Julien Canal
Quick Facts
Biography
Julien Canal (born 15 July 1982 in Le Mans) is a French racing driver. In 2010 he made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and won his class in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Career
Single-seaters
After 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. He also raced in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series in each of those four seasons.
GT racing
Canal 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 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans, where they won the GT1 class in 13th overall.
In 2011 Larbre entered the new GTE-Am class in a Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, with Canal again winning the class at Le Mans with the team. They repeated the feat in 2012.
Personal
Racing record
24 Hours of Le Mans results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 |  Larbre Compétition | Roland Bervillé Gabriele Gardel | Saleen S7-R | GT1 | 331 | 13th | 1st |
| 2011 | Larbre Compétition | Patrick Bornhauser Gabriele Gardel | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | GTE Am | 302 | 20th | 1st |
| 2012 | Larbre Compétition | Patrick Bornhauser Pedro Lamy | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | GTE Am | 329 | 20th | 1st |
| 2013 | Larbre Compétition | Patrick Bornhauser Ricky Taylor | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | GTE Am | 302 | 29th | 5th |
| 2014 |  G-Drive Racing | Roman Rusinov Olivier Pla | Morgan LMP2-Nissan | LMP2 | 120 | DNF | DNF |
| 2015 | G-Drive Racing | Roman Rusinov Sam Bird | Ligier JS P2-Nissan | LMP2 | 358 | 11th | 3rd |
| 2016 | Greaves Motorsport | Nathanaël Berthon Memo Rojas | Ligier JS P2-Nissan | LMP2 | 348 | 10th | 6th |
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Larbre Compétition | LMGTE Am | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | SEB Ret | SPA 4 | LMS 1 | SIL EX | SÃO EX | BHR 4 | FUJ 1 | SHA 1 | 1st† | 179† |
| 2013 | Larbre Compétition | LMGTE Am | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | SIL 2 | SPA 3 | LMS 4 | SÃO 6 | COA 6 | FUJ 8 | SHA 5 | BHR 4 | 5th | 97 |
| 2014 | G-Drive Racing | LMP2 | Morgan LMP2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL 1 | SPA 1 | LMS Ret | 2nd | 137 | |||||
| Ligier JS P2 | COA 3 | FUJ 1 | SHA 1 | BHR 3 | SÃO Ret | |||||||||
| 2015 | G-Drive Racing | LMP2 | Ligier JS P2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | SIL 1 | SPA 9 | LMS 2 | NÜR 2 | COA 1 | FUJ 1 | SHA 2 | BHR 1 | 1st | 178 |
† There was no drivers championship that year, the result indicates rank in the LMGTE Am Trophy.