Julien Canal
Julien Canal | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 15, 1982 Le Mans, France |
| Occupation | Racing driver |
| Years active | 2003–2023 |
| Known for | Class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans; LMP2 class championships in 2015 and 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship |
Julien Antoine Jules Canal (born 15 July 1982 in Le Mans) is a professional French racing driver. He has claimed class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in , , and , competing in GT categories, and has distinguished himself in the LMP2 division by winning the WEC class championships in both 2015 and 2017.
Single-seaters
Following a karting career highlighted by a third-place finish in the French Championship Elite in 2000, Canal advanced to single-seater racing in 2003. Over four seasons in French Formula Renault, he secured his inaugural podium and concluded the 2006 season sixth overall. Concurrently, he competed annually in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series throughout this period.
GT racing
In 2007, Canal shifted focus to GT racing, entering the Porsche Carrera Cup France where he placed ninth, tenth, and eighth across three seasons, earning one podium finish and two pole positions. By 2010, he was active in the FFSA GT Championship.
Canal aligned with Larbre Compétition to pilot their Saleen S7-R during the opening round of the 2007 Le Mans Series season at Circuit Paul Ricard, where they stood as the only GT1 class competitor. Returning to the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, Canal and Larbre achieved victory in the GT1 category.
Continuing with Larbre in 2011, he participated in the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, capturing another win at Le Mans in the LMGTE Am category alongside teammates Gabriele Gardel and Patrick Bornhauser. Remaining within LMGTE Am for 2012, Larbre entered the inaugural 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, where Canal contributed to three wins including his third Le Mans triumph, bolstered by Pedro Lamy's critical overtaking maneuver during the final hour. In 2013, Canal completed his fourth and concluding season with Larbre, attaining two podiums and placing fifth overall in the LMGTE Am standings of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Prototype career
Canal transitioned to prototype racing during the 2014 season, competing in the LMP2 category with G-Drive Racing. Alongside teammates Olivier Pla and Roman Rusinov, they secured four race wins; however, a retirement at Le Mans and a brake failure-related crash at the final round in São Paulo resulted in a second-place finish in the championship standings. For the following year, 2015, Canal remained with G-Drive joined by professional driver Sam Bird and Rusinov. The team dominated that season, finishing on the podium in every race except one and clinching four victories en route to securing the title.
In 2016, Canal switched to Greaves Motorsport for participation in the European Le Mans Series, partnering with Memo Rojas. They ended seventh in the ELMS teams' classification and sixth at Le Mans. The subsequent year saw Canal return to the WEC with Vaillante Rebellion, teaming up with Bruno Senna and Nico Prost. Their campaign featured three podium finishes within four races; after winning in Mexico, Rebellion secured victories in the last three rounds, earning Canal his second LMP2 championship.
In 2018, Canal joined forces with Panis Barthez Competition for the ELMS, sharing driving duties with Timothé Buret and Will Stevens. The team concluded sixth overall with two podium results. In 2019, despite transitioning mid-season to an Oreca 07 chassis alongside Stevens and René Binder, performance declined and they finished eleventh in the championship. During the pandemic-impacted 2020 season, Canal continued with the rebranded Panis Racing rostered with Stevens and Nico Jamin. After an initial retirement, they achieved a third-place finish at Spa and ended fourth overall. Additionally, Canal earned his first LMP2 podium at Le Mans since 2015 by finishing third with Jamin and Matthieu Vaxivière.
For 2021, Canal remained with Panis competing in ELMS alongside Stevens and James Allen. The squad attained a podium at Barcelona and secured their maiden series victory at Monza, ultimately placing third overall. Their Le Mans entry yielded another third-place finish within their class. In what became his final ELMS season with Panis during 2022, Canal partnered with Jamin and Job van Uitert. Four podium finishes helped Panis secure second place in the championship.
Returning to top-tier competition for 2023, Canal raced with Alpine (Signatech) in the WEC, earning a podium at Monza and concluding seventh overall. He did not participate during 2024.
