The Automobile Club de l’Ouest has published the list of 62 entries for the 24h of Le Mans 2023.
The Centenary Edition will take place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on the weekend of 10-11 June and will be valid as the fourth event of the FIA World Endurance Championship of the season.
An appointment not to be missed because beyond the celebration of its first event, which took place precisely in 1923, on the track we will have lots of news and curiosities to satisfy among the 16 cars of the Hypercar Class, the 24 LMP2 and 21 LMGTE AM.
The French Selection Committee obviously had to deal with the flood of requests from teams and manufacturers, first of all confirming the 38 entries for the full FIA WEC season, to which were added the invitees who obtained the best results in 2022 in the championships European Le Mans Series, Le Mans Cup, Asian Le Mans Series and IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Starting grid
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The guests
First of all it must be said that the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 NASCAR developed by Hendrick Motorsports for the invitation reserved for Garage 56 appears in the list, i.e. that of the ‘innovative car’, i.e. the particular car – with alternative energy or with characteristics and drivers of a certain type – to which a place is reserved every year, thus reaching the total of 62 boxes filled on the grid.
As we said above, some places have been reserved for the best players from the various championships. Among these, in Class LMP2, the Orecas of Tower Motorsports, Nielsen Racing, Duqueine Team, Cool Racing (with two cars), DKR Engineering, Graff Racing, Racing Team Turkey/TF Sport, AF Corse, Idec Sport, Algarve are invited Pro Racing, plus a second 07 also for Inter Europol Competition, while Prema renounces the third.
Among the Hypercars there will be the possibility of fielding a Cadillac V-LMDh for Action Express Racing, chosen by IMSA, while Proton Competition (with two Porsches), Kessel Racing, GMB Racing (with Aston Martin) will join the LMGTE AM Class. , JMW Motorsport, Walkenhorst Motorsport (with Ferrari), Dempsey-Proton Racing and TF Sport.
#24 Nielsen Racing Oreca 07 – Gibson LMP2 of Rodrgo Sales, Matt Bell, Ben Hanley #45 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 of Steven Thomas, James Allen, Rene Binder #3 DKR Engineering Oreca 07 – Gibson LMP2 of Laurents Horr, Jean Glorieux, Alexandre Cougnaud
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
More news
At this point, some other names appear in the list which will flesh out the starting grid. And here it is clear that the number of Hypercars stands out above all others: no less than 16 LMH and LMDh prototypes will battle it out for absolute success.
Of these, the novelties concern the second Glickenhaus entered with the # 709 and owned by HK Motorcars, as always managed by Podium Advanced Technologies, and a third Porsche of Team Penske, which will race with the # 75 and on which for the moment it is marked Felipe Nasr as first driver.
The list also includes the Jota 963, which however, as we have known for some time, has yet to be delivered to the English team for the Da Costa/Stevens/Ye trio to race. However, that of the Proton Competition, which will arrive later in the season, does not appear.
In addition to the invitation via Action Express Racing (#311), Cadillac will have an additional V-LMDh in the Chip Ganassi Racing pits ready to line up with the #3 in addition to the #2 WEC.
There will be no second Vanwall Vandervell for the ByKolles Racing team, so the list is completed by the Hypercar pairings of Ferrari, Toyota and Peugeot.
#6 Team Penske Porsche 963: Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy, Dane Cameron
Photo by: Porsche Motorsport
The reserves
As every year, the ACO and FIA obviously have a reserve list to call in case one of the teams on the primary list cannot take part in the event.
For 2023 we will have 10 teams on the bench, with DragonSpeed USA, Nielsen Racing and ARC Bratislava ready to take over the LMP2 Class with their respective Orecas, and 7 from LMGTE AM including the Ferraris of Risi Competizione, Spirit Of Race, Formula Racing and Garage 59, the Aston Martins of Heart of Racing and TF Sport, and the Porsche of Project 1.
Starting grid
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
“The 24 Hours of Le Mans is ready to celebrate its 100th anniversary in June, in what will be the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship,” said ACO president Pierre Fillon.
“Besides the extraordinary entertainment programme, the Centenary will also be celebrated on the track, where we can expect a series of spectacular crashes. Witnessing the Centenary of such an iconic race is a once in a lifetime experience. Few events can boast such a longevity and offer what promises to be one of the greatest sporting occasions in history”.
