Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Record low of six LMP1 cars on 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours WEC entry list

A record low of just six LMP1 cars are on the 62-strong entry list for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours World Endurance Championship finale in June

The five regular WEC LMP1 cars have been boosted only by the addition of the second Rebellion Racing entry, which last raced at the Silverstone series opener back in September.

They join the two Toyotas, Rebellion's regular entry and the pair of factory Team LNT Ginettas on the list for the 88th running of the French enduro on June 13-14 published by race organiser the Automobile Club de l'Ouest on Friday.

The German-based ByKolles team has only been given second place on the 10-car reserve list with the ENSO CLM-Gibson P1/01 that last raced in the WEC in 2018-19.

The LMP1 entry is down two cars on the eight that contested Le Mans last year and equals the six-car low that took part in the race in 2017.

The GTE Pro field has fallen to 11 cars from last year's high of 17 with the disappearance of Ford and BMW from the WEC.

Corvette Racing will once again join the six WEC regulars for what will be its 21st consecutive Le Mans participation.

Porsche is fielding four cars: its two full-time WEC entries are joined by the two 911 RSRs run in the IMSA SportsCar Championship by the CORE Autosport factory squad for a third Le Mans in a row.

The Risi Competizione squad joins the six WEC regular entries with its Ferrari 488 GTE for a second year running.

French sportscar stalwarts Sebastien Bourdais and Olivier Pla are listed to drive its entry.

The LMP2 entry has gone up from 20 cars that started last year's race to 24 this year.

This figure includes the eight WEC cars and a further seven cars with guaranteed entries gained via the European and Asian Le Mans Series, and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Newcomers in LMP2 include the British Nielsen Racing and Carlin squads with ORECA and Dallara chassis respectively.

Nielsen claimed a guaranteed entry for winning the LMP3 class of the 2019-20 Asian LMS, while Carlin (pictured above) has raced in LMP2 in Europe and Asia since the start of last season.

Two American teams, Performance Tech Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing, will contest the race for the first time in 2020.

PTM has taken the grid spot awarded to Canadian Cameron Cassels for finishing second in the IMSA LMP2 points last year with the American team, while RWR will field the lone Riley-Gibson Mk30 in the race after taking LMP2 Am class honours in Asia this winter.

The Signatech-run Richard Mille Racing ORECA that will be driven by the all-female crew of Tatiana Calderon, Sophia Floersch and Katherine Legge in the ELMS has also gained an entry.

Le Mans stalwarts DragonSpeed have only been given one firm entry, with the second ORECA that IndyCar racer Felix Rosenqvist is due to drive listed as sixth reserve.

A second ORECA from the Danish High Class Racing squad with sportscar veteran Jan Magnussen listed as a driver is only eighth on the reserve list.

The GTE Am class has also grown in comparison to last year, rising from 17 to 20 cars.

First-time competitors in the race will include the Taiwanese HubAuto Racing Ferrari squad, which gained its entry for winning the GT class in last winter's Asian LMS, the Gear Racing IMSA team and the Italian Iron Lynx squad.

The final slot is the Garage 56 entry for an innovative car.

A team of three disabled drivers will race an LMP2 ORECA for the SRT41 squad put together by quadruple amputee Frederic Sausset, who competed at Le Mans in 2016.

A total of 75 applications were received for entries at Le Mans this year.

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article The improbable Austin comeback that upstaged LMP1
Next article Toyota WEC drivers welcome new Le Mans 'hyperpole' qualifying

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe