Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the creator and organiser of the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance motor-racing event, has extended a deal with the FIA, motorsport’s global governing body, to stage the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The new deal will run for three years, from 2015 to 2017.

ACO has operated Le Mans since 1923 and remains the promoter of the FIA World Endurance Championship via its LMEM subsidiary. The championship comprises eight rounds across Europe, America and Asia.

“The FIA World Endurance Championship has made great progress in three years,” Gérard Neveu, the championship’s chief executive, said. “Next year, Nissan will join Audi, Porsche and Toyota in LMP1, demonstrating the attractiveness of endurance racing to big manufacturers in the development of new technologies and to help them in the markets we visit in the World Endurance Championship.”

FIA president Jean Todt added: “The championship has been able to build on a solid foundation and continues its development. The seasons to come promise to be exciting, especially the arrival of Nissan in LMP1. This success confirms the interest of constructors in the value of technological innovation in this discipline to which I feel a great bond."