A record 47-car field has been assembled for this year’s European Le Mans Series, as the ACO’s premier European competition continues to go from strength to strength.
The headline story in the top LMP2 category entering 2026 is the arrival of a Ford Racing-backed effort, with the American marque collaborating with Proton Competition to field the #9 ORECA 07 – Gibson as part of its preparation for joining the FIA WEC’s Hypercar ranks next year.
Dan Sayers, who is leading the Venture Engineering crew operating the car, insists that results are very much a secondary focus behind crew development. But with a line-up containing Mike Rockenfeller and Sebastien Priaulx, alongside ELMS race winner Jonas Ried, it’s hard to imagine them running anywhere other than near the front.
Defending champion Panis Racing has undergone a rebrand for 2026, with it now sporting a new number, #29, and under the ‘Forestier Racing by Panis’ banner. Esteban Masson and Oliver Gray will seek to defend their title, with them being joined by rookie Louis Rousset, who competed for Forestier by VPS in the Le Mans Cup last year.
With only six races, it’s often said that consistency is the key to winning an ELMS title, and if that is the case, then Inter Europol Competition should be considered a favourite. Its #43 ORECA finished second in the championship last year, after finishing second in five consecutive races, and its Le Mans-winning trio of Jakub Smiechowski, Tom Dillmann and Nick Yelloly are all returning this term.
The Polish team’s second entry, the #34, is the only two-driver effort in the field, with Bijoy Garg and last year’s Barcelona pole sitter Reshad De Gerus set to share duties.
Last season, Genesis Magma Racing pioneered the model now being adopted by Ford, as it teamed up with IDEC Sport to field the #18 ORECA. This effort returns for 2026, although its focus is now on driver development rather than teaching a whole operation the quirks of sportswear racing. Jamie Chadwick will be joined by fellow Genesis Development drivers Valerio Rinicella and Laurents Hörr this year.
The 2019 champion will also field its #28 ORECA, with Paul Lafague, Paul-Loup Chatin and Job van Uitert all returning.
Elsewhere, Vector Sport and Nielsen Racing are both entering this season looking to build on their strongest seasons to date last year, when they finished fourth and fifth in the teams’ championship, respectively. Vector Sport will run an unchanged line-up of Ryan Cullen, Pietro Fittipaldi and Vladislav Lomko, whilst its the opposite story at Nielsen, where new signing Roy Nissany teams up with rookies Ed Pearson and Jack Doohan.
Meanwhile, reigning LMP3 drivers’ champions Theodor Jensen and Adrien Closmenil are making the step up to LMP2 with CLX Motorsport. The pair will be joined in the #37 ORECA by Ian Aguilera, who has also made a rapid rise through the ACO Pyramid.
Former champions United Autosports and Algarve Pro Racing complete the 11-car LMP2 field, with both squads looking to bounce back from underwhelming 2025 campaigns. United has signed Australian Griffin Peebles, who impressed in the Asian Le Mans Series over the off-season, to join Ben Hanley and Gregoire Saucy in a #22 ORECA, which must enter amongst the contenders, although the team start the season on the back foot following its fire during the official test earlier this week.
APR, meanwhile, will give pre-season test pace-setter Jake Hughes his LMP2 debut in the #25 ORECA, alongside Matthias Kaiser and Tristan Vautier.
LMP2 Pro/Am will feature a record grid of 12 cars this year.
AO by TF returns with ‘Spike the Dragon’, its #99 ORECA for PJ Hyatt, Louis Deletraz and Dane Cameron. The defending champions form one of just two unchanged line-ups in the class, with United’s #21 ORECA being the other.
AO by TF’s closest rivals last year, Algarve Pro Racing, has an all-new squad of Michael Jensen, Malthe Jakobsen and Enzo Trulli. All three have raced with the team before, although they are all combining together for the first time.
The Portuguese outfit will also be supporting LMP2 returnee Team Virage, and its #19 ORECA, which is being backed by Dubai-based supercar manufacturer Rossa. This effort brings inaugural LMP2 Pro/Am drivers’ champion John Falb back into APR’s ELMS fold, alongside Manuel Espirito Santo and Rik Koen.
The core of Algarve Pro Racing’s driving strength from last year, Kriton Lentoudis and Peugeot Hypercar development driver Alex Quinn, have switched to Nielsen Racing’s #27 ORECA, where they will be joined by the always rapid James Allen.
Former champion Francois Perrodo, and his #83 AF Corse entry, should never be discounted, especially with the arrival of 2024 Le Mans winner Antonio Fuoco to join Perrodo and former Alpine Hypercar driver Matthieu Vaxiviere. The Italian squad is the defending overall winner at Barcelona, following Vaxiviere’s late-race charge on new tyres last year.
Duqueine Team has undergone a significant overhaul over the off-season, entering a partnership with R-ace GP and switching to LMP2 Pro/Am. The signing of qualifying ace Giorgio Roda means that the team’s ORECA will automatically be one to watch on Qualifying days, with another Peugeot development driver, Doriane Pin, and rookie Richard Verschoor completing the crew.
