FIA WEC: New entry list for COTA

The latest provisional entry list for the upcoming Lone Star Le Mans at COTA is down to 30 cars after the withdrawal of Ginetta in LMP1 and the addition of Dragonspeed in LMP2. 

Ginetta pulled out both of their G60-LT-P1 cars, which are back on their wa the factory after the Bahrain round in December.  The team released a short statement on their website this morning.  

The WEC calendar is challenging, especially for any team with a new car in it’s first season and we have not had the chassis' back at the factory since before Silverstone in August.  

The cancellation of the earlier WEC race in Brazil and the new race at COTA made it impossible to do the planned work at our facility in Virginia, so the cars were shipped post race back to Ginetta UK, the cars hopefully arrive at the factory today.

This puts the LMP1 class down to just 3 cars for the Lone Star Le Mans race with both Toyota's and a single Rebellion. Although still on the provisional entry list for Sebring, it's not clear whether the Ginetta's will make the trip across the pond for the 1000 mile race in March. 

Dragonspeed is a new addition to the LMP2 class. The American team which has raced in LMP1 in the past Super season has shifted its focus back to the LMP2 class this year, winning the Daytona 24 hours last month in IMSA and planning an assault for the title in the European Le Mans Series.  Ben Hanley (who initially would race with Ginetta in LMP1) will share the car with Henrik Hedman and Colin Braun.  

It's unclear yet if this is a one-off appearance in the WEC, or Dragonspeed will run a double program in Sebring; combining IMSA and WEC.

© Richard Prince for Chevy Racing

In GTE, the brand new Corvette C8.R will make its debut in the World Endurance Championship, facing the competition of Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin.  Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller make an unexpected return to Corvette racing after their contracts with the manufacturer ended at the end of last year.

Magnussen raced with Corvette for 16 years, and has 4 Le Mans wins under his belt.  Rockenfeller was part of the endurance squad but would have been unable to race at Le Mans this year due to a date clash with DTM.  Jan Magnussen should be at the start of the French endurance race this season with Danish team High Class Racing in the LMP2 category.

In GTE Am, so far Thomas Preining is the only confirmed driver so far on the #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR.

The updated entry list can be found HERE.


Kristof Vermeulen. 

MLMC/Le Mans: 50 cars on the grid for the 2019 Road to Le Mans race

Curtain-raiser to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the third round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup, the 2019 Road to Le Mans boasts an impressive 50-car grid of 17 GT3s and 33 LMP3s, including 34 cars from the Michelin Le Mans Cup, 12 cars from the European Le Mans Series and participants from the Asian Le Mans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship. 

The glittering GT3 cast comprises Mercedes, Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Porsche, with Ligier and Norma in LMP3. Managed by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and its event organisation branch Le Mans Endurance Management, the Michelin Le Mans Cup is a series for both GT3s and LMP3s run alongside the European Le Mans Series at Le Castellet, Monza, Barcelona, Spa and Portimão stages. 

Racing often runs in the family and Road to Le Mans welcomes Yann Ehrlacher, son of Cathy Muller and nephew of Yvan Muller, Freddie Hunt, son of 1976 Formula One world champion James Hunt, two drivers that will represent Frédéric Sausset’s team and finally Jan Lammers, who celebrated his 24th Le Mans 24 Hours last year and who took part to the first edition of Road To Le Mans in 2016. 

Road to Le Mans takes he form of two 55-minute races on the Thursday and Saturday immediately before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, taking advantage of the same 13.626-kilometre circuit as the 62 competitors in the top-of-the-bill race that takes place over the weekend of 15-16 June. The support race lives up to its name, with many would-be 24-hour drivers revelling in the chance to drive on the legendary circuit cheered on by its world-famous crowds. They are right to dream of greater things: French driver Thomas Laurent won Road to Le Mans in 2016 and has taken up residence on the 24 Hours of Le Mans podium ever since.

The Road to Le Mans entry list automatically includes full-season Michelin Le Mans Cup participants and the selection committee extends invitations to other deserving teams with priority given to endurance series competitors such as the European Le Mans Series, the Asian Le Mans Series and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. 

Download the provisional entry list here

Record breaking 62 car grid for Le Mans: High Class Racing and United Autosports receive extra invite

The 87th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the finale of the FIA World Endurance Championship will have a record breaking grid of 62 cars on June 15th.  The Automobile Club de l’guest announced the expansion of the grid today, and confirmed High Class Racing and United Autosports as the 2 extra invitees for the 24 hour race. 

To accommodate the extra cars, the pitlane will be extended with 2 temporary garages. They will be set up next to the first ones, towards the entrance of pit lane, inbetween the module sportif (tower) and the first 2 pitboxes (which were used by Toyota in the past years). Work on extending the pitlane began several weeks ago, in time for the test day on June 2nd. 

The 13.626-kilometre track will therefore welcome a record 62 competitors on 15 June. Since 2016, a maximum of 60 garages accommodated the teams. 

Pierre Fillion, President of the ACO said: “In February, the selection committee faced a harder task than it has in many years. There were 75 applications – all of a high standard – and it was particularly difficult to choose 60, only 60 of them should I say. We quickly came to the conclusion that we had to find a way of accepting additional competitors, and our crews confirmed the feasibility of adding two garages to pit lane. We knuckled down and are overjoyed to be able to accept 62 entrants for the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s a record number and a sign that this race is as popular as ever.”

For High Class Racing, this will be their first appearance at Le Mans, after missing out an invite in the past 2 years. The Danish team is now in its third year in the European Le Mans Series, and switched from the Dallara P217 to the Oreca 07 this session.  Anders Fjordbach and Dennis Andersen will drive the car with the third driver still to be announced. 

