The Hypercar entry for the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours could receive a significant boost from the IMSA GTP field it seems, with multiple teams applying for spots on the grid.
Beyond Porsche Penske Motorsport, which has received an invitation to enter a third factory car for winning the 2024 IMSA GTP title, Proton Competition is understood by DSC to be readying itself to put in a request to run an additional 963.
Should Christian Ried’s team’s request be granted by the selection committee, it would bring the total number of Porsche 963s in the field to five.
Beyond that, Cadillac’s attack on the French classic could feature four factory cars, with both Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express Racing believed to be looking to take a car apiece to the race.
Wayne Taylor confirmed to DSC that he is motivated to take his team to France for the first time. The opportunity to compete in the great race is a significant benefit to come out of its off-season brand switch from HRC and Acura, which cannot run ARX-06s at Le Mans as it isn’t a full-season WEC manufacturer.
Action Express boss Gary Nelson meanwhile, told DSC that he’d be delighted to compete at La Sarthe for a third consecutive year with the V-Series.R.
“We’ve gained valuable experience from our last two trips to the race and have a clear idea of how we’d do it in 2025,” he said.
“We have three cars in the US and would likely send two cars over to Le Mans (one to use as a spare), then ship the backup car immediately back to the States after Le Mans to use as a spare for the IMSA race at Watkins Glen.”
Should General Motors be handed entries for WTR and AXR, that would mean four V-Series.Rs will line up on the grid at Le Mans for the first time, as Cadillac HERTZ Team JOTA already has two full-season entries for the FIA WEC season confirmed.
And that’s not all for the US auto giant, as both TF Sport and AWA are set to represent Corvette in the LMGT3 category, the former through its WEC programme and the latter as a result of its Bronze driver Orey Fidani’s Bob Akin Award win in 2024.
“It’s been a bucket list thing my whole life and we’ve achieved it,” Fidani told DSC. “The support from Chevy has been awesome and I’m so excited to run at the event. I did the Road To Le Mans races last year in June to prepare and I’m pumped.
“It would be tough logistically to get back in time for Watkins Glen with our IMSA car, so I’ve bought a second chassis. We will transport that car out there and will work with TF, renting tools and equipment from them.”
