Julien Antoine Jules Canal[1] (born 15 July 1982 in Le Mans) is a French racing driver. Having won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010, 2011 and 2012 whilst driving GT cars, Canal became a staple of the LMP2 category, winning the WEC class title in 2015 and 2017.
Early 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 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, where they won the GT1 class.[3] Canal remained with the team for the 2011 season, racing in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. The team's highlight came at Le Mans once again, as Canal and Gabriele Gardel, as well as new teammate Patrick Bornhauser, repeated their victory, this time triumphing in the LMGTE Am class.[4] Canal and the team returned to the LMGTE Am category in 2012, this time entering the newly-formed FIA World Endurance Championship.[5] The year yielded three wins, which included Canal's third win at Le Mans, with Pedro Lamy making the pass for the class lead during the final hour.[6] In 2013, Canal remained with Larbre for his fourth and final season with the team, getting two podiums and ending up fifth in the LMGTE Am standings of the WEC.[7]
Prototype career
Canal switched to prototype racing for the 2014 season, competing in the LMP2 class with G-Drive Racing.[8] Alongside Olivier Pla and Roman Rusinov, the Frenchman garnered four victories, although a retirement at Le Mans and a major accident for Pla caused by a brake failure at the season finale in São Paulo eventually consigned them to second in the championship.[9][10][11] For 2015, Canal remained with G-Drive, this time being joined by pro driver Sam Bird along with Rusinov.[12] In the burgeoning class, the trio led by Bird dominated, scoring podiums in all but one race and winning the title with four victories.[13][14]
Canal moved to Greaves Motorsport in 2016, competing in the European Le Mans Series.[15] He and Memo Rojas failed to finish on the podium during the year, ended up sixth at Le Mans, and finished seventh in the ELMS teams' standings. The following season, Canal returned to the WEC, this time partnering Bruno Senna and Nico Prost at Vaillante Rebellion.[16] Their campaign began strongly, as three podiums in the opening four races propelled them into the title battle. After a win in Mexico, however, the floodgates opened, with Rebellion winning the final three races and taking home the LMP2 title — Canal's second in the championship — following a resilient performance by Senna at Bahrain despite a late loss of power steering.[17][18]
In 2018, Canal returned to the ELMS with Panis Barthez Competition, racing alongside Timothé Buret and Will Stevens.[19] After a number of points finishes, the team concluded the campaign with two podiums to end up sixth overall. Canal came back to drive Panis's Ligier JS P217 in 2019, though he, Stevens, and René Binder struggled to attain top results, leaving them 11th in the standings despite a mid-season switch to the Oreca 07 chassis.[20] For the COVID-affected2020 season, Canal remained with the rebranded Panis Racing team, this time driving an Oreca 07 for the whole year together with Stevens and Nico Jamin.[21] Despite starting out with a retirement at the opening race, the trio bounced back with a third place at Spa; three further top-five finishes propelled Panis Racing to fourth place overall. Canal's Le Mans 24 Hour venture that year yielded a positive result too, as he scored his first LMP2 podium at the event since 2015 by finishing third alongside Jamin and Matthieu Vaxivière.[22][23]
Following that clean and successful year, Canal returned for another ELMS campaign with Panis, driving together with Stevens and fifth-year pilot James Allen.[24] A podium at Barcelona started off the year, though it was a victory at Monza, which was the team's first win in the series, that helped the Frenchman and his teammates in the championship.[25] They finished third overall, having scored another podium in Belgium, meanwhile their Le Mans success continued with another third place in class.[26]
In 2022, Canal entered his final ELMS season with Panis, teaming up with Jamin and Job van Uitert.[27] This turned out to be his magnum opus in the championship, as four podiums helped Panis to second place in the standings.[28][29] After moving back to the WEC in 2023 with Alpine, for whom he scored a podium at Monza and finished seventh in the standings, Canal did not partake in any competitions during 2024.[30][31][32]
Personal life
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.[33]
^Lloyd, Daniel (17 March 2018). "Stevens to Make LMP2 Return with Panis-Barthez". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 17 March 2018. The 26-year-old Brit, who contested the 2015 Grand Prix season with Marussia, will co-drive the French outfit's Ligier JS P217 Gibson with Timothe Buret and FIA World Endurance LMP2 champion Julien Canal
