Mike Conway (GBR) / Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) / Jose Maria Lopez (ARG) #07 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid and Sebastien Buemi (SUI) / Brendon Hartley (NZL) / Ryo Hirakawa (JPN) #08 Toyota Racing, Toyota GR010, Hybrid lead at the start of the race. 11.06.2022. FIA World Endurance Championship, Round 3, Le Mans 24 Hours Race, Le Mans, France, Saturday – www.xpbimages.com, EMail: [email protected] – copy of publication required for printed pictures. Every used picture is fee-liable. © Copyright: Moy / XPB Images
16 Hypercars will headline the 24 Hours of le Mans this year amid a 62-car entry list for the French endurance classic’s centenary event, the most cars in the top class for over a decade.
Reigning champions Toyota will have their usual two cars, with Peugeot will also enter two factory 9X8s. Porsche will enter its two full season 963s, with an extra factory Porsche making its way over from the United States.
JOTA will also enter its customer Porsche 963, but perhaps most interestingly, the Proton-run customer Porsche, which was included on the full season FIA World Endurance Championship entry list released earlier this year, has not been included. The German team may be planning to refer its debut in the top class until after Le Mans.
Cadillac will also enter its three cars – one full season WEC entry, plus the two IMSA cars, one run by Chip Ganassi and one by Action Express. Ferrari also has two 499Ps listed, run by AF Corse as a full works programme.
Amongst the smaller manufacturers in Hypercar, ByKolles will enter its ‘Vanwall’ car, while Glickenhaus has two 007 LMHs listed. Isotta Fraschini, as expected, is not included on the entry list, with the Vector Sport-run programme expected to make its debut at Monza in July.
In LMP2, 24 cars have been entered — the most of any class this year — with all entrants running Oreca 07s.
As you’d expect, all the full season WEC entries have been included. Alongside those is entries from Tower Motorsports, Nielsen Racing, Duqueine, COOL Racing with two cars, Graff, DKR Engineering, Algarve Pro, IDEC Sport, Panis Racing, AF Corse, and Racing Team Turkey. Inter Europol Competition will also enter an extra car alongside its full season WEC car.
21 cars have entered GTE-Am. The driver scheduled to drive Proton’s customer Porsche 963 in Hypercar full the full WEC season, Gianmaria Bruni, has been moved to a full season Proton-run Porsche 911 RSR.
Walkenhorst Motorsport has entered a Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, as a result of winning the Asian Le Mans Series, which gives teams an automatic Le Mans invite. However, the team, which normally runs BMW machinery, was not successful in its efforts to race a BMW M8 GTE.
The Innovative Car, the Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, has also been listed as expected, with Jimmie Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller, and Jenson Button listed as the drivers.
There are four reserve cars, from Spirit of Race and Risi Competizione in GTE-Am, and Dragonspeed and a second Nielsen car in LMP2.
The 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours will take place 10th-11th June.
Keyword: 16 Hypercars headline 62-car strong Le Mans entry list