Le Mans 24 Hours grid guide

LMP1

The LMP1 prototype rulebook is largely unchanged following major revisions for 2011 that included a downsizing of engine capacity, though there have been tweaks aimed at equating the performance of diesel and petrol cars. Most significantly, the fuel capacity for turbodiesels has been reduced from 65 to 60 litres, while the rulemakers have tried to reduce the diesel's power by seven per cent. The so-called grandfathered cars that ran at Le Mans last year - the likes of the V10 Judd-engined Pescarolo - finally disappeared after a swansong at the Sebring FIA WEC opener in March. The demise of the old cars means that all prototypes now have to run the Formula 1-style shark fin, introduced for last season as a means of preventing prototypes becoming airborne should they snap sideways. Another change, devised to work in conjunction with the fin, is the openings in the wheel arches.

Audi Sport Team Joest - Audi R18 e-tron quattro

#1 Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F), Marcel Fassler (CH)
Test day best: 3m26.468s (2nd in LMP1)
#2 Allan McNish (GB), Tom Kristensen (DK), Rinaldo Capello (I)
Test day best: 3m25.927s (1st in LMP1)

Audi hedges its bets by running two R18 e-tron hybrids and two non-hybrids, which combine to make its largest factory assault since the year of the German manufacturer's Le Mans debut in 1999. The hybrid crews comprise last year's winning line-up and the crew they are in the process of usurping as Audi's superteam - for which Capello makes almost certainly his Le Mans appearance in a prototype. McNish and co had the upper hand when Audi ran last year's R18 TDI at Sebring, but the younger line-up was on top as the best hybrid runner when the 2012 cars debuted in the Spa FIA World Endurance Championship round. The hybrid systems showed no problems over six hours at Spa and, according to Audi, the cars have proved reliable in testing. The e-tron has edge over the ultra on one-lap pace on the evidence of qualifying at Spa and the Le Mans Test Day.

Audi Sport Team Joest/North America - Audi R18 ultra

#3 Romain Dumas (F), Loic Duval (F), Marc Gene (E)
Test day best: 3m26.521s (3rd in LMP1)
#4 Mike Rockenfeller (D), Oliver Jarvis (GB), Marco Bonanomi (I)
Test day best: 3m28.765s (6th in LMP1)

Audi newcomer Duval, who shone in ORECA's Peugeot 908 in 2010-11, joins a reshuffled line-up in the lead non-hybrid R18 ultra. The Frenchman takes the place of the DTM-focused Rockenfeller, who joins up with Jarvis and Bonanomi in the second conventional R18. They arrive respectively from the DTM and a 2011 role as test and reserve driver. Timo Bernhard is still recovering from a neck injury sustained in testing the week after Sebring and has been replaced by former Peugeot Le Mans winner Gene, who played a crucial role in the ultra's Spa WEC victory. The two Audis are meant to be the same bar all the e-tron's gizmos, but there must be some advantages in terms of weight distribution for the ultra. That could explain its advantage on a dry circuit during the race in Belgium, though Audi is urging the world not to read too much into that performance.

Toyota Racing - Toyota TS030 HYBRID

#7 Alex Wurz (A), Nicolas Lapierre (F), Kazuki Nakajima (J)
Test day best: 3m27.204s (4th in LMP1)
#8 Anthony Davidson (GB), Sebastien Buemi (F), Stephane Sarrazin (F)
Test day best: 3m28.298s (5th in LMP1)

Toyota finally makes its Le Mans comeback, after more than a decade away, with a hybrid project that started as long ago as 2005. Cologne-based Toyota Motorsport GmbH is masterminding the Japanese manufacturer's campaign, as it did in GT-One times in 1998-99, with a petrol-powered hybrid that at one stage was destined to stay on the test track in 2012. This is started as a low-key assault in conjunction with the French ORECA team, but one that had to be ramped up when Peugeot axed its sportscar programme. (Toyota arguably saved the FIA World Endurance Championship.) Competing with Audi at Le Mans was always going to be a big ask for a car that didn't get the green light until October, more so after a major accident in testing interrupted TMG's development programme. Yet the TS030 showed strong pace at the Test Day and ran reliably over the eight hours, doing enough to suggest that it can challenge on pace and perhaps even reliability.

