2026 marks the 10th year of the current era of LMP2, which has seen the ORECA 07 – Gibson became the class’ de facto option.
This year’s grid features 19 entries, the largest since 2023, with nine of them eligible for LMP2 Pro/Am. The LMP2 ‘Pro’ field is set to be a clash of the European Le Mans Series’ heavyweights, whilst Pro/Am is set to be a showdown between some of the best crews from the ELMS, IMSA and Asian Le Mans Series.
It’s worth noting that, as has been the case since 2024, LMP2 is not a regular fixture in the FIA World Championship, meaning that all 19 cars present either earned automatic invitations or were chosen by the ACO selection committee.
With a proven package underneath each entry, LMP2 often offers some of the closest competition at Le Mans each year, with flat-out racing for 24 hours to be expected.
All cars are the ORECA 07 – Gibson
LMP2 – 10 cars
#9 Proton Competition 🇩🇪
Jonas Ried 🇩🇪 (S) / Kakunoshin Ohta 🔰🇯🇵 (G) / Harry King 🔰🇬🇧 (G)
Proton Competition’s #9 ORECA, which is fielded in association with Ford Racing in the European Le Mans Series, will instead run with backing from the Japanese seven x seven racing outfit at Le Mans.
Jonas Ried is the consistent feature in the line-up, for his fourth consecutive start at the event, with him joined at Le Mans by Harry King and Kakunotshin Ohta.
Backed by Porsche and Honda respectively, both have limited LMP2 experience, and are making their Le Mans debut, meaning that although this line-up features plenty of talents, it may lack the experienced hand to steer it in the right direction.
What counts in Proton’s favour is, after a disappointing first LMP2 start at the race in 2024, it bounced back strongly last year with fourth in LMP2, and third in LMP2 Pro/Am.
#22 United Autosports 🇬🇧
Rasmus Lindh 🔰🇸🇪 (S) / Grégoire Saucy 🇨🇭 (S) / Mikkel Jensen 🇩🇰 (P)
After a difficult 2025, especially in the ELMS, United Autosports has started 2026 on the front foot with a podium finish at Barcelona followed by hard fought victory at Circuit Paul Ricard and the championship lead.
From its ELMS line-up, only Gregoire Saucy will also drive in this car at Le Mans, but with his new co-drivers being Hypercar ace Mikkel Jensen, and IMSA LMP2 drivers’ championship leader Rasmus Lindh, a drop in performance cannot be forecast.
A two-time Le Mans winner, United knows how to get the job done at the Circuit de la Sarthe, and in 2024 proved it can do so even with a one-off driver line-up. On its 10th outing at Le Mans, as the championship leader in both the ELMS and IMSA, the expectation is for the Yorkshire-based team to battle for a third class win before it competes for its maiden overall victory in Hypercar next year.
#24 Nielsen Racing 🇬🇧
David Heinemeier Hansson ☆🇩🇰 (S) / Edward Pearson 🔰🇬🇧 (S) / Jack Doohan 🔰🇦🇺 (P)
Having raced in LMP2 Pro/Am last year, Nielsen Racing has returned to the LMP2 ‘Pro’ ranks for 2026, with David Heinemeier Hansson rejoining the team for his 13th Le Mans start.
The Dane will be joined by two of Nielsen’s ELMS regulars, Le Mans rookies Jack Doohan and Ed Pearson, who are both in their first sportscar season’s having made their names in single-seaters.
With a pair of Silver-ranked drivers, Nielsen, on paper, might struggle against its higher-rated opposition, but the same logic applies to its ELMS effort, where it was in the podium battle at Barcelona before a suspension failure in the closing minutes.
#26 Vector Sport 🇬🇧
Ryan Cullen 🇬🇧 (S) / Vladislav Lomko 🇬🇩 (G) / Pietro Fittipaldi 🇧🇷 (P)
After missing out an entry last year (although it supported RLR MSport’s effort), Vector Sport returns to Le Mans following its best season to-date in the ELMS, where it scored multiple podium finishes and finished fourth in the championship.
It has retained its 2025 crew of Ryan Cullen, Pietro Fittipaldi and Vladislav Lomko for both the ELMS and Le Mans, with this trio having carried on its momentum with a consistent start to the ELMS season, suggesting that Vector can fancy its chances of improving on its fifth-place finish from 2024.
Experience should also be no issue for what is still one of the newest teams in the race, with all three drivers having made multiple Le Mans starts, with Lomko’s second-place in 2024 the best finish amongst them.
#28 IDEC Sport 🇫🇷
Paul Lafargue 🇫🇷 (S) / Valerio Rinicella 🔰🇮🇹 (G) / Job van Uitert 🇳🇱 (G)
IDEC Sport will focus around a single car this year, as it looks to avenge a disastrous 2025 Le Mans appearance.
Hopes were high for the French squad, with it heading to Le Mans with the services of three-time overall winner André Lotterer and prominent support from Genesis Magma Racing for one of its entries, but both cars retired after loosing wheels.
The Genesis ties have taken a step back for this year, although Trajectory Programme member Valerio Rinicella will feature in the line-up, with the young Italian taking the seat occupied in the ELMS by Paul-Loup Chatin alongside Paul Lafargue and Job van Uitert.
2025 aside, IDEC Sport have ran well at Le Mans as of late, including pole position in 2023 and a podium finish in 2024, and although test times mean very little, it should be noted that the #28 ORECA was quickest on Sunday.
#29 Forestier Racing by Panis 🇫🇷
Louis Rousset 🔰🇫🇷 (S) / Oliver Gray 🇬🇧 (S) / Esteban Masson 🇫🇷 (G)
Last year, the TDS Racing-run Panis effort came up just short of LMP2 victory, with Oliver Gray, Esteban Masson and Franck Perera suffering a front-left suspension issue whilst leading in the final hour.
Panis somewhat made up for this disappointment by clinching its maiden ELMS title, and has carried this from into 2026, with a win at Barcelona followed by another strong run at Circuit Paul Ricard, where it was in contention for victory inside the final hour before retiring.
Gray has been upgraded to Gold by the FIA over the off-season, meaning that the team has instead found a new Silver-rated driver, Louis Rousset, who competed in the Road to Le Mans support race last year, to join the Briton and Toyota development driver Masson.
Also new is backing from Forestier Racing, which replaces VDS as title partner, as Panis seeks a first Le Mans win in his 15th start across his driving and team owner careers.
The major question-mark for the #29 ORECA is how 27-year-old Rousset, in just his third LMP2 start, will go on his Le Mans debut. If the Frenchman adapts as well as he has done so far in the ELMS, Forestier Racing by Panis will almost certainly be a contender.
#30 Duqueine Team 🇫🇷
Doriane Pin 🇫🇷 (S) / Julien Andlauer ☆🇫🇷 (G) / 🔰 Richard Verschoor 🇳🇱 (G)
An LMP2 Pro/Am competitor in the ELMS, Duqueine Team is stepping up to the main LMP2 category for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the addition of Porsche factory driver Julien Andlauer alongside team regulars Richard Verschoor and Peugeot development driver Doriane Pin.
Following a difficult couple of seasons, including the low point of ending up on the reserve list for last year’s event, the team has undergone a major off-season overhaul headlined by a new partnership with R-ace GP, which, with a pair of podium finishes in the ELMS, has so far proven to be a success.
Verschoor is the only Le Mans rookie in the line-up, although Andlauer hasn’t raced here in LMP2 before. Pin, therefore, provides, the Le Mans LMP2 experience to the team, having driven in the class for her only prior start in 2023.
Duqueine Team has traditionally put together some of its best races at Le Mans, headlined by a podium finish in 2023, and has a squad capable of contending for another podium finish this time around.
#37 CLX Motorsport 🇨🇭
Adrien Closmenil 🇫🇷 🔰(S) / Ian Aguilera 🔰🇲🇽 (S) / Theodor Jensen 🔰🇩🇰 (S)
CLX Motorsport is set to make a piece of Le Mans history this year, with the Swiss squad planning to field the youngest line-up in the event’s 103-year long history.
Ian Aguilera, Adrien Closmenil and Theodor Jensen will all be just 19 years old at the start of this year’s race, having graduated from the LMP3 ranks over the off-season. Closmenil and Jensen were both part of CLX’s all-conquering ELMS programme, which won five out of six races, in 2025, with Aguilera having provided part of their opposition.
The trio has made a solid start to life in LMP2, with a pair of top-eight finishes in the opening ELMS rounds, whilst also showing the pace for more, although the task of competing at Le Mans with three young rookies should not be underestimated.
#43 Inter Europol Competition 🇵🇱
Jakub Śmiechowski ⭐️🇵🇱 (S) / Tom Dillmann ⭐️🇫🇷 (G) / Nick Yelloly ⭐️🇬🇧 (G)
Defending winner Inter Europol Competition has kept its victorious trio from 12 months ago, Tom Dillmann, Jakub Smiechowski and Nick Yelloly, together for 2026, as the team seeks its third LMP2 win in four years.
Last year’s Le Mans victory was the outlier in a remarkable ELMS season for the trio, where they finished second on five consecutive occasions, on their way to second in the championship, and proved the consistency which makes them a natural threat for Le Mans.
The start to 2026 hasn’t been quite as strong, with the #43 ORECA missing out on the podium in both ELMS rounds, but this hasn’t been due to a lack of pace, with a power steering issue notably taking them out of contention at Barcelona.
#343 Inter Europol Competition 🇵🇱
Bijoy Garg ⭐️🇺🇸 (S) / Reshad de Gerus 🇫🇷 (G) / Nico Müller 🇨🇭 (P)
The Polish outfit’s chances of another win are bolstered by its #343 ORECA, with it the only team running two cars in the ‘main’ LMP2 category this year.
Its young pairing of Reshad de Gérus and Bijoy Garg, who won LMP2 on his only previous Le Mans start in 2024, have made a strong start to this year’s ELMS, finishing second, and fighting for the victory, at both Barcelona and Circuit Paul Ricard, as the only two-driver line-up on the grid.
At Le Mans, the pair will be joined by Porsche factory driver Nico Müller, who is adding a one-off Le Mans appearance to his FIA Formula E programme. The German last raced a LMP2 at the 2022 6 Hours of Monza, but has kept endurance racing-fresh through drives in Peugeot and Porsche Hypercars since.
LMP2 Pro/Am – 9 cars
#3 DKR Engineering 🇱🇺
John Farano 🇨🇦 (B) / Sebastián Álvarez 🇲🇽 (S) / Renger van der Zande 🇳🇱 (P)
DKR Engineering, like Vector and Duqueine, is another LMP2 squad making its Le Mans return this year, having only made the reserve list for the 2025 edition.
The Luxembourg-based outfit holds an impressive record across its four previous starts, with three consecutive LMP2 Pro/Am podium finishes from 2022 to 2024, which is especially notable given these account for all of the team’s LMP2 podiums in Europe.
Instead of its regular crew, DKR will instead feature three drivers from Tower Motorsports’ IMSA line-up, John Farano, Sebastián Alvarez and Renger van der Zande.
Acura IMSA GTP driver van der Zande is making his ninth consecutive Le Mans appearance, whilst Alvarez debuted last year, and Farano last competed here in 2019. All three know how to win 24-hour races (at least on the road – Alvarez and Farano lost last year’s Rolex 24 after their car failed post-race inspection), but it’s a question on delivering at Le Mans, an event none of them have had much luck at in the past.
#4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR 🇺🇸
George Kurtz ⭐️🇺🇸 (B) / Alex Quinn 🇬🇧 (S) / Laurin Heinrich 🇩🇪 (G)
Two-time LMP2 Pro/Am winner Algarve Pro Racing will again field two cars in the class, including one with CrowdStrike colours for the fourth year in-a-row.
