ELMS 2017: 41 entries for the official test in Monza

41 cars will be on track at the European Le Mans Series Official Test, next week at Monza. After intensive testing during the winter, this will be the first public outing of the new Gibson powered LMP2 cars and the Norma LMP3 in Europe. 

All but one of the season entries will be present in Monza. The only missing car in the pitlane will be the SMP Racing Dallara. They will be replaced by Slovakian team ARC Bratislava with their Ligier JSP217 which will race in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Some old an new faces in the European Le Mans Series top class this season, on a grid with 4 Oreca's, 6 Ligiers and 3 Dallara's. Racing Team Nederland with former Le Mans winner Jan Lammers and High Class Racing are both new teams in class, driving the Dallara P217. The third Dallara will be runned by Cetilar Villorba Corse who move up from LMP3 to LMP2. Three more teams are gearing up one class this season: United Autosports and Tockwith Motorsports with a Ligier JSP217 and Graff Racing with 2 Oreca 07's. 

The complete LMP3 grid is in the entry list for next week, with the addition of 5 extra cars which will race in the Michelin Le Mans Cup and take the oppportunity for some extra track time. Defending champions United Autosports will arrive in Monza with no less than 4 cars. French team Duqueine Engineering will also bring their third car to Italy. Other teams joining the LMP3 grid are Cool Racing by GPC and Ibran Pardo Javier. All but 2 cars are Ligiers; Oregon Team and M-Racing YMR are both racing in a new Norma M30.

In LMGTE, the complete grid will be at the test in Italy, led by last years champions Beechdean Racing in their Aston Martin Vantage. A second Vantage will be driven by last year's Michelin Le Mans Cup winners TF Sport. Other newcomers to the grid are the Spirit of Race team which will field 2 Ferrari F488 GTE's, run by AF Corse. JMW Motorsport returns with its Ferrari F458 Italia and Proton Competition completes the grid with both of their 911 RSR's. Apart from JMW and Proton, all driver pairings in the GTE class seem to be completed. 

Action on the Italian temple of speed will kick off next Tuesday, March 28th at 9 am. There will be 14 hours of tracktime available over two days, including 2 hours of night practice on Tuesday evening. 

Click here to download the entry list. 


Kristof Vermeulen

24 Hours of Le Mans 2017: A first look into the entry list

60 cars will be at the start of the 85th 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 17th. 31 prototypes and 29 Gt's will fight for victory in what's probably the most beautiful race on earth on one of the most demanding race tracks around. 

39 teams representing 16 different countries from all over the world will be racing at La Sarthe. They will be split up in four categories: 6 LM P1s (Le Mans Prototype 1), 25 LM P2s (Le Mans Prototype 2), 13 LM GTE Pros and 16 LM GTE Am.  Mark Webber has been appointed as Grand Marshal for this years race. 

Here's a first look into the invited teams, cars and leading drivers. 

The list of invited cars and competitors can be downloaded here. 

LMP1

After last years heartbraking end for Toyota Gazoo Racing, the Japanese team returns to Le Mans in full force to finally claim that victory they have been chasing for many years. Toyota will field three revised TS050 Hybrids to counter attack Porsche who will be eager to score their third win in a row. The #7 and #8 cars will feature the same driver line-up as in the World Endurance championship with Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and newcomer José María López in the #7. The second car (#8) will be driven by Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima.

Stéphane Sarrazin won't race the full WEC championship, but will take the leading drive in the third car at Le Mans (#9), with the two other drivers still to be confirmed. 

2 Porsche 919 Hybrid's will be on the grid next June. Almost immediately after last season's finale in Bahrain, Porsche started testing their upgraded 2017 spec car. The #1 car will be driven by Neel Jani, André Lotterer and Nick Tandy. Timo Bernhard has control over the #2 Porsche and will be joined by two "Kiwi's": Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber. 

The only remaining car in the LMP1-L class is the ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01. Now powered with the Nismo engine of the GTR-LM and with substantial upgrades, the Austrian team is working onto a far more reliable and competitive package. With Robert Kubica as their lead driver, there will be no shortage of attention for the team at Le Mans and in the WEC. 

LMP2

A record field of 25 brand new prototypes will make a record field of 25 cars. All 4 LMP2 manufacturers will be pesent on the grid in June. 

