(Updated after Silverstone WEC)
Changes
this year
Regulations
Various F1 type
regulations restricting the amount of testing, engines, tyres ,
gearboxes, etc, used in the WEC will be introduced this year. These
were confirmed in March. The average weight of a
crew must be 80 kgs (weight including race wear, etc.) and if the
average is less then ballast must be carried.
For Le Mans LMP1 and P2
will be permitted to use a maximum of 7 sets of tyres in Free
Practice, Qualifying and the warm-up (almost 12 hours of track time).
For GTE Pro and Am they will be permitted 8 sets. Four “Joker”
tyres will be additionally authorised for practice in each class. For
the race LMP1 cars will be limited to 12 sets + 2 sets for any new
prototypes. In LMP2, GTE Pro and Am 16 sets of tyres will be allowed
for the race.
Circuit
changes
Work to stabilise the
sides of the track between Mulsanne Corner and the entrance to the
Porsche Curves by tarmacing over some of the grass verges was
completed before Christmas at a cost of €425,000.
At the Porsche Curves
work has started which will be ongoing for about 3 years. At the
first right hand corner the existing gravel trap will be replaced by
an abrasive bitumen coating and new tyre barriers. The width of the
second left hand part will be expanded by about 3 metres and again
grass will be replaced by bitumen. SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy
Reduction) barriers will be installed over a distance of about 220
metres. Phase one of this work started in Feb 2015 and should be
completed by mid May.
The new public road
branching left before Indianapolis corner will not be started until
winter 2015/16. This will mean the stretch from Indy to Arnage will
be closed to the public during the rest of the year.
Other
After 14 years as Race
Director, Daniel Poissenot is retiring. He will be replaced by his
FIA WEC colleague Eduardo Freitas.
Cars and Drivers
on the Grid (Confirmed drivers in Black - Possibles in Red)
LMP1 (14 CARS)
– (Red number panels and have white headlamps. HY on engine cover
depict a hybrid energy system being used. No Bronze rated drivers
allowed. All cars are on Michelin tyres.)
#1 Toyota Racing
Toyota TS040 Hybrid driven by Sebastien Buemi/ Anthony Davidson/
Kazuki Nakajima (www.toyotahybridracing.com)
The reigning FIA WEC
Champions Buemi and Davidson are joined by Nakajima from last year’s
other Toyota. Nakajima should be available for the whole season
having no clashing commitments in Super Formula in Japan this year.
The Toyota will continue to use a 3.7 litre V8 petrol engine and will
continue running in the 6mj energy recovery category with it’s
unique super capacitor system (which is likely to be replaced for
2016).
@ Silverstone WEC the
team finished 3rd overall.
#2 Toyota Racing
Toyota TS040 Hybrid driven by Alexander Wurz/ Stephane Sarrazin/ Mike
Conway
Conway replaces Nicolas
Lapierre,who is still under contract with the team as a test driver
but unlikely to race drive this season having made occasional
appearances in 2014 and will drive the #47 KCMG Oreca at Le Mans.
Kamui Kobayashi will act as reserve driver 2015.
@ Silverstone WEC the
team finished 4th overall after a stop to remove debris
and fit a new nose cone.
#4 Team ByKolles CLM
P1/01 – AER driven by Simon Trummer/ Pierre
Kaffer/ Vitantonio Luizzi (www.bykolles.at)
All references to
“Lotus” now appear to be gone from this team. The team will
continue to run the AER P60 V6 Bi-Turbo engine. This year’s car has
new suspension for this year and revised aero which will run from Spa
onwards. It is also running a Xtrac gearbox instead of last year’s
Hewland . Trummer is confirmed for the whole season.
@ Silverstone WEC,
where Trummer was joined by Liuzzi and Christian Klein in the 2014
car,the team retired 40 miutes from the end of the race (with an
engine water leak) and was not classified.
