The series came about following the expansion of Don Panoz's American Le Mans Series to include European rounds in 2000. The ELMS become a separate series for 2001, although following the same IMSA and ACO rules that the ALMS followed, and even having shared events among the two series. Like the Petit Le Mans for the ALMS, the 1000 km of Estoril was meant to be a unique event that would earn automatic entries to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for its winners. A lack of interest from the European racing community and competition from the FIA's series, meant that this would be the only season of ELMS. Another planned series, known as Asian-Pacific Le Mans Series (APLMS) was planned to begin in late 2001, but never occurred. The Le Mans Endurance Series was eventually renamed the European Le Mans Series in 2012.