With prototype entries covered, today, we will look at the GTE entries in the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans. Thirty cars are entered between the two GTE classes, seven in the professional class and 23 in the amateur class.
In GTE-Pro, three manufactures are on the grid, two with two entries and one with three. There are also three manufactures represented in the GTE-Am class.
Porsche and Ferrari have split the first two races this FIA World Endurance Championship season while Corvette has shown competitiveness in its first attempt at a full WEC season. In GTE-Am, Aston Martin entries have been on top, having multiple cars on the podium in each race, but there are plenty of challengers looking to claim the top spot at Le Mans.
GTE-Pro
#51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: James Calado (7th), Alessandro Pier Guidi (7th), Daniel Serra (6th)
About This Team: Calado and Pier Guidi are defending World Endurance GT Drivers' Championship and they have won the GTE-Pro class two of the last three years at Le Mans with a runner-up finish to boot. Serra was a part of the team from 2018-2020. Serra also won in GTE-Pro in 2017 with Aston Martin. The #51 Ferrari has won four of the last eight races in GTE-Pro.
Test Day: 4th
#52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Miguel Molina (5th), Davide Rigon (9th), Antonio Fuoco (2nd)
About This Team: Currently fifth in the championship, Molina and Fuoco were third at Spa-Francorchamps. Fuoco made his Le Mans debut last year in LMP2 driving for Cetilar Racing. He won in IMSA's GT Daytona class at the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year with Cetilar. This will be the fifth time Molina and Rigon have been co-drivers together at Le Mans. Neither driver has a class victory at Le Mans. Rigon was second in GTE-Pro in 2015. Molina has never won in GTE-Pro and Rigon last won in the class at the 2017 Bahrain season finale.
Test Day: 2nd
#63 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R
Drivers: Antonio García (16th), Jordan Taylor (8th), Nicky Catsburg (4th)
About This Team: García and Taylor are the reigning IMSA GT Le Mans champions with four victories and four runner-up finishes. They won at the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year in the GT Daytona Pro class. They are currently second the GTD Pro championship. This group was runner-up at Le Mans last year. García has three Le Mans class victories, the last coming in 2011. Taylor's only Le Mans class victory was 2015, Corvette's most recent Le Mans victory.
Test Day: 7th
#64 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R
Drivers: Tommy Milner (13th), Nick Tandy (10th), Alexander Sims (4tg)
About This Team: Milner and Tandy are third in the championship with a runner-up at Sebring and fourth at Spa-Francorchamps. Milner and Tandy were second in IMSA's GT Le Mans championship last year with four victories and won the Endurance Cup championship. Milner has finished outside the top five in class in his last five Le Mans appearance. He has two Le Mans class victories. Tandy's only class victory was his overall victory in 2015 with Porsche. Sims' entry has failed to finish in two of his three Le Mans starts.
Test Day: 1st
#74 Riley Motorsports Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Sam Bird (9th), Felipe Fraga (4th), Shane van Gisbergern (1st)
About This Team: For the first time since 2015, Bird is not competing with AF Corse at Le Mans. In 2015, he was third in the LMP2 class with G-Drive Racing. Fraga was runner-up in the GTE-Am class last year with TF Sport driving an Aston Martin with Ben Keating and Dylan Pereira. Fraga won four races in IMSA's LMP3 class last year driving for Riley Motorsports and he won in LMP3 at the 24 Hours of Daytona this year with the team. Van Gisbergen won the Supercars championship last year and he has won nine races this season.
Test Day: 5th
#91 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Gianmaria Bruni (14th), Richard Lietz (16th), Frédéric Makowiecki (12th)
About This Team: This is the fifth consecutive year this lineup had run together at Le Mans. They were runner-up in 2018 and 2019. Makowiecki has never won a class at Le Mans. His most recent WEC victory was the 2015 Bahrain season finale. Bruni and Lietz have not won in WEC competition since the 2019 Silverstone round. Lietz won the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GT Daytona class earlier this year.
Test Day: 3rd
#92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Michael Christensen (8th), Kévin Estre (8th), Laurens Vanthoor (7th)
About This Team: The #92 Porsche leads the World Endurance GTE Drivers' Championship with a victory at Sebring and a runner-up finish at Spa-Francorchamps. This trio won in GTE Pro in 2018 and raced together for three years at Le Mans. Vanthoor won the IMSA GTD championship last year with Pfaff Motorsports.