CrowdStrike’s George Kurtz, who won in 2023, is joined by Peugeot Hypercar development driver Alex Quinn for the second consecutive year, with Porsche factory driver Laurin Heinrich completing the line-up.
With this not only his Le Mans debut, but also his LMP2 debut, the odds appear stacked against Heinrich, but if anyone is up to the task it is most likely the driver who opened this year with outright victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, in just his second and third-ever prototype starts.
CrowdStrike Racing by APR has started 2026 on stellar form, with a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in the Asian Le Mans Series, the latter of which booked its place on the grid.
#14 TDS Racing 🇫🇷
Tobias Lütke 🔰🇨🇦 (B) / Mathias Beche 🇨🇭 (G) / Kévin Estre ☆🇫🇷 (P)
Alongside Forestier Racing by Panis’ entry, TDS Racing will also run a car under its own banner for Tobias Lutke, Mathias Beche and Kevin Estre.
Bronze-rated Lutke has been on a rapid-rise through the sportscar ranks, and will now take on his first Le Mans in his second season of LMP2 racing. Beche, one of his co-drivers at the 24 Hours of Daytona earlier this year, provides the bulk of LMP2 experience, with the Swiss veteran having been a regular in the class since 2011.
The star name in this car, however, is undoubtedly Porsche factory driver Estre, who is returning to the LMP2 ranks for the first time since 2015 in the wake of the German marque’s withdrawal from Hypercar.
This car’s chances depend heavily on how well Lutke, the only Bronze-ranked rookie in LMP2 Pro/Am, gets up to pace.
#25 Algarve Pro Racing 🇵🇹
Michael Jensen 🇩🇰 (B) / Enzo Trulli 🔰🇮🇹 (S) / Jake Hughes 🔰🇬🇧 (G)
Algarve Pro Racing has also entered a car under its own name, for former Asian Le Mans Series champion Michael Jensen, Porsche Motorsport Asia-Pacific selected driver Enzo Trulli and former FIA Formula E driver Jake Hughes.
With only two previous Le Mans starts between them, both courtesy of Jensen, experience certainly isn’t one of the strengths of this crew, and therefore they will be relying heavily on support from their two-time class-winning team, which is competing at Le Mans for the 11th time.
Jensen and Trulli claimed LMP2 Pro/Am victory at the ELMS season opener at Barcelona, where they competed alongside Peugeot Hypercar driver Malthe Jakobsen. With the Dane therefore unavailable for Le Mans, Hughes has received the call-up to make his Le Mans debut.
The Briton is in his first year of sportscar racing, and has shown impressive pace so far, but will need to shake off a poor start to Le Mans week, having been involved in the most significant incident of the Test Day when he lost control on cold tyres and collected the #8 Toyota.
#44 Proton Competition 🇩🇪
Horst Felbermayr Jnr 🇦🇹 (B) / Horst Felix Felbermayr 🔰🇦🇹 (S) / Lorenzo Fluxá 🇪🇸 (G)
For fans of late 2000s GT racing, the #44 Proton Competition entry is likely to bring back some fond memories, as the blue of the Felbermayr family returns to a spectator-admitting edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time since 2012.
Horst Felbermayr Jr will be joined by his son, third-generation racer Horst Felix Felbermayr, as well as Lorenzo Fluxá, who competed with them in the Asian Le Mans Series over the winter. The trio, without an experienced professional, is far from the favourite in a stacked Pro/Am entry, but a top-five finish in Sepang proved that they are capable of challenging for a result.
Felbermayr Jr last competed at Le Mans in 2020, in a one-off return during the Covid-19 pandemic, with this his son’s debut, whilst Fluxá is the only one with prior LMP2 experience at the race having competed in the category for the past two editions.
#48 RD Limited 🇫🇷
Fred Poordad 🇺🇸 (B) / Tristan Vautier 🇫🇷 (G) / Romain Dumas 🇫🇷 (P)
After ending up on the reserve list last year, RD Limited will make its 24 Hours of Le Mans debut in 2026, with a Pro/Am effort for Fred Poordad, Tristan Vautier and team owner Romain Dumas.
