IMSA GTLM regulars confirmed for Le Mans

March 1, 2019

IMSA GTLM regulars confirmed for Le Mans

March 1, 2019

The ACO has added IMSA’s GT Le Mans class regulars to the 60-car entry list for the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans on Friday.

Both pairs of Corvette Racing C7.Rs, Porsche GT Team 911 RSRs and Ford Chip Ganassi Racing GTs are among the 14 extra cars confirmed Friday to round out the 60-car field. Additionally, the ACO granted Risi Competizione an entry with its Ferrari 488 GTE. These are all Michelin technical partner teams in IMSA.

This boost of GTE-Pro class cars brings that class’ total to 17 cars, the same as it was in 2018. The only difference is that the third Ferrari in class comes from Risi, rather than AF Corse.

CORVETTE VS. FORD AGAIN
Pair of Corvette C7.Rs. Photo: Michelin North America

Corvette Racing will return to Le Mans with both its cars for a 20th consecutive season, and an unchanged driver lineup. Mike Rockenfeller and Marcel Fassler continue as third drivers to the Nos. 63 and 64 cars.

For a fourth straight year, Ford will also have four cars. The two Team U.S.A. entered-cars also feature unchanged lineups, with Sebastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon the extra drivers in the Nos. 68 and 69 cars.

No. 69 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT: Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook, Scott Dixon. Photo: Michelin North America

The team’s two FIA WEC-entered Fords do not yet have their third drivers named. Billy Johnson and Jonathan Bomarito will fill those slots at this month’s 1000 Miles of Sebring.

FOUR FOR PORSCHE

Porsche previously announced its driver lineup during its annual Night of Champions event in December. Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber will share the No. 93 car.

Porsche back with four cars again. Photo: Michelin North America

Meanwhile a trio of younger drivers, Sven Mueller, Mathieu Jaminet and Dennis Olsen, will drive the No. 94 car. Fred Makowiecki and Laurens Vanthoor reprise their roles as third drivers in the No. 91 and 92 cars.

RISI RETURNS

Risi returns on its own for 2019, after supporting the Keating Motorsports’ GTE-Am class entry last year. This car lists Stephane Ortelli and Pierre Kaffer as the first two drivers.

No. 85 Keating Motorsports Ferrari 488 GTE: Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Luca Stolz. Photo: Michelin North America
FINAL AT-LARGE ENTRIES CONFIRMED

The ACO announced 11 other cars Friday beyond these seven. These include the four cars that won automatic entries from winning the Asian Le Mans Series.

The final at-large selections include LMP2 entries from Panis-Barthez, Algarve Pro, Graff, Cetilar R. Villorba Corse and IDEC Sport, and GTE-Am entries from Spirit of Race and Kessel Racing.

Kessel’s second car entered in GTE-Am features an all-female driver lineup of Manuela Gostner, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting. Kessel has committed both its Ferrari 488 GTEs to the European Le Mans Series’ 2019 season.

Among the cars on the 10-car reserve list is an Oreca 07 LMP2 car entered by Meyer Shank Racing, which had hoped to gain an entry of its own. The collaborative Heinricher Racing and Meyer Shank effort fields an all-female Acura NSX GT3 Evo in IMSA’s GT Daytona class this season.

American-flagged United Autosports also drew a reserve with its second Ligier JSP217 car. The team fields 11 cars across ACO-sanctioned championships.

The full entry list is linked here.

Latest Photos

Latest Video

Michelin wraps up IMSA west coast swing with excitement

Monday May 15, 2023
[/et_pb_section]
[/et_pb_section]