Defending overall drivers’ champion Charles Milesi has made the switch to the Pro/Am ranks for 2026, with the factory Alpine Hypercar driver set to share CLX Motorsport’s #47 ORECA with Georgios Kolovos and Felipe Fraga.
DKR Engineering and Proton Competition both field new liveries and line-ups, including the latter bringing the popular Felbermayr colours back to the grid as Horst Felbermayr Jr. and Horst Felix Felbermayr make their ELMS LMP2 debuts.
Vector Sport will run a second LMP2 car for the first time, for Lorenzo Fluxá, Cem Bolukbasi and Jens Reno Møller, whilst two-time IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup champion Steven Thomas has switched to TDS Racing’s ELMS programme for this year. The American will be joined by Scott Huffaker and Sami Meguetounif in the #14 ORECA.
For the second season of the third generation of LMP3 in the ELMS, the field has remained at 10 cars, with only subtle changes to the grid complexion compared to last year.
CLX Motorsport dominated the category in 2025, winning five out of six races. Paul Lanchere returns to the #17 Ligier JS P325 – Toyota to defend his drivers’ title, with Alexander Jacoby and Bruno Ribeiro joining him this year.
Stepping up to the ELMS for the first time is reigning Michelin Le Mans Cup champion R-ace GP, which will field the sole Duqueine D09 in the field, #85, for the competitive Fabian Michal, Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Hugo Schwarze.
CLX’s LMP3 dominance was exaggerated last season by the competitiveness of the field behind. Team Virage, Eurointernational, Inter Europol Competition, Racing Spirit of Leman, Ultimate and M Racing all placed their Ligiers on the podium on at least one occasion last season, and will be hoping to mount a more consistent challenge this year.
Ligier’s numerical advantage has been reinforced for 2026, with two teams switching to the French marque. DKR Engineering has moved over from Ginetta, whilst Rinaldi Racing, which is no longer running in partnership with WTM, has swapped from the Duqueine.
The grid is completed by the 14-car LMGT3 field, which has grown by one entry compared to 2025.
Last season, TF Sport triumphed in a thrilling title battle, with seven cars still in contention entering the final race.
The British squad will attempt to defend its title this year, albeit with an overhauled line-up aboard its #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R. Charlie Eastwood is the only returnee, with Blake McDonald and Alec Udell joining him. Tom Ferrier did try to get a second Vette on the grid this year, but it didn’t make the selection, meaning Hiroshi Koizumi will not defend his crown.
In contrast, TF’s closest challengers last year, Richard Mille AF Corse, will run an unchanged line-up of Custodio Toledo, Riccardo Agostini and Lilou Wadoux in its #50 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo. Wadoux, however, will miss the season opener due to a clash with GT World Challenge Europe, with AF Corse FIA WEC regular Francesco Castellacci taking her place.
The Italian team will once again field three GT cars this year, with the #50 Ferrari being joined by the #51 AF Corse and #55 Spirit of Race efforts. These are joined by two cars from Kessel Racing, and a single entry from GR Racing, as the ‘Prancing Horse’ retains its numerical advantage despite the omission of JMW Motorsport from the grid.
Kessel Racing has brought in Genesis Magma Racing Hypercar driver Mathys Jaubert for its Car Guy-backed #57 296 LMGT3 Evo, whilst Romain Leroux has joined the sister #74 car, and GR has signed Lorcan Hanafin and Mex Jansen.
Racing Spirit of Leman finished third last season, and following its FIA WEC exit, the ELMS is now the French-flagged squad’s premier programme. The #59 Aston Martin, the only Vantage AMR LMGT3 in the field, has added Marius Fossard to its crew of Clement Mateu and Valentin Hasse-Clot.
Of the outsiders, 2024 champion Iron Lynx showed plenty of promise during their first season with the Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 last season, but three retirements proved too much for them to mount a challenge. The Italian squad will field two cars this year, including one with Team Qatar backing. Its driving strength includes defending champion Rui Andrade in the #63 AMG.
ELMS returnee High Class Racing has signed Porsche factory driver Laurin Heinrich to lead its #54 911 GT3 R (992.2) LMGT3 crew, with the young German teaming up with regulars Anders Fjordbach and Dennis Andersen.
Two more of the new Evo-spec Porsches are entered by Proton Competition, which is the defending winner at Barcelona, when it fielded the Iron Dames. Both of the German squad’s Bronze-rated drivers, ‘Bankcy’ and Matt Kurzejewski, are ELMS debutants, although the return of two-time champion Richard Lietz to the series helps in the experience department, and Porsche contracted driver Harry King will also be well worth watching.
United Autosports’ #23 McLaren LMGT3 Evo completes the class of 2026. The British brand showed flashes of promise on its ELMS debut last year, but outside of a podium finish in the finale, it was unable to convert its pace into results. For the unchanged trio of Michael Birch, Garnet Patterson and Wayne Boyd the target must be to deliver these results more often this year.
The 2026 European Le Mans Series begins with the 4 Hours of Barcelona, on 10th to 12th April 2026.