Dumas is set to make his 24th start at the race, having previously raced in 23 consecutive years from 2001 to 2023. This will be his first LMP2 start since 2019, as he looks to add another category to his previous LMP1 and LMGTE Pro triumphs.
Poordad and Vautier, meanwhile, have competed for the team in its past two Asian Le Mans Series campaigns, including for its impressive win on debut at Sepang in 2024, and subsequent title challenge.
American Poordad is making his second Le Mans start, following on from a drive with Dempsey-Proton Racing in LMGTE Am in 2022. With neither of his teammates having raced a LMP2 at Le Mans this decade, in the only new team in the class this year, a lot will fall on the shoulders of the experienced Vautier, who has twice raced an ORECA 07 here but is also a regular in the class globally.
#99 AO by TF 🇺🇸
PJ Hyett ⭐️🇺🇸 B / James Allen ⭐️🇦🇺 (G) Dane Cameron ⭐️🇺🇸 (P)
Defending LMP2 Pro/Am winner AO by TF is introducing another of its famous characters for this year’s event, with Rockie the Pegasus taking the place of Spike the Dragon through a tie-up with Mobil 1.
The Anglo-American collaboration was set to defend its victory with an unchanged driver line-up, but Louis Delétraz’s late promotion to Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s #12 Hypercar means that James Allen, the only multi-time LMP2 Pro/Am winner in the class’ five-year history, joins PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron this time around.
That Le Mans victory began a strong second-half to the season for AO last year, with it going on to add the IMSA LMP2 and ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am titles, earning it a pair of automatic invites, of which one was taken up. The team’s start to 2026 hasn’t been quite as strong, with repeated misfortune limiting top results, but a pole position and second-place finish at the Circuit Paul Ricard ELMS round means they at least ended their preparation with some silverware.
Hyett, who is rated by many as one of, if not the, best Bronze-ranked LMP2 driver on the planet, will likely play a key role in the team’s chances, especially give the six-hour minimum drive time during which he’ll hope to gain on his Bronze peers.
#183 AF Corse 🇮🇹
François Perrodo ⭐️🇫🇷 (B) / Matthieu Vaxivière 🇫🇷 (G) / Ben Barnicoat ⭐️🇬🇧 (P)
AF Corse will be eager to reclaim its Le Mans LMP2 Pro/Am crown this year, with the 2024 winner having missed out on the podium 12 months ago.
François Perrodo is again its Bronze-rated driver, for his 14th consecutive start at the event, with Matthieu Vaxiviere and Ben Barnicoat joining the Frenchman. This will be Vaxiviere’s first Le Mans start alongside Perrodo since 2019, although the pair have been co-drivers in the ELMS for the past four seasons.
Barnicoat, meanwhile, is making his return to Le Mans after a year away, having missed the 2025 edition through injury. The Briton, who was part of the 2024 winning crew, is filling the seat usually occupied by Antonio Fuoco, who is on Ferrari Hypercar duty.
#222 United Autosports 🇬🇧
Daniel Schneider 🇧🇷 (B) / Ben Hanley 🇬🇧 (G) / Oliver Jarvis ⭐️🇬🇧 (P)
United Autosports will field an LMP2 Pro/Am entry alongside its #22 ORECA, with Daniel Schneider returning for his second attempt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Brazilian will once again be joined by Ben Hanley (fresh from an ELMS win at Paul Ricard) and Oliver Jarvis, offering him not only a pair of experienced teammates, but also an unchanged trio from his debut, with this the only entry in the LMP2 Pro/Am field to keep all three drivers from 12 months ago.
Schneider, traditionally, has not been the quickest Bronze driver in the field, but consistency has put the car in position to pick up strong results, such as a podium finish in last year’s ELMS round at Spa. Following a year of learning last year, the hope will be that the #222 crew can kick on and challenge for a podium this time around.
Images courtesy of Peter ‘Pedro’ May and Andrew Lofthouse
