Equipe Alméras Frères (''French:'' Alméras Brothers Team) is a French

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

team founded by Jean-Marie Alméras and his brother Jacques Alméras in 1971. The racing team is an extension of the automotive dealership in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

through which the brothers tune, develop, and restore

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

s, in which the team is commonly known as Porsche Alméras. Early success in French and European

hill climb Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

s led to

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

efforts across Europe, including overall victories at the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

and

Tour de Corse The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, an ...

, and the full support of Porsche in developing their

911 911 or 9/11 may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende * November 9 Numbers * 91 ...

model for rallying. Small forays into

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

in the 1970s eventually shifted to the team running sports cars full-time in the 1980s, including multiple participations at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

and eventually an effort in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

. By the 1990s the team returned to hill climbs and rallying while participating in French circuit championships including the

Porsche Carrera Cup Porsche Carrera Cup (sometimes abbreviated PCC) is a number of one-make racing by Porsche premier series competed with, initially Porsche 911 Carrera Cup, then later Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The cars are specifically built by Porsche for one-m ...

. Jacques' son

Philippe Alméras Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Count ...

began driving for the team in the late 1990s before partnering with

Jean-Pierre Champeau Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to: People * Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021- * Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France * Eugenia Pierre ...

to create Pro GT by Alméras, a new team to continue the Alméras family name. Following success in several French sports car championships, Pro GT currently participates in the

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

and

Porsche Carrera Cup France Porsche Carrera Cup France is a one make motor racing championship held in France. The cars are Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991.2) with 4.0 liters, flat-6 naturally aspirated engines that produce and 480 N·m. Champions References External li ...

. Equipe Alméras continues to participate in

historic motorsport Historic motorsport or vintage motorsport, is motorsport with vehicles limited to a particular era. Only safety precautions are modernized in these hobbyist races. A historical event can be of various types of motorsport disciplines, from road ...

events with restorations of their own cars, still driven by Jean-Marie, while Jacques manages the company.

History

Jean-Marie Alméras began his racing career in

karts Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

at the age of 16, earning a reputation in France for the construction of his own karts. In 1966 he opened a body shop to develop karts as well as improvements for road cars. Feeling the need to test his road car offerings, Jean-Marie was joined by his younger brother Jacques as

co-driver A co-driver is the navigator of a rally car in the sport of rallying, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, commonly by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver (what lies ahead, where to turn, the severity ...

to tackle the Critérium des Cévennes in their

Peugeot 204 The Peugeot 204 is a small family car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot between 1965 and 1976. The 204, known in development as Project D12, was available in many body styles including a sedan/saloon/berline, convertible/cabriolet, hat ...

. Jean-Marie and Jacques later sought support from an automotive manufacturer, making their first negotiations with French

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

and

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

before finally settling with Porsche. Jacques began to take his share of driving duties as well, competing in the Critérium des Cévennes and

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

with used Porsches, but eventually selling to customers the modifications they had made to their own cars. In 1971 the brothers formally created Equipe Alméras Frères and invested in a pair of

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and origin ...

s for the

French Hill Climb Championship The French hill climb championship, or Championnat de France de la Montagne started in 1967 and rapidly became one of the continent's most competitive national series. For much of its history, the leading cars have been from Formula 2 (later Formul ...

, Jacques competing in a Carrera RSR and Jean-Marie competing in a 911 S. The brothers won the championship in their respective classes consecutively from 1973 to 1975. Equipe Alméras also expands to sports car racing, entering a customer Porsche in the

1976 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 44th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1976. This year the FIA introduced its new Group 5 (racing)#4th Generation Group 5 – “Special Production Cars” (1976 to 1982), Group 5 and Gro ...

where the team finished 23rd overall. The brothers began competing in the European Hill Climb Championship after conquering the French series, replacing their cars with newer and more powerful

Porsche 934 The Porsche 934 was a racing version of the Porsche 911 Turbo, prepared to FIA Group 4 rules, similar to the Porsche 935 which was prepared to FIA Group 5 rules. History The Porsche 934 was introduced for the 1976 racing season. It was manufactur ...

s and

935 Year 935 ( CMXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Arnulf I ("the Bad") of Bavaria invades Italy, crossing through the Upper ...

s. Jean-Marie becomes the European champion three years in a row with his 935, while Jacques won the touring car category title in the same years. The brothers also finished the French championship in first and second in 1978 before concentrating fully on the European campaign. The 1978 campaign also involved Equipe Alméras' involvement in the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

preparing a 911 SC for

Jean-Pierre Nicolas Jean-Pierre Nicolas (born 22 January 1945) is a retired French professional rally driver who competed mainly in the 1970s. Nicolas took five WRC event wins in the World Rally Championship. His best result in the drivers' championship was second ...

with which he won the

and helping Porsche to fourth in the championship; in return Porsche increased their investment for the team. The team participated in the

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an rallying, automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The champions ...

for several years, winning the title in 1980 with Antonio Zanini, while

Jean-Luc Thérier Jean-Luc Thérier (7 October 1945, Hodeng-au-Bosc – 31 July 2019, Neufchâtel-en-Bray) was a French rally driver. He was the highest scoring driver in the inaugural World Rally Championship in 1973 and the only one to win three events. However, ...

won the

rally in the world championship that same year. Jean-Marie and Jacques also participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as drivers for the first time in 1980 before aiding in the development of the

Porsche 924 Carrera GTR The Porsche 924 is a sports car produced by Porsche in Neckarsulm, Germany,from 1976 until 1988. A two-door, 2+2 coupé, the 924 replaced the 912E and 914 as the company's entry-level model. Although the 928 was designed first, the 924 was ...

