The final automatic invitations to this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans have been awarded, following the conclusion of the Asian Le Mans Series this evening.
These teams will have the option to join the 35 full-season FIA World Endurance Championship competitors in June’s 62-car field. The remaining spaces on the grid will be filled by the ACO’s Selection Committee.
Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 champion CrowdStrike Racing by APR has become the sixth LMP2 invitee, joining VDS Panis Racing, Inter Europol Competition, AO by TF, CLX Motorsport and P.J. Hyett.
CrowdStrike Racing by APR scored three victories during its Asian Le Mans Series campaign, and only finished off the podium once, in the finale. Should the team choose to accept, it would be Algarve Pro Racing’s 11th consecutive appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
And by winning the Asian Le Mans Series GT title, Kessel Racing has earned itself a second automatic invitation for the LMGT3 category, with the Swiss outfit having already been awarded an invite courtesy of being the best Bronze Cup entrant in last season’s GT World Challenge Europe. This should see Kessel Racing compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the sixth time.
LMGT3 invites have also previously been awarded to TF Sport and Orey Fidani. Fidani is set to take up his invite with his own 13 Motorsports outfit, and its Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R.
The 11th and final invitation may be issued by IMSA, with the sanctioning body permitted to nominate a team to compete in the Hypercar category. However, DSC understands that IMSA is unlikely to hand out an invitation to enter. This is because the 2025 GTP championship-winning team, Porsche Penske Motorsport, is not eligible to race at Le Mans with the 963 due to Porsche’s withdrawal from Hypercar.
2026 24 Hours of Le Mans Automatic Invitations:
HYPERCAR
- TBA (IMSA At-Large Invite, unlikely to be handed out)
LMP2
- AO by TF (1st in ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am)
- CLX Motorsport (1st in ELMS LMP3)
- CrowdStrike Racing by APR (1st in AsLMS LMP2)
- Inter Europol Competition (2nd in ELMS LMP2)
- P.J. Hyett (1st in IMSA Jim Trueman Award)
- VDS Panis Racing (1st in ELMS LMP2)
LMGT3
- 2x Kessel Racing (1st in AsLMS GT; GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup)
- Orey Fidani (1st in IMSA Bob Akin Award)
- TF Sport (1st in ELMS LMGT3)
The 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans will be held from the 10th to the 14th of June 2026.
Image courtesy of Asian Le Mans Series