“It’s a huge surprise to be granted an entry to the 2019 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours,” said Anders Fjordbach, who was a reserve driver for SMP Racing the past two years at Le Mans. While it was originally disappointing to be turned down for a second year running when the first list came out, we understood the ACO’s decision and remained patient, expecting to have a greater chance in 2020."

“However, this new plan by the ACO has given us the chance to make our debut in the race this year, and race as part of a record-breaking 62-car entry at the event with our new ORECA 07 Gibson. Although there isn’t much time to plan our trip to France in June, we will be working extremely hard over the coming weeks to ensure we are ready and have the best chance of scoring a strong result in our first attempt. It’s been a dream for us, long-term, to race as a Danish team at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and add to our country’s ever-growing heritage at the race. We thank the ACO for its support in this process and can’t wait to hit the track at Le Mans in two months time.”

United Autosports wasn’t too happy after the release of the initial entry list for this year’s Le Mans.  Despite the teams’ wlarge involvement in the ELMS, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Asian Le Mans Series, only the auto invite they received by winning the Asian Le Mans Series was granted to the American team.  With the addition of two extra entries, United Autosports now gained a second invite in the LMP2 class.

ELMS regulars Ryan Cullen and Alex Brundle will be joined by a third driver who is still to be confirmed. They will join Phil Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque and Paul Di Resta as part of the team’s two driver line ups. Alex Brundle has raced at Le Mans five times, finishing on the podium in both 2013 and 2017, while this year marks Ryan Cullen’s Le Mans 24 Hours debut. 

Zak Brown, Team Owner and Chairman, United Autosports said: “I’m really pleased United have been given a second entry into the Le Mans 24 Hours. It’s the greatest race in the world and to have a two-car entry for the second year running is fantastic.”

Richard Dean, Team Owner and Managing Director, United Autosports: “The ACO have worked hard to make this happen and we are very pleased for United to have both our Ligier JS P217s in the race. Hopefully we can get another great result like we did last year – or even go two spots better.”

5 teams remain on the reserve list for the 24 Hours: 

- Eurasia Motorsport - Ligier JSP217 (LMP2)

- Panis Barthez Competition - Ligier JSP217 (LMP2)

- IDEC Sport - Ligier JSP217 (LMP2)

- Team Project 1 - Porsche 911 RSR (LMGTE AM)

- TF Sport - Aston Martin Vantage (LMGTE Am)

The new, updated entry list can be downloaded here

Kristof Vermeulen. 

Le Mans: Duqueine Engineering joins LMP2 field after Spirit of Race withdrawal

One month after celebrating its 50th anniversary, Team Duqueine has probably received their most beautiful present by getting an invite for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.  Spirit of Race has withdrawn their entry with the #55 Ferrari of Duncan Cameron in the GTE Am class, so Duqueine will take their place as first reserve team on the list.   

Since 2014 the French team has worked its way up in endurance racing up until now with an entry for the most prestigious endurance race in the world. For Le Mans, the #30 LMP2 Gibson powered Oreca 07 will be driven by Pierre Ragues and Nicolas Jamin who will be joined by Romain Dumas.  Dumas will be in for his 19th 24 hour race at Le Mans this year. 

"Im very happy to join Team Duqueine for my 19th 24 Hours of Le Mans" said Romain Dumas. "We are neighbours in Alès and I know Yann Belhomme very well.  The idea to join the team was very pleasing to me. I know Pierre (Ragues), but haven't had the chance to meet or race with Nicolas (Jamin), but I've heard a lot about him already. We have a good package and now have 3 months to work on it for Le Mans.  I've won it in LMP1 and GT but not yet in LMP2 ... 

Yann Belhomme, team manager of Duqueine Engineering said: "Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been a dream in my whole professional career since 20 years. It couldn't be any better with Pierre and Nicolas and Romain who will be joining the team. I'm very excited to have Romain (Dumas) on board; he's a person I have much respect for and he will bring a load of experience into the team. 

Check out the new entry list here

Le Mans: Final 60 car grid announced for the 87th 24 Hours of Le Mans

Yesterday, the ACO announced the final list of 60 invited teams of 10 reserve cars for the 87th running if the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  There’s a few surprises on this list, and even more disappointments, as is always the case when 75 cars apply for 60 available spots.

In previous years, the ACO strived to have a 50/50 balance between prototypes and GTE cars, this time we’ll see 25 cars in the prototype classes and 35 in GTE.  Especially the GTE Am class is booming this season with no less than 17 entries.  There’s no more sign of the Ginetta’s in the top class. LMP2 has 17 cars with 16 different teams, never has this class been so varied with that many teams.  GTE Pro also has 17 cars on the grid, with 4 cars for Porsche and Ford and the addition of the Risi Ferrari. The Am class is the biggest on the grid with 17 cars with 9 Ferrari’s and the first ever Ford GT in a private team. 

LMP1

As expected there are no additional entries in the LMP1 class, the Ginetta’s now seemingly completely off the ACO’s radar.  A fair decision in our point of view, after all the problems the team has gone through, failing to enter any race except for Le Mans last year. This leaves 8 cars in the class, with all crews already announced except for the #4 ByKolles which has only Tom Dillman on the entry list so far.   

LMP2 

In LMP2 five additional cars have passed the ACO’s selection committee, making it a 17 car strong field consisting of 10 Oreca 07, 5 Ligier JSP217 and 2 Dallara P217’s.  So far there’s only one team which will have two cars on the grid for the 24 hours: Jackie Chan DC Racing with both Oreca’s from the FIA WEC.  All five new selected entries are teams with a history in the European Le Mans Series of which 2 secured their entry winning the Asian LMS titles. 

