23 Hypercars Headline Capacity 24H Le Mans Entry List

Ferrari will defend its 24 Hours of Le Mans crown as part of an expanded Hypercar grid consisting of 23 cars, headlining a bumper entry for the 92nd running of the French endurance classic.

The ACO released the entry list for its blue riband event on Monday, which sees the nearly two-dozen Hypercars joined by 16 cars in LMP2 and 23 LMGT3 entries.

For the first time in Le Mans history, every single car entered in the top category has a hybrid drivetrain, including new Hypercar class entrants Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini.

The number of top class entries stands as the highest this century. The record was previously held by 2008, when 22 cars were entered into the LMP1 class.

Defending winners Ferrari return with its pair of WEC-entered 499Ps as well as its third customer car operated by AF Corse, facing opposition from all eight other manufacturers, all of which will be present when the world championship kicks off next week with the Qatar 1812km.

Full-season WEC entrants Porsche, Cadillac and Lamborghini have all entered additional cars to add to their presence at the event, with the setup from the first two brands mirroring that from last year.

Porsche Penske Motorsport brings in one of its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 963s, with Mathieu Jaminet as the first confirmed driver.

Cadillac, meanwhile, has seen its wishes for a second Chip Ganassi Racing entry fulfilled while Action Express Racing was already guaranteed a spot on the grid after receiving an automatic invitation for winning the WeatherTech Championship’s teams’ title.

Lamborghini is set to expand its stable of SC63s to two, bringing in the WeatherTech Championship-entered car for drivers Andrea Caldarelli, Romain Grosjean and Matteo Cairoli.

The number of privately entered Porsche 963s grows from one to three compared to last year, with Hertz Team JOTA doubling up to be joined by Proton Competition’s full-season WEC car, which will run in a livery paying tribute to Dauer’s 1994 overall victory.

Julien Andlauer, who will join the Christian Ried-led squad for the Qatar opener next week, is named alongside Harry Tincknell and Neel Jani aboard the No. 99 machine while notably second Porsche Hypercar for the team has been placed as first reserve.

The 16 cars entered into the LMP2 category largely come from the European Le Mans Series, stemming from the fact that the class is no longer part of WEC this year.

Most of the championship’s regulars are represented, including United Autosports, Nielsen Racing, Algarve Pro Racing, IDEC Sport, DKR Engineering, Cool Racing, Panis Racing and AF Corse.

Proton will field a single Oreca 07 Gibson for Jonas Ried, while Bronze-rated driver PJ Hyett is listed aboard the No. 14 AO by TF entry alongside Louis Deletraz.

Ben Keating (United Autosports) and George Kurtz (CrowdStrike by APR) will resume their rivalry in the LMP2 Pro-Am class, while Keating’s former Corvette Racing teammate Nico Varrone is set for his LMP2 debut with AF Corse.

Defending LMP2 winners Inter Europol Competition return with a single-car entry, while Duqueine Team fields a single Oreca alongside running the Isotta Fraschini Hypercar effort.

The vast majority of the LMGT3 field, which will make its first appearance after Le Mans after the class replaced GTE-Am, comes from WEC with all but five entries entered into the world championship.

Nine brands are represented on the grid in the form of Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren and Porsche. ACO president Pierre Fillon previously indicated that brands not entered into either WEC or ELMS would not be eligible to compete at Le Mans.

Proton team principal Christian Ried is set to return to driving aboard a third Proton-entered Ford Mustang GT3, which joins the pair of WEC cars through an auto-invite for winning the ELMS GTE title last year.

JMW Motorsport return, GR Racing and Spirit of Race have all secured an entry with a Ferrari 296 GT3, while IMSA Bob Akin Award winner Brendan Iribe returns to Le Mans in an Inception Racing-entered McLaren 720S GT3 Evo.

Of note, Pure Rxcing looks to have taken up neither of its two auto-invites, handed out for winning both the Asian Le Mans Series GT title and the overall Bronze Cup title in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS.

The Lithuanian squad’s presence at the event remains limited to its single Porsche 911 GT3 R entered into WEC in partnership with Manthey Racing.

The 92nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is set to take place on June 15-16.