The Automobile Club de l’Ouest has published the first provisional entry list for the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours.
This year’s grid will feature another maximum-capacity field of 62 cars across the three classes, with 18 crews in Hypercar, 19 in LMP2, and 25 in LMGT3, all down to compete together at the Circuit de la Sarthe in June.
In the top class for Hypercars, only one additional car from the IMSA GTP field joins the full-season WEC contingent, that being the Wayne Taylor Racing, which has entered a third Cadillac V-Series.R into the race.
Cadillac previously told DSC that it would file an entry for one additional car this year, after both WTR and Action Express Racing visited France in 2025.
Though both teams were believed to be pushing to compete in the event again this year, WTR getting the nod makes sense as both Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber from AXR’s IMSA driving crew are already due to compete at Le Mans with Hertz Team JOTA as part of their dual programmes with the GM brand in 2026.
There was speculation that Alpine may enter a third car for its final attempt at winning the race overall before shelving its Hypercar programme at the end of the season, but no additional A424 is listed on either the main or reserve list.
In LMP2, of the 19 cars, 10 are entered for Pro/Am honours, with the majority of the field made up of teams competing full-season in the ELMS.
United Autosports, Inter Europol, Proton Competition and Algarve Pro Racing (with one car under the CrowdStrike Racing banner) will all bring two cars apiece to the race.
The remaining single-car efforts will be operated by DKR Engineering, TDS Racing, Nielsen Racing, Vector Sport, IDEC Sport, (reigning ELMS LMP2 champion) Forestier Racing by Panis, Duqueine Team, CLX Motorsport, (Romain Dumas’ Asian Le Mans Series outfit) RD Limited and current (ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am champion) AO by TF.
Notably, PJ Hyett (AO Racing) had the option to enter a second car via success in both the ELMS and IMSA (Jim Trueman Award), but opted against it. AO Racing was understood to have asked to utilise one of its LMP2 invitations for LMGT3 to bring its ‘Rexy’ Porsche to the event, but was not granted dispensation to do so.
LMGT3, meanwhile, sees seven cars join up with the full-season FIA WEC pack, making up the 25-car field.
TF Sport has utilised its invitation to enter, earned by winning the ELMS LMGT3 title in 2025, for a third car headlined by Prince Jefri Ibrahim from JMR. That ensures that four Corvettes will be on the grid, as 13 Autosport (formerly AWA) is also back for a second attack on the race via team owner Orey Fidani’s Bob Akin Award.
The other team to utilise invitations to secure grid space was Kessel Racing. The Swiss outfit will campaign a pair of Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evos, with one in via winning the Asian Le Mans Series GT title and a second from its GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup championship.
With 18 cars from the WEC and an additional four entered via invitations, space for teams competing in the ELMS, Asian Le Mans Series, IMSA and beyond was in extremely short supply this year.
Just three additional cars made the cut: a Ferrari from Richard Mille AF Corse, an Aston Martin for former WEC outfit Racing Spirit of Leman and a third Iron Lynx-operated Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 for Team Qatar and Asian Le Mans Series regular Abdulla Al Khelaifi.
Nine cars have been placed on the reserve list: four LMGT3s and five LMP2s.
Loyal ELMS racer Mike Wainwright’s GR Racing Ferrari has been put down as first reserve. The second reserve is Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship runner-up Cetilar Racing, for what DSC understands would be an all-Lacorte driving trio.
British Aston Martin customer team Blackthorn is third on the list, with Giacomo Petrobelli and IndyCar legend Dario Franchitti listed.
Additional LMP2 cars for CLX Motorsport, IDEC Sport, Vector Sport and Proton Competition also feature, as does a McLaren for United Autosports and another AF Corse Ferrari.
Final key points to note, there are no Porsche 963s on the list due to the German brand’s factory team pulling out of the WEC and Proton Competition failing to find a solution to enter two cars privately. This means that just two Porsches will feature in the field, via Manthey in LMGT3.
With the Iron Dames programme scaled back, there are just two female drivers entered as it stands, Doriane Pin in LMP2 with Duqueine and Lilou Wadoux in LMGT3 with Richard Mille AF Corse. There is potential for additional female talent to compete, though, as 28 seats are available across LMP2 and LMGT3.
And with no additional entries from BMW or WRT, Moto GP legend Valentino Rossi is not expected to compete at Le Mans for what would have been a third consecutive start.
This year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, the 94th edition, is set to take place on June 13-14.
