS teams' standings. The following season, Canal returned to the WEC, this time partnering Bruno Senna and Nico Prost at Vaillante Rebellion.[16] Their campaign began strongly, as three podiums in the opening four races propelled them into the title battle. After a win in Mexico, however, the floodgates opened, with Rebellion winning the final three races and taking home the LMP2 title — Canal's second in the championship — following a resilient performance by Senna at Bahrain despite a late loss of power steering.[17][18]
In 2018, Canal returned to the ELMS with Panis Barthez Competition, racing alongside Timothé Buret and Will Stevens.[19] After a number of points finishes, the team concluded the campaign with two podiums to end up sixth overall. Canal came back to drive Panis's Ligier JS P217 in 2019, though he, Stevens, and René Binder struggled to attain top results, leaving them 11th in the standings despite a mid-season switch to the Oreca 07 chassis.[20] For the COVID-affected 2020 season, Canal remained with the rebranded Panis Racing team, this time driving an Oreca 07 for the whole year together with Stevens and Nico Jamin.[21] Despite starting out with a retirement at the opening race, the trio bounced back with a third place at Spa; three further top-five finishes propelled Panis Racing to fourth place overall. Canal's Le Mans 24 Hour venture that year yielded a positive result too, as he scored his first LMP2 podium at the event since 2015 by finishing third alongside Jamin and Matthieu Vaxivière.[22][23]
Following that clean and successful year, Canal returned for another ELMS campaign with Panis, driving together with Stevens and fifth-year pilot James Allen.[24] A podium at Barcelona started off the year, though it was a victory at Monza, which was the team's first win in the series, that helped the Frenchman and his teammates in the championship.[25] They finished third overall, having scored another podium in Belgium, meanwhile their Le Mans success continued with another third place in class.[26]
In 2022, Canal entered his final ELMS season with Panis, teaming up with Jamin and Job van Uitert.[27] This turned out to be his magnum opus in the championship, as four podiums helped Panis to second place in the standings.[28][29] After moving back to the WEC in 2023 with Alpine, for whom he scored a podium at Monza and finished seventh in the standings, Canal did not partake in any competitions during 2024.[30][31][32]
Personal life
editCanal operated a McDonald's restaurant in his hometown Le Mans. As of 2022, Canal has opened 3 McDonald's restaurants in cities outside Le Mans.[33]
Racing record
editRacing career summary
edit† As Canal was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | CD Sport | BRN 1 |
BRN 2 |
ASS 1 DNQ |
ASS 2 16 |
OSC 1 Ret |
OSC 2 12 |
DON 1 DNQ |
DON 2 21 |
30th | 0 | |||||||||
| 2004 | Graff Racing | MNZ 1 Ret |
MNZ 2 10 |
VAL 1 12 |
VAL 2 10 |
MAG 1 24 |
MAG 2 16 |
HOC 1 26 |
HOC 2 11 |
BRN 1 13 |
BRN 2 11 |
DON 1 Ret |
DON 2 19 |
SPA 27 |
IMO 1 14 |
IMO 2 10 |
OSC 1 10 |
OSC 2 Ret |
24th | 10 |
| 2005 | Graff Racing | ZOL 1 Ret |
ZOL 2 6 |
VAL 1 22 |
VAL 2 Ret |
LMS 1 10 |
LMS 2 11 |
BIL 1 13 |
BIL 2 16 |
OSC 1 20 |
OSC 2 18 |
DON 1 22 |
DON 2 14 |
EST 1 22 |
EST 2 Ret |
MNZ 1 6 |
MNZ 2 4 |
16th | 17 | |
| 2006 | Graff Racing | ZOL 1 |
ZOL 2 |
IST 1 |
IST 2 |
MIS 1 |
MIS 2 |
NÜR 1 |
NÜR 2 |
DON 1 |
DON 2 |
LMS 1 15 |
LMS 2 12 |
CAT 1 |
CAT 2 |
NC† | 0 |
† As Canal was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
Complete European Le Mans Series results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Larbre Compétition | GT1 | Saleen S7-R | Ford 7.0 L V8 | LEC 1 |
SPA | ALG | HUN | SIL | 3rd | 33 | |
| 2010 | Larbre Compétition | GTE AM | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | LEC | SPA 3 |
IMO 2 |
SIL 4 |
EST | NC | 0 | |
| 2015 | Krohn Racing | LMP2 | Ligier JS P2 | Judd HK 3.6 L V8 | SIL | IMO | RBR 5 |
LEC | EST | 18th | 10 | |
| 2016 | Greaves Motorsport | LMP2 | Ligier JS P2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL 8 |
IMO 8 |
RBR 6 |
LEC 6 |
SPA 4 |
EST Ret |
10th | 36 |
| 2018 | Panis Barthez Competition | LMP2 | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC 8 |
MNZ 7 |
RBR 10 |
SIL 6 |
SPA 3‡ |
ALG 2 |
9th | 45.5 |
| 2019 | Panis Barthez Competition | LMP2 | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC 10 |
MNZ 9 |
CAT 15 |
SIL 7 |
SPA 8 |
ALG 7 |
18th | 19.5 |
| 2020 | Panis Racing | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC Ret |
SPA 3 |
LEC 4 |
MNZ 5 |
ALG 5 |
4th | 47 | |
| 2021 | Panis Racing | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | CAT 2 |
RBR 14 |
LEC 8 |
MNZ 1 |
SPA 3 |
ALG 4 |
3rd | 74.5 |
| 2022 | Panis Racing | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC 3 |
IMO 4 |
MNZ 2 |
CAT 2 |
SPA 4 |
ALG 2 |
2nd | 94 |
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
edit† There was no LMGTE Am drivers championship that year, the result indicates standings in overall standings.
