LMP2: 9 Cars
The strong LMP2 entry sees some significant names in play including 2022 European Le Mans Series LMP2 Pro-Am Champions Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood who drive not for Racing Team Turkey, but instead aboard the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca along with LMP2 debutant Ayhancan Guven.
United Autosports field a pair of cars with Phil Hanson and Paul di Resta joined by Jim McGuire, the latter pair will also combine in the ELMS this coming season, in the #22 car, and with LMP2 debutant Yasser Shahin joining fellow Aussie (and fellow LMP3 graduate), Garnet Patterson in the #23. They are bolstered to a significant degreee by reigning IMSA Champion Oliver Jarvis.
Returning Champions Rodrigo Sales and Ben Hanley are joined by their 2023 driving partner Mathias Beche in the #24 car.
Algarve Pro Racing field the #24 for John Falb, Rolex 24 class winner James Allen and emerging prospect Kyffin Simpson, the latter pair part of the teams ELMS plans too.
Cool Racing field an intriguing trio with the return of team founder Alexandre Coigny, joined by Team Principal Nico Lapierre and the talented Malthe Jakobsen in his much anticipated LMP2 debut.
Inter Europol bring ELMS LMP3 runner up Charles Crews to the UAE, joined by young Nolan Siegel and Christian Bogle in the #44
Another of Inter Europol’s unlucky ELMS #13 crew from 2022, Nico Pino, joins the ARC Bratislava effort in the #44alongstide Miro Konopka and Hungarian racer Lazlo Toth.
And finally the controversial appearance of Nikita Mazepin in the #98 99 Racing car sees the addition of Neil Jane to the squad after the withdrawal of Ben Barnicoat. Racing returnee Felix Porteiro completes the trio
3 – DKR ENGINEERING – Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood, Ayhancan Guven
22 – UNITED AUTOSPORTS – Philip Hanson, Paul Di Resta, James Mcguire
23 – UNITED AUTOSPORTS – Yasser Shahin, Garnet Patterson, Oliver Jarvis
24 – NIELSEN RACING – Rodrigo Sales, Ben Hanley, Mathias Beche
25 – ALGARVE PRO RACING – John Falb, James Allen, Kyffin Simpson
37 – COOL RACING – Alexandre Coigny, Malthe Jakobsen, Nicolas Lapierre
43 – INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION – Nolan Siegel, Christian Bogle, Charles Crews
44 – ARC BRATISLAVA – Miro Konopka, Nicolas Pino, Lazlo Toth
98 – 99 RACING – Felix Porteiro, Neel Jani, Nikita Mazepin
LMP3: 15 Cars
The LMP3 Class sees bronze drivers Nick Adcock and Michael Jensen return having been narrowly beaten by their CD Sport teammates last season. 2019/2020 LMP3 champion Tony Wells is joined by returning overall Champion Matt Bell in the #7 Nielsen Racing entry.
More to Follow.
1 – CD SPORT – Ligier JS P320 – Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock, Valdemar Eriksen
2 – CD SPORT – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan – Vlad Lomko, James Sweetnam, Fabien Michal
4 – NIELSEN RACING – Ligier JS P320 – Tony Wells, Matthew Bell
5 – DKR ENGINEERING – Duqueine M30 – D08 – Nissan – Tom Van Rompuy, Valentino Catalano
8 – GRAFF RACING – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan – Fabrice Rossello, Xavier Lloveras, Francois Heriau
9 – GRAFF RACING – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan – Eric Trouillet, Sebastien Page, Belen Garcia
11 – WTM BY RINALDI RACING – Duqueine M30 – D08 – Nissan – Torsten Kratz, Leonard Weiss, Nicolas Varrone
15 – RLR MSPORT – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan – Amir Feyzulin, Bijoy Garg, Andres Latorre
17 – COOL RACING – Ligier JS P320 – Cedric Oltramare, Adrien Chila, Marcos Siebert
18 – 360 RACING – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan – Frederic Jousset, Sebastian Alvarez, Ross Kaiser
29 – MV2S RACING – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan – Jerome De Sadeleer, Viacheslav Gutak, Fabien Lavergne
53 – INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan, Kai Askey, Wyatt Brichacek, Miguel Cristovao
55 – RINALDI RACING – Duqueine M30 – D08 – Nissan – Lorcan Nicolas Hanafin, Matthias Luethen, Jonas Ried
63 – INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION – Ligier JS P320 – Adam Ali, John Schauerman, James Dayson
73 – INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION – Ligier JS P320 – John Corbett, Alexander Bukhantsov, James Winslow
GT3: 24 Cars
The GT Class also features past Championship winners including 2021 Champion Ralf Bohn who will again line up in the #99 Herberth Motorsport Porsche. Liam Talbot returns with 2019/2020 Champions HubAuto Racing – Liam missed out on the Drivers Championship title as he missed the opening race that season. He’s joined by a likely still-elated 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour Winner Jules Gounon – one of a dozen or so factory drivers in the field.