Oreca has an numerical advantage with 15 cars. Signatech Alpine Matmut will lead the LMP2 field, defending their 2016 win in the class. 2 rebadged Alpine A470 will be fielded for Stéphane Richelmi and Nicolas Lapierre. G-Drive Racing also returns with two cars to La Sarthe, Memo Rojas and Roman Rusinov the appointed as lead drivers. Last year's debutants Manor are also back in the WEC and Le Mans with a 2 car effort as CEFC Manor TRS Racing. Tor Graves and Roberto Gonzalez have been selected as drivers. 

Coming over from LMP1-L is Rebellion Racing with 2 Oreca's under the Vaillante-Rebellion flag, the return of Michel Vaillant to Le Mans. A stellar driver line-up already has been confirmed by the team, led by Nelson Piquet Jr and Nicolas Prost.  Dragonspeed 10-Star who made an impressive debut in the European Le Mans Series last year will debut at Le Mans, Hendrik Hedman is the first confirmed driver for the team. 

Jackie Chan DC Racing will be at the WEC and Le Mans with two cars this season. After a collaboration with Signatech last year, the Chinese team will now be supported by Jota Sport. 2 Oreca's will be on the grid, David Cheng and Ho-Pin Tung have been appointed as lead drivers. French team Graff Racing which has a rich history at Le Mans with 11 starts between 1980 and 1993 returns to the 24 hours with 2 cars. Both cars entered in the ELMS will race at La Sarthe, with James Allen and Enzo Guibbert as their first confirmed drivers. 

ARC Bratislava is a new team in LMP2 and has been racing a pair of Ginetta LMP3's in the Asian Le Mans Series. For their debut at Le Mans, they will also run an Oreca07, with Miroslav Konopka as lead driver. 

Six Ligiers JSP217 are invited for this years Le Mans 24.  Panis-Barthez Competition returns to Le Mans with a new Ligier and Fabien Barthez at the wheel. Another team returning is Algarve Pro Racing who also acquiered a JSP217 and have Mark Patterson on board for Le Mans. 

Debutants at Le Mans are IDEC Sport Racing with Patrice Lafargue, Tockwith Motorsports with Nigel Moore and last year's European Le Mans LMP3 champions United Autosports (William Owen).  All three teams are combining a full season ELMS campaign with Le Mans. 

Eurasia Motorsports returns to Le Mans, but have traded in their Oreca05 for a Ligier JSP217. Their leading driver will be Sir Chris Hoy, who will make his second appearance in the 24 hour race. 

3 teams running the Dallara P217 have been invited. SMP Racing will run the #27 Dallara P217 ahead of their scheduled entry in the LMP1 class in 2018. Racing Team Nederland is a new team which makes its debut in the European Le Mans Series and Le Mans with Jan Lammers (ready for his 23th start at Le Mans) and Rubens Barichello behind the wheel. The third Dallara will be run by Cetilar Villorba Corse who will also race in the ELMS. 

A single Riley MK30 has been invited for Keating Motorsports. Ben Keating raced for the first time at Le Mans last year with Murphy Prototypes and now returns with his own car to the French classic. The team of Visit Florida Racing who is racing a Riley in the WeatherTech Championship will support the Texan in his new adventure. 

LMGTE-PRO

13 cars will race in the LMGTE-Pro class, where the return of Porsche GT is the headline this year. The new 911 made his 24 hour-debut at Daytona last week and immediately got onto the podium. 

Porsche returns with his all new, mid engined, 911 RSR. A two car effort led by Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen. Last year's Le Mans winners Ford are back at La Sarthe with 4 cars. Two cars competing in the FIA World Endurance championship (Stefan Mücke and Andy Priaulx) and their 2 Ford GT's which are racing in the IMSA WeatherTech championship (Joey Hand & Ryan Briscoe). 

Corvette Racing makes his yearly pilgrimage to France with two C7.R's. Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin again appointed as lead drivers. Also two cars for Aston Martin Racing, with Nicki Thiim and Darren Turner up for driving duties. 

The final manufacturer in the Pro class is Ferrari. Both AF Corse's Ferrari F488 GTE's will be back in June, driven by James Calado and Davide Rigon. The third invited car is the Risi Competizione of Toni Vilander. 

LMGTE-AM

Cars who are over one year old are eligible in the LMGTE-AM category, meaning the Ferrari 488 will make its debut in the class, competing against Porsche, Aston Martin and Corvette.