* Season still in progress.
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
edit
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | P | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY | SEB | LBH | AUS | BEL | WGL |
MOS | ELK |
LGA |
ATL 10 |
41st | 21 |
| 2023 | AF Corse | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 3 |
SEB | LGA | WGL | ELK | IMS | PET | NC | 0 |
* Season still in progress.
References
edit- ^ "Pilote des 24 heures du Mans : Julien Antoine Jules Canal". www.24h-en-piste.com (in French). Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ "Julien Canal career statistics". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ^ Mercier, Laurent (16 June 2010). "24h 2010 : Analyse De La Course En GT1..." [24h 2010: Analysis of the GT1 Race...] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ Dagys, John (12 June 2011). "Le Mans: Audi Wins Le Mans Thriller". Speed. p. 2. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ Mercier, Laurent (12 January 2012). "Le trio Belloc/Gibon/Bourret a découvert sa Corvette C6.R." endurance-info.com (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
- ^ "Larbre Competition seals third successive Le Mans 24 Hours victory". FIA World Endurance Championship. 24 June 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ^ Mercier, Laurent (20 January 2013). "L'équipage de la Corvette/Larbre Compétition bouclé" [The crew of the Corvette/Larbre Compétition]. endurance-info.com (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ "OAK Racing with G-Drive Racing in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship". oak-racing.com. Oak Racing. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ^ "FIA WEC 82nd Edition des 24 Heures du Mans Race Provisional Classification" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 15 June 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- ^ "The Dream Result, Almost!". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ Dagys, John (2014-11-30). "KCMG Wins Sao Paulo, SMP Crowned LMP2 Champions – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ DiZinno, Tony (5 February 2015). "G-Drive Confirms Two Cars, Engine, Lineups". John Dagys Media. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- ^ "SPORTSCAR365: Top 10 Drivers of 2015 – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. 2015-12-24. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ "FIA WEC 2015 Title Winners, Two Surprising First Time Victors!". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ Kilshaw, Jake (2016-03-04). "Canal Joins Rojas at Greaves – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ Dagys, John (9 January 2017). "Heinemeier Hansson, Canal Complete Rebellion WEC Lineup". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ "Julien Canal (ORECA): "It involved a level of teamwork that rarely exists."". 24h-lemans.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ Smith, Luke (2017-11-18). "Rebellion Claims LMP2 Title After Bahrain Fightback – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel (17 March 2018). "Stevens to Make LMP2 Return with Panis-Barthez". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
The 26-year-old Brit, who contested the 2015 Grand Prix season with Marussia, will co-drive the French outfit's Ligier JS P217 Gibson with Timothe Buret and FIA World Endurance LMP2 champion Julien Canal
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel (9 January 2019). "Canal Returns to Panis-Barthez LMP2 Lineup". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Jamin, Stevens & Canal Sign With Panis Racing For 2020 ELMS". Dailysportscar. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ^ Dagys, John (20 September 2020). "United Takes Maiden Le Mans LMP2 Win; Clinches WEC Title – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
- ^ "2020 Le Mans 24 Hours: LMP2 Wrap-up". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ "James Allen Joins Will Stevens & Julien Canal At Panis Racing For 2021 ELMS". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel (2021-07-11). "Panis Takes Long-Awaited First ELMS Victory at Monza – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ Fernandez, Mat; O'Connell, RJ; Kilbey, Stephen (22 August 2021). "Hypercar/LMP2 Wrap-Up: Toyota Christen New Le Mans Era With Victory". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel (8 February 2022). "Panis Signs Former United Co-Drivers Van Uitert, Jamin". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel (16 October 2022). "Deletraz, Habsburg Champions as Prema Wins at Portimao – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ "16 october 2022". Panis Racing - Site Officiel - Official Website (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ "Alpine Elf Endurance Team Reveal 2023 Drivers". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ "6H Monza – Jota rafle la mise en LMP2, Alpine sur le podium". Endurance Info (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-26.
- ^ "2023 WEC Standings and Results in Motorsport". Autosport. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
- ^ BELAUD, Julien (2021-09-26). "Le Mans. Julien Canal, le restaurateur très rapide". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-26.
External links
edit
- Julien Canal career summary at DriverDB.com