Yahoo Autos ACO releases full 2024 Le Mans entry list
The 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list has been revealed by the ACO. It features a capacity grid of 62 cars across the three classes, including a huge field of 23 Hypercars gunning for the overall win, 16 LMP2s and 23 LMGT3s.
The top class is the largest this century and features nine factory teams. The 19 full-season FIA WEC Hypercars are joined by an additional four entries from IMSA’s GTP ranks.
The first is the return of Action Express’ V-Series.R, which made its Le Mans debut last year, numbered again as No. 311. It will link up with the pair of Ganassi-run examples. Cadillac brings the three drivers from Ganassi’s IMSA’s GTP program to join the team’s sister car in the FIA WEC.
The AXR Caddy has the team’s two full-season drivers listed, with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken confirmed.
The No. 3 from Ganassi will field Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van Der Zande and Scott Dixon. That leaves an open slot in the No. 2 WEC Cadillac alongside Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn. While not listed, Cadillac has confirmed that the third seat will be taken by IndyCar star Alex Palou after his Rolex 24 run with the team back in January.
“Going to Le Mans is an amazing opportunity and a big challenge, as well. It’s only a couple of hours from my home and obviously it is one of the biggest races alongside the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona where you want to participate but also win,” Palou said.
“We have a chance to win it overall, and that is our biggest goal. I’m excited to be back in the Cadillac and join Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn. They had success there last year and the cars were quite fast, so with our recent pace at Daytona, I can’t wait to go there and win.”
Porsche will also have a third factory car, with Penske bringing one of its IMSA 963s – the No. 4 – to the race, with only Mathieu Jaminet currently listed to drive. This car ran as No. 75 last year as part of the brand’s 75th anniversary celebrations.
Lamborghini has also been granted a second Iron Lynx-run SC63, which will run as No. 19, with Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli and Matteo Cairoli.
The only major surprise is the omission of a second Proton Competition Porsche 963 from the full entry, which is at the top of the reserve list with Gianmaria Bruni as the named driver. The team told RACER earlier this month that it had made plans for running at La Sarthe with two Hypercars. This included skipping the IMSA race at Detroit in order to air freight its GTP car over for the 24 Hours, had its third 963 on order not been delivered in time.
One of the notable surprises is the size of the LMP2 grid, which is 16 cars strong, one more than the stated minimum of 15 cars.
Five cars come from teams currently competing in IMSA, with United Autosports, AO Racing, Inter Europol and AF Corse all entering cars
There is also no shortage of IMSA driving talent in the class, with GTP drivers Louis Deletraz and Filipe Albuquerque from WTRAndretti and 2023 Rolex 24 winner Colin Braun amongst the pro drivers.
All 16 prototypes are ORECA 07s, with five cars heading to La Sarthe via automatic invitations. These are cars from Algarve Pro, United Autosports and AF Corse via successes in European Le Mans Series LMP2, COOL Racing via its LMP3 title and Crowdstrike Racing by APR via George Kurtz’s IMSA award.
The remaining 11 cars in the class all come from the ELMS full-season entry list. Six of those took part in the Asian Le Mans Series.
As expected, Algarve Pro Racing did not file for a third ORECA after winning the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 title.
In the driver ranks, there are some notable names up and down the list. The No. 14 AO Racing by TF car, entered as a Pro car in the ELMS, is entered in Pro/Am, with PJ Hyett joined by Louis Deletraz.
In United Autosports’ pair of entries, Albuquerque is named in the No. 22, with the full season No. 2 IMSA crew headed by Ben Keating taking up the team’s automatic invite in LMP2 Pro/Am.
The 2023 LMP2 Le Mans-winning Inter Europol ORECA returns with Kuba Smiechowski, who is looking to double up in what could be his only race in Europe this season.
COOL Racing has been granted two spaces on the grid. Its No. 47, a full-time car in the ELMS, will race with only Frederik Vesti from its European line-up. He will be joined by 2020 IMSA Prototype Challenge winners Naveen Rao and Matt Bell.
At the bottom, the No. 183 from AF Corse features reigning ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am title winner Francois Perrodo, Ben Barnicoat and Corvette factory driver Nicolas Varrone.
Varrone, who won Le Mans and the WEC GTE Am title last year with Corvette, impressed during his run in the 2023 ELMS post-season test with the team.
That leaves us with the 23-car, Goodyear-shod LMGT3 class.
Beyond the 18 full-season FIA WEC cars, there are only two entered via earned invitations, the first being the No. 44 Ford Mustang from Proton Competition and the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren.
The Ford features Christian Ried as the named driver, despite the Proton team principal having announced he was stepping down from driving at the end of the 2023 FIA WEC season.
The McLaren meanwhile, features Inception’s full IMSA GTD line-up, with Brendan Iribe, Ollie Millroy and Frederik Schandorff.
Lithuanian-flagged Porsche team Pure Rxcing only features via its FIA WEC effort with Manthey. Neither the Asian Le Mans Series nor GT World Challenge Bronze Cup automatic invitations to enter appear to have materialized as entries.
The final three cars are all full-season ELMS entries and are all Ferraris. The No. 66 comes from JMW Motorsport, continuing the British team’s long association with the race. The No. 86 is from former full-season FIA WEC GTE team GR Racing, with Mike Wainwright as the only name.
And the No. 155 is Spirit of Race’s long standing ELMS crew, with Duncan Cameron joined by Matt Griffin and David Perel.
In LMGT3 Ferrari has the most cars on the grid with five. Ford and McLaren are next with three cars, while the remainder are represented by two apiece.
It should also be noted that bar the COVID-impacted 2020 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, this is the first time since 1999 that Corvette Racing has not had a presence as a factory team in the race.
Unlike last year for the Centenary running, which featured a modified NASCAR Cup Series Camaro ZL1, the 2024 race will not feature a Garage 56 Innovative car.
Five of the cars on the seven-car reserve list are full-season ELMS cars. The two outliers are the second Proton Porsche 963 and an American-flagged ORECA for Staysail Motorsport and ELMS regular Michael Dinan.
