43 Cars for Barcelona Season Opener

Forty three cars are set to contest the upcoming European Le Mans Series season opener at Barcelona, headlined by nearly two-dozen entries across the LMP2 classes.

A combined 22 Oreca 07 Gibsons (14 in the LMP2 class and 8 in LMP2 Pro-Am) will be joined by ten LMP3 entries and 11 cars in the debuting LMGT3 class.

Reigning champions Algarve Pro Racing return with a single car as Cadillac WEC star Alex Lynn teams up with Matthias Kaiser and Olli Caldwell.

The Portuguese-flagged squad faces opposition from the likes of United Autosports, AO by TF, Nielsen Racing, IDEC Sport, Inter Europol Competition and Cool Racing.

As revealed last week, Panis Racing will head into the season with a new alliance with TDS Racing and a lineup featuring Ferrari development driver Arthur Leclerc and Alpine Hypercar driver Charles Milesi.

Duqueine Team has altered its lineup to include Dutch single seater racer Niels Koolen. Koolen is the son of 2022 FIA Rally-Raid champion and Dakar veteran Kees Koolen and replaces Carl Wattana Bennett.

The Thai-American driver, who was part of the Duqueine-run Isotta Fraschini operation during the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener in Qatar, was originally set to drive alongside Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer and James Allen.

In the Pro-Am ranks, Team Virage is the only team yet to name a third driver, with a TBA listed alongside Matt Bell and Tony Wells.

Proton Competition, meanwhile, has sured up its driver crew for the No. 77 Oreca as Rene Binder joins Giorgio Roda and the recently confirmed Bent Viscaal.

Ligier teams dominate the LMP3 class with eight teams running the JS P320 Nissan while two squads (DKR Engineering and Rinaldi Racing) have entered a Duqueine D08 Nissan.

Defending class champions Cool Racing return with the No. 17 Ligier piloted by Miguel Cristovao, Cedric Oltramare and Miguel Espírito Santo.

Entries from Aston Martin, Porsche, Lamborghini and Ferrari make up the eleven-car LMGT3 grid, with Julien Andlauer joining defending champion Proton Competition.

The Frenchman will spearhead the lineup for the No. 60 Porsche 911 GT3 R, which he shares with Claudio Schiavoni and Matteo Cressoni.

Formula Racing has called upon Ferrari Hypercar ace Nicklas Nielsen to complete the lineup for its No. 50 Ferrari 296 GT3 alongside Johnny and Conrad Laursen.

Davide Rigon, meanwhile joins GR Racing in place of longtime driver Ben Barker, who left the British squad to join the Ford factory driver roster.

Rigon will share the No. 86 Ferrari with Mike Wainwright and Riccardo Pera as GR returns to the ELMS grid for the first time since 2020.

The 4 Hours of Barcelona is set for April 14.