Asian Le Mans Series champions United Autosports received one invitation for their #22 Ligier, driven by Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque.  A second entry was widely expected but didn’t get through the selection committee. Inter Europol Competition will make its debut in the French classic after clinching the LMP3 title in Asian Le Mans Series last week. Kuba Smiechowski & co have already been testing in their green/yellow Ligier JSP217 which will debut in the European Le Mans Series next month.  Smiechowski is a certainty for Le Mans with Martin Hippe is also expected in the #34, the name of the third driver still te be confirmed.  The third car securing its entry through the Asian Le Mans Series are Am champions ARC Bratislava.  A return to Le Mans for Miro Konopka after only making it to the back of the reserve list last season, much to his reluctance.  

Panis Barthez Competition’s #23 Ligier also has been invited.  Rene Binder has been appointed as their designated driver, he should be joined by his ELMS co-drivers Will Stevens and Julien Canal.  Algarve Pro Racing also secured a spot in pitlane with the #15 Oreca for Mark Patterson, Andrea Pizzitola and John Falb.  Fifth and final team is Cetilar Racing who are back for their third go at Le Mans. Although not racing in the ELMS this season, they will enter the 2019/2020 FIA WEC season with their Dallara P217.  Giorgio Sernagiotto and Roberto Lacorte will be joined by Andrea Belicchi again who had to miss the final part of last season due to back problems. 

After the announcement yesterday, there has been a lot of commotion about the (non) selection of a number of teams.  Richard Dean from United Autosports and Jackie Heinricher of Meyer Shank Racing have already expressed their disappointment.  While there is certainly something to say for their disappointment, it’s a fine line on which the ACO has to balance when selecting all invited teams for Le Mans.  With 75 applications for 60 available slots (plus 10 reserves), it was obvious some would be (heavily) disappointed.  At the presentation of the final list, Pierre Fillon - president of the ACO - explained how they went about drawing up the list of 60 competitors: “It was tricky in that all applicants were top class and we had to find criteria on which to separate them. We examined the applications with a fine-tooth comb. Our choice was based on the appeal of the team in terms of sport and technology and in terms of spectator and media attention. Loyalty was also a factor. Of course, there were several heartbreaking moments. Several reserve teams would have made the grid in previous years. Year after year, it gets more and more difficult to choose between so many top-flight teams, across the board. Which goes to show that the endurance racing ladder that we introduced is fulfilling its promises. It produces experienced teams, drivers who have risen through the ranks, series after series, class by class and come to us with an already glittering record. A place on the Le Mans 24 Hours grid is the culmination of a carefully constructed project, built up step by step, based on solid foundations.”

We’ll come back on this “issue”, with our thoughts and amendments in a later post on the blog.   

LMGTE Pro

The LMGTE Pro class also has 17 entrants in total, equal to the LMP2 class this year.  7 additional cars join the full season World Endurance Championship entrants. 

Both Corvettes return to Le Mans for the 20th consecutive year; the longest run a team has ever had with the same car.  The #63 will be driven by Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Mike Rockenfeller while the #64 will be in the hands of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fässler. Porsche already announced their 4 car entry earlier with the addition of both IMSA 911 RSR’s.  A strong line-up in the #93 with Patrick Pilet, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy, while the #94 will be driven by youngsters Sven Müller, Mathieu Jaminet and Dennis Olsen.  Ford also returns to La Sarthe with a 4 car armada, in what might be the final year of the GT programme.  The #68 will be driven by Joey Hand, Dirk Müller and Sébastien Bourdais; the #69 is reserved for Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Scott Dixon. 

A bit surprising for some might be the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 for Stephane Ortelli and Pierre Kaffer with the third driver still to be announced. Risi isn’t racing full season in any ACO or ACO related championship but has always performed strong at Le Mans, and finished second in the GTLM class at Daytona in January. 

LM GTE Am

With an additional 3 cars, the LMGTE Am class is now the largest on the grid with a total of no less than 18 entries.  

Car Guy Racing earned their entry after a clean run in the Asian Le Mans Series.  Winning al four races sealed the championship and their auto entry.  The team already confirmed their intention to take up the entry with a car that will be run by AF Corse.  2 drivers have been confirmed so far: team regulars Takeshi Kimura and Kei Cozzolino.  

Spirit of Race received a second entry for the #55 Ferrari of Duncan Cameron and Aaron Scott, a regular entrant and race winner in the European Le Mans Series.  A more surprising additional entry is the second Kessel Racing Ferrari with the full female line-up of Manueal Gostner, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting. Backed by the FIA’s “Woman in Motorsport” programme, all three ladies will make their debut in the European Le Mans Series this season and at Le Mans in June. 

Reserve list

10 cars are listed on the reserve list, including some highly experienced teams.  The first 6 spots are reserved for LMP2 teams, so we might still see an increase in the prototype field.  

1. Duquiene Engineering - LMP2 - Oreca 07

2. High Class Racing - LMP2 - Oreca 07

3. United Autosports ) LMP2 - Ligier JSP217 

4. Eurasia Motorsport - LMP2 - Ligier JSP217 

5. Panis-Barthez Competition - LMP2 - Ligier JSP217

6. IDEC Sport - LMP2 - Ligier JSP217

7. Ebimotors - LMGTE Am - Porsche 911 RSR

8. Team Project 1 - LMGTE Am - Porsche 911 RSR

9. Meyer Shank Racing - LMP2 - Oreca 07

10.TF Sport Red River Sport - LM GTE Am - Aston Martin Vantage

Download the entry list here

Le Mans: First 42 entries announced by the ACO. No Ginetta's in LMP1, Ford GT in GTE Am.

The first 42 entries for the 24 Hours of Le Mans have been announced today by the Automobile Club de L’Ouest. Out of a total of 75 applications to participate at the classic endurance race and finale of the 2018/2019 FIA WEC Super Season, 60 teams will be invited for the race mid-June.  The next step is scheduled on March 1st with the release of the complete official entry list for the 87th running of the race. 

With four months to go before the race, the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans is drawing an enormous amount of interest. The Automobile Club de l’Ouest has received 75 applications for the 87th running of the greatest endurance race in the world. During a meeting last week, the 24 Hours of Le Mans Selection Committee confirmed 42 entrants. They include the 34 participants in the 2018-2019 World Endurance Championship Super Season and the eight competitors invited thanks to their results at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the European Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2018. 

Despite earlier announcements which said 50 teams would be announced today and the remaining 10 plus 10 reserve teams on March 1st, the ACO decided only to confirm the teams racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and auto-entries which have been taken up. The four invitations from the Asian Le Mans Series will be announced on 24 February after the final round in Sepang.  This leaves "just" 14 entries to be assigned. 

LMP1

Toyota doesn’t take up its third entry leaving both Toyota TS050 Hybrids from the FIA WEC at the start.  They will be joined by Rebellion's R13’s, the Dragonspeed BR1, ByKolles and the 2 SMP Racing BR1’s.  As announced earlier by the team, Nathanaël Berthon replaces Mathias Beche in the #3 Rebellion. Jenson Button will make his return to the #11 SMP Racing after missing out Sebring and Spa later this season. 

The ByKolles Enso CLM P1/01 is still listed with a Nismo engine, although recent reports have hinted at a disturbed relationship between the Austrian team and Japanese manufacturer.  ByKolles will miss Sebring due to this and is believed to be on the market for a new engine supplier.  So far, only Tom Dillmann has been confirmed by the team. 

Ginetta has - unsurprisingly - disappeared from the entry list after failing to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the exception of Le Mans.  It was already doubtable whether we would see the Ginetta LMP1’s on track since they only turned a few laps at the prologue and “raced” at Le Mans.  Since then it all went quiet, except for an engine switch from Mecachrome to AER which hasn’t done much more than a straight line test, no on track testing at all.  And although Ginetta claims to have their prototypes ready to race “whenever a customer” turns up, apparently nobody wants to make that investment. A good call thus by the ACO by leaving these 2 entries vacant at the moment.  With just 18 entries left to be assigned, there will be more than enough teams who race in an ACO endorsed championship eagerly waiting for an invite for Le Mans.   

LMP2

In LMP2, nine cars have been confirmed today, lead by last year’s Le Mans winner Signatech Alpine and ELMS champions G-Drive.  The 7 remaining cars all compete in the FIA WEC.  

In the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca, Roman Rusinov has been announced as the lead driver. It seems likely though that he will be joined by ELMS drivers Job Van Uitert and Jean-Eric Vergne. In the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing - the former Malaysian backed LMP2 - only David Heinemeier Hansson has been confirmed.  Other open seats are the third drivers for Larbre Competition (Creed/Ricci) and RLR M Sport/Tower Events (Farana/Maini), the latter in need for a replacement driver for Bruno Senna who is racing with Rebellion at Le Mans. 

Expect (a lot) more LMP2 cars on March 1st when the second batch of entries will be announced, with the European Le Mans Series as main suppliers for this class. At this time there’s no Ligier on the entry list and just one Dallara (Racing Team Nederland). 

LMGTE Pro

The 10 WEC cars have been announced in the GTE Pro class so far, Porsche not taking up their auto entry from winning Le Mans last season.  There’s no sign (yet) of the IMSA GTE teams, but it’s fair to accept that at least both Corvettes (celebrating their 20th anniversary at Le Mans this year), a Risi Ferrari and possible the IMSA entries of Porsche and Ford will be added later on. 

So far, only AF Corse and Porsche have confirmed their full driver line-ups. Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado will have Daniel Serra with them in the #51 Ferrari, Miguel Molina joins Davide Rigon and Sam Bird in the #71.  At Porsche Fred Makowiecki completes the #91 line up with Richard Lietz and Gianmaria Bruni while Laurens Vanthoor returns to last years winning #92 of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre.

LMGTE Am

The GTE Am class seems almost complete already with a total of 15 invited cars.  Proton Competition takes up 4 spots on the entry list: 2 cars from the WEC, and 2 auto-entries after winning the class at Le Mans last year and the ELMS GTE championship. With just 1 line-up complete (the #88 for Hoshino/Roda/Cairoli), there’s still a lot of seats to be filled for Christian Ried’s team. Patrick Long already has been assigned in the #77 Porsche 911 RSR, continuing his Le Mans streak with another year. 

ELMS runner-up JMW Motorsport returns to La Sarthe with his Ferrari and Jonny Cocker as designated driver.  Swiss team Kessel Racing is set to make its Le Mans debut after winning the 2018 Michelin Le Mans Cup.  They will enter a Ferrari 488 GTE with Francesco Schiavoni as their lead driver.   Another non-WEC entrant is the #62 Weathertech Racing Ferrari of Cooper Macneil. 

The biggest surprise is Keating Motorsport’s entry with the first Ford GT in the Am class.  Ben Keating will be joined by Jeroen Bleekemolen and Felipe Fraga, the same line-up as with the Riley AMG in the IMSA championship.  This will be Keating’s fifth Le Mans after 2 appearances in LMP2 (Oreca 03 and Riley) and GTE (Viper in 2015 and Ferrari last year).  

All other cars are the FIA WEC entrants.  All driver line-ups for those entrants are complete except for the #86 Gulf Racing Porsche with one seat left next to Michael Wainwright and Ben Barker. 

Entry list presentation

Le Mans: 2019 Entry list to be announced in two stages

Next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans will be the grand finale of the FIA WEC 2018-19 Super Season and the culmination of the championship from now on. The names of the teams to line up on the grid – sixty slots plus ten reserves –will be announced in two stages, on 11th February and 1st March 2019. 

The Super Season is the reason for the change in announcement of entries for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2019, the culmination of the 2018-2019 season which started this May in Spa, paid a first visit to Le Mans on 16/17th June before races at Silverstone, Fuji and Shanghai in 2018. As the calendar turns to 2019, the championship will also be visiting Sebring and Spa once again, before concluding in the Sarthe region of France.

Among the 60 competitors will be the full-season entrants of the WEC, plus the traditional recipients of invitations given to reward championship results in the European Le Mans Series (4), the Michelin Le Mans Cup (1), the Asian Le Mans Series (4), the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (2), and of course at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2018.

Teams wishing to take up one of the remaining places on the 2019 Le Mans grid will be able to apply from 20th December until 31st January 2019. 

The ACO will announce first fifty teams on 11th February, followed by another ten teams on the grid and ten reserve teams on 1st March. 

Road to Le Mans: 50 cars on the grid

Fifty cars will take part in the 2018 ‘Road to Le Mans’ race this year. The race, which forms part of the Michelin Le Mans Cup series, is designed as a part of the ACO’s ‘Endurance Pyramid’ to give drivers a taste of racing at Le Mans in LMP3 and GT3 machinery before graduating to GTE, LMP2 or LMP1 cars. 

The race runs the full 13.6km of the world famous Sarthe ‘Circuit des 24 Heures’ and consists of 27 teams fielding 100 drivers covering 26 nationalities! In the LMP3 ‘Prototype’ class Norma, Ligier and Ginetta, line up looking for the overall win whilst Ferrari and Porsche will be fighting for the top step of the podium in GT3; however, the odds are stacked against the Porsche with a 7-1 advantage to Ferrari! 

In 2017 Ligier and Norma took a win each over each of the two 55 minute races, while it was a double for Aston Martin in GT3, so which brand will be victorious in 2018? 

Le Mans is a fast, low-downforce track so the Ginetta could be in with a fair chance having set the top speed through the speed-trap at the Monza round of 279.1 kph. Porsche was quickest of the GT3 machinery with a 275.5 kph, 1.4 kph faster than the Ferrari.

Many of the names will be familiar to those of us who follow the European Le Mans Series with 11 of the full-time teams choosing to attend the ‘one-off’ event this week. That said, many of the driver lineups have changed slightly; some like AT Racing merely dropping a driver (fielding their usual father and son team of the Talkanitsa’s with Mikkel Jensen stepping back), others such as M RACING – YMR fielding entirley changed lineups with Jonathan Bennett and Niclas Jönsson (ELMS regular in the Krohn Ferrari) in the #15 Ligier (#18 in the ELMS) and an all-French pairing of Laurent Millara and Natan Bihel in the #16 Norma (ELMS #19). 

Hong Kong based Win Motorsport are the only Asian Le Mans Series entrant to make the journey to the Sarthe fielding a Ligier JS P3 for William Lok and Jim Michaelian and we see eight entrants, 7 LMP3s and a single Ferrari GT3, who don’t regularly race in any of the ACO series (ELMS, ALMS or MLMC). 

The first practice session for the Road to Le Mans kicks off at 8.30 pm local time today where the drivers have sixty minutes to get used to the circuit and get the car set up just right.

Thursday sees Free Practice 2 first thing in the morning with the two qualifying sessions running from 1.30 pm – 2.25 pm later in the day. The green flag drops for the opening race at 5.30pm and the second race runs Saturday morning at 11.30am. 

Download the entry list here

This article was originally published by our friends at sportscarglobal.com

Spa Classic: An exciting weekend of classic car racing in the Ardennes

It's been tradition now for a few years that in the middle of May, Peter Auto strikes down at Spa-Francorchamps for the annual Spa-Classic weekend. An event reviving the glorious legacy of racing at the Belgian track with a stunning amount of legendary racing cars returning to the iconic circuit. 

Spa-Francorchamps is one the last remaining real driver-tracks, shaped by its environment and surrounded by the stunning scenery of the Belgian Ardennes.  A track with a rich history; back in the old days with the mythical Masta kink, outrageous speeds on public roads, the banking on the way to Stavelot (it's still there, waiting for you to drive over it) to the most known and feared corners in the world: Eau Rouge & Raidillon and the tantalizing high speed section of Blanchimont. 

The Spa-Classic, created in 2011, has now grown to one of the major European events for historic cars, attracting some very impressive starting grids in 8 different classes over the weekend.  It brings back some of the most legendary endurance GT cars and Prototypes that have raced over the track in its most glorious era's. 

With open paddocks all weekend, free grandstand acces, an exhibitor's village and several attractions, the Spa Classic is just  another event not to miss for the real petrolhead.  The weather forecast seems rather nice too, so no excuse not to drop by for a day or the weekend if you're near the Ardennes. 

In this preview we'll give you a rundown of all 8 grids who will race at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend; from the 2.0L Porsches over Classic Endurance Racing and the mighty Group C monsters.

Classic Endurance Racing

The biggest grid over the weekend will be the Classic Endurance Racing which is celebrates its 15th season.  Since 2004 Classic Endurance Racing has been the retrospective of endurance races held between 1966 and 1981, an epoch when this branch of the sport topped the bill in world motor racing. It was the glorious era of the Ford GT40s, Porsche 910s and 917s, Ferraris 512Ss and Ms, BMW M1s, etc. driven by Jacky Ickx, Henri Pescarolo Gérard Larrousse and Derek Bell among others, whose playing fields were not limited to the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours. 

They also raced on the most famous European circuits in the context of the Sports Car World Championship. Classic Endurance Racing is much more than a simple historic commemoration. With grids of 50 cars and drivers determined to pay homage to the glorious past of their vehicles, the on-track spectacle is quite simply awesome!  The field will be split into two: CER 1 for GT cars from 1966 to 1974 & prototypes from 1966/1971 and CER2 for GT cars from 1975 to 1981 and prototypes from 1972 ot 1981. 

Watch out for these cars in their night qualifying (Friday) and night races on Saturday. 

Entry list Classic Endurance Racing 1

Entry List Classic Endurance Racing 2

Group C Racing

Group C Racing is probably the grid where most endurance fans are looking forward to again this year.  With a mouthwathering grid of 33 cars, this will be one of the highlights of this year's Spa-Classic. The Group C regulations in force between 1982 and 1993 led to the production of legendary cars that wrote some of the most glorious pages in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Sports Car World Endurance Championship.

The Group Cs are still quite modern looking with their fighter pilot-like cockpits, doors in elytron and their huge rear wings, and they still exert an incredible fascination on all generations of fans with performances that still would be very competitive and top speeds way north of 300 km/h! 2 Peugeot 905, 5 Jaguars from the XJR 8 to the XJR14, Porsche's 956 and 962, they will all be thundering through the Ardennes again.  Add a mix of Nissan, Spice, Tiga, March and other Group C machinery and we're sure this will be three great 45 minute sessions over the weekend. 

Entry List Group C

Heritage Touring Cup 

The Heritage Touring Cup has formed the backbone of the Spa-Classic endurance event since 2013. Since then the Heritage Touring Cup has gone from strength to strength among the owners and drivers of these saloons, which provided excitement in the one of the biggest era's of the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) between 1966 and 1984. The pinnacle of the season was the Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours that became the favourite playing field of the majority of the best-known manufacturers and drivers. 

During this long era of touring car racing, a number of manufacturers won the event with their flagship makes. BMW was one of the most loyal participants as over three decades the Bavarian manufacturer entered a whole string of models ranging from the T1800 Ti in the 60s to the famous M3 in the 90s. It holds the record for the number of victories (21) in the Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours. The cars from Munich had several rivals over their long reign with Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Ford Mustangs and Capri RSs, Porsche 911s, Jaguar XJSs ... 

The Heritage Touring Cup will be out 5 times on track this weekend, including a night practice and night race of 1 hour. 

Entry List Heritage Touring Cup

Sixties Endurance Racing

Sixties' Endurance racing is in it's ninth season in 2018 and has attracted a large following among spectators over the years thanks to its allencompassing quality field. Top pre-63 sports cars are joined with pre-66 GTs that used to race in the world endurance championship of the era. On track will be cars like the AC Cobra, Ferrari 250 GT, Lotus 15, Jaguar E-Type, etc. 

A very diversified grid gives will be out for a 2 1 hour races on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.   During these hour long races the pre-66 sports and GT cars revive the battles of that bygone era. A classification based on an Index of Performance which, in addition to the scratch classification, gives an advantage to the small capacity cars and the oldest warriors faced with their more powerful and more modern rivals like the very quick AC Cobras that have racked up victories on many circuits. 

Entry List Sixties Endurance

Formula 2 challenge

The Formula 2 Challenge has been created by Peter Auto for the 2017 season and is open to Formula 2 cars that forged the reputation of the European Championship between 1967 and 1978. At the time F2 was considered as the key to the door of Formula 1, and over a decade it trained drivers who left their mark on the history of motor racing. Between 1967 and 1978 the champions were: Jacky Ickx, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Johnny Servoz-Gavin, Clay Regazzoni, Ronnie Peterson, Mike Hailwood, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Patrick Depailler, Jacques Laffite, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, René Arnoux and Bruno Giacomelli. The grid at Spa will see several March chassis, Lotus, Chevron and Ralt. 

Entry List F2 Euro Classic 

The Greatest Trophy

The Greatest Trophy, formerly known as the Trofeo Nastro Rosso is now open to more than just Italian built cars. By accepting beautiful models built by other famous makes  like the Aston Martin DB4 GT, Mercedes-Benz 300 S and Porsche 550, the trophy is even more attractive. In 2018 it will be open to the exceptional cars that marked the major endurance events of the 50s and 60s. 

A grid full of some extremely rare and valuable cars applies rules based on sporting ethics and strict respect of the cars taking part in this championship to guarantee that risks are reduced to the absolute minimum. Respect and fair-play are now the key words for these gentlemen racers who are taking part in the new Greatest’s Trophy.  

Entry List The Greatest Trophy

2.0L Cup

After the creation of Euro F2 Classic in 2017 and the takeover of Group C Racing in 2016, Peter Auto is continuing to enlarge and develop its grid offer in historic racing by introducing The 2.0L Cup in 2018. This single-make grid will be reserved for 2-litre short chassis early Porsche 911s prepared in accordance with FIA pre-66 regulations. 

The 2.0L Cup has been created in association with Britons Lee Maxted-Page (Porsche Classic & Racing specialist) and James Turner (Director of the 2L Racing Group). It is expected to attract around 40 cars and the aim is to see the make’s former drivers at the wheel of some of these.

Entry List 2.0L Cup

Global Endurance Legends

There's one guest grid this year at Spa-Francorchamps: the Global Endurance Legends.  Global Endurance Legends is a club for owners of GT and sports prototype racing cars of a type that raced during the 1990s and 2000s and organises events at leading historic meetings and iconic circuits.  Expect some very exciting cars on track with a selection of the best and fastest GT's and Prototypes from the era. You can expect everything from and Aston Martin DBR 9, Mercedes CLK GTR, Porsche GT1, Lister Storm, Audi R8, Dallara SP1 to a Ferrari 333SP and a Pescarolo P60.  Rumours are going round that a Bentley Speed 8 might be in Francorchamps this weekend ... that car alone is worth the trip ! 

Clubs and open paddocks

Meeting up at Spa-Classic has become a habit for the clubs that are joined by owners of individual cars. This is an honour for the organisers among whose objectives is to bring together at one of the world’s iconic circuits all sports car lovers.  After around 1200 cars at the previous event, this year’s aim is to attract even more collector cars. They will have seven 25-minute runs during the weekend to enable them to enjoy and take full advantage of the famous track. 

Weekend's Timetable

Live timing

Kristof Vermeulen. 

Le Mans: The list of 60 teams invited to present cars and drivers for scrutineering and administrative checks

Just 30 days are left before the 86th 24 Hours of Le Mans.  The Automobile Club has now announced the list of competitors requested to undergo the mandatory pre-race checks on 10 and 11 June.  At this moment the Dragonspeed BR1 and both Ginetta's are on the entry list, fingers crossed those three cars will be on the grid next month ! 

The sixty teams who are invited for this years' 24 Hours of Le Mans  are divided into four classes: 10 cars will run in LMP1, including 2 Hybrids, 20 in LMP2, 17 in LMGTE Pro and 13 in LMGTE Am.  Authorisation to race is subject to these mandatory pre-race checks. Given the glittering line-up, this year’s race (16-17 June) promises to be more exciting than ever. Major manufacturers Toyota, Ferrari, Ford, Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, BMW and Chevrolet will all be on the grid.

2 cars remain on the reserve car list at the moment: the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari (GTE AM) of Duncan Cameron, Aaron Scott and Mario Cioci and the #49 High Class Racing Dallara (LMP2) of Anders Fjordback and Dennis Andersen. The Danish team moving up the list, as KCMG was supposed to be second reserve with an entry for the LMP2 class.

As for the crews, the race clearly holds an attraction for Formula One drivers. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is contesting the entire World Endurance Championship this season. The Spaniard will not be the only Le Mans rookie from Formula One. He is joined by 2009 world champion Jenson Button, Spanish Grand Prix winner Pastor Maldonado and Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of seven Grand Prix and the Indy 500. Yet more of this year’s drivers have Formula One backgrounds, namely Jean-Eric Vergne, Felipe Nasr, André Lotterer, Kamui Kobayashi, Kazuki Nakajima, Sébastien Buemi, Vitaly Petrov, Stéphane Sarrazin, Paul di Resta, Jan Magnussen, Sébastien Bourdais, Giancarlo Fisichella, Olivier Beretta, Jan Lammers, Bruno Senna and Pedro Lamy.

Le Mans also remains popular with the stars of American sportscar series. Ryan Briscoe and Indy 500 winners Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon will be joining Sébastien Bourdais and Juan Pablo Montoya. Finally, a host of former Le Mans overall winners are back to try their luck again: André Lotterer, Neel Jani, Loïc Duval, Mike Rockenfeller, Marcel Fässler, Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber, Romain Dumas, Jan Lammers and Timo Bernhard. Also on the grid of this 86th edition are winners of the championships such as the WEC, the ELMS and the ALMS that make up the endurance pyramid devised by the ACO.

A week before the scrutineering sessions, many drivers will have the opportunity to test their form on the iconic Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans at the Test Day on 3 June

24 Hours of Le Mans entry list
Test day entry list

ELMS: 43 cars ready for the 4 Hours of Monza

The European Le Mans Series returns to the "Temple of speed" this weekend for the second race of the 2018 season.  43 cars are on the entry list for the 4 Hours of Monza, ready for another exciting and action filled weekend on one of Europe's finest racetracks. 

Another well filled grid in the LMP2 class, with 18 cars going through scrutineering in Monza today. 

In the #22 United Autosports Ligier, Filipe Albuquerque takes back his seat from Bruno Senna, after missing out the race at Paul Ricard due to a clash with the IMSA championship. Another "new" face in the paddock this weekend is Felipe Nasr in the #47 Cetilar Villorba Corse.  Nasr replaces Andrea Belicchi for the remainder of the season and Le Mans who had no choice than to take a step downdue to back problems at and after Le Castellet.

Two teams arrived in Monza straight from the WEC race at Spa last weekend: G-Drive Racing and TDS Racing.  G-Drive won its class in Belgium with their Oreca 07 driven by Roman Rusinov, Jean-Eric Vergne and Andrea Pizzitola.  TDS Racing added the 4 hours of Monza to its WEC schedule, the team's Oreca 07 racing again under #33 in the ELMS, with the same driver line-up: Matthieu Vaxiviere, François Perrodo and Loïc Duval.

Racing Engineering won their first ever race in the ELMS last month.  Norman Nato, Olivier Pla and Paul Petit arrived in Monza with the goal of doing it all over again this weekend after a flawless weekend in the south of France.  Dragonspeed (DNF) and United Autosports (9th  and 12th) will be out for a strong finish at Monza this weekend, making sure they'll still have a shot at the championship when they leave Italy Sunday evening. 

19 cars will be on the grid in the LMP3 class, one more than the opening race in La Castellet last month. The #20 Racing for Poland Ligier JSP3 joins the championship for this race.  The car will be driven by Henning Enqvist, Tomasz Blicharski and Alex Fontana.

Job Van Uitert won the 4 hours of Le Castellet in the #15 RLR M-Sport Ligier with John Farano and Rob Garofall, they will face some fierce competition again from M.Racing YMR which won here last season in their #19 Norma M30.  Nicolas Ferrer, David Droux and Lucas Légéret qualified on pole in Le Castellet and finished second. Monza is a high speed track that suits the Norma very well, the #19 should well be in the mix for the win this weekend.  There's six Italian drivers in the class, Giorgio Mondini in the #11 Eurointernational Ligier probably has the best shot for a podium place again, together with another young Dutchman: Kay Van Berlo.  

A few more driver changes to be noted: Mikkel Jensen returns to his seat in the #9 AT Racing, replacing Yann Clairey; Mark Kvamme takes the place of James Dayson in the #12 Eurointernational and Hendrik Still in the #14 Inter Europol Competition replaces Henning Enqvist (who moved to the #20).  

In LMGTE it's back to the six full season entries, equally split up between 3 Ferrari's and 3 Porsches. JMW Motorsport won in Monza last year, in which was the final race of their 458 Italia before switching to the new 488 in Le Mans. After their win at Paul Ricard, Miguel Molina & co will be out for a second victory this season.

2 remarkable driver changes have to be noted at Proton Competition, as Marc Lieb and Gianmaria Bruni join the team for the race in Monza.  Marc Lieb replaces Dennis Olsen in the #77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR, joining Christian Ried and Marvin Dienst, while Gianmaria Bruni will race the #88 Porsche instead of Matteo Cairoli.  

Track action starts tomorrow with the first 90 minute free practice session at 11h45 and the Bronze driver collective test in the afternoon (16h15). 

Useful links:

Entry list

Timing

Kristof Vermeulen. 

ELMS: A stunning 45 car grid for the opening round of the 2018 European Le Mans Series

The 2018 European Le Mans Series starts today with the first free practice session for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet opening race on Sunday.  An impressive 45 car grid has arrived in the south of France for what promises to be the best season ever in the European championship.

The LMP2 class will feature the biggest grid we've ever seen in the championship's history with not less than 19 cars, even outnumbering the LMP3 class ! There's the 17 (!!) full season entries, with 2 additional WEC teams adding the race at Le Castellet to their schedule: Signatech Alpine and TDS Racing. 

Lots of familiar faces and teams in the LMP2 paddock, but also a few noteable newcomers.  The #30 Dallara of Spanish team AVF by Adrian Valles already showed its pace at the prologue, topping the timesheets in one of the sessions.  Another new team in the championship is Racing Engineering, also from Spain but entering an Oreca 07.  Duqueine Engineering is moving up info LMP2 after acquiering Norma at the end of last year.  

Teams expanding their efforts are United Autosports (2 Ligier JSP217's), IDEC Sport (1 Ligier & 1 Oreca 07) and Algarve Pro Racing who will also run 2 different cars: their own Ligier and an Oreca for Rebellion Racing. Roman Rusinov returns with a 2 car effort with his G-Drive team, instead of racing one car in both the FIA WEC and the ELMS as they did last year.  The #26 Oreca will be run by TDS Racing, the #40 by Graff.  SMP Racing holds on to its LMP2 program next to their LMP1's in the FIA WEC. 

Nico Lapierre won't be driving the Signatech Alpine this weekend, as he will be in the #21 Dragonspeed in which he races the full season in the championship.  The TDS Oreca will be driven by its WEC driver line-up, althoug Loic Duval won't be at the track before Saturday.  Another driver missing is Filipe Albuquerque in the #22 United Autosports as he will be racing in the USA this weekend.  He will be replaced by Bruno Senna. 

18 cars will feature on the grid of the LMP3 class this weekend. 

Sean Rayhall and John Falb return with their #2 United Autosports Ligier to defend their 2017 title.  Ecurie Ecosse Nielsen and BHK Motorsport are new in the European Le Mans Series, both debuting with a Ligier JSP3.  A noteable change is Ultimate who have traded in their Ligier for a new Norma M30.  It will be interesting to see how their results will evolve after racing at the top in several races last season. Inter Europol Competition is expanding its efforts this year with a second Ligier. 

LMP3 might be the class where the youngsters will shine this season.  During the prologue both Dutch drivers Kay Van Berlo (#11 Eurointernational) and Job Van Uitert (#15 RLR Msport) have shown their speed, finishing in or near the top 3 on a few occasions.  Another young talent to look forward to is Swiss driver Lucas Légeret who moved from Duqueine Engineering to M Racing-YMR in the #19 Norma M30. 

A bit of controversy is going on around the #8 DKR Engineering Norma which has won last season's Michelin Le Mans Cup title with Jean Glorieux and Alexander Toril. Joining them this season is Toril's brother   who is also a silver qualified driver. As at least one bronze driver is requiered in the LMP3 class, it's still an open question if the ACO will hold on to the waiver they gave to the team to race with these three drivers for the remainder of the season.

As in LMP2, there's 2 additional cars in the GTE class who usually race in the FIA World Endurance Championship: the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci and the #86 Gulf Racing Porsche of Michael Wainwright, Alexander Davidson and Benjamin Barker. 

All 6 full season entries will be at the start of the first practice session today despite the first session of the official test this week took out the #77 Proton 911 RSR and the #80 Ebimotors.  Both cars are being replaced by Proton Competition's WEC entered machinery.  

Action on track will start today with the first 90 minute practice session at 11h15.  The traditional Bronze driver collective test will be held at 16h35. 

Useful links: 

Entry List

Timetable 

Spotter Guide: 

Kristof Vermeulen. 

Pictures: JellyBaby.Media and Kristofvermeulen.com