31 Entries for Petit Le Mans

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

A total of 31 entries are due to take part in next weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans.

Released on Wednesday, the third round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup will feature eight DPis, four LMP2 cars, six GT Le Mans entries and 13 GT Daytona machines.

Simon Pagenaud and Alexander Rossi will return to the pair of Acura Team Penske entries for the first time since January’s season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, while Filipe Albuquerque, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Olivier Pla are back at Action Express Racing and Mazda Motorsports, respectively, following outings in the cars in last month’s six-hour race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Wayne Taylor Racing has opted for a two-driver lineup for its championship-leading No. 10 Cadillac DPi-V.R, while Chris Miller and Matheus Leist will join Gabriel Aubry in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac.

As previously reported by Sportscar365, Tristan Vautier has replaced Joao Barbosa in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling/JDC-Miller Cadillac, which will see the return of Loic Duval for the ten-hour endurio.

Tower Motorsport by Starworks will return to action in LMP2 with Mikkel Jensen, John Farano and a third two-be-announced driver, while Performance Tech Motorsports has an all-new lineup of Matt Bell, Jim McGuire and Colin Braun.

Braun was due to take part in the race for Era Motorsport, which is believed to have been withdrawn from the remainder of the season.

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports has two cars entered, with one set to run under the Inter Europol banner. The team’s season-long No. 52 Oreca will again see Scott Huffaker rejoin Patrick Kelly and Simon Trummer.

GTLM sees no major surprises, with Nicky Catsburg and Marcel Fassler rejoining the championship-leading Corvette Racing squad.

Augusto Farfus and Colton Herta will serve as third drivers in BMW Team RLL’s lineup, alongside Porsche’s Matt Campbell and Matthieu Jaminet.

Kirkwood to Make AVS Debut; Balzan in for Vilander at Scuderia Corsa

Two major lineup changes have occurred in GTD, however, with rising open-wheel star Kyle Kirkwood slotting into the No. 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 for the ten-hour race.

Kirkwood got his first laps in the Lexus during a recent test at Charlotte Motor Speedway and effectively replaces Daniel Morad in the lineup.

While Morad drove the the No. 14 Lexus at the Road Atlanta six-hour Aaron Telitz is back in his season-long Lexus for the remainder of the season.

Toni Vilander, meanwhile is not listed in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo, which is set to make its return after a two-race absence.

Former series champion Alessandro Balzan will instead make his GTD return alongside Cooper MacNeil and Jeff Westphal.

In addition to the return of Pfaff Motorsports, several other lineups have been confirmed including Jan Heylen again in the No. 20 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R and and Darren Turner in the No. 23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Team Hardpoint, which recently committed to the two remaining Endurance Cup races, have yet to confirm the two drivers alongside team principal Rob Ferriol.

Ferriol’s usual co-driver, Spencer Pumpelly, is in the No. 44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini for Petit Le Mans and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The Austrian Lamborghini squad has only the Magnus car listed for the race, although its No. 11 Lamborghini was a late addition to the the entry list in the most recent Endurance Cup round at Road Atlanta.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John