Test Day: 6th
GTE-Am
#21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Simon Mann (1st), Christoph Ulrich (2nd), Toni Vilander (13th)
About This Team: The #21 Ferrari has finished seventh and tenth in the first two races this WEC season. Vilander has six class podium finishes in 12 Le Mans starts.
Test Day: 19th
#33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR
Drivers: Ben Keating (8th), Henrique Chaves (1st), Marco Sørensen (8th)
About This Team: Keating and Sørensen have finished runner-up in class in the first two races of the 2022 season. Keating was runner-up last year in GTE-Am and infamously was disqualified from the GTE-Am class victory in 2019. Sørensen and Chaves are each competing in the European Le Mans Series driving separate entries for TF Sport. They were 1-2 at the Imola round last month with Sørensen taking the victory.
Test Day: 15th
#46 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Matteo Cairoli (6th), Nicolas Leutwiler (3rd), Mikkel O. Pedersen (1st)
About This Team: Cairoli has yet to finish on a class podium at Le Mans. His last WEC victory was in GTE-Am at Mexico City in 2017. Leutwiler returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2016 and he will drive in a GT class for the first time. Pedersen spent the last two seasons running in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
Test Day: 22nd
#54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Nick Cassidy (1st), Francesco Castellacci (7th), Thomas Flohr (6th)
About This Team: For the first time since 2017, Castellacci and Flohr will race together without Giancarlo Fisichella as their third driver. They are driving with Cassidy in WEC this season and finished fourth at Spa-Francorchamps. Cassidy is also competing in Formula E with Envision Racing but has only three points finishes in nine races this season.
Test Day: 8th
#55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Duncan Cameron (6th), Matt Griffin (11th), David Perel (2nd)
About This Team: Cameron and Griffin were second in GTE-Am in 2017. This team was third in the ELMS GT class at the Imola race in May.
Test Day: 12th
#56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Ben Barnicoat (2nd), Brendan Iribe (2nd), Ollie Millroy (2nd)
About This Team: This team was 12th in class last year and won the Asian Le Mans Series GT championship earlier this year. Barnicoat is also competing for VasserSullivan Lexus in IMSA. He is fourth in the GTD-Pro class championship and won at Belle Isle in GTD. Iribe is currently competing in the GTD class with two top five finishes. Iribe and Millory has competed together in International GT Open and Asian Le Mans Series the last two years.
Test Day: 21st
#57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Mikkel Jensen (3rd), Takeshi Kimura (4th), Frederik Schandorff (2nd)
About This Team: Jensen won at the 12 Hours of Sebring in the LMP2 class. Schandorff won the International GT Open championship last year. Kimura remains active in WEC, Super GT and ELMS competition.
Test Day: 1st
#59 Inception Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Marvin Klein (1st), Côme Ledogar (5th), Alexander West (2nd)
About This Team: Ledogar won at Le Mans last year in GTE-Pro with Calado and Pier Guidi. Ledogar and Pier Guidi also won the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and Intercontinental GT Challenge championships last season. West competed in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup last year. Klein has not competed since the 2018 ELMS season.
Test Day: 16th
#60 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Alessandro Balzan (2nd), Raffaele Giammaria (4th), Claudio Schiavoni (4th)
About This Team: Schiavoni ran the first two WEC races with Cressoni and Fisichella. Balzan returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2017. Giammaria has finished fifth in class in his last two Le Mans appearance.
Test Day: 20th
#61 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Vincent Abril (3rd), Conrad Grunewald (1st), Louis Prette (2nd)
About This Team: This team was fourth in the Asian Le Mans Series GT championship after finishing third in each of the first three races. Abril and Prette raced together at Le Mans in 2019 with Prette's father Philippe.
Test Day: 14th
#66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Jason Hart (1st), Mark Kvamme (1st), Renger van der Zande (5th)
About This Team: Van der Zande makes his first Le Mans appearance in a GT car, and he has won twice overall in IMSA competition this season in the street races at Long Beach and Belle Isle. Kvamme has competed mostly in IMSA's Prototype Challenge series the last two years. Hart was the GT4 America Pro-Am champion last year with Matt Travis.
Test Day: 2nd
#71 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Gabriel Aubry (5th), Franck Dezoteux (1st), