It’s 42 cars for Round 2 of the 2016 European Le Mans Series at Imola with changes to report in each of the three classes.
In LMP2 the Silverstone victors G-Drive will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing Spa WEC guest appearance by consolidating their lead in the ELMS.
Notional title rivals Thiriet by TDS and Eurasia will look to get scores on the doors after dnfs at Round One.
There are two fewer LMP2 spec cars in Italy, 14 cars though is far from a disappointment, the second SMP Racing BR01 is not listed, and the Garage 56 Morgan will next be seen at the Le Mans Test Days.
The #32 BR01 though will be looking to go one better than their Silverstone second place whilst third place at Silverstone for the S024! by Lombard Ligier was a better result than the team could have imagined at the start, therein lies proof positive that staying out of trouble can be an effective strategy in a field this close, and this large.
Murphy Prototypes reshuffles the driver squad here. Silverstone debutant Sean Doyle returns to be joined by ex-Graff Racing LMP3 man Garry Findlay and 2015 Sunoco Challenge winner Paddy McClughan complete a youthful look to the #48 Oreca 03-R roster.
Krohn Racing see Olivier Pla back aboard the #40 Ligier after missing Silverstone (on Ford GTE duty). With Joao Barbosa joining the effort for Le Mans (Pla again on Ford duty) it will be three top pros in three consecutive races for the squad after Bjorn Wirdheim subbed for Pla last time out.
There is one further potential change in the class to be confirmed later this morning.
LMP3 sees a couple of important changes.
Eurointernational debut their second (#12) Ligier JSP3 for Andrea Dromedari and Fabio Mancini making it a 20 car entry this time out.
Murphy Prototypes make a change here too with their Silverstone Ginetta replaced by a rented Ligier this time out (from French VdeV outfit Be Engineering, which is an ELMS hopeful that’s here for a one-off round), an all Ligier LMP3 grid then.
Tony Ave meanwhile is back in the USA overseeing the final stages of homologation for his Ave Riley AR-2, the car now expected to debut at the ‘Road to Le Mans’ LMP3/ GT3 race in support of the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours.
The Murphy car will be crewed by Barry Baxter and experienced LMP racers Alex Kapadia and Rob Garofall, both men have LMP3 experience and Garofall won this race last year, ironically aboard the very Ginetta that the team have now parked. Hugh Chamberlain, who was team manager at Silverstone, is no longer with Murphy Prototypes.
United Autosports put on a masterclass last time out bringing home a deserved 1,2 ahead of Graff racing.
The task in hand will though surely become tougher as more of the 20 squads get miles under their wheels.
In GTE the RoFGO Aston Martin gives this one a miss after impressing at Silverstone with the controversial third place following a late race clash with the eventually 2nd placed AT Racing Ferrari.
Wolf Henzler is again in the #77 Proton Porsche, this his last planned outing in the car before Renger van der Zande takes over for the remainder of the ELMS season.
Alessandro Pier Guidi, who is on the entry driving in the AT Racing Ferrari, is being replaced by Davide Rigon due to a clash with his Blancpain commitments with AF Corse.
JMW will look to bounce back after their crushing disappointment first time out, a race win denied by post race inspection revealing an incorrectly assembled floor, the irony being that the correct parts would have made the #66 car faster!
That means that the #99 Aston Martin arrives leading the Championship standings after an impressive run from the Beechdean Ice Cream backed V8 Vantage GTE. In terms of drivers, Andrew Howard will be joined by Alex MacDowell and Darren Turner once again.
Jonny Adam, who was a named full-season driver for the team, is at the Blancpain Endurance Cup round at Silverstone driving for Oman Racing.