Rebellion Racing - Lola-Toyota B12/60

#12 Neel Jani (CH), Nick Heidfeld (D), Nicolas Prost (F)
Test day best: 3m36.878 (9th in LMP1)
#13 Andrea Belicchi (I), Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Harold Primat (CH)
Test day best: 3m35.375s (8th in LMP1)

The Swiss-backed Rebellion operation, run out of the UK by Bart Hayden's Sebah squad, returns to Le Mans to make its fourth assault on LMP1 with a pair of upgraded Toyota-engined Lolas and a black-and-gold livery courtesy of a link-up with Lotus. The team, which is contesting the WEC with both cars after fielding a solo car in last year's Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, has tweaked its driver line-up, bringing ex-Formula 1 star Heidfeld for three races in the lead car and putting Primat alongside highly-rated Belicchi for the full season. The new update on the Lola coupe design is clearly a step forward from the bespoke aero package Rebellion ran last year. Now with a race under its belt (it only had two days at Valencia with the revised cars ahead of its impressive debut at Spa), the team looks in the mix to repeat its best-of-the-rest result from last year. Belicchi ended up second P1 privateer at the Test Day, though with a time slower than the team's best from qualifying last year, The second car was parked early as a result of a suspenion pick-up point problem.

OAK Racing - OAK Pescarolo-Judd LMP1

#15 Dominik Kraihamer (A), Bertrand Baguette (B), Franck Montagny (F)
Test day best: 3m41.790s (13th in LMP1)

The Le Mans-based OAK Racing squad downgrades from two P1s to one for Le Mans in the wake of its giant four-car attack - across the two prototype classes - last year. Another aero update has kept the ageing Pescarolo design in the petrol ballpark, witness Guillaume Moreau's Sebring qualifying pace, but the team has yet to string it together with the Dunlop-shod car in a race this year. The team suffered a major set-back with a shunt at the Test Day that left Moreau in hospital with serious back injuries. Montagny steps in as his replacement.

Pescarolo Team - Pescarolo-Judd 03

#16 Emmanuel Collard (F), Jean-Christophe Boullion (F), Stuart Hall (GB)
Test day best: 3m40.385s (12th in LMP1)

Sportscar legend Henri Pescarolo's squad, the top privateer for more than a decade at the 24 Hours, has finally parked its 01 design that had its roots in a Courage of 2000 vintage in favour of a new car built around the monocoque and suspension of the ill-fated Aston Martin AMR-One. The Pesco 03 retains the look of the AMR-One, but every aerodynamic component with the exception of the rear wing is new. The project is behind schedule courtesy of financial problems, allowing just a straight-line shakedown and one brief run at Magny-Cours ahead of the Test Day. Hall was a last-minute addition to the driver line-up at the behest of Roald Goethe, the owner of the AMR-One, who provided the finance to finish the car. Engine ancillary problems and issues retaining a balance when the car was trimmed out held the car back at the Test Day.

Pescarolo Team - Dome-Judd S102.5

#17 Nicolas Minassian (F), Sebastien Bourdais (F), Seiji Ara (J)
Test day best: 3m37.149s (10th in LMP1)

Japanese constructor Dome made a late decision to blow the dust off its S102 LMP1 coupe that made its only previous race start at Le Mans in 2008. Veteran engineer Ricardo Divila then brokered the deal for Pescarolo to run the car, which has been reworked to the latest regulations and fitted with Judd's 3.4-litre V8 in place of its original V10 powerplant. Testing has been limited, but the team believes it has resolved the electronic glitches that blighted its performance in the Spa WEC race with a switch to the Megaline paddleshift system.

Strakka Racing - HPD ARX-03a

#21 Danny Watts (GB), Jonny Kane (GB), Nick Leventis (GB)
Test day best: 3m34.243s (7th in LMP1)

Silverstone-based Strakka moves back to LMP1 with the latest Honda Performance Development design after two successful years with the US organisation in LMP2, which included that amazing top-five finish at Le Mans in 2010. P1 will, of course, be a harder nut to crack, though the early hours of the Spa WEC race suggest that it can mix it with the best of the petrol-powered privateers, namely Rebellion Racing. There has to be question-mark in Strakka's ability to challenge for unofficial petrol honours over the full distance because, in Leventis, it has the only true amateur competing in P1.

