Following Porsche Penske Motorsport’s exit from the Hypercar category at the end of last year, several leading stars were left at risk of missing out on the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, a reality only compounded by no additional Porsches joining Manthey’s pair of full-time FIA WEC LMGT3 cars on the grid.
The allure of the event, however, has proven too much for some of them, with half of Porsche’s IMSA GTP roster finding drives in the LMP2 category to continue, or in one case begin, their streak of starts at the Circuit du 24 Heures du Mans.
Kévin Estre, overall runner-up last year alongside Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell, has joined TDS Racing for his 12th consecutive appearance. The 37-year-old will share the LMP2 Pro/Am-entered #14 ORECA O7-Gibson LMP2 with Mathias Beche and Tobias Lutke.
“There’s no Porsche Hypercar here, and and there’s no Porsche GT which is not competing outside WEC, so there was no spot there, and I still wanted to do Le Mans,” he explains.
“Not in any conditions, in a car to be able to win in category, and there was this opportunity in LMP2 with TDS.
“I had a few calls early this year, when the teams got there entries and stuff, and TDS was one of them. I’m really glad they did, because it’s a team I appreciate. I drove with them like 10 years ago in a GT, I’ve always stayed in touch with them, and they are a great team in LMP2, so I’m happy.”
Julien Andlauer, meanwhile, has joined Duqueine Team, where he will drive the #30 ORECA alongside Doriane Pin and Richard Verschoor.
“It came about over the last few months,” he explains. “I’ve been talking to a few different teams, I had good opportunities, and I decided to go for Duqueine. With a great line-up, it felt like it was the best project for me, so I’m happy to team up with Doriane and Richard, and I think we have a good potential together with the team.”
For Andlauer, pursuing a seat in which to make his ninth consecutive Le Mans start was a no-brainer, given the role the race has played in the 26-year-old’s career to-date.
“Le Mans is part of my journey,” he states.
“Without Le Mans, I wouldn’t be here today. I’ve been doing Le Mans for the last eight years, and without Le Mans I probably would not be able to tick a lot of the boxes of who I am as a driver etc.”
“It’s one of my favourite races, so it was definitely not a question to try to find a good opportunity But if it was not a good opportunity, where I could have good fun in a team with good potential, I would probably be home. I’d be sad about that, but it worked out, and in the end I’m happy to be here with the team.”
Andlauer’s IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup co-driver Laurin Heinrich makes up the third member of Porsche Penske’s LMP2 invasion, with the German making his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut alongside George Kurtz and Alex Quinn in CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s #4 ORECA.
“It’s not often nowadays that I find myself being a rookie, but I love it,” Heinrich says.
“I’m a Porsche factory driver, and unfortunately Porsche is not on the Hypercar grid this year, but I still really wanted to make my first experience at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There was no space in GT, so the only chance for me was to be in LMP2, but I think to make my first Le Mans in prototype is a great opportunity, and I have a strong team around me.
“Algarve Pro Racing, they’re so familiar with the car, well-known and successful, also in the 24 hours of Le Mans. It’s a very performance-orientated team, but at the same time it feels like a very big family, and actually it’s family-operated.
“That’s something I really like, because if I think back to my past, in 2017, my first year in racing cars, I was actually in our own family team. My father bought a used formula car, and we ran it, so I know how it is to race with the family team, and that’s where you feel home the most.
“For me, being a rookie, I’m not not afraid of the situation. I generally adapt pretty well to new cars, new tracks, but it will be a jump into the cold water. Being in a new car, first time at Le Mans and first time with a new team is a lot of first times, but I love the challenge.
Naturally, with them all in separate cars, and for separate teams, all three drivers are revelling the prospect of fighting one another outside of their usual environment, in a race they have all elected to enter for fun.
“I talked about it a few times together with Kévin, and I think it would be great to be fighting together,” Andlauer says. “I think we’re really happy to be here, and just looking forward to slightly different challenge.”
“We’re all focused on ourselves, but I think once the green flag drops on Saturday, there will be some rivalry, and we’ll try to beat each other,” comments Heinrich.
“We’re all here to win the race, so if we want to win the race, we need to beat the other PPM drivers, but it will be a fun scenario. Once you find out that in the car ahead or behind is one of your Porsche brand colleagues, it will be funny, and it will be a new type of challenge to fight each other in a different type of machinery.”
One area in which Andlauer holds an advantage is on the experience front, with the Frenchman the only one of the trio to have raced a current-generation LMP2 – admittedly in a different specification, and on different tyres, in the Asian Le Mans Series.