8 out of the 16 cars are Ferrari's. JMW Motorsport (Robert Smith) which returns to Le Mans after not being invited last year are the only team with an "older" Ferrari F458 Italia on the list. American team Scuderia Corsa returns to Le Mans with 2 Ferrari 488's, the first for Christina Nielsen - who made her debut last year with Formula Racing - the second for Cooper Mac Neil. WEC debutants Clearwater Racing, who raced at Le Mans for the first time last year, now have been granted an invite for 2 cars. Matt Griffin and Wen Sun Mok have already been appointed as drivers. Another team coming over from Asia is Hong Kong based DH Racing, with a single Ferrari 488 for Riccardo Ragazzi. The final 2 Ferrari's will be fielded by Swiss team Spirit of Race; a new team in the ELMS with support from AF Corse. Leading drivers will be Thomas Flohr and Duncan Cameron. 

4 Porsches have been invited this year. Proton Competition is leading the Porsche field with two 911 RSR's for Patrick Long and Wolf Henzler. Joining the German team is Dempsey Proton Racing with Christian Ried and Gulf Racing UK for Michael Wainwright. 

Aston Martin will have three cars on the Am grid. Paul Dalla Lana returns to the WEC and Le Mans with his Vantage V8. He will be joined by ELMS GTE-Am champions Beachdean AMR of Andrew Howard and last year's Michelin Le Mans Cup champions TF Sport and Salih Yoluc. 

Larbre Competition will field the only Corvette C7-Z06 in the Am class, with Ricky Taylor as first confirmed driver. 

Reserve cars

Only 2 cars have been listed as reserves this year. 

RLR M Sport in LMP2 with a Ligier JSP217 and Mentos-Proton Racing in LM GTE-AM with a Porsche 911 RSR. 

Kristof Vermeulen. 

FIA WEC 2017: What to expect in LMP1 and LMP2

Less than 24 hours before the presentation of the entry lists for FIA WEC, ELMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, so here's our final round up and prediction for the 2017 season ... LMP1 and LMP2.

Year 1 after Audi ... that's how the LMP1 class in the FIA World Endurance Championship feels right now. With the departure of the German brand, only Porsche and Toyota remain in the top class of the FIA WEC. 

The LMP1-H rules have now been freezed by the ACO and more cost cutting measures have been published to make the class more appealing to possible new manufacturers. One of those is Peugeot, which has been lurking to get back into endurance racing for some time now, but is still holding back with the high development cost in mind.  

Porsche defends its World title and Le Mans victory with two revised Porsche 919 Hybrids. At the end of last season, Porsche announced a major driver reshuffle in its LMP1 program. Mark Webber retired and is now ready to take up his new role as Porsche ambassador. 2 more drivers won't return to the Porsche 919: Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb. They will be replaced by André Lotterer and 2015 Le Mans champions Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy. 

Porsche's driver line ups for 2017 will look like this: Neel Jani will be joined by André Lotterer and Nick Tandy in the #1 car, Timo Bernhard will be in control of the #2 car with Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber next to him. 

A third car at Le Mans seems very unlikely for Porsche. 

Toyota Gazoo Racing is the second manufacturer in LMP1 and will be out for that long hoped for win at Le Mans. After their heartbraking finish last year, blowing up their victory 5 minutes before the chequered flag, the Japanese team will do everything possible to claim the top step of the podium. 

A full season FIA WEC effort is expected with 2 highly developed TS050's (or renamed to TS060 ?). Toyota may reshuffle its driver line-ups as rumours about this have been going on for a long time.  And then there's the big question: will Toyota race 3 cars at Le Mans, and presumably at Spa and their home race in Fuji ?  The presentation of Toyota Gazoo Racing's plans and driver line-ups for 2017 is scheduled for tomorrow morning, ahead of the Le Mans press conference.

The new Toyota will be presented to the public on March 31st, just ahead of the FIA WEC prologue in Monza.  

ByKolles is the only team remaining in the LMP1-L class now since Rebellion decided to focus on the LMP2 class. The CLM/P01 will get a significant aero update and most importantly switch to Nismo powered engines. With the use of the former Nissan GT-R LM engine, ByKolles hopes to improve on reliability and speed. As from 2018, the chassis will also be available for customer teams, suited to adapt a customer power source.

The big news about the LMP1-L class came out last month, when Ginetta announced the development of a new customer LMP1 car. The all new prototype will be designed with the assistance of Adrian Reynard and Paolo Catone (Peugeot - SMP BR01). Mechachrome will develop the engine, a turbo charged V6 which could get around 800 hp. Manor already showed some big interest in the project, and the intention to run a two car effort next year. 

As announced at Bahrain, SMP Racing will also step up to the LMP1-L class in 2018, with a new BR1 in collaboration with Dallara. At a press conference in Moscow today, the team confirmed that the development of the car is in progress. No decision has been made yet about the engine supplier. 