JRM Racing - HPD ARX-03a

#22 David Brabham (AUS), Peter Dumbreck (GB), Karun Chandhok (IND)
Test day best: 3m37.358s (11th in LMP1)

The British JRM squad moves to the prototype ranks in the WEC with an HPD after winning last year's FIA GT1 World title with Nissan. Brabham and Dumbreck move with the team, while sportscar convert Chandhok should become the first Indian to race in the 24 Hours. JRM's decision to switch sportscar codes was made late and its HPD was finished in the paddock at Sebring. That said, the team had a podium chance when the suspension collapsed late on. The team had a difficult Spa and has, perhaps unduly, modest expectations for Le Mans.

LMP2

The cost-capped LMP2 formula and its pro-am format for privateers, which came into force for last season, has been a runaway success, at least in its ability to attract entries. A maximum price of €355,000 (around £309,000) and other cost controls go a long way to explaining the 20-car entry in P2 for the 24 Hours. The flip side is that the constructors are struggling to make a profit from selling the machinery at this price; their hope is that they make money on spares and consumables over the life of the car. The Pro-Am format demands that there is at least one amateur or 'silver'-rated driver in each car alongside the 'platinum' and 'gold' aces.

Signatech Nissan - ORECA-Nissan 03

#23 Franck Mailleux (F), Olivier Lombard (F), Jordan Tresson (F)
Test day best: 3m43.298 (9th in LMP2)
#26 Pierre Ragues (F), Nelson Panciatici (F), Roman Rusinov (RUS)
Test day best: 3m43.348s (11th in LMP2)

The French Signatech squad, still best known for its single-seater exploits as Signature, continues its sportscar adventure into a fourth season, for the first time retaining the same car/engine package for a second year. The team continues its relationship with Nissan, which means that Tresson, the second winner of the Playstation GT Academy, gets to race at Le Mans. Signatech finally expanded to two cars at Spa with the backing of Russian oil company G-Drive, but the team has so far failed to notch up a decent result courtesy of accidents and incidents. The pace has been there, however: the #23 car was running second when it crashed out on oil at Sebring and #26 was quick at Spa.

OAK Racing - Morgan-Judd/BMW P2 & Morgan-Nissan P2

#24 Olivier Pla (F), Matthieu Lahaye (F), Jacques Nicolet (F)
Test day best: 3m42.036s (4th in LMP2)
#35 Bas Leinders (B), Maxime Martin (B), David Heinemeier Hansson (DK)
Test day best: 3m41.291s (1st in LMP2)

The P2 version of OAK's Pescarolo-based design has got a new name in Morgan and an aerodynamic makeover since last year. Pla's qualifying pace at Sebring suggests that the Morgan is a match for anything in the class, though it has also resulted in a smaller restrictor for the Judd V8. That partly explains OAK's decision to hedge its bets and put a Nissan engine in its #35 car, which, in Pla's hands, topped the class times at the Test Day when Leinders and Martin were at Silverstone on Blancpain Endurance Series duty.

ADR-Delta - ORECA-Nissan 03

#25 Jan Charouz (CZ), John Martin (AUS), Tor Graves (GB)
Test day best: 3m42.731s (7th in LMP2)

Alan Docking Racing, which once ran Mazda's factory Le Mans campaigns, and motorsport engineering consultancy Delta have teamed up to mount an attack on the WEC, with an eye on a rapid move to P1. A near miss at Spa shows that the team and driver line-up, which has been tweaked for Le Mans with the addition of Charouz in place of Kerr, are already exploiting the ORECA-Nissan package to good effect.

Gulf Racing Middle East - Lola-Nissan B12/80

#28 Stefan Johansson (S), Fabien Giroix (F), Ludovic Badey (F)
Test day best: 3m46.063s (19th in LMP2)
#29 Jean-Denis Deletraz (CH), Marc Rostan (F), Keiko Ihara (J)
Test day best: 3m55.132s (21st in LMP2)

Giroix is back at Le Mans as a team owner for the first time since 1997, two years after his Jacadi-sponsored McLaren F1 GTR finished fifth. The Frenchman fields a pair of Nissan-engined Lolas in the full WEC out of workshops in France and Dubai for a line-up best described as mixed. Sebring was a disaster for the team, but sixth place for the lead car, with former Le Mans winner Johansson at the wheel, at Spa shows potential is there.

Status Grand Prix - Lola-Judd/BMW B12/80

#30 Alexander Sims (GB), Yelmer Buurman (NL), Romain Iannetta (F)
Test day best: 3m44.110s (14th in LMP2)

Anglo-Irish GP3 squad has expanded into sportscars in its own right in 2012 after lending technical and logistical support to Level 5 last year. The team has been competitive at every turn so far, finishing on the podium in its ELMS debut at Paul Ricard and being up there in the times at Spa prior to a big off from Sims that rendered the car hors combat before the race.

Lotus - Lola-Judd/BMW B12/80

#31 Thomas Holzer (D), Mirco Schultis (D), Luca Moro (I)
Test day best: 3m54.007s (20th in LMP2)

Lotus makes it to LMP2 after aborting plans to build its own chassis courtesy of a link-up with a team that last year operated the HRT Formula 1 squad. The Kolles-owned Kodewa group, which ran Audi R10s at Le Mans in 2009-10, fields a Lola coupe in F1-style black-and-gold livery and with Lotus badges on its Judd/BMW engine. Team has far from disgraced itself so far.

Level 5 Motorsports - HPD-Honda ARX03b

#33 Christophe Bouchut (F), Luis Diaz (MEX), Scott Tucker (USA)
Test day best: 3m41.538s (2nd in LMP2)

This US team, whose focus in 2012 is on the American Le Mans Series, returns to Le Mans for a second attempt, this time with Honda Performance Development's latest offering after a swap from Lola machinery towards the end of last season. Close second in class at Sebring bodes well for Le Mans.

Jota - Zytek-Nissan Z11SN

#38 Sam Hancock (GB), Simon Dolan (GB), Haruki Kurosawa (J)
Test day best: 3m41.738s (3rd in LMP2)

British squad focusing on ELMS moves back to the prototype ranks with old supplier Zytek after death of AMR-One project brought relationship with Aston Martin to an end. The virtually-untested Jota Zytek looked quick on debut at Paul Ricard ELMS race and then came through to take victory on merit in front of the WEC regulars at Spa in May.

Race Performance - ORECA-Judd/BMW 03

#40 Jonathan Hirschi (CH), Michel Frey (CH), Ralph Meichtry (CH)
Test day best: 3m47.600s (18th in LMP2)

Swiss team running in ELMS returns to Le Mans for a third year on the trot and the second with the ORECA-Judd package, this time with the underrated ex-Megane Trophy ace Hirschi alongside team owner Frey and Meichtry. Ended up fifth at Ricard ELMS opener courtesy of a clean run rather than consistent pace.

Greaves Motorsport - Zytek-Nissan Z11SN

#41 Elton Julian (USA), Ricardo Gonzalez (MEX), Christian Zugel (D)
Test day best: 3m44.625s (15th in LMP2)
#42 Martin Brundle (GB), Alex Brundle (GB), Lucas Ordonez (E)
Test day best: 3m43.083s (8th in LMP2)

Last year's class-winning squad at Le Mans returns with a pair of new-build Zyteks. Martin Brundle returns to the race after 10 years away to partner son Alex in car usually raced in ELMS, while Julian leads the line-up in the team's WEC entry. ELMS car ran competitively at Ricard opener, while WEC entry is quick in hands of Julian and Gonzalez.

Extreme Limite ARIC - Norma-Judd/BMW 2000

#43 Fabien Rosier (F), Philippe Thirion (F), Philippe Haezebrouck (F)
Test day best: 3m58.712s (23rd in LMP2)

Nantes-based team returns for second Le Mans assault with the Norma, the first P2 built to cost-capped regulations. Team boss Patrice Roussel steps down from driving duties, leaving the handy Rosier, a graduate of the racing school at Le Mans, to lead the line-up. Big shunt on a one-off in the WEC could affect Le Mans preparations.

Starworks Motorsport - HPD-Honda ARX-03b

#44 Ryan Dalziel (GB), Tom Kimber-Smith (GB), Enzo Potolicchio (YV)
Test day best: 3m46.672s (12th in LMP2)

Long-time Grand-Am entrant Peter Baron's team has expanded into the 'other' code of sportscar racing at the behest of Venezuelan backers that wanted to go to Le Mans. Dalziel and Potolicchio are joined by 2011 class winnner Kimber-Smith, who takes the seat vacated by Toyota-bound Sarrazin. The team proved its worth on home ground with a category win at Sebring.

Boutsen Ginion Racing - ORECA-Nissan 03

#45 Shinji Nakano (J), Bastien Briere (F), Jens Petersen (D)
Test day best: 3m45.401s (16th in LMP2)

The Belgian team that takes its name from the brother-in-law of team boss Olivier Laine, one Thierry Boutsen, makes its Le Mans debut after moving up into LMP2 last year via Formula Le Mans. It had a solid first year, but its 2012 campaign in the ELMS got off to a false start at Paul Ricard with a fire in practice.

