The 2024 European Le Mans Series will feature a 42 car entry with a record 22 LMP2 cars, 8 in the Pro-am class for cars featuring a Bronze rated driver in their line-up, and 14 in the full LMP2 class.
The supporting LMP3 and GT3 cars will have 10 cars and 11 cars respectively with, for the first time, a three car reserve list.
The total marks the addition of a single car over the proposal made by organisers LMEM to the ELMS teams in October marking the demand for entries, understood to have seen well over 60 entry requests.
LMP2
In the LMP2 class, 2023 champions Algarve Pro Racing bring back Alex Lynn in their #25 Oreca but with two new team-mates, Olli Caldwell and Matthias Kaiser.
Nielsen Racing field Will Stevens and Nico Pino in their first class entry, while United Autosports field a pair of Orecas in the class with Ben Hanley and a returning Filipe Albuquerque the solo named drivers thus far in each.
IDEC Sport name Paul Lafargue but are understood to be featuring an otherwise all-changed squad.
Duqueine Team name 2023 drivers Champion James Allen alongside Thai racer Carl Wattana Bennett.
Cool Racing and Inter Europol Competition expand to a pair of cars apiece in the class, ELMS rookie of the year in 2023 Alex Garcia is named in one of the Swiss cars whilst in the other the line-up is complete with an eye-catching line-up featuring Peugeot Hypercar development driver Malthe Jakobsen, Toyota Hypercar development driver Ritomo Miyata and Lorenzo Fluxa.
InterEuropol have named full squads for both of their cars: Kuba Smiechowski shares the #34 car with Clement Novalak and Jonathan Aberdein. Sebastian Alvarez, Vlad Lomko and Tom Dillmann crew the sister #43 Oreca.
Panis Racing are back too, Manuel Maldonado returning for a second year with the French squad.
After their disappointment with the Isotta Fraschini Hypercar programme, Vector Sport get an entry in the ELMS, Ryan Cullen and Gabriel Aubry named thus far.
TF Sport field an entry under the AO by TF banner with Robert Kubica named, but there is no Racing Team Turkey effort listed.
The final car in the class is listed for Iron Lynx-Proton with Jonas Ried, the collaboration from 2023 in GTE carried over into LMP2 for 2024.
LMP2 Pro-Am
Whilst the top LMP2 class has grown from 8-14 cars, LMP2 Pro-Am contracts from 11 cars in 2023 to a still healthy eight entries.
Included in the number is a third United Autosports Oreca with Daniel Schneider and Andy Meyrick together for a second season, with Oliver Jarvis completing the line-up.
Nielsen Racing carry on in the class too, welcoming John Falb back to the ELMS after a season away, the Las Vegas businessman is joined by a full season LMP2 debut for Colin Noble.
Algarve Pro Racing’s Pro-AM car sees them back as a two-car team once again, Kriton Lentoudis stepping up from GTE last season and joined by Richard Bradley.
Returning Champions AF Corse field the line-up currently contesting the Asian Le Mans Series for Francois Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Alessio Rovera.
Proton Competition are the final team with a car in each LMP2 class, their #77 Oreca lists Giorgio Roda.
DKR Engineering and Team Virage both return: DKR listing Tom van Rumpoy, Virage with Rob Hodes and Ian Rodriguez.
The final car is another Series returnee, TDS Racing back after a year away with a car under the Richard Mille by TDS banner with Rodrigo Sales, Mathias Beche and Gregoire Saucy, the young Swiss initially understood to be the anchor man for a potential ART GP entry that has not emerged.
LMP3
As predicted by DSC, 10 cars feature on the LMP3 list with only one two-car team, the ‘under new ownership’ RLR MSport team. James Dayson and Horst Felbrmayer are the two nominees thus far.
Across the entry, there are two Duqueines vs eight Ligiers.
DKR Engineering named Belen Garcia whilst WTM by Rinaldi fields an unchanged crew from 2023 in the Duqueine teams.
Eurointernational are down to a single car from their previously regular two Ligiers.
There are single car Ligier entries too from reigning Champions Cool Racing, 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup Champions Team Virage, Ultimate, InterEuropol Competition and Racing Spirit of Leman
LMGT3
LM GT3 has been boosted to 11 cars from the planned 10 in the wake of a bumper demand for entries, the ELMS running the cars in identical specification to the WEC.
In total, the 11 cars are comprised of 6 x Ferrari 296 GT3s, a pair apiece of Porsche 911 GT3Rs and Aston Martin Vantage GT3s and a solo Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.
The six Ferraris see a trio of single-car entries for GR Racing, Mike Wainwright moving over from the FIA WEC in the new car he is currently campaigning in the Asian LMS, Kessel Racing, understood to have requested two entries but getting just one with Takeshi Kimura and Daniel Serra currently listed and JMW Motorsport, Jim McWhirter’s outfit set to continue their long run n the European Series having secured a new 296 GT3 and listing Jeff Segal!
The other trio of prancing horses are all squads serviced by AF Corse with Formula Racing returning alongside the Spirit of Race-branded #55 of Duncan Cameron (who returns once again with David Perel and Matt Griffin) and an AF Corse-badged effort for Michelin Le Mans Cup graduate Charles Henri Samani who will share with Manu Collard.
The new and heavily updated Aston Martin has a pair of single-car efforts, Racing Spirit of Leman another team stepping up as Champions from the Michelin Le Mans Cup. Valentin Hasse-Clot joined by American racer Derek DeBoer.
TF Sport meanwhile will be one of three teams fielding two different brands of LM GT3 cars in 2024, they enter an Aston Martin in the ELMS (alongside their WEC Corvettes) for 2023 JMW pairing Martin Berry and Lorcan Hanafin named in an entry under the Grid Motorsport by TF banner.
The other two teams will both field Porsches in the ELMS, Proton Competition continuing with the German brand alongside their WEC Ford Mustangs, their single car featuring Iron Lynx co-owner Claudio Schiavoni.
Alongside is another surprise, the Iron Dames, alongside their WEC Lamborghini, will contest the ELMS in a Proton-run Porsche!
Finally, Iron Lynx will field a single Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for yet another Michelin Le Mans Cup graduate, Japanese racer Hiroshi Hamaguchi.
Lamborghini then is the only additional GT brand to join the LMS entry that was not represented in the GTE era to last season.
