Pair of WRT Audis Among 46 Cars on Road to Le Mans Entry

Team WRT will bring a pair of Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evos to this month’s Road to Le Mans as part of a 46-car, two-category entry for the main 24 Hours of Le Mans support races.

The decorated Belgian squad, which has won major races including the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa, the Nürburgring 24 and the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, is due to run two of the eleven GT3 cars signed up for the pair of 55-minute races on Aug. 19-21.

The GT3 field combines with a 35-car LMP3 grid to create an overall car count that has grown by a dozen entries since last year.

Reigning Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup champion and current points leader Charles Weerts is listed in the No. 72 Team WRT Audi, while Roald and Benjamin Goethe will team up in the sister No. 34 machine.

Like Weerts, Benjamin Goethe also drives for WRT in the GTWC Europe Sprint and Endurance Cups.

It will mark the first time that WRT has competed in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, on the same weekend that the Vincent Vosse-led organization will make its 24 Hours of Le Mans debut with a pair of LMP2-class Oreca 07 Gibsons.

It is also set to herald the first Audi appearance at Road to Le Mans since Optimum Motorsport fielded an R8 LMS GT3 in the 2017 edition.

Ferrari is the best-represented GT3 manufacturer this year, courtesy of a three-car commitment from AF Corse and a double entry for Iron Lynx.

The latter is running one of its Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020s for FIA Formula 3 race winner Logan Sargeant and Finnish racer Rory Penttinen, and the other for Manuela Gostner and Doriane Pin.

Porsche Young Professional Julien Andlauer teams up with GT3 championship leader Niki Leutwiler in the TFT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Aston Martin is represented by Oman Racing with TF Sport. Reigning Pirelli GT4 America champion Michael Dinan, who drove a TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the GT Open round at Spa this year, will link up with Ahmad Al Harthy.

There is also a Racetivity-run Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo featuring double Le Mans class winner Emmanuel Collard, and an additional Porsche for Herberth Motorsport.

Furthermore, the 35-car Road to Le Mans LMP3 entry features a mixture of Le Mans Cup full-timers and one-off participants for the series’ headline round.

25 of the Nissan V8-powered LMP3s are Ligier JS P320s, while there are nine Duqueine D08s and a single ADESS-03 EVO, for the Australian pairing of Andres Latorre Canon and Garnet Patterson.

The Ligier contingent includes Le Mans Cup regulars United Autosports, with four cars, and Nielsen Racing which is bringing three JS P320s plus a single Duqueine under the Grainmarket Racing banner.

United drivers Gerry Kraut and Scott Andrews currently lead Nielsen Racing’s Tony Wells and Colin Noble by two points at the head of the LMP3 drivers’ standings. 

A triple Ligier entry has also been arranged by Cool Racing, while former Cool Racing LMP2 program partner Racing Spirit of Leman has a pair of the French-built prototypes.

AF Corse, which is due to run the Ferrari factory Hypercar program from 2023, will operate a Ligier for Kriton Lendoudis and Portuguese stalwart Rui Aguas.

Experienced German outfits Black Falcon, Frikadelli Racing Team, Rinaldi Racing and Phoenix Racing are also competing, with the latter running one Ligier and one Duqueine as part of its association with Wochenspiegel Team Monschau.

Both Black Falcon and Frikadelli, which is known for running Porsche 911 GT3 Rs at the Nürburgring, are arriving with single Ligiers.

Other Ligier outfits include Icelandic squad Team Thor, 24 Hours of Le Mans entrant IDEC Sport and RLR MSport which is bringing a pair of JS P320 Nissans.

DKR Engineering and Muehlner Motorsport join Rinaldi in running a pair of Duqueines, along with the D08 from Italian organization TS Corse.

Laurents Hoerr and Jean Glorieux are back to defend their 2020 opening-race victory for DKR. The other winners last year were Cool Racing’s Nicolas Maulini and Edouard Cauhaupe.