Again consisting of four classes; LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am, this year’s running of the French endurance classic will commence at 15h00, with the main drawing card being current McLaren Formula 1 pilot Fernando Alonso driving for Toyota.
Competing full-time with the Japanese manufacturer in this year’s World Endurance Championship, and having already taken victory at the season opener at Spa-Francorchamps on May fifth, Alonso will be partnered in the #8 car with fellow former F1 drivers Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, while the #7 TS050 Hybrid will be driven by Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez and former Sauber F1 driver, Kamui Kobayashi.
With the departure of reigning champions Porsche last year, the factory Toyota team’s biggest threat will come from Rebellion Racing, whose line-up includes defending LMP2 champion Bruno Senna, 2017 Le Mans co-winner Neel Jani and three times winner, Andre Lotterer.
This year’s event will also see the biggest turn-out of former ex-F1 drivers in recent years, namely 2009 champion Jenson Button, who will a share an LMP1 SMP Racing RB1 prototype with another F1 expat, Vitaly Petrov and 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 champion, Mikhail Aleshin. Others include Paul Resta, Will Stevens, Jean-Eric Vergne, Giedo van der Gade, Pastor Maldonado, Juan Pablo Montoya and Felipe Nasr in the hotly contested LMP2 class.
In the LM GTE Pro class, Aston Martin will debut its new Vantage AMR to rival the likes of the equally new Ferrari 488 GTE Evo as well as the four Ford GT’s, two Chevrolet Corvettes and four Porsche 911 RSR’s, while BMW returns after a seven-year absence with the new M8 GTE.
The LMP GT Am class will be contested by previous versions of the 911 and 488 GTE, as well as two Aston Martin Vantage GTE’s campaigned by the factory team and the other by TF Sport.
ENTRY LIST
|
LMP1 |
|||
| No |
Team |
Car |
Drivers |
|
1 |
Rebellion Racing |
Rebellion R13-Gibson |
André Lotterer |
|
2 |
Rebellion Racing |
Rebellion R13-Gibson |
Mathias Beche |
|
4 |
ByKolles Racing Team |
ENSO CLM P1/01-Nismo |
Oliver Webb |
|
5 |
CEFC TRSM Racing |
Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome |
Charlie Robertson |
|
6 |
CEFC TRSM Racing |
Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome |
Oliver Rowland |
|
7 |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota TS050 Hybrid |
Mike Conway |
|
8 |
Toyota Gazoo Racing |
Toyota TS050 Hybrid |
Sebastien Buemi |
|
10 |
DragonSpeed |
BR Engineering BR1-Gibson | Henrik Hedman Ben Hanley Renger van der Zande |
|
11 |
SMP Racing |
BR Engineering BR1-Gibson | Mikhail Aleshin Vitaly Petrov Jenson Button |
| 17 |
SMP Racing |
BR Engineering BR1-Gibson | Stéphane Sarrazin Matevos Isaakyan Egor Orudzhev |
|
LMP2 |
|||
|
22 |
United Autosports |
Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
Phil Hanson |
|
23 |
Panis Barthez Competition |
Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
Thimothé Buret |
|
25 |
Algarve Pro Racing |
Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
Mark Patterson |
|
26 |
G-Drive Racing |
Oreca 07-Gibson |
Roman Rusinov |
|
28 |
TDS Racing |
Oreca 07-Gibson |
François Perrodo |
|
29 |
Racing Team Nederland |
Dallara P217-Gibson |
Frits van Eerd |
|
31 |
DragonSpeed |
Oreca 07-Gibson |
Roberto Gonzalez |
|
32 |
United Autosports |
Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
Willliam Owen |
|
33 |
Jackie Chan DC Racing |
Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
David Cheng |
|
34 |
Jackie Chan DC Racing |
Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
Ricky Taylor |
|
35 |
SMP Racing |
Dallara P217-Gibson |
Victor Shaitar |
|
36 |
Signatech Alpine Matmut |
Alpine A470-Gibson |
Nicolas Lapierre |
|
37 |
Jackie Chan DC Racing |
Oreca 07-Gibson |
Jazeman Jaafar |
|
38 |
Jackie Chan DC Racing |
Oreca 07-Gibson |
Ho-Pin Tung |
|
39 |
Graff-SO24 |
Oreca 07-Gibson |
Vincent Capillaire |
|
40 |
G-Drive Racing |
Oreca 07-Gibson |
James Allen |
|
44 |
Eurasia Motorsport |
Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
Andrea Bertolini |
|
47 |
Cetilar Villorba Corse |
Dallara P217-Gibson |
Roberto Lacorte |
|
48 |
IDEC Sport |
Oreca 07-Gibson |
Paul Lafargue |
|
50 |
Larbre Compétition |
Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
Erwin Creed |
|
LMGTE Pro |
|||
|
51 |
AF Corse |
Ferrari 488 GTE Evo |
James Calado |
|
52 |
AF Corse |
Ferrari 488 GTE Evo |
Toni Vilander |
|
63 |
Corvette Racing |
Chevrolet Corvette C7-R |
Jan Magnussen |
|
64 |
Corvette Racing |
Chevrolet Corvette C7-R |
Oliver Gavin |
|
66 |
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing UK |
Ford GT |
Stefan Mucke |
|
67 |
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing UK |
Ford GT |
Andy Priaulx |
|
68 |
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing USA |
Ford GT |
Joey Hand |
|
69 |
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing USA |
Ford GT |
Ryan Briscoe |
|
71 |
AF Corse |
Ferrari 488 GTE Evo |
Sam Bird |
|
81 |
BMW Team MTEK |
BMW M8 GTE |
Martin Tomczyk |
|
82 |
BMW Team MTEK |
BMW M8 GTE |
Augusto Farfus |
|
91 |
Porsche GT Team |
Porsche 911 RSR |
Richard Lietz |
|
92 |
Porsche GT Team |
Porsche 911 RSR |
Michael Christensen |
|
93 |
Porsche GT Team |
Porsche 911 RSR |
Patrick Pilet |
|
94 |
Porsche GT Team |
Porsche 911 RSR | Romain Dumas Timo Bernhard Sven Müller |
|
95 |
Aston Martin Racing |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR |
Nicki Thiim |
|
97 |
Aston Martin Racing |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR |
Alex Lynn |
|
LMGT Am |
|||
|
54 |
Spirit of Race |
Ferrari 488 GTE |
Giancarlo Fisichella |
|
56 |
Team Project 1 |
Porsche 911 RSR |
Jörg Bergmeister |
|
61 |
Clearwater Racing |
Ferrari 488 GTE |
Weng Sun Mok |
|
70 |
MR Racing |
Ferrari 488 GTE |
Motoaki Ishikawa |
|
77 |
Dempsey-Proton Racing |
Porsche 911 RSR |
Matt Campbell |
|
80 |
Ebimotors |
Porsche 911 RSR |
Fabio Babini Christina Nielsen Erik Maris |
|
84 |
JMW Motorsport |
Ferrari 488 GTE |
Liam Griffin |
|
85 |
Keating Motorsports |
Ferrari 488 GTE |
Ben Keating |
|
86 |
Gulf Racing UK |
Porsche 911 RSR |
Mike Wainwright |
|
88 |
Dempsey-Proton Racing |
Porsche 911 RSR |
Matteo Cairoli |
|
90 |
TF Sport |
Aston Martin Vantage GTE |
Salih Yoluc |
|
98 |
Aston Martin Racing |
Aston Martin Vantage GTE |
Paul Dalla Lana |
|
99 |
Proton Competition |
Porsche 911 RSR |
Patrick Long |
