IMSA has published the provisional entry list for the 27th annual Motul Petit Le Mans, which takes place on Saturday 12 October at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The entry list for the 2024 season finale features 54 cars across all four IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship classes, headlined by 11 GTPs from five different makes. Every car also has three registered drivers, some returning for the first time since the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Porsche Penske Motorsport has enlisted Matt Campbell to return to the #7 Porsche 963 in support of championship favourites Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr. Meanwhile, Kevin Estre, who is himself closing in on the World Endurance Hypercar Championship, will make his first IMSA appearance since Daytona in the #6 Penske Porsche.
At BMW M Team RLL, Augusto Farfus (#24) and Maxime Martin (#25) reprise their roles as the endurance drivers in the team’s two BMW M Hybrid V8s, which finished 1-2 at Indianapolis last month.
Petit Le Mans marks the final race for the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac works programme; Scott Dixon will be back in the cockpit for one more run in the #01 Cadillac.
Likewise, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti’s run with Acura ends this weekend. Brendon Hartley (#10) and Colton Herta (#40) will return to pilot each of the team’s ARX-06es.
All other GTP lineups remain unchanged from the Battle on the Bricks.
The selection of ten LMP2 cars are all ORECA 07s, with Sean Creech Motorsport unable to get back on the grid with its lone Ligier JS P217.
Tower Motorsport has swapped the young Mexican Sebastian Alvarez into the #8 ORECA, replacing Michael Dinan. Alvarez is currently second in the European Le Mans Series LMP2 Championship and makes his first IMSA start since Daytona.
Lilou Wadoux is also back aboard the #88 Richard Mille AF Corse ORECA – she missed Indianapolis to honour her commitments in the SUPER GT Series where she took a noteworthy runner-up finish at Sportsland Sugo.
GTD Pro is bolstered by special entries to bring the entry list up to 13 cars.
As previously reported, DragonSpeed will move from GTD to GTD Pro, as Thomas Neubauer and Vincent Abril join the returning Toni Vilander in the #82 Ferrari 296 GT3.
Heart of Racing Team will again enter its two Aston Martin Vantage GT3s in the all-pro class with reordered line-ups in both. Roman de Angelis moves over to the #23 Aston Martin with Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas; meanwhile in the #027, Mario Farnbacher is joined by Zacharie Robichon and Marco Sørensen from the WEC LMGT3 ranks.
Iron Lynx’s #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 is back with its traditional trio of Franck Perera, Jordan Pepper, and Mirko Bortolotti.
Meanwhile, the likes of Daniel Juncadella (#3 Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette), Earl Bamber (#4 Pratt Miller Corvette), James Hinchcliffe (#9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren), Kyle Kirkwood (#14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus), Christopher Mies (#64 Ford Multimatic Mustang), and Frederic Vervisch (#65 Multimatic Ford) all return to action for the first time since Sebring.
And Julien Andlauer is back in the #77 AO Racing “Rexy” Porsche to join championship leader Laurin Heinrich and Michael Christensen.
Finally, there are 20 GTD cars with a couple of key changes to note.
Newly-crowned WEC LMGT3 Champion Klaus Bachler will return to the cockpit of the #86 MDK Motorsports Porsche for the first time since Watkins Glen.
Alessio Rovera will be back in the #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari, Ryan Hardwick makes his return for his home race in the #55 Proton Competition Mustang, and Mike Skeen is back aboard the #32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Images © Martin W. Spetz / Dailysportscar.com