Takeshi Kimura finished second in 2019/2020 and won the title in 2018/2019 – since then he has been a regular on the FIA WEC grid, including racing in the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Seven different GT manufacturers represented in 2023 season.
5 x Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
1 x BMW M4 GT3
4 x Ferrari 488 GT3
1 x Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO
3 x McLaren 720S GT3
5 x Mercedes AMG GT3
5 x Porsche 911 GT3 R
More to follow
6 – HAUPT RACING TEAM – Mercedes AMG GT3 – Arjun Maini, Frank Bird, Michael Blanchemain
7 – HAUPT RACING TEAM – Mercedes AMG GT3 – Al Faisal Al Zubair, Luca Stolz, Martin Konrad
10 – GETSPEED – Mercedes AMG GT3 – Raffaele Marciello, Fabian Schiller, Florian Scholze
16 – GETSPEED – Mercedes AMG GT3 – Bihuang Zhou, Zhongwei Wang, Alexendre Imperatori
19 – LEIPERT MOTORSPORT – Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO – Gabriel Rindone, Brendon Leitch, Marco Mapelli
20 – HERBERTH MOTORSPORT – Porsche 911 GT3 R – Nicolas Leutwiler, Mikkel Pedersen, Matteo Cairoli
21 – AF CORSE – Ferrari 488 GT3 – Stefano Constantini , Simon Mann, Miguel Molina
33 – HERBERTH MOTORSPORT – Porsche 911 GT3 R – Antares Au, Alfred Renauer, Klaus Bachler
34 – WALKENHORST MOTORSPORT – BMW M4 GT3 – Chandler Hull, Nicky Catsburg, Richard Heistand
54 – DINAMIC GT – Porsche 911 GT3 R – Philipp Sager , Benjamin Barker, Christopher Zoechling
57 – CAR GUY – Ferrari 488 GT3 – Takeshi Kimura, Frederik Schandorff, Mikkel Jensen
59 – GARAGE 59 – Mclaren 720S GT3 – Alexander West, Benjamin Goethe, Marvin Kirchoffer
60 – FORMULA RACING – Ferrari 488 GT3 – Johnny Laursen, Conrad Laursen, Nicklas Nielsen
61 – TF SPORT – Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 – David Pun, Adrian D’Silva, Ross Gunn
65 – VIPER NIZA RACING – Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 – Douglas Khoo, Dominic Ang
66 – BULLITT RACING – Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 – Valentin Hasse-Clot, Jacob Riegel, Martin Berry
67 – ORANGE RACING POWERED BY JMH – Mclaren 720S GT3 – Simon Orange, Michael O’Brien, Marcus Clutton
72 – HUBAUTO RACING – Mercedes AMG GT3 – Liam Talbot, Jules Gounon, TBA
74 – KESSEL RACING – Ferrari 488 GT3 – Michael Broniszewski, David Fumanelli, Felipe Fraga
77 – D’STATION RACING – Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 – Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii, Charlie Fagg
88 – GARAGE 59 – Mclaren 720S GT3 – Nick Halstead, Louis Prette , Rob Bell
91 – PURE RXCING – Porsche 911 GT3 R – Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm, Harry King
95 – TF SPORT – Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 – John Hartshorne , Henrique Chaves, Jonathan Adam
99 – HERBERTH MOTORSPORT – Porsche 911 GT3 R – Ralf Bohn, Axcil Jeffries, Robert Renauer
More to follow
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest: The 2023 Asian Le Mans Series is set to be another huge success. The 33 teams will be fighting not only for Championship honours, they will also be fighting for one of the most sort after invitations to the centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans! I wish all the teams and drivers a successful season and look forward to welcoming the Champions to Le Mans in June.
Frédéric Lequien, CEO of ALMEM and LMEM: With a 48-car grid featuring top quality teams and drivers the Asian Le Mans Series is set to thrill audiences both at the track and watching at home. The battles are going to be intense throughout the entire field, you will not want to miss a moment!
Broadcast: The Asian Le Mans Series is available for free around the world including on the Asian Le Mans Series YouTube and Facebook pages, and via an extensive list of broadcast partners.
There is also a live streaming service with Chinese commentary broadcast on popular streaming sites. Full broadcast details will be released shortly.