#7 Audi Sport Team
Joest Audi R18 e-tron Quattro Hybrid driven by Andre Lotterer/Benoit
Treluyer/Marcel Fassler (www.joest-racing.de)
(www.audi-motorsport.com)
Audi competes for the
17th year in succession and last year’s winners return
having been given an automatic invitation. The team which has moved
in to their new base at Neuberg over the winter will be moving from a
2mj to a 4mj energy recovery system, but will continue to run a 4.0
litre V6 diesel engine.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 1st overall winning by just over 4 seconds
despite a late stop and go penalty for an overtaking infringement.
The team ,taking their joint 9th WEC win, took the RAC
Tourist Trophy setting a new record for laps completed and Lotterer
setting a new lap record.
#8 Audi Sport Team
Joest Audi R18 e-tron Quattro Hybrid driven by Oliver Jarvis/Lucas di
Grassi/Loic Duval
Oliver Jarvis replaces
the retired 9 times winner “Mr Le Mans” Tom Kristensen.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 5th overall, 4 laps down on the winners
having lost time having repairs done to front and rear bodywork.
#9 Audi Sport Team
Joest Audi R18 e-tron Quattro Hybrid driven by Marco Bonanomi/Filipe
Albuquerque/Rene Rast
Rast joins the Audi
team for 2 planned appearances at Le Mans and at Spa. He finished 5th
in GTD at the Daytona 24 hours in a Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS.
Albuquerque retired from this year’s Daytona 24 hours driving a
Starworks Oreca FLM09 PC.
Mike Rockenfeller will
act as reserve driver for the team.
#12 Rebellion Racing
Rebellion R-One – AER driven by Nicolas Prost/Nick Heidfeld/Mathias
Beche(www.rebellion-racing.com)
Rebellion has replaced
last year’s Toyota engines with AER engines which ran in last
year’s Lotus/CLM. The team missed the Prologue and the 1st
round at Silverstone whilst they complete the car which requires a
redesign of the rear axle by car manufacturer Oreca.
#13 Rebellion Racing
Rebellion R-One-AER driven by Dominik Kraihamer/Alexandre
Imperatori/Daniel Abt
Kraihamer is joined
this year by Imperatori, winner of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia in
2012. Abt also joins and has previously raced in GP2, GP3 and Formula
E.
#17 Porsche Team
Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Timo Bernhard/Mark Webber/Brendon
Hartley (Red ) (www.porsche.com/france/sportsandevents/motorsport/)
The Porsche’s are
moving to an 8mj energy recovery system this year and will continue
to use their 2.0 litre V4 turbo petrol engine. The car was known to
be about 30kg overweight last year but is now on the weight limit.
The team conducted
successful tests at Abu Dhabi and Bahrain early in the year. Hartley
retired from the Daytona 24 hours and the Sebring 12 hours in a
Starworks Riley-BMW DP. They were also fastest in the pre season
Prologue at Paul Ricard (by more than 4 seconds compared to 2014).
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team retired after 44 laps due to a gearbox problem after Hartley
being fastest in Qualifying (the 4th consecutive WEC pole
for the Porsche factory team).
#18 Porsche Team
Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Romain Dumas/Marc Lieb/Neel Jani (Black)
Lieb finished 5th
in GTLM at the Daytona 24 hours.
@ Silverstone WEC the
team finished 2nd overall.
#19 Porsche Team
Porsche 919 Hybrid driven by Nico Hulkenberg/Earl Bamber/Nick Tandy
(White)
The Porsche team will
run this 3rd car at Spa and at Le Mans. Current Force
India F1 driver Hulkenberg is joined by GTE drivers Bamber and Tandy.
Tandy finished 5th
in GTLM at the Daytona 24 hours and again at Sebring with Bamber.
#21 Nissan
Motorsports Nissan GT-R LM Nismo Hybrid driven by Tsugio
Matsuda/Lucas Ordonez/Alex Buncombe (www.nissan-motorsports.com)
(www.nismo.co.jp)
Nissan re-enter at the
top level of Sports Car Racing after 16 years, with a radical front
engine (V6 3 litre twin turbo petrol) and front wheel drive car,
which was exclusively previewed in an advertisement during the half
time break at this year’s Superbowl in February.
The team is based in
Indianapolis at the former Forsythe Racing premises and assembled at
All-American Racers in Santa Ana California.