in 1981. Defending world rally drivers' champion

Walter Röhrl Walter Röhrl (; born 7 March 1947) is a German rally and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford and BMW. Röhrl has scored 14 victories over his career, with his notable achievements including ...

drove for Alméras in the

San Remo Rally Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973 season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental Rally ...

in 1981, leading the event before a failure ended his rally. Jean-Marie was badly injured in a road accident in 1982, ending his campaign in the European Hill Climb Championship, but Jacques continued to rally alongside the team's customer entries, the team earning two podiums in the 1982 World Rally Championship. Equipe Alméras shifted to sports car racing in 1983 with the purchase of a

Porsche 930 The Porsche 930 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche between 1975 and 1989, known to the public as the 911 Turbo. It was the maker's top-of-the-range 911 model for its entire production duration and, at the ti ...

for the

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

category while also adapting the 924 for the French Superproduction Championship, later convincing former Formula One driver

Jean-Pierre Beltoise Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving a single victory, at th ...

to join the championship in their cars. The company also developed a unique road car, the Porsche 930 3.3 Bi-turbo Alméras, an adaptation of the 930 with twin turbochargers in place of the single turbocharger, increased displacement, and unique bodywork. Although never sold,

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...

later used the car for the development of performance road tyres. The brothers purchased a

Porsche 962C The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the Euro ...

in 1989 to enter the World Sports-Prototype Championship, entering races outside Europe for the first time and developing unique bodywork for their prototype sports car yet never finding success in the series. Returning to 911s, the brothers shared an entry with

Jacques Lafitte Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. ...

at Le Mans in 1994 before entering the

French GT Championship The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the ''Championnat de France des Circuits'' (formerly called ''Super Série FFSA'' and ...

and later

. Jacques stepped back from racing to take over management within the team in the 1990s while his son Philippe begins his driving career, eventually racing for the team at the

2003 Spa 24 Hours The 2003 Proximus 24 Spa was the 56th running of the Spa 24 Hours and the sixth round the 2003 FIA GT Championship. This event combined the FIA GT's two classes (GT and N-GT) with cars from national series and one-make series, designated G2 and G ...

. Philippe later earned his first attempt at Le Mans driving for

Luc Alphand Luc Alphand (born 6 August 1965) is a former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer from France. He specialized in the speed events and later became a auto racing, race car driver. Ski racing Born in Briançon (Ha ...

's racing team and finishing sixteenth while continuing to participate in French national championships en route to taking over the racing department of the family business. Jean-Marie continues to participate in

driving, and winning, in many of the team's former cars.

Pro GT by Alméras

After graduating through the

and

FFSA GT Championship The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the ''Championnat de France des Circuits'' (formerly called ''Super Série FFSA'' and ...

, Philippe Alméras worked with

in 2007 to launch Pro GT by Almeras for the 2008 season, extending the family team beyond his single entries to a variety of drivers in the Carrera Cup and GT Championship. Driver Henry Hassid earned three consecutive Category B championships in the Carrera Cup before

Anthony Beltoise Anthony Beltoise (born 21 July 1971, in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French auto racing driver. He is the son of former Grand Prix motorcycle racer and Formula One driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise and nephew of fellow Formula One driver François Cevert, ...

won two FFSA GT championships in 2011 and 2012, teamed with

Laurent Pasquali Laurent may refer to: *Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname **Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent **Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician **Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...

then Hassid. The first entry in the international

also comes in 2011. Pro GT's success earned them the support of the Porsche factory after they participate in the

Blancpain Endurance Series The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

for the first time in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, being assigned factory drivers for the

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and finishing in thirteenth place. The team rapidly expanded in 2014, adding the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

alongside their Blancpain campaign as well as a return for select events in the Porsche Supercup, while

Côme Ledogar Côme Ledogar (born 23 May 1991) is a professional racing driver from France. He is best known for winning the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup overall title in 2016, with Robert Bell and Shane van Gisbergen, and for winning the 2021 24 Hours ...

became the Carrera Cup France champion.

Mathieu Jaminet Mathieu Jaminet (born 24 October 1994) is a French racing driver. He is currently employed by Porsche as a Factory-backed, factory driver and participates primarily in Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, including the Intercontinenta ...

repeated the French championship in 2016, followed by

Julien Andlauer Julien Andlauer (born 5 July 1999 in Lyon) is a racing driver from France. He is a Porsche contracted driver who competes in a range of championships having won both Porsche Carrera Cup France, French and Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, German Carre ...

in 2017, and

Ayhancan Güven Ayhancan Güven (born 2 January 1998) is a Turkish racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He currently competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Born in 1998 in Istanbul, Ayhancan grown up with the racing background of his father. He's ...

in 2018 and 2019, while the teams title went to Pro GT in all four seasons. Pro GT became a full-time Supercup entrant in 2016, signing a sponsorship deal with caterer Pierre Martinet and rebranding the team as Martinet by Alméras. Martinet by Alméras continues to participate in both the Porsche Supercup and Porsche Carrera Cup France in 2020.

References

External links

* * {{Official website, http://www.pro-gt.com, Pro GT by Alméras French auto racing teams 1971 establishments in France World Sportscar Championship teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams World Rally Championship teams European Rally Championship teams European Le Mans Series teams Porsche Supercup teams International GT Open teams Blancpain Endurance Series teams Auto racing teams established in 1971 Auto racing teams established in 2008