[LM24] Le Mans 2024 Entry List

[broadrun96]

Spike livery coming to LM

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...dragon-livery/

[Truckosaurus]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Spike livery coming to LM

Will be good to have a distinctive livery on at least one LMP2, they always seem so similar (especially when most of them are the same model of car, and all have the same engine).

[Mike E]

"Ried said he’s set a deadline of next week before pulling the team’s Porsche 963 reserve entry for Le Mans, which has been the first reserve. The German squad would need to utilize its WeatherTech Championship chassis, and thus miss both Detroit and Watkins Glen, if it receives a confirmed place on the grid for its second LMDh car."

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/l...ay-notebook-9/

[Bentley03]

Wondering if #2 Caddy crash at Spa today might lead to a Le Mans withdrawal. Hope they have a spare tub available which can be built up and in France in time.

[Adam43]

Ny thoughts went to Le Mans preparation too. It’s like last year. But I suspect it will be OK. It’s Le Mans.

[Truckosaurus]

You'd expect a factory programme to have at least one set of components to build a whole new car, even if you have to air freight them across the Atlantic.

So the question might become, would they have a spare-spare tub on hand in case of a big incident in the pre-race sessions at LM?

[joeb]

They have tubs around, Ganassi is only running 1 car in IMSA this year with 2 cars last year. most of the time....

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

You'd expect a factory programme to have at least one set of components to build a whole new car, even if you have to air freight them across the Atlantic.

So the question might become, would they have a spare-spare tub on hand in case of a big incident in the pre-race sessions at LM?

Yes, another 'Kemmel' and no spare tub in Europe could present a problem. I'm really (really really) hoping Cadillac can challenge for the overall this year.

[Mike E]

It's that time again. With the greatest race in the world less than a month away, here are some entry list stats (which may not be 100% accurate etc etc, please feel free to correct). And these are subject to change....



Once again we have a capactity field of 62 cars and 186 drivers. A further five cars remain on the reserve list.

An incredible 23 car Hypercar field is the largest top class since... last year when we had 16.
At 16 cars, the LMP2 field is the smallest it has been since at least 2014 when there were 18 cars. Last year there were 24.

Once again we have no Pro GT class but we do have 23 Pro Am LMGT3s to keep us entertained. Last year 21 GTE Ams started the race.


Drivers
Platinum 80 (43%)
Gold 40 (22%)
Silver 35 (19%)
Bronze 31 (17%)


65% of the field being 'Pro' graded (Platimun or Gold) is a slight increase on last year (63%). The number of pro drivers has not changed much despite the growth of Hypercar and the enforced scaling back of LMP2 because several drivers have stepped up from LMP2 to Hypercar.
The number of Bronze drivers is similar to recent years because of the requirement to run a Bronze in GTE Am/LMGT3.


There are 50 LM rookies in the race (27%). This is quite a high proportion but not unprecedented.

The most experienced driver in the race is Richard Lietz with 17 starts.



There are 14 overall LM winners in the field:
Earl Bamber, Nick Tandy, Andre Lotterer, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa, James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovanazzi, Loic Duval, Neel Jani and Jose Maria Lopez.
There are a further 37 class winners.


Driver nationalities
France 28
Great Britain 24
Italy, USA 16
Denmark 13
Switzerland, Germany 10
Japan, Netherlands 8
Belgium, Brazil 6
Spain 5
Austria 4
Australia, New Zealnd, Canada 3
Argentina, Poland, South Africa, no country listed (Russia) 2
Angola, Chile, China, Grenada, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, St Kitts & Nevis, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Thailand, Turkey 1



Hypercar
Porsche 6 cars

Cadillac, Ferrari 3 cars

Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini, Peugeot, Toyota 2 cars
Isotta Fraschini 1 car



LMP2
Oreca 16 cars


LMGT3
Ferrari 5 cars
Ford, McLaren 3 cars
Aston Martin, BMW, Chevrolet, Lamborghini, Lexus, Porsche 2 cars

Hypercar


97% of Hypercar drivers are Platinum or Gold, with only the junior Isotta drivers being Silvers.
There are 11 LM rookies in Hypercar but, as mentioned in a previous post, they are generally extremely well qualified.

The most experienced Hypercar crew in terms of LM starts is the #99 Proton Porsche with 30 starts across the 3 drivers. All three of these drivers has won the race overall (Neel Jani LMP1) or has a class win (Harry Tincknell LMP2 & GTE Pro, Julien Andlauer GTE Am).
The least experienced at LM is the #11 Isotta Fraschini with only Jean-Karl Vernay's single entry in 2013, when he won GTE Am!
The average number of starts per driver is 5.2.


LMP2
This is a relatively small field but the quality is high. 63% of drivers are Platinum or Gold rated.
There are 13 rookies (27%) which is fairly typical. Only two of those rookies are Bronze rated.
What's impressive is the quality of the up and coming Gold drivers in the class this year. These could be future stars in the top class. Viscaal and Deletraz (already in GTP), Scherer, Caldwell, van Uitert, Lomko, Quinn, Siegel, Simpson, De Angelis, de Gerus, Simmenauer, Horr, Novalak, Jakobsen (Peugeot reserve driver), Varrone etc.
The most experienced crew is the #23 United Autosports with a combined 26 starts. This is a formidable line up (Albequerque, Hanley, Keating) and surely the favourite for the LMP2 Pro Am win, if not LMP2 overall.

Least experienced are both Cool Racing crews with a single start each.
Average starts per driver is 3.3.



LMGT3
The Pro driver count is unavoidably lower here (33%) because Am drivers are mandated.
There are 26 rookies (38%).
The most experienced crew is the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari with 24 starts.
Least experienced are the #59 United Autosports McLaren and #82 TF Sport Corvette with zero starts.
Average starts per driver is 2.8.


The quality and depth of this field is amazing and this is still year one for the likes of Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini. Porsche's recent form in Hypercar and the fact they have 6 cars in the race makes them look like favourites to me. But Ferrari will be fast, Toyota should be organised and maybe Cadillac will turn up and not drive into a wall.

[Adam43]

Thanks. That is a quality field.

[Truckosaurus]

With McLaren in GT3, is this their first entry since the days of the F1 in the late nineties?

I assume Lexus is making its debut as a marque too (a motorcar owned by all the best people).

Thirdly, the first time Lambo has been in the top class? (or was there something in the GT1 days?)