“To have this background driving the P2 for two winters in a row, I think that helps me a lot, because I know what to expect from the car,” Andlauer states. “But it’s also different layout, different tyres, so it’s going to be quite different. “I’ve done two days in Paul Ricard, and then two days at the workshop to work a bit on the Le Mans prep.”
This prep has been done with a Duqueine Team which has undergone substantial change since its previous Le Mans appearance two years ago, with all three drivers and a partnership with R-ace GP new for this year.
“It’s a brand new crew, a lot of good people working all together for the first time, so there is some coordination to find. But from the first day that we’ve done to the last day, I think there is great improvements. We hope for the win or podium. We’re not here just to drive around Le Mans, and it’s a team which tends to do well at Le Mans as well.”
Estre last raced in LMP2 in 2015, when he competed aboard an OAK Racing-run Ligier JS P2. His teammates on that occasion, notably, included his current IMSA GTP co-driver Laurens Vanthoor, who he has also gone on to race alongside at a further seven editions of Le Mans.
“To be honest, I don’t recall a lot of references from the LMP2 from 2015, because I’ve driven many different cars, especially in Le Mans, in between,” the 37-year-old admits.
“It’s a new challenge. It’s a different type of car, but I feel at least the team is ready, my teammates are ready, and I just have to get up to speed quite quickly, but I love this track, so I hope it’s going to compensate a lot.
“I just had one test session in Paul Ricard, just after the ELMS, probably 25 laps or something, which is not a lot, but I felt quite good in the car straight away.
“It’s obviously quite different to the Hypercar. You have no hybrid system, different tyres, and it’s a different car. The level of drivers is super high, and some people, which are specialists, drive these cars almost every week, so it’s going to be hard to beat them. I’m very humble, and I know what these drivers are capable to do, but the goal is definitely to try to win our category.”
Whilst the others have tested at Paul Ricard, Heinrich instead completed his pre-Le Mans running at Watkins Glen – ironic as because, until Wednesday, Heinrich was set to miss the IMSA race at Watkins Glen in favour of the Spa 24 Hours.
“We did a preparation test at Watkins Glen in April, so I got some laps to get used to the car at a track which was familiar to me, which helps but you don’t learn a car within one test day,” the rookie says.
“So I’m still building, but I like to adapt to new cars. It’s very different compared to the GTP that I’m used to, but I think it makes me a more complete driver to get to learn all categories of cars and to try to adapt as best as I can.”
Away from adapting to the ORECA 07, one challenge which all three drivers will face is getting used to racing in the middle category, which with traffic now a focus point in both directions.
“I think the traffic is going to be a bit different, but I used to drive in GT, so I used to get past all the time,” Estre states.
“Then I used to pass people the last years, and now I have to look forward and in the mirror, which is a bit different, but I think I’m going to be okay. It’s more the speed, making sure that you don’t do any mistake and holding the tyre for multiple stints.”
The 37-year-old, and Andlauer, will also have their learning opportunities by the need to accommodate track time for their rookie teammates. This is especially true in the case of Estre, whose rookie teammate is his Bronze-rated co-driver Lutke.
“The track time is very important for all of us, really,” Estre says.
“I think Matthias is the one who needs the least, because he knows this car and the team, and he’s done it many times in LMP2. For me, it’s going to be the first time, and Tobias has to get the rhythm. Le Mans is very special, it’s very fast. You also need to build it up, because the grip is coming throughout the weekend, so it’s different dynamic.”
Heinrich, meanwhile, has a pair of Le Mans LMP2 veterans alongside him, which means that the factory ace can learn plenty from them, as well as offering his own expertise back into the team.
“Being with George Kurtz and Alex Quinn, two drivers who have a strong history in LMP2 racing, is for me a very comforting fact,” the German explains.
“We think we can all learn off each other, which is great. We’re not afraid of asking any questions, and I think so far we have a very strong team dynamic, which in a race like this is very important, because you’re only three drivers. There’s still 24 hours to tackle, so you need to have a strong bond with your team, and so far it has been working pretty well.”
Andlauer will start the #30 Duqueine ORECA from sixth in LMP2 today, with the #4 CrowdStrike/APR car on the opposite row, and the #14 TDS car only one position behind it. It may not be in a Porsche-branded car, but any one of these three works aces can still make Porsche’s supporters around the world proud if they reach the top step of the LMP2 or P2 Pro/Am podium on Sunday.
Images © Dailysportscar.com
