The Hypercar field for the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours is set to be one of the largest, most-varied and highest-quality top classes that the race has ever seen.
With a full-season FIA WEC entry of 19 Hypercars, there is already a guaranteed uplift from the impressive 16-car top-class entry for the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. And in addition to the FIA WEC’s full-time contingent, there is a likely further increase to come when the entry list is revealed on Monday, with a number of cars in the mix to bring the total to potentially 24 cars.
From amongst the factory-backed cars, we already know that the IMSA GTP title-winning Action Express Cadillac has been awarded IMSA’s ‘at large’ invitation, and is most likely to be joined by the second Ganassi-run Cadillac Racing V-Series.R for the trip to France. That would mean a three-car entry for the GM brand for the second year running.
From Porsche’s camp, there seems every likelihood that a third Penske-run 963 from IMSA will make the cut, as in 2023, adding to the team’s pair of full-season WEC cars.
Finally, Lamborghini Iron Lynx made clear when it launched the SC63 programme that it would request a second entry for Le Mans, alongside its solo WEC car.
Elsewhere, whilst Isotta Fraschini has made public statements on its wish to see a second Tipo 6 on the grid, DSC believes that is unlikely to happen in 2024.
However, there is one additional likely request to come, from outside the factory ranks, that being a second Porsche 963 from Proton Competition.
Team co-owner Christian Ried told DSC earlier this month that his team is still looking at options to add a second Hypercar for Le Mans and potentially beyond.
“It’s still open,” he said when asked about the prospects of Proton’s effort expanding to two cars in the FIA WEC in time for Le Mans. “Porsche is still struggling to deliver new parts for all the cars. Maybe we will get a second car for Le Mans, we will ask for a second entry.
“The worst case is we will have to skip (the IMSA race at) Detroit and fly the car straight over. If we got a Le Mans entry it would be great to have a third car.
“It depends if there is space available in the WEC. If we get a second car at Le Mans and a car is available, we will try to race this car as well. We will have to see if it’s possible in WEC, or if we take it to Indy, Petit… We will see.”
In addition to the 24 potential Hypercars, much attention will be paid to the split between the other two classes.
LMP2 has been described on multiple occasions by senior figures in the ACO and LMEM as “at least 15 cars”.
Beyond the Action Express automatic invitation in Hypercar, there are six automatic invitations to enter for LMP2 teams, of which DSC believes five cars will be requested. This is because the Crowdstrike Racing by APR invitation for winning the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 title will not be taken up by the team.
If Hypercar reaches 24 cars and LMP2’s final tally hits 15, that leaves 23 slots for the new-for-2024 LMGT3 class, with 18 already taken by the FIA WEC full-season contingent.
Of those five available spaces on the grid, up to four are provisionally allocated via automatic invitations to enter. These are held by Proton Competition for winning the ELMS LMGTE title, Brendan Iribe (Inception Racing) for his success in IMSA’s Michelin Endurance Cup and newly-crowned Asian Le Mans Series GT champion Pure Rxcing, which has a second invitation for winning the GT World Challenge Bronze Cup.
There are some questions surrounding the scale of the Lithuanian team’s Le Mans entry though, as it already has a space on the grid via its FIA WEC LMGT3 effort with Manthey.
There is a question too, over just what Proton Competition’s entry requests will look like across its Hypercar, LMP2 and ELMS LMGT3 entries.
If all of the above comes to pass, with 24 Hypercars, 15 LMP2s, 18 FIA WEC LMGT3 entries and the additional automatic entries being filed, then the selection committee will have been left with some extremely tough decisions to make when allocating the remaining spots.
It’s going to be fascinating to see which teams make the cut and which teams end up on the reserve list…