LMP2

A new era for the LMP2 class with new cars and more powerful engines this season. No more open top prototypes also, all new cars now with a closed chassis and a new Gibson engine. 

Out of the four selected manufacturers, it seems like Oreca will be the only feeding the class this season. Given the confirmed entries so far and the teams not returning to the FIA WEC, not a single Ligier JSP217 will be on the 2017 grid, unless Jacques Nicolet has something up his sleeve for tomorrow. There's a possibility of a Dallara for KCMG, and it's still unclear in which championship Ben Keating will enter his Riley-Multimatic LMP2 to retain his Le Mans invite. 

Compared to last season the numbers in LMP2 might well be down to 8 or 9 cars. Several teams seem to be holding back to invest in a new car until it's clear which one of the new LMP2's will have the best package.

Signatech Alpine defends its 2016 title in LMP2 and returns with the rebranded Oreca07. Just one driver is confirmed so far, Nicolas Lapierre returning to the French team. Gustavo Menezes has been rated as a Gold driver after last season, so retaining their current line up with Lapierre, Menezes and Richelmi isn't possible anymore. The entry of a second, customer car as with Baxi DC Racing last year is still unclear.

© Dunlop

Rebellion Racing is entering a new era in 2017, stepping into the LMP2 class. After a long period in LMP1-L, the Swiss team now shifts its focus to the LMP2 class with 2 new Oreca07's. With a very strong driver line-up, and their lengthy experience, this will be one of the 2017 title contenders. The first car will be driven by Nicolas Prost, Bruno Senna and Julien Canal. The second will be in the hands of Mathias Beche, Nelson Piquet Jr and David Heinemeier Hansson. 

The team will also race in the IMSA North American Endurance Cup with one car. For the first race at Daytona in 2 weeks, they have a stellar driver line up with Neel Jani, Sebastian Buemi, Nick Heidfeld and Stéphane Sarrazin.

A new face on the 2017 grid will be French team TDS Racing. After 6 years in the European Le Mans Series, the team led by Xavier Combet and Jacques Morello will move on to FIA WEC for the first time. The team will stay faithfull to Oreca and race the new Gibson powered Oreca07. Last year's LMGTE-Am champions François Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard will be behind the the wheel together with Matthieu Vaxivière.  Vaxivière has been racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 and its successor Formula V8 in the past years.

The future of G-Drive Racing in the FIA World Championship has long been in doubt since Roman Rusinov was promoted to a Gold driver instead of Silver. The Russian driver and businessman not happy about that decision and threatening to leave the endurance racing scene. On Monday G-Drive Racing then confirmed their 2017 entry for the FIA WEC in cooperation with TDS Racing. Rusinov will drive a brand new Oreca 07 together with Pierre Thiriet. The third driver is still to be announced, the team claiming to be in negotiation with drivers who have F1 experience (Will Stevens, Giedo van der Garde ?)

Manor first entered the 2016 season with one car, but soon added a second one to their line-up. A return to the WEC with one or two Oreca07's seems very likely. No drivers have been known or confirmed so far.  The team also already showed his interest in the new Ginetta LMP1 for next season, and is planning to step up to the LMP1-L class as from 2018.

Will KCMG return to the LMP2 class after a "sabbatical" last year, when they only raced their Oreca LMP2 in the 24 Hours of Le Mans ? It's been very quiet round the team in the past months, but it wouldn't be a surprise if their name pops up tomorrow.

Another possible entry is SMP Racing.  The BR01 isn't eligible in the LMP2 class anymore, and the team is focussing in their new entry in LMP1-L next season. There still might be a chance that we see SMP Racing in either the WEC or ELMS, probably with a Dallara as they are also developing the new BR1 for next season. At their press conference in Moscow yesterday, no plans were layed out (yet), so this one is very uncertain. 

Sadly, a few teams won't return to the FIA WEC this season ...

Despite a very strong first season in the championship, wrapping up 2 wins and coming home second in the championship, RGR Sport won't be on the grid in Silverstone for the first race. A lack of funding has slashed their LMP2 program for 2017. The team might be back in 2018, and doesn't rule out one or more single entries in the WEC. 

Strakka Racing moves to the Blancpain GT Series with a factory supported 4 car assault. The team not ruling out a return to prototype racing in the future. American team Extreme Speeds Motorsports returns to the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship where they race a Nissan powered Onroak DPi.

Kristof Vermeulen