While it’s only Dec. 25, and the deadline to compete in the 2015 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans isn’t until Jan. 27, Sportscar365 and Endurance-Info have formulated a list of projected entry requests for next year’s twice-around-the-clock French endurance classic. (En Français)
Please note that the following list of 73 cars is not final or officially representative of what has been submitted to the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. The race will again feature a total of 56 cars, meaning not all of the listed cars would be eligible to receive entries.
LMP1 (14 cars)
There will be four manufacturers on the grid next year with the addition of Nissan, joining the premier class alongside Toyota, Porsche and Audi. Rebellion Racing and Lotus, formerly of the LMP1-L class, which now gets absorbed back into LMP1, are both expected to return but with some likely changes. A number of driver lineups have yet to be confirmed.
Toyota Racing — Toyota TS040 HYBRID — Buemi-Davidson + Conway?
Toyota Racing — Toyota TS040 HYBRID — Sarrazin-Wurz-Nakajima
Audi Sport Team Joest * — Audi R18 e-tron quattro — Fässler-Tréluyer-Lotterer
Audi Sport Team Joest — Audi R18 e-tron quattro — Duval-Di Grassi-Jarvis
Audi Sport Team Joest — Audi R18 e-tron quattro — Rast-Albuquerque-Bonanomi
Porsche Team — Porsche 919 Hybrid — Dumas-Lieb-Jani
Porsche Team — Porsche 919 Hybrid — Bernhard-Webber-Hartley
Porsche Team — Porsche 919 Hybrid — Hülkenberg + Tandy-Makowiecki-Christensen?
NISMO — Nissan GT-R LM NISMO — Pla-Heidfeld?
NISMO — Nissan GT-R LM NISMO — Gené?
NISMO — Nissan GT-R LM NISMO — Mardenborough?
Rebellion Racing — Rebellion R-One — Prost-Beche-Heidfeld?
Rebellion Racing — Rebellion R-One — Belicchi-Kraihamer-Leimer?
Lotus CLM P1/01 AER
LMP2 (33 cars)
According to our calculations, the ACO could receive more than 30 applications for the cost-capped prototype class, including a large number of teams from the European Le Mans Series. Possible teams such as Thiriet by TDS Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing have yet to finalize chassis/engine options, while there are question marks on potential programs from RSR Racing and Project Brabham as well.
Strakka Racing — Strakka-Dome S103 Nissan — Leventis-Kane-Watts
SMP Racing — BR01 Zytek — Minassian-Mediani
SMP Racing — BR 01 Zytek — Salo
G-Drive Racing — Ligier JS P2 Nissan/Judd — Rusinov-Canal
G-Drive Racing — Ligier JS P2 Nissan/Judd
Krohn Racing — Ligier JS P2 Judd — Krohn-Jonsson
RSR Racing — ORECA 03R Nissan
Signatech-Alpine * — Alpine A450b Nissan — Chatin
Signatech-Alpine — Alpine A450b Nissan — Panciatici
Jota Sport * — Gibson 015S Nissan — Dolan
Greaves Motorsport — Gibson 015S Nissan
Greaves Motorsport — Gibson 015S
Eurasia Motorsport — ORECA 03R Nissan
Race Performance — ORECA 03R Judd
Race Performance — ORECA 05 Nissan? Frey
Morand Racing — Morgan LMP2 Evo Judd — Klien
Morand Racing — Morgan LMP2 Evo Judd
Thiriet by TDS Racing? — Thiriet-Gommendy-Badey?
KCMG — ORECA 05 Nissan — Howson-Bradley-Imperatori?
KCMG — ORECA 03R
Murphy Prototypes — ORECA 05?
Pegasus Racing — Morgan LMP2 Evo Nissan — Coleman
Pegasus Racing — Morgan LMP2 Evo Nissan
Ibanez Racing — ORECA 03R Nissan — Ibanez-Perret
Ibanez Racing — ORECA 03R Nissan
Graff Ligier JS P2 Nissan — Trouillet-Clairay?
Wayne Taylor Racing *? — R. Taylor-Angelelli
OAK Racing Team Total * — Ligier JS P2
OAK Racing — Ligier JS P2 Nissan/Judd — Nicolet?
Brabham — HPD ARX-04b?
Tequila Patron ESM — HPD ARX-04b — Brown-van Overbeek-Fogarty
Tequila Patron ESM — HPD ARX-04b — Heinemeier-Hansson-Sharp-Dalziel
IMSA Performance Matmut?
GTE-Pro (9 cars)
No major changes are expected in GTE-Pro next year, with factory efforts from Aston Martin, Corvette, Porsche and the Ferrari-supported AF Corse squads all expected to field two cars apiece. Note that SMP Racing has the ability to run a Ferrari F458 Italia in GTE-Pro as well, while Risi Competizione has also applied for an invite.
AF Corse * — Ferrari F458 Italia — Bruni-Vilander-Fisichella
AF Corse — Ferrari F458 Italia — Rigon-Calado-Beretta
Corvette Racing — Corvette C7.R — Gavin-Milner + Westbrook?
Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R — Magnussen-Garcia-J.Taylor
Aston Martin Racing — Aston Martin Vantage GTE — Turner-Mücke
Aston Martin Racing — Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Porsche Team Manthey — Porsche 911 RSR — Pilet-Christensen?
Porsche Team Manthey — Porsche 911 RSR — Lietz-Bamber-Makowiecki?
Risi Competizione — Ferrari F458 Italia
GTE-Am (17 cars)
It’s safe to say that all of the 17 projected entry requests will not take part in the June classic. The status of a number of teams, including ProSpeed Competition, Craft-Bamboo Racing and JMW Motorsport, remains unclear, while automatic entries, such two invites from AAI Motorsports for its success in the Asian Le Mans Series, remain undetermined at this point.
AF Corse * –Ferrari F458 GTE — Wyatt
AF Corse — Ferrari F458 GTE — Roda-Ruberti
AF Corse — Ferrari F458 GTE
SMP Racing * — Ferrari F458 GTE — Zlobin
SMP Racing * — Ferrari F458 GTE
Proton Competition — Porsche 911 RSR — Ried
Dempsey Proton Racing –Porsche 911 RSR — Dempsey-Long
AAI Motorsports *? (two automatic entries)
Craft-Bamboo Racing — Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Aston Martin Racing * — Aston Martin Vantage GTE — Dalla Lana
Aston Martin Racing — Aston Martin Vantage GTE — Goethe-Hall
Aston Martin Racing — Aston Martin Vantage GTE
JMW Motorsport — Ferrari F458 GTE
ProSpeed Competition?
GB Autosport?
Scuderia Corsa * — Ferrari F458 GTE — Sweedler-Bell
Gulf Racing UK — Porsche 911 RSR — Wainwright
*Automatic entries already awarded by the ACO.
