 These races would serve as a precursor to what would become the separate European Le Mans Series in 2001.The European Le Mans Series was launched for 2001 with 5 races, including a premier 1000 km race at Estoril, which would be the European equivalent of the 1000 mile Petit Le Mans and earn automatic entries to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for each class winner.To aid in the development of the ELMS, the 2001 season shared some races between both ALMS and ELMS.