Thiriet by TDS Racing - ORECA-Nissan 03

#46 Mathias Beche (CH), Christophe Tinseau (F), Pierre Thiriet (F)
Test day best: 3m44.404s (14th in LMP2)

TDS has made an immediate impact on its graduation to prototypes, winning twice in last year's LMS and at the ELMS opener this season. The team appears to have a perfect driver line-up for its Le Mans debut: Beche is an undoubted star of tomorrow, Tinseau is an experienced old hand and Thiriet is improving all the time.

Murphy Prototypes - ORECA-Nissan 03

#48 Warren Hughes (GB), Brendon Hartley (NZ), Jody Firth (GB)
Test day best: 3m43.321s (10th in LMP2)

Irishman Greg Murphy - an ex-single-seater racer, not the V8 Supercar star - has put together an ELMS assault for 2012 together with RLR Motorsport. The team showed pace in the ELMS at Ricard with Hughes and Firth, and came close to a victory in the WEC at Spa when ex-Formula Renault 3.5 contender Hartley joined the squad.

Pecom Racing - ORECA-Nissan 03

#49 Pierre Kaffer (D), Soheil Ayari (F), Luis Perez Companc (RA)
Test day best: 3m42.443s (6th in LMP2)

The AF Corse-run Pecom team has swapped from Lola-Judd to ORECA-Nissan for its second year in the prototype ranks, in which it is contesting both the WEC and the ELMS, while Ayari has replaced Argentinian Matias Russo. The Pecom ORECA has shown it has the speed so far this season, but it's yet to have a clean race.

GTE Pro/Am

The class formerly known as GT2 underwent a rebranding after the 2010 race when it was named GTE - which stands for GT Endurance - with the disappearance of the old GT1 category from Le Mans. GTE is once again split into two self-explanatory sub-divisions: GTE Pro allows all-professional driver rosters, while GTE Am, in which the machinery must be at least one year old, is for pro-am line-ups. There's a slight difference between the LMP2 and GTE pro-am concepts - only one professional gold or platinum-rated driver is allowed in each car in GTE Am. Rule changes for 2012 have allowed Chevrolet, Porsche and Aston to build their respective class challengers out to the width of the Ferrari 458 Italia, the fastest car in class last season.

AF Corse - Ferrari 458 Italia

#51 Gianmaria Bruni (I), Giancarlo Fisichella (I), Toni Vilander (FIN)
Test day best: 3m59.392s (5th in GTE Pro)
#71 Andrea Bertolini (I), Olivier Beretta (MC), Marco Cioci (I)
Test day best: 4m00.690s (9th in GTE Pro)
#81 Matt Griffin (IRL), Niki Cadei (I), Piergiuseppe Perazzini (I)
Test day best: 4m07.075s (7th in GTE Am)

AF again fields three cars, but this time it has two strong pro line-ups with the arrival of Bertolini and Beretta for the full WEC. The Italian team has had only an average start to its season, notching up a best result so far of second at Spa with Bruni and Fisichella, but there's little doubt that the 458 remains the benchmark in GTE. The Ferrari is almost certainly quicker than its rivals, who all agree that the 458 has yet to show its full potential, and has a fuel-consumption advantage. The #81 car showed at Spa that it can run at the front of the GTE Am pack.

Corvette Racing - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R

#73 Jan Magnussen (DK), Antonio Garcia (E), Jordan Taylor (USA)
Test day best: 4m00.020s (4th in GTE Pro)
#74 Oliver Gavin (GB), Tommy Milner (USA), Richard Westbrook (GB)
Test day best: 3m58.971s (2nd in GTE Pro)

Chevrolet arrives back in France as reigning Le Mans GTE champion courtesy of its inherited 2011 victory. And it has a revised driver line-up too. Olivier Beretta has departed and has been replaced as a full-timer by Garcia, while Grand-Am GT star Taylor takes the Spaniard's place as third driver for the enduros. The wider 2012 version of the Corvette GTE is a step up from last year's car and is already a winner in the ALMS. The test day, when Gavin was only a tenth from the ultimate class pace, proves that Corvette is a potential class winner.

