Julien Canal
Canal in 2023
Nationality	French
Born	(1982-07-15) 15 July 1982 (age 41) 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
24 Hours of Le Mans career Years 2010– Teams Larbre Competition Best finish 13th (2010) Class wins 3 (2010, 2011, 2012)

Julien Antoine Jules Canal^[1] (born 15 July 1982 in Le Mans) is a French racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with Panis Racing. 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.^[2] 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

Canal 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.

Racing record

Racing career summary

† As Canal was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

^† 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

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
2017	Vaillante Rebellion	Bruno Senna Nicolas Prost	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	340	16th	14th
2018	Panis Barthez Competition	Timothé Buret Will Stevens	Ligier JS P217-Gibson	LMP2	352	13th	9th
2019	Panis Barthez Competition	René Binder Will Stevens	Ligier JS P217-Gibson	LMP2	362	13th	8th
2020	Panis Racing	Nico Jamin Matthieu Vaxivière	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	368	7th	3rd
2021	Panis Racing	James Allen Will Stevens	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	362	8th	3rd
2022	Panis Racing	Nico Jamin Job van Uitert	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	366	16th	12th
2023	Alpine Elf Team	Charles Milesi Matthieu Vaxivière	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	327	12th	4th

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^* Season still in progress.