Full Bahrain Rookie Test Entry List Revealed

The FIA World Endurance Championship has issued a 28-car entry list for the rookie test that will take place at Bahrain International Circuit after next week’s season finale.

A total of 13 Hypercars and 15 LMGT3 runners make up the field for the one-day test on Nov. 3, with several teams electing for reduced presences in the test that immediately follows the season-closing 8 Hours of Bahrain.

While most of the rookies taking part in the Hypercar class have been previously announced by their respective teams, the list features a handful of new names.

These include factory Corvette racers Charlie Eastwood and Daniel Juncadella, who will get to sample the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R in what will be the car’s final outing with Chip Ganassi Racing before the program is passed to Hertz Team JOTA.

Frederik Vesti, who was announced on Wednesday as the Action Express Racing Cadillac team’s third driver for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year, will also be in action aboard the No. 2 machine.

Ferrari will field both of its works 499Ps in the test, with Arthur Leclerc entered in the No. 50 car, as previously indicated by the marque’s head of endurance Antonello Coletta, while factory GT driver Thomas Neubauer will sample the No. 51 car.

Lamborghini drivers Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera, meanwhile, will get seat time in the Italian marque’s solo SC63.

The final new name is FIA Formula 3 racer Charlie Wurz, the son of two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Alex, who will share Proton Competition’s No. 99 Porsche 963 with recently-confirmed 2025 Porsche works driver Julien Andlauer.

Porsche Penske Motorsport only has one car entered for the test, the No. 6 car, to be shared by Mathieu Jaminet and Reshad de Gerus.

As one of the WEC organization’s two designated rookies, European Le Mans Series driver de Gerus will drive for whichever team comes away with the manufacturers’ title in Bahrain, meaning he could yet appear for Toyota or Ferrari.

Toyota is likewise only entering a single GR010 Hybrid, with Mike Conway on hand to prepare the No. 7 car for the previously-announced Esteban Masson‘s first run.

BMW is keeping regular drivers Dries Vanthoor and Rene Rast on hand to supervise its rookie trio of Valentino Rossi, Dan Harper and Max Hesse, announced earlier on Thursday, with both of the BMW M Hybrid V8s entered for the test.

Alpine has a single A424 entered for Jules Gounon and rookie Victor Martins, whose participation was revealed last week, while Peugeot has both 9X8s in action as Theo Pourchaire and Clement Novalak get up to speed, joined by Paul di Resta and Malthe Jakobsen as previously announced by the French manufacturer.

Among the most notable names in the LMGT3 portion of the entry are Mattia Drudi in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, Ben Barnicoat in the No. 87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3, Michelle Gatting in the No. 92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R and Tom Gamble in the No. 95 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo.

Gatting’s outing for Manthey comes amid speculation that the German outfit is set for an alliance with the Iron Dames in 2025.

She will share the car with Gillian Henrion, the other rookie selected by the WEC, and Bronze-rated Celia Martin, who is also affiliated with the Iron Dames and raced in Michelin Le Mans Cup this year.

Other newcomers including Aurelien Panis (son of ex-Formula 1 racer Olivier) for Akkodis ASP, Porsche Carrera Cup North America racer Alex Sedgwick for United Autosports and former single-seater pilot Mahaveer Raghunathan for Vista AF Corse.

The two Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2s are listed for the test but have no drivers attached to them.

Sitting out the test entirely are Hertz Team JOTA ahead of its switch to Cadillac machinery and Aston Martin LMGT3 team D’station Racing, which is weighing up whether to extend its presence in the WEC into a fifth season next year.