Team Felbermayr-Proton - Porsche 911 GT3-RSR

#77 Marc Lieb (D), Richard Lietz (A), Wolf Henzler (D)
Test day best: 4m00.356s (8th in GTE Pro)
#88 Paolo Ruberti (I), Gianluca Roda (I), Christian Ried (D)
Test day best: 4m02.997s (5th in GTE Am)

The factory-backed Felbermayr team arrives at Le Mans on the back of a WEC class win at Spa, but the line-up of works drivers in the lead car know they've got their work cut out. That victory owed much to the rain and Felbermayr's tactical nous. The 2012 reworking of the ageing 997-shape GT3-RSR hasn't been the step forward hoped for and, though improving race-on-race, it is unlikely that the car can run at the front on pace. Decent line-up in Am car might actually have the better chance of silverware.

Aston Martin Racing - Aston Martin Vantage GTE

#97 Darren Turner (GB), Stefan Mucke (D), Adrian Fernandez (MEX)
Test day best: 4m00.938s (5th in GTE Pro)
#99 Christoffer Nygaard (DK), Kristian Poulsen (DK), Allan Simonsen (DK)
Test day best: 3m59.938s (1st in GTE Am)

The AMR works team steps down to what is probably its natural home after its prototype sojourn. The reworked version of the V8-powered car that first raced in 2008 is a step forward over last year's machine and, crucially, has kept the performance breaks granted to its former iteration. The Vantage has shown it has the speed, and an encouraging endurance simulation at Sebring suggests that the reliability is there too. The team has linked up with Young Driver to run an Am car with what must be the best line-up in class.

Luxury Racing - Ferrari 458 Italia

#58 Gunnar Jeanette (USA), Frankie Montecalvo (USA), Pierre Ehret (D)
Test day best: 4m05.018s (8th in GTE Am)
#59 Frederic Makowiecki (F), Jaime Melo (BR), Dominik Farnbacher (D)
Test day best: 3m58.869s (1st in GTE Pro)

The French Luxury team, now in its third year and only its second at this level, continues to stride towards the front of the GTE pack. With ex-Risi Competizione engineer Mark Schomann in place for the full season and former Ferrari factory driver Melo installed alongside the mercurial Makowiecki, Luxury is looking increasingly the equal of AF Corse, witness Mako's chart-topping performance at the test day.

JMW Motorsport - Ferrari 458 Italia

#99 Jonny Cocker (GB), James Walker (GB), Roger Wills (NZ)
Test day best: 4m01.459s (10th in GTE Pro)

JMW proved that there's life after Rob Bell - its long-time team leader who is now a McLaren test and development driver — by winning the class at the Paul Ricard ELMS opener with Cocker and Walker at the wheel of its Ferrari. Historic racer Wills joins them for Le Mans for his second start in the 24 Hours, giving the JMW an Am look in the Pro class.

Flying Lizard Motorsports - Porsche 911 GT3-RSR

#79 Patrick Pilet (F), Spencer Pumpelly (USA), Seth Nieman (USA)
Test day best: 4m01.284s (3rd in GTE Am)
#80 Jorg Bergmeister (D), Pat Long (USA), Marco Holzer (D)
Test day best: 4m00.287s (7th in GTE Pro)

The Lizards return to Le Mans as one of only two factory-backed Porsche teams and, like last year, also field a car for team boss Neiman in the GTE Am division. The ageing Porsche is unlikely to be quick enough to give the team the Le Mans class win it has been chasing since 2005, even with three factory drivers aboard its Pro car. Factory driver Pilet bolsters the Am line-up as a late replacement for team regular Darren Law.

Larbre Competition - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R

#50 Pedro Lamy (P), Julien Canal (F), Patrick Bornhauser (F)
Test day best: 4m01.160s (2nd in GTE Am)
#70 Jean-Philippe Belloc (F), Christophe Bourret (F), Pascal Gibon (F)
Test day best: 4m04.016s (6th in GTE Am)

This multi-title-winning French team expands to two cars for its second year with Chevrolet in the GTE Am class. Ex-Peugeot driver Lamy returns to the Larbre fold to bolster the line-up that claimed class honours at Le Mans last year, while Belloc leads the #70 car that finished a strong second in class at the Sebring 12 Hours. With two cars, Larbre must be considered GTE Am favourites.

