Many Familiar Names Will Compete in the Centenary Race; NASCAR Garage 56 Entry Officially Accepted
By Mark Robinson
24 Hours of Le Mans Provisional Entry List
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 24 Hours of Le Mans will be loaded again with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship talent when the legendary French endurance race celebrates its centennial in June.
The provisional entry list was released today. The Hypercar class for top prototypes includes the three Cadillac V-Series.R cars that made their worldwide racing debut last month in the Rolex 24 At Daytona – two fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing and the third from Action Express Racing – as well as three Porsche 963 entries from Porsche Penske Motorsport, each boasting a past WeatherTech Championship season champion at the wheel. This year will mark the first time in a decade where prototypes competing for overall victories in IMSA are eligible to do the same at Le Mans.
The provisional list also includes entries for the reigning IMSA winners of the Jim Trueman and Bob Akin awards, John Farano in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and Ryan Hardwick in the GTE Am class. And the application for the NASCAR Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, prepared by Hendrick Motorsports, was accepted to compete as the Innovative Car in this year’s race.
Cadillac, Porsche Represent LMDh in Hypercar Battle
The trio of Cadillacs at Le Mans will feature the identical driver lineups that raced in the Rolex 24 on Jan. 28-29. Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon finished third in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class at Daytona in the No. 01 Cadillac that races fulltime in the WeatherTech Championship and will run as the No. 3 at Le Mans.
Another fulltime WeatherTech Championship car, the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac shared by Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken placed fifth in the Rolex 24 and will race as the No. 311 at Le Mans. Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook finished fourth at Daytona in the No. 02 as a prelude to their full-season FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) entry as the No. 2.
“Cadillac is excited to build on its racing legacy by competing against the very best internationally and at one of the world’s toughest races,” said Laura Wontrop Klauser, GM sports car racing program manager. “We’re proud to be representing the United States and the Cadillac V-Series.R is a great continuation of our racing heritage.”
Porsche Penske Motorsport is running separate two-car entries this year in the WeatherTech Championship and WEC. The No. 7 Porsche that finished seventh at Daytona will race as the No. 75 at Le Mans. Felipe Nasr, the two-time WeatherTech Championship champion, heads the No. 75 lineup. The two Penske Porsches running the full WEC season including Le Mans each have a past IMSA champion as well: Dane Cameron in the No. 5 and Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6.
Some familiar names in the GT classes for Ferrari in IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup competition – Antonio Fuoco, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado – are part of the Italian brand’s two-car Hypercar lineup in the new Ferrari 499P. And Mikkel Jensen, the 2021 LMP2 champion in the WeatherTech Championship, will co-drive one of Peugeot’s new Hypercar entries.
Trueman Winner Farano Back for More at Le Mans
By finishing as the top Bronze-rated LMP2 driver in the 2022 WeatherTech Championship, Farano earned the Jim Trueman Award and automatic invite to Le Mans. His No. 13 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 will run in the ProAm class, with the remainder of the lineup to be named.
It will be Farano’s second trip to Le Mans, following his 2019 debut in LMP2.
A wealth of other WeatherTech Championship regulars from various classes will also be competing in LMP2 at Le Mans. They include last month’s GTP and overall Rolex 24 winner Tom Blomqvist of Meyer Shank Racing, as well as Filipe Albuquerque, Josh Pierson and Oliver Jarvis – all with United Autosports.
James Allen, whose brilliant drag race to the finish line won the LMP2 class at the Rolex 24 by 0.016 seconds, is joining the team he nudged out for that win at Le Mans. Allen will drive with George Kurtz in the Algarve Pro Racing ORECA. They’ll be joined by Colin Braun, who with Blomqvist won the Rolex 24 last month in GTP, and last year shared a Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) in the WeatherTech Championship with Kurtz and Jon Bennett.
Other notable names competing in LMP2 at Le Mans include Ben Barnicoat, normally a GTD PRO class driver in the WeatherTech Championship for Vasser Sullivan, and Mirko Bortolotti, who drives for Iron Lynx in the Michelin Endurance Cup GTD PRO races; they will be driving for AF Corse and Prema Racing, respectively.
Hardwick Gets Belated Shot at Le Mans
Hardwick captured his second Bob Akin Award as the top Bronze driver in the WeatherTech Championship’s GT Daytona (GTD) class in 2022. He also won the Akin in 2020 but elected to bypass Le Mans the following year due to pandemic restrictions. And the Georgian couldn’t be more pumped, especially in this historic running.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Hardwick said. “For it to be the 100th-year anniversary is super special. To participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans any year is special, but the centenary edition is a once-in-a-lifetime deal.”
Hardwick earned the honor driving for Wright Motorsports in 2022, the team he races with again this year in the WeatherTech Championship. He’s entered in a Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 for Le Mans. Zacharie Robichon, the endurance driver for the No. 16 Wright Porsche with Hardwick, is listed as a co-driver for the No. 16 Proton Porsche, and even though the third driver is listed as “TBA,” Hardwick said he was happy to announce that it will be Jan Heylen, his full-season cohort with Wright.
Hardwick, Heylen and Robichon already have one 24-hour race win together, the 2022 Rolex 24 in GTD along with Richard Lietz.
“Our goal that anytime the three of us are in the car is to win,” Hardwick said. “We’re not going over there just to participate or just to drive around; we’re going with the efforts and the focus to win.”
Additional familiar names racing in GTE Am at Le Mans include 2021 LMP2 WeatherTech Championship season champion Ben Keating, Ferrari endurance drivers Davide Rigon and Daniel Serra and the new AO Racing team with drivers PJ Hyett and Gunnar Jeannette.
The centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans is set for June 10-11 at Circuit de la Sarthe.