The provisional 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list has been revealed today by the ACO. It features a capacity grid of 62 cars across the three classes, including 23 Hypercars, 16 LMP2s and 23 LMGT3s, with seven cars listed as reserves
In the top class, the 19 full-season FIA WEC Hypercars are joined by an additional four entries, making a total of 23. It is the largest top class field this century.
The first is the return of Action Express’ V-Series.R, numbered at Le Mans again as #311, which made its Le Mans debut last year. It will link up with the pair of Ganassi-run examples, with the three drivers from IMSA’s GTP class #3 linking up with 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 #3 from Ganassi meanwhile, will see Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van Der Zande and Scott Dixon team up. That leaves an open slot in the #2 WEC Cadillac alongside Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn – Whilst not on the Provisional entry list double IndyCar Champion Alex Palou has been confirmed by Cadillac as completing the #2 lineup.
Porsche will also have a third factory car, with Penske bringing one of its IMSA 963s – the #4 – to the race. This car ran as #75 last year as part of the brand’s 75th anniversary celebrations. Currently only Mathieu Jaminet from the team’s WeatherTech stable is listed.
Lamborghini has also been granted a second Iron Lynx-run SC63, which will run as #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.
As expected, there is no second Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 on the entry or reserve list.
LMP2
One of the surprises from today’s reveal is the size of the LMP2 grid, which is 16 cars strong, one more than the stated minimum of 15 cars.
All 16 are ORECA 07 Gibsons, with five cars heading to La Sarthe via automatic invitations.
These are cars from Algarve Pro, United Autosports and AF Corse via successes in ELMS LMP2, COOL Racing via its LMP3 title and Crowdstrike Racing by APR via George Kurtz’s IMSA award.
As expected, Algarve Pro Racing did not file for a third ORECA after winning the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 title.
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.
In the driver ranks, there are some notable names up and down the list. The #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. Could ‘Spike the LMP2 Dragon be coming to Le Mans?
In United Autosports’ pair of entries, WTRAndretti IMSA GTP driver Filipe Albuquerque is named in the #22, with the full season #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 looking to double up with what could be his only race in Europe this season. Currently, he is competing in IMSA’s LMP2 class with the Polish team.
COOL Racing has been granted two spaces on the grid. Its #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 #183 from AF Corse, which forgoes its usual number due to the third private Ferrari 499P taking it for the full WEC season, features reigning ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am title winner Francois Perrodo, Ben Barnicoat and Corvette factory driver Nicolas Varrone. Varrone, who won GTE Am last year with Corvette, impressed during his run in the 2023 ELMS post-season test with the team.
LMGT3
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 #44 Ford Mustang from Proton Competition and the #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 entry. Neither the Asian Le Mans Series nor GT World Challenge Bronze Cup automatic invitations to enter appear to have materialised as entries.
The final three cars are all full-season ELMS entries and are all Ferraris. The #66 comes from JMW Motorsport, with Bronze-ranked Giacomo Petrobelli, continuing the British team’s long association with the race. The #86 is from former full-season FIA WEC GTE team GR Racing, with Mike Wainwright as the only name.
And the #155 (the #55 taken by Vistajet Racing in the FIA WEC), is Spirit of Race’s longstanding ELMS crew, with Duncan Cameron joined by Matt Griffin and David Perel.
In LMGT3 then, amongst the eight manufacturers, Ford and McLaren have three cars, Ferrari has five, with the remainder having two apiece.
Reserve List & Garage 56
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. The team is likely named after the Staysail farm, home to Dinan’s parents in New York state.
Unlike last year for the Centenary running, which featured a modified NASCAR Cup Series Camaro ZL1, the 2024 entry list doesn’t feature a Garage 56 Innovative car.