AF Corse-Waltrip - Ferrari 458 Italia

#61 Rui Aguas (P), Brian Vickers (USA), Rob Kauffman (USA)
Test day best: 4m05.553s (9th in GTE Am)

NASCAR team boss Michael Waltrip has firmed up the relationship with AF Corse, with which he and Kauffman raced in last year's 24 Hours, in this joint venture. Waltrip is busy on TV duty, so Vickers steps in to fulfil his ambition of racing at Le Mans - he will be aiming to put his shunt in the warm-up at the Spa 6 Hours behind him.

JWA-Avila - Porsche 911 GT3-RSR

#55 Paul Daniels (GB), Markus Palttala (FIN), Joel Camathias (CH)
Test day best: 4m09.532s (12th in GTE Am)

Long-time sportscar amateur Daniels returns to Le Mans for only his second attempt on the big race and his first as an entrant after gaining a full entry for the WEC with a reshelled ex-Flying Lizard Porsche run by James Watt Automotive. Experienced Palttala and Camathias have joined Daniels, but JWA has so far failed to trouble the class frontrunners.

Krohn Racing - Ferrari 458 Italia

#57 Niclas Jonsson (S), Michele Rugolo (I), Tracy Krohn (USA)
Test day best: 4m08.295s (11th in GTE Am)

American team with former Williams and McLaren Formula 1 superstar engineer David Brown at the helm has upgraded from the Ferrari 430 it ran in last year's ILMC to a 2011-spec 458 for its full-season WEC campaign. So far the squad hasn't recaptured the form that produced two class wins and runner-up spot in the GTE Am points last season.

Imsa Performance

#67 Nicolas Armindo (F), Raymond Narac (F), Anthony Pons (F)
Test day best: 4m02.548s (4th in GTE Am)

The Imsa Performance Porsche squad, based just up the road from Le Mans in Rouen, is back for its eighth consecutive 24 Hours. A team that won GT2 outright as a factory-baced team in 2007 has found its natural home in GTE Am, a class it dominated in last year's LMS. Victory in front of the WEC regulars at Spa bodes well for Le Mans.

ProSpeed Competition - Porsche 911 GT3-RSR

#75 Sean Edwards (GB), Bret Curtis (USA), Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA)
Test day best: Not present

This former FIA GT2 title-winning team returns to Le Mans for attempt number three, this time with a pro-am roster led by Porsche Supercup race winner Edwards. The presence of the Briton in the ProSpeed Porsche is the good news; the bad news is that this trio have only one Le Mans start between them.

JMB Racing - Ferrari 458 Italia

#83 Alain Ferte (F), Manuel Rodrigues (P), Philippe Illiano (F)
Test day best: Not present

Paul Ricard-based JMB is back at a race it first contested in 1997, though team founder Jean-Michel Bouresche, who oversaw its sportscar successes of the late 1990s and early 2000s, is no longer at the helm. Its Ferrari has already proved its worth in the ELMS, albeit in the Pro class with former factory driver Jaime Melo at the wheel.

Garage 56

This one-car class was instigated by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest at Le Mans for 'Cars Displaying New Technologies' in 2011. There were no takers that year, but for '12 there were three bids for the extra 56th pitbox built at the turn of the decade. The DeltaWing, a joint venture led by Highcroft Racing boss Duncan Dayton and American Le Mans Series founder Don Panoz, got the nod over the GreenGT hydrogen-fuel-cell prototype, unveiled at the Le Mans Test Day earlier this month, and long-time Le Mans entrant Yves Courage, who had plans for a battery-powered prototype.

Highcroft Racing - DeltaWing-Nissan DW LM12

#0 Michael Krumm (D), Marino Franchitti (GB), Satoshi Motoyama (J)
Test day best: 3m47.980s

The avant garde machine that could have been the future of IndyCar racing makes its debut in the hands of two-time ALMS champion team Highcroft bearing the 'number' 0 as the occupant of 'Garage 56' assigned for an experimental car. Highcroft oldboy Franchitti was the first nominated driver, while the partnership with Nissan that stretches behind an engine supply deal means that Krumm and Motoyama return to Le Mans (Krumm hasn't been since 2005 and Motoyama since 1999). Highcroft faces an uphill task with a car didn't turn a wheel until 101 days before the 24 Hours, but it has proved that the DeltaWing works at high speed at Aragon and has overcome the gearshift problems that blighted its early testing. The car proved its mettle at the test day, getting close to its 3m45 target time and running reliably.

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- The Autosport.com Team

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