Personal life
Canal managed a McDonald's franchise located in his native city of Le Mans. By 2022, he had grown his business portfolio by launching three more McDonald's outlets in various cities outside Le Mans.
Racing career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | French Formula Renault Championship | CD Sport | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29th |
| Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | ||
| Formula Renault 2000 Germany | ASM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | |
| 2004 | Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup | Graff Racing | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 24th |
| France Formula Renault 2.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 21st | ||
| 2005 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | Graff Racing | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 16th |
| France Formula Renault 2.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 14th | ||
| 2006 | France Formula Renault 2.0 | Graff Racing | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 61 | 6th |
| Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | ||
| 2007
... [Table continues with same data, adjusted only by minor formatting changes to reduce length] ... |
† Canal participated as a guest driver and was therefore not eligible to earn championship points.
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Entries in bold denote pole positions) (Entries in italics indicate fastest laps)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 Formula Renault 2000 Masters (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 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup (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 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 (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 |
style= "text-align:center" colspan=9| | 16th | 17 | ||||||||
| "2006 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0" | Graff Racing | (ZOL 1) | (ZOL 2) | (IST 1) | (IST 2) | (MIS 1) | (MIS 2) | (NÜR 1) | (NÜR 2) | (DON 1) | (DON 2) | style= "text-align:center" colspan=7 | | NC† | 0 |
† Since Canal competed as a guest driver, he was not qualified to accumulate points in the standings.
Full European Le Mans Series Results
(key) (Entries shown in bold denote pole position; results in italics signify fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Category | Chassis | Power Unit | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | Overall Position | Championship Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Larbre Compétition | GT1 | Saleen S7-R | Ford 7.0 L V8 | LEC 1st |
SPA | ALG | HUN | SIL | 3rd place | 33 points | |
| 2010 | Larbre Compétition | GTE AM | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | LEC | SPA 3rd |
IMO 2nd |
SIL 4th |
EST | NC | 0 points | |
| 2015 | Krohn Racing | LMP2 | Ligier JS P2 | Judd HK 3.6 L V8 | SIL | IMO | RBR 5th |
LEC | EST | 18th overall | 10 points | |
| 2016 | Greaves Motorsport | LMP2 | Ligier JS P2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL 8th |
IMO 8th |
RBR 6th |
LEC 6th |
SPA 4th |
EST Retired |
10th position | 36 points |
| 2018 | Panis Barthez Competition | LMP2 | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC 8th |
MNZ 7th |
RBR 10th |
SIL 6th |
SPA 3rd‡ |
ALG 2nd |
9th in standings | 45.5 points |
|
Year |
Team |
Category |
Chassis |
Engine |
Round 1 |
Round 2 |
Round 3 |
Round 4 |
Round 5 |
Round 6 |
Final Standing |
Points Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Panis Barthez Competition | LMP2 | Ligier JS P217 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC 10th |
MNZ 9th |
CAT 15th |
SIL 7th |
SPA 8th |
ALG 7th |
18th overall | 19.5 points |
| 2020 | Panis Racing | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | LEC Retired |
SPA 3rd |
Circuit Paul Ricard (second race)(LEC) 4th |
Autodromo Nazionale Monza (second race)(MNZ) 5th |
Algarve International Circuit (second race)(ALG) 5th |
4th place finishers | 47 championship points | |
| (2021) | (Panis Racing) | LMP2 | (Oreca 07) | (Gibson), GK428, 4.2 L V8 | (Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya) CAT \t2nd |
(Red Bull Ring) RBR \t14th |
(Circuit Paul Ricard) LEC \t8th |
(Autodromo Nazionale Monza) MNZ \t1st |
(Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps) SPA \t3rd |
(Algarve International Circuit) ALG \t4th |
(Overall) Third Place | (Points) 74.5 |
Full FIA World Endurance Championship Results
† No drivers championship awarded in LMGTE Am category this year; position represents overall classification.
* Current season underway.
