The entry list for the 2019 4 Hours of Monza, the second round of the European Le Mans Series season, has been revealed.
It consists of 42 cars across the three classes, with an additional car, and various driver changes up and down the order.
In LMP2, there are 19 cars on the list. This is up from 18 at Paul Ricard, due to the previously announced addition of Cetilar Racing Villorba Corse. The Italian team, which has committed to racing in the FIA WEC next season, brings its Dallara P217 to the event, on its home soil, as part of its preparations for its first global campaign.
Driving its Dallara, which will run on Michelin tyres for the first time, will be Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Andrea Belicchi.
The other Dallara on the list, from Carlin, also sees a change, with Mazda Team Joest and Ford Performance driver Harry Tincknell taking his seat for the first time in the British-flagged P217.
The race in Italy will mark his maiden appearance in prototype racing with the Carlin team after he was forced to sit out the opening round of the season at Paul Ricard due to a clash with the IMSA race at Long Beach.
He will drive in the seat taken by his fellow Ford Performance WEC teammate Olivier Pla, and race alongside full-season drivers Jack Manchester and Ben Barnicoat.
Will Owen is another driver making his first ELMS start of the year after racing in the IMSA round at Long Beach on Paul Ricard weekend. He takes up his seat alongside Alex Brundle and Ryan Cullen at United Autosports in the #32 Ligier.
At DragonSpeed there’s also a driver change, the American team’s IndyCar and WEC LMP1 driver Ben Hanley sitting out the second round of the season after winning at Paul Ricard. He will be replaced by 2019 Rolex 24 Hours winner Renger Van Der Zande, who will share the team’s ORECA 07 Gibson with Henrik Hedman and James Allen.
Elsewhere in LMP2, G-Drive Racing’s Aurus, which will compete fresh from an appearance in the penultimate round of the FIA WEC at Spa as a guest entry, retains its line-up from the opener.
Frenchman Norman Nato will race for a second time with the Russian team in place of ex-F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne who has a clash with Formula E and will, therefore, have to wait until Round 3 of the season to begin his ELMS campaign.
Outside of LMP2, there’s a single change in GTE, as the #88 Proton Competition Porsche has two TBAs listed in its car, the only confirmed driver at this stage being Thomas Preining. At Paul Ricard, Marco Seefried and Horst Felbermayr Jnr competed for the German outfit.
The 4 Hours of Monza is set to take place on May 12th.