The team missed the
Prologue, Silverstone and Spa to sort out development after failing
their original crash test. It is likely to run a 2mj energy recovery
system which it will retrieve from the front axle, and has been
tested thoroughly at Austin in the USA.
The #21 will only run
at Le Mans. Matsuda is the reigning Super GT champion in Japan.
#22 Nissan
Motorsports Nissan GT-R LM Nismo Hybrid driven by Harry
Tincknell/Olivier Pla/Michael Krumm.
Pla joins from LMP2
team G-Drive Racing. Michael Krumm (who is only confirmed for Le
Mans) has been undertaking much of the early testing for the team.
Pla retired from this year’s Daytona 24 hours in Tracy Krohn’s
Ligier P2 but finished 6th at Sebring.
Tincknell joins from
the winning LMP2 Jota team of last year.
#23 Nissan
Motorsports Nissan GT-R LM Nismo Hybrid driven by Jann
Mardenborough/Marc Gene/Max Chilton
Chilton joins after
having driven in F1 for Marussia and drives with ex Audi driver and
Le Mans winner Gene and Playstation Academy winner Mardenborough.
LMP2 (20 CARS)
– (Blue number panels and Yellow headlamps.
Teams must include one bronze or silver rated driver).
#26 G-Drive Racing
Ligier JS P2-Nissan Coupe driven by Roman Rusinov/Julien Canal/Sam
Bird (www.oak-racing.com)
(www.onroak.com)
The Ligier is
constructed by Onroak Automotive, as are the Morgans.
@ Silverstone WEC the
team won LM P2 by a lap from their team mates.
#27 SMP Racing BR
Engineering BR01-Nissan Coupe driven by Maurizio Mediani/David
Markasov/Nicolas Minassian (www.smpracing.ru)
The SMP cars were
formerly run under the AF Corse banner, but this year from Le Mans
will be run in house.
@ Silverstone ELMS, the
team used Oreca 03s run by AF Corse (running as No 32) and finished
7th in LM P2 after spinning into the gravel with 20
minutes remaining.
#28 G-Drive Racing
Ligier JS P2-Nissan Coupe driven by Gustavo Yacaman/Ricardo
Gonzalez/Luis Felipe (Pipo) Derani
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 2nd overall in LM P2 (hampered by a late
steering issue) after being fastest in Qualifying.
#29 Pegasus Racing
Morgan LMP2-Nissan driven by Leo Roussel/David Cheng/Ho-Pin
Tung(www.pegasus-racing.com)
The team are racing the
older “non EVO” Morgan. Cheng finished 7th in PC at
Sebring.
@ Silverstone ELMS,
where Roussel and Cheng were joined by Jonathan Coleman, they retired
after 64 laps.
#30 Extreme Speed
Motorsports Ligier JS P2- Honda Coupe driven by Scott Sharp/Ryan
Dalziel/David Heinemeier Hansson (www.esmracing.com)
The US team enter this
year’s WEC after one appearance in China last year. The driving
team retired from this year’s Daytona 24 hours and again at
Sebring. The team has decided to delay the homologation of the HPD
ARX 04-b and used the older HPD ARX-03b chassis at Sebring and
Silverstone. The Ligier will be used at Spa and Le Mans but will
still use the Honda HR28TT V6 engine.
@ Silcerstone WEC, the
team finished 3rd in LM P2 but were subsequently
disqualified at post event scrutineering for having a badly worn
underfloor skid plank.
#31 Extreme Speed
Motorsports Ligier JS P2-Honda Coupe driven by Ed Brown/Johannes van
Overbeek/Jonathon Fogarty
The team retired from
this year’s Daytona 24 hours and finished 8th in the
Prototype class at Sebring.
@ Silverdsone WEC, Van
Overbeek missed the race due to a cracked rib and was replaced by
former Le Mans winner David Brabham and finished 6th in LM
P2 after their team mates were disqualified, despite suffering
gearbox problems and an oil leak.
#34 OAK Racing
Ligier JS P2-Nissan Coupe driven by Kevin Estre/Laurens
Vanthoor/Chris Cumming (www.oakracing.com)
The team received an
automatic invitation after winning the LM P2 class in last year’s
Asian Le Mans Series. Cumming retired at Daytona but finished 6th
in PC at Sebring. Estre finished 16th in GTD in a 911
Porsche America at Dytona.
Estre will drive the
#91 GTE Pro Porsche at Spa.
#35 OAK Racing
Ligier JS P2-Nissan Coupe driven by Jacques Nicolet/Jean-Marc
Merlin/Erik Maris
The all gentleman
driver crew are led by Jacques Nicolet, the boss of Onroak Automotive
and Oak Racing.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 5th in LM P2 after having a throttle
problem.
#36 Signatech Alpine
Alpine A450b-Nissan driven by Nelson Panciatici/Paul-Loup
Chatin/Vincent Capillaire (www.signature-team.com)
The team received an
automatic invitation after winning the LMP2 class in last year’s
European Le Mans Series (and indeed in 2013). The car is an Oreca 03R
but homologated as an Alpine.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team retired after Chatin crashed out after 20 laps.
#37 SMP Racing BR
Engineering BR01-Nissan Coupe driven by Mikhail Aleshin/Kirill
Ladygin/Anton Ladygin
@ Silverstone ELMS, the
team used an Oreca 03 run by AF Corse (Running as No 34) and finished
8th in LM P2.
The team received an
automatic invitation after winning LMP2 in last year’s race. The
Gibson is an updated version of last year’s Zytek.
@ Silverstone ELMS,
where Dolan was joined by Felipe Albuquerque and Harry Tincknell the
team finished 2nd in LM P2, despite a late spin by
Tincknell.
#40 Krohn Racing
Ligier JS P2-Nissan Coupe driven by Tracy Krohn/Niclas Jonsson/Ozz
Negri Jnr (www.krohnracing.net)
Krohn and Jonsson
(with Alex Brundle and Olivier Pla) retired from this year’s
Daytona 24 hours and finished 6th overall at Sebring (with
Olivier Pla). Negri retired from the Sebring 12 hours in a HPD
Ligier JS P2.
@ Silverstone ELMS, the
team finished 4th in LM P2.
#41 Greaves
Motorsport Gibson 015S-Nissan driven by Bjorn Wirdheim/
Jon Lancaster/Gary Hirsch
(www.greavesmotorsport.com)
@ Silverstone ELMS, the
team finished 1st overall in LM P2 after being on pole
position.
#42 Strakka Racing
Strakka Dome S103-Nissan Coupe driven by Nick Leventis/Danny
Watts/Jonny Kane (www.strakkaracing.com)
The car missed 2014 due
to the need for a major redesign.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 3rd in LM P2 (despite an early spin into the
gravel) after the disqualification of No 30 ESM.
#43 Team SARD-Morand
Morgan LMP2 Evo-SARD (Judd) driven by Oliver Webb/Pierre
Ragues/Reality TV Show Winner
One driver will be
chosen from 24 drivers on a reality TV programme “Raceto24”
(www.raceto24.com). 24 drivers
from 17 countries have been selected to take part over a period of 12
weeks, to produce a winner.
The team missed
Silverstone after a late withdrawal due to contractual problems after
agreement for a deal with Kairos Technologies was not completed on
time.
#45 Ibanez Racing
Oreca 03R-Nissan driven by Jose Ibanez/Pierre Perret/Ivan Bellarosa
@ Silverstone ELMS, the
team finished 6th in LM P2.
#46 Thiriet by TDS
Racing Oreca 05-Nissan Coupe driven by Pierre Thiriet/Ludovic
Badey/Tristan Gommendy
@ Silverstone ELMS, the
team finished 3rd in LM P2 after Gommendy spun off late on
after a touch by Lancaster.
#47 KCMG Oreca
05-Nissan Coupe driven by Matthew Howson/Richard Bradley/Nicolas
Lapierre (www.kcmg.com.hk)
Toyota factory reserve
driver Lapierre joins the team for Spa and Le Mans.
@ Silverstone WEC,
Porsche P1 driver Nick Tandy drove for the team and they finished 4th
in LM P2 after suffering a radiator failure.
