Michael Shank, Scuderia Corsa Secure IMSA Entries for 24H Le Mans

Photo: IMSA

A pair of U.S.-based entries are set to take part in next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Michael Shank Racing and Scuderia Corsa having been awarded IMSA’s automatic invites for the French endurance classic.

The entries, awarded at-large by the American sanctioning body, were confirmed in the 2016 Le Mans sporting regulations, which was released by the ACO today.

It confirms the much-anticipated Le Mans debut for Michael Shank, which is expected to field a Ligier JS P2 for Ozz Negri, John Pew and a third, to-be-confirmed driver in LMP2.

Shank previously told Sportscar365 he plans to lease a Ligier for the event, in order to keep his Ligier-Honda stateside for its full-season WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign.

2015 IMSA GTD champions Scuderia Corsa, meanwhile, is set to return to Le Mans for the second consecutive year following its GTE-Am class podium finish in 2015 with Townsend Bell, Bill Sweedler and Jeff Segal.

Sweedler confirmed to Sportscar365 he’ll again team up with Bell in the same Ferrari 458 Italia GTE chassis it utilized this year.

Additional IMSA-based entries are expected to come from reigning GTE-Pro class winners Corvette Racing, Ford Performance Chip Ganassi Racing and Riley Motorsports, subject to selection by the ACO.

The full list of 58 entrants to next year’s race will be revealed on Feb. 5, alongside the full-season entry lists for the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series.

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