43 Cars in Bumper Full Season Entry

The European Le Mans Series has revealed a bumper, 43-car entry list for the 2024 season, featuring an expanded LMP2 category and 11 cars for the first season of LMGT3.

Released on Monday, the entry of 43 cars is one more than this past season, when 42 prototypes and GTE cars contested the full championship.

Notably, the main LMP2 category has seen aggressive growth, doubling in size from seven to 14 cars compared to the previous year.

Reigning champions Algarve Pro Racing return to defend their title with the No. 25 Oreca 07 Gibson spearheaded by Alex Lynn alongside Matthias Kaiser and Olli Caldwell.

They’re joined by returning squads United Autosports, IDEC Sport, Duqueine Team, Cool Racing, Panis Racing and Inter Europol Competition.

United has enlisted Filipe Albuquerque to lead its No. 23 car while Ben Hanley drives the sister car. Meanwhile Cool and Inter Europol both expand their presence in the class to two cars.

The Polish-flagged squad is one of the few teams in the class to confirm complete lineups at this stage. Jakub Smiechowski will share the No. 34 car with Clement Novalak and Jonathan Aberdein, while Sebastian Alvarez, Vlad Lomko and Tom Dillmann team up aboard the No. 43 machine.

Reigning LMP3 champion Alejandro Garcia was confirmed on Monday morning as the first driver aboard Cool Racing’s No. 47 car, while Duqueine has signed Carl Wattana Bennett and 2023 LMP2 champion and Rolex 24 class winner James Allen to its ranks.

The top category is further boosted by four new arrivals: Vector Sport, AO by TF, Nielsen Racing and Iron Lynx-Proton.

As previously reported by Sportscar365, Robert Kubica spearheads the lineup for the No. 14 TF Sport-run entry while Ryan Cullen and Gabriel Aubry remain with Vector as it moves over from the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Championship regulars Nielsen, meanwhile, double their presence in the championship by adding a Pro car for Nico Pino and Will Stevens alongside their continuing LMP2 Pro-Am entry.

Finally, Iron Lynx and Proton Competition continue their WEC partnership with a single Oreca in the class, with Jonas Ried the sole confirmed driver so far.

The LMP2 Pro-Am class, which became a separate category and saw significant growth in 2023, has shrunk in size from 11 to eight entries.

DKR Engineering, Team Virage, Algarve Pro, United, Nielsen, Proton and AF Corse all remain on the grid, while TDS Racing returns to the series after a year away.

The No. 29 car, entered under the Richard Mille by TDS banner, is set to be piloted by Rodrigo Sales, Mathias Beche and United Autosports LMGT3 driver Gregoire Saucy.

Two other lineups have been fully confirmed: defending class champions AF Corse return with Francois Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Alessio Rovera while Oliver Jarvis pilots the No. 21 United Autosports machine alongside Daniel Schneider and Andy Meyrick.

The LMP3 class is down two cars compared to last year, with Nielsen’s sole Ligier JS P320 Nissan on the reserve list and Eurointernational scaling back to a single car.

The ten-car field comprises of two Duqueine D08 Nissans while the remaining eight teams all field Ligier machinery.

Two further prototype entries have been listed as reserve: a Graff Racing Ligier and DragonSpeed’s No. 81 LMP2 Pro-Am entry for Henrik Hedman.

Lamborghini Makes Series Return in 11-Car LMGT3 Entry

The introduction of the LMGT3 class sees Lamborghini make its ELMS return for the first time since 2015, joined by stalwart series manufacturers Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche.

Iron Lynx will field a single Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for Japanese Bronze-rated driver Hiroshi Hamaguchi.

It marks the first time since 2015, the final year that the GTC class ran in the series before GT3 cars moved to the Michelin Le Mans Cup, that a Lamborghini will compete in ELMS.

Its sole representation for that season was a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3 entered by Gulf Racing UK for the opening round at Silverstone, driven by Roald Goethe, Daniel Brown and Archie Hamilton.

Notably, while Hamaguchi is set to drive the Iron Lynx entry, longtime team driver Claudio Schiavoni is listed aboard the No. 60 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R while the Iron Dames also field Porsche machinery.

All cars in the new-for-2024 class have been given the ‘LMGT3’ type specification, with Ford notably absent even though the Christian Ried-led squad will be fielding a pair of Mustang GT3s in WEC.

Ried previously indicated to Sportscar365 that he intended to continue his relationship with Porsche alongside Proton’s new Ford program.

Ferrari is the most popular manufacturer in the class, with a combined six cars from AF Corse, Formula Racing, Spirit of Race, Kessel Racing, JMW Motorsport and GR Racing.

The latter enters a single 296 GT3 for Mike Wainwright, thus maintaining its presence in ACO-rules racing after a long tenure in WEC came to an end following the removal of the GTE-Am class.

Jeff Segal is the first confirmed driver aboard the No. 66 JMW Ferrari, while Emmanuel Collard is set for his 13th season in the series. The veteran Frenchman will race alongside Charles-Henri Samani at AF Corse.

Aston Martin’s new-for-2024 GT3 challenger will be entered by two teams, including new arrivals Racing Spirit of Leman. The Swiss team adds a single LMGT3 entry alongside its existing LMP3 effort for U.S. racer Derek DeBoer and Valentin Hasse-Clot.

Additional, TF Sport continues its longstanding relationship with the Gaydon brand by fielding a single car for Martin Barry and Lorcan Hanafin.

There are no LMGT3 entries on the reserve list.