#48 Murphy
Prototypes Oreca 03R-Nissan driven by Nathanael Berthon/Mark
Patterson/Karun Chandhok
@ Silverstone ELMS,
Berthon and Patterson joined by Michael Lyons, retired with
mechanical problems after 83 laps.
LMGTE Pro (9
CARS) – (Green number panels and Yellow headlamps. No
restrictions on drivers. All cars are on Michelin tyres).
#51 AF Corse Ferrari
458 Italia GT2 driven by Gianmaria Bruni/Toni Vilander/Giancarlo
Fisichella (www.afcorse.it)
Almost certainly the
last Le Mans for the quasi works 458 before it is replaced by the
Ferrari F488 in 2016. The team received an automatic invitation after
winning GTE Pro in 2014. Bruni and Vilander retired from this year’s
Daytona 24 hours. Fisichella finished 2nd in GTLM at
Sebring.
@ Silverstone WEC,
Bruni and Vilander were 1st in GTE Pro.
#63 Corvette
Racing-GM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R driven by Jan Magnussen/Antonio
Garcia/Ryan Briscoe (www.corvetteracing.com)
The works Corvette team
will probably only race at Le Mans in this year’s WEC.
The driving team
finished 3rd overall and won GTLM at the Daytona 24 hours
in January and won GTLM at Sebring finishing 10 th overall.
#64 Corvette
Racing-GM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R driven by Oliver Gavin/Tommy
Milner/Jordan Taylor
Gavin and Milner with
Simon Pagenaud finished 3rd in GTLM at the Daytona 24 hours and 9th
at Sebring. Taylor retired from this year’s Daytona 24 hours in
Corvette DP but finished 2nd at Sebring.
#71 AF Corse Ferrari
458 Italia GT2 driven by Davide Rigon/James Calado/Olivier Beretta
Rigon retired from this
year’s Daytona 24 Hours in a Risi Competizione Ferrari 458.
@ Silverstone WEC,
Rigon and Calado finished 3rd in GTE Pro.
#91 Porsche Team
Manthey Porsche 911 RSR (991) driven by Richard Lietz/Michael
Christensen/Jorg Bergmeister (www.porsche.com/motorsport)
The Porsches have
revised front aero this year and also a new refuelling system which
may save up to 10 seconds per stop.
Christensen with Pilet
(with Nick Tandy and Marc Lieb) finished 5th in GTLM at
the Daytona 24 hours. Lietz finished 5th in GTLM at
Sebring with Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet and Earl Bamber.
@ Silverstone WEC,
Lietz and Christensen finished 2nd overall in GTE Pro.
@ Spa, Porsche junior
driver Sven Muller will drive this car with Kevin Estre.
#92 Porsche Team
Manthey Porsche 911 RSR (991) driven by Patrick Pilet/Frederic
Makowiecki/Wolf Henzler
Pilet with Christensen
finished 5th in GTLM at the Daytona 24 hours and also 5th
at Sebring. Makowiecki with Jorg Bergmeister and Earl Bamber finished
7th in GTLM at the Daytona 24 hours earlier this year.
Henzler retired from the Daytona 24 hours in a Team Falken Porsche
991 but finished 3rd in GTLM at Sebring. Bergmeister with
Makowiecki and Bamber finished 7th in GTLM at Sebring.
@ Silverstone WEC,
Pilet and Makowiecki finished 7th in GTE Pro after front
suspension trouble.
@ Spa, Makowiecki and
Lietz will drive this car.
#95 Aston Martin
Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Nicki Thiim/Christoffer
Nygaard/Marco Sorensen (www.astonmartinracing.com)
This year may see the
swansong of the current Vantage before it is replaced by it’s
successor next year. The diameter of the Aston’s air intake
restrictors has increased by 0.8mm this year.
The “Dane Train”
moves up to GTE Pro this year. Nygaard finished 13th in
GTD at the Daytona 24 Hours earlier this year. Sorensen joins the
team this year having been a winner in GP2 and Renault 3.5.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 4th in GTE Pro after being in pole position.
#97 Aston Martin
Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Darren Turner/Stefan
Mucke/Rob Bell
@ Silverstone WEC,
Turner and Mucke finished 5th in GTE Pro.
#99 Aston Martin
Racing V8 Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Fernando Rees/Alex
MacDowall/Richie Stanaway
No longer having a link
with Craft-Bamboo the car this year runs with Valero sponsorship.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 6th in GTE Pro.
LMGTE Am (13
CARS) –(Orange number panels and Yellow headlamps. At
least one bronze and one bronze or silver rated driver. All cars are
on Michelin tyres except #66 Ferrari running on Dunlops).
#50 Larbre
Competition Chevrolet Corvette C7.R driven by Gianluca Roda/Paolo
Ruberti/Kristian Poulsen
(www.larbre-competition.com)
Roda and Ruberti move
over from the 8 Star/AF Corse Ferrari team.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 7th in GTE Am despite a puncture and a one
minute stopa and go for a pit stop violation.
Poulsen retired from
the ELMS race driving the #68 Massive Motorsport GTC Aston Martin
Vantage with Casper Elgaard and Simon Moller.
#53 Riley
Motorsports-TI Automotive Dodge Viper GTS-R driven by Jeroen
Bleekemolen/Ben Keating/Marc Miller
The car was originally
the first reserve but made it in to the race after the withdrawal of
#39 Team Sard-Morand Morgan.
The team finished 9th
in GTD at the Daytona 24 hours and Sebring in a Dodge Viper SRT,
Keating also shered the winning GTD Viper. Goossens finished 4th
in GTD at Sebring.
#55 AF Corse Ferrari
458 Italia GT2 driven by Duncan Cameron/Matt Griffin/Alex Mortimer
The team received an
automatic invitation after finishing 2nd in LM GTE in the
European Le Mans Series last year. Griffin finished 4th in
GTD at Daytona in a Ferrari 458.
@ Silverstone ELMS,
Cameron and Griffin were joined by Aaron Scott and finished 3rd
in LM GTE.
#61 AF Corse Ferrari
458 Italia GT2 driven by Peter Ashley Mann/Raffaele Giammaria/Matteo
Cressoni
@ Silverstone ELMS, the
team (driving as car No 51) retired after 35 laps.
#62 Scuderia Corse
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 driven by Bill Sweedler/Townsend Bell/Jeff
Segal
The team received an
automatic invitation after being nominated by the Tudor United Sports
Car Championship (the other nominees Wayne Taylor Racing declined
their invitation in LM P2).
Sweedler and Bell
finished 6th in GTD at the Daytona 24 hours in a Ferrari
458 and 3rd at Sebring.
#66 JMW Motorsport
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 driven by George Richardson/Kuba
Giermaziak/ Abdulaziz Al-Faisal
This is the only GTE Am
car running on Dunlop tyres at Le Mans.
Al-Faisal won the Dubai
24 hours in January driving a Black Falcon Mercedes.
@ Silverstone ELMS,
Richardson joined by Robert Smith and Sam Tordoff finished 2nd
in LM GTE.
#67 Team AAI Porsche
911 GT3 RSR (997) driven by Han-Chen Chen/Tatsuya
Tanigawa/Carlo van Dam
The team received 2
automatic invitations (see #68 below) after finishing 1st
and 2nd in GTC in last year’s Asian Le Mans Series. The
team has sourced their 3 year old 997s from the Belgian Prospeed
team.
#68 Team AAI Porsche
911 GT3 RSR (997) driven by Jun-San Chen/Ryohei
Sakaguchi/?
#72 SMP Racing
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 driven by Viktor Shaitar/Aleksey Basov/Andrea
Bertolini (www.smpracing.ru)
The team received an
automatic invitation after winning LM GTE (and GTC) in the European
Le Mans Series last year. Bertolini finished 14th in GTLM
at the Daytona 24 hours for Scuderia Corsa and 2nd at
Sebring.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 3rd in GTE Am.
#77 Dempsey-Proton
Racing Porsche 911 RSR (991) driven by Patrick Dempsey/Patrick
Long/Marco Seefried (www.patrickdempsey.com)
Actor/Racer Dempsey
finished 3rd in GTD at the Daytona 24 hours in a Wright
Motorsports 911GT America. Long retired from the Daytona 24 hours in
a Falken Tire Porsche 991 but finished 3rd in GTLM at
Sebring. Seefried finished 11th in GTD at Sebring in a
991.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 6th in GTE Am.
#83 AF Corse Ferrari
458 Italia GT2 driven by Francois Perrodo/Emmanuel Collard/Rui Aguas
(www.afcorse.it)
Aguas finished 4th
in GTD at the Daytona 24 hours in a Ferrari 458 and 10th
at Sebring. Perrodo and Collard (with Bruni and Vilander) retired
from the race.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 2nd in GTE Am. Aguas also retired in the
ELMS race driving #81 Ferrari 458 with Stephen Wyatt and Michele
Rugalo.
#88 Abu Dhabi –
Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR (991) driven by Christian Ried/Khaled
Al Qubaisi /Klaus Bachler
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 5th in GTE Am.
#96 Aston Martin
Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Roald Goethe/Stuart
Hall/Francesco Castellacci
The team received an
automatic invitation after winning the GTE Am class at last year’s
Le Mans (although the winning “Dane Train” crew will race this
year in GTE Pro). The team raced in ELMS in 2014 but Hall and Jamie
Campbell-Walter won FIA GTE Am in 2013.
Goethe finished 8th
in the Dubai 24 hours in January driving a Gulf Racing Lamborghini
Gallardo.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 4th in GTE Am. Goethe finished 3rd
in the ELMS race driving the #85 Lamborghini Gallardo LPS60 in GTC
with Daniel Brown and Archie Hamilton. Castelacci and Hall retired in
the ELMS race driving the #62 AF Corse Ferrari 458 with Thomas Flohr.
#98 Aston Martin
Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Paul Dalla Lana/Pedro
Lamy/Mathias Lauda
The driving team
finished 6th in GTLM at the Daytona 24 hours (with Darren
Turner and Stefan Mucke) and 6th again at Sebring with
Darren Turner. Niki Lauda’s son joins the team this year having
previously run in the DTM.
@ Silverstone WEC, the
team finished 1st in GTE AM having started on pole
position.
Reserve Entries
(in the order that they will be invited to replace drop outs)
1 LMP2
#49 KCMG Oreca 03R (or 05)-Nissan driven by ?/?/?
Will take part in the
Test day.
2
GTE-Am #60 Formula Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 driven by Johnny
Laursen/Mikkel Mac Jensen/Andrea
Rizzoli
Racing in this year’s
ELMS Series. The team finished 6th in GTE at Silverstone.
Will take part in the Test day.
3
GTE-Am #86 Gulf Racing UK Porsche 911 RSR (991) driven by Michael
Wainwright/Adam Carroll/Phil
Keen
Phil Keen fiished 6th
overall in a Corvette DP at Daytona. Racing in this year’s ELMS
Series. The team finished 1st overall in GTE at
Silverstone. Will take part in the Test day.
4
GTE-Am #65 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR (991) driven by ?/?/?
Will miss the Test day.
5 LMP2
#44 Ibanez Racing Oreca 03R-Nissan (Wolf GB08) driven by Michele
La Rosa/ Yutaka Yamagishi
Racing in this Year’s
ELMS Series. The team retired at Silverstone after 99 laps. Will take
part in the Test day.
(There
is no entry in Garage 56 for Innovative Technologies this year).
Cars appearing at
the Test Day on Sunday 31st
May only.
GTE Am #81 AF
Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 driven by Pierguiseppe Perazzini/Marco
Cioci/
Cioci finished 10th
in GTD at Sebring and retired from the ELMS race at Silverstone
driving Ferrari 458s.
GTE Am #82 AF
Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 driven by Yannick Mallegol//
LMP3 #74 Team
LNT Ginetta-Nissan driven by Michael Simpson/Gaetan Paletou
Paletou is a 2014
winner of the 2014 Europe Nissan Playstation Academy. They finished
2nd to their team mates at the ELMS race at Silverstone in
LMP3.
LMP3 #75
Team LNT Ginetta –Nissan driven by Sir Chris Hoy/Charlie Robertson
Sir Chris (6 times
Olympic gold medal winning cyclist) and Robertson won LMP3 at theELMS
race at Silverstone by a lap from their team mates.
LMP3 #73
Scuderia Villorba Corse Ginette-Nissan driven by Roberto
Lacorte/Giorgio Sernagiotto
Reserve car at the Test
day.
Timetable
09.00-18.00 Friday
May 29th Test Day Scrutineering @
the Circuit
08.30-15.00 Saturday
May 30th Test Day Scrutineering @ the
Circuit
09.00-13.00 Sunday
May 31st Test Day Session 1
14.00-18.00 “
“ “ Test Day Session 2
14.30-19.00 Sunday
June 7th Scrutineering @ Place de
la Republique
10.00-18.00 Monday
June 8th “
“ “
17.00
Tuesday June 9th Drivers’
Autograph Session @ the Circuit
16.00-20.00
Wednesday June 10th Free Practice Session
22.00-24.00
“ “ Qualifying Session 1
19.00-21.00 Thursday
June 11th Qualifying Session 2
22.00-24.00
“ “ Qualifying Session 3
17.30-19.00 Friday
June 12th Drivers’ Parade in the
City Centre
09.00-09.45 Saturday
June 13th Warm Up
10.00-12.00
“ “ Support Races – Le Mans Legends
-
Aston Martin Racing Festival
14.22
“ “ Beginning of starting
procedure
15.00
“ “ Start of the 83rd
Le Mans 24 Hours by Grand Marshal Tom Kristensen
15.00
Sunday June 14th Chequered Flag
FIA WEC &
ELMS Events before Le Mans
WEC Prologue March
27th/28th Paul Ricard HTTT
April 12th Silverstone 6 Hours
May 2nd Spa 6 Hours
ELMS Tests
March 23rd/24th Paul Ricard HTTT
April 11th Silverstone 4 Hours
May 17th Imola 4 Hours
Test Day –
Sunday May 31st
Entries must be with
the ACO by April 1st and up to 60 cars will be accepted.
Up to 5 drivers may
drive in each car and declared by April 18th.
All new drivers to Le
Mans and drivers who haven’t raced at the track for over 5 years
must complete a one day simulator test before driving on the circuit.
Anniversaries
this year
10 years ago –
Last win for the Audi R8 and Tom Kristensen beats Jacky Ickx’s
record of 6 wins.
20 years ago –
Last win by a “road-going” car at Le Mans – McLaren F1 GTR.
First time the Driver Parade
was held in the city centre.
Foundation of Club Arnage!
30 years ago –
Same Joest Racing Porsche 956 wins for the 2nd year
running.
40 years ago –
Derek Bell’s first win, driving a Gulf Mirage –Ford with Jacky
Ickx.
50 years ago –
Ferrari’s last overall win at Le Mans (Jochen Rindt/Masten Gregory
in a 250LM).
60 years ago –
First Jaguar “D” Type victory (Mike Hawthorn/Ivor Bueb) following
Pierre Levegh’s crash resulting in over 80 fatalities.
80 years ago –
Lagonda’s only win at Le Mans (John Hindmarsh/Luis Fontes).
90 years ago -
First (and last) award of the Rudge-Whitworth Coupe Triennial to
Robert Senechal & Alberic Locqueneux in a Chenard et Walcker
(although they finished 13th in that year’s race!).
SUPPORT RACES
There will be two
support races on race day morning of 45 minutes each – the first
for the Aston Martin Racing Festival where cars from the last 11
years such as the LMP1 Aston Martin Lola DBR1 and the GT class
winning DBR9 will race against current cars such as the Vantage V8
GTE and the V12 Vantage GT3. There will also be demonstration laps
from Aston Martin road cars of the future
(www.astonmartinracing.com).
The other will be for
“Legends” cars dating from 1949 to 1968
(www.motorracinglegends.com)
. There will be up to 61 cars such as Ford GT40’s and Porsche 908s
and 910s taking part.
Tony Light –
Last updated on 17th April
2015
