The current entry list for the two day ELMS Prologue test days on Tuesday and Wednesday numbers 42 cars with five posted full season entries not listed (see below), two additional invitational LMP3s set to run, and the Garage 56 Le Mans entered SRT 41 Morgan Nissan that will join the ELMS grid at SIlverstone also set to run.
The five cars not listed are a mixed bag:
The defending Champion car, the #1 Greaves Motorsport Gibson Nissan is not believed to be entered for the test and may well yet not compete for the season, more details today we hope.
The #21 Dragonspeed Oreca Nissan was otherwise engaged over the weekend racing in the 12 Hours of Sebring, and almost making the podium! The ELMS Series management were aware of and approved the team’s absence.
Eurointernational field one of their planned pair of LMP3 entries, the #11 car on the Test entry, the #12 not slated to be present. The regulations state that at least one car from every participating team must be present at the test.
It’s a similar story for Proton Competition, their #77 Porsche is set to be at the test , the #88 not so much!
It may well be the case that this is the explanation too behind the absence of the #59 TDS AMR Aston Martin from the Test Day list, the team has their LMP2 Oreca listed, but very little indeed has been heard on this entry. We’ll be making a conversation with the team an early priority!
One other change to the test day entry that is set to be revealed tomorrow is that the Murphy Prototypes entered Riley Ave AR-3 LMP3 entry will be represented at the test by a Ginetta, the US built car not yet ready, and not looking likely at present to make round one. That’s particularly sad with the #14 car the only full season entry in the 19 car LMP3 class that is not a Ligier chassis! The team will be fielding the University of Bolton/ Team RLR Ginetta for the test, and potentially for Silverstone’s Round One too!
There will be two LMP3 guest entries for the test days with Kox Racing set to run on Tuesday with their brand new Ligier Nissan, the car set to run a very limited (non-ELMS) race programme in 2016 whilst car owner Nico Pronk adapts to the prototype racer. The car was delivered to Paul Ricard on Saturday and shook down yesterday, this the 48th Ligier JSP3 chassis!
The other guest entry is the ARC Bratislava Ginetta Nissan, this the ex-Lanan Racing car which Miro Konopka intended to enter in the ELMS but missed the entry deadline by 24 hours, the car is now set to feature in the Asian Le Mans Series with the effort potentially set to expand to 2 cars – Gaetan Paletou did a deal to test the car after meeting Konopka at the Blancpain GT test 10 days ago though the crew are amongst a number of outfits badly affected by the continuing Air traffic control strike here in France.
Panis Barthez Competition are amongst a number of teams with news to publish today, the high profile team led by Olivier Panis will reveal their livery, and the final driver line-ups for their LMP2 and LMP3 Ligiers, the team tested the LMP3 car at Paul Ricard on Saturday and Sunday. When asked whether the team would enter the LMP3 car in the Le Mans support race Panis offered the view that they would likely concentrate on the LMP2 effort for the main race though “We may hand over the car to another team, perhaps Graff, to run the P3 car for us that weekend.”
News will come too today from SMP Racing on final driver line-ups, the entry will start the year as a fully SMP Racing monickered effort with Yves Courage’s much trumpeted involvement apparently kicking in later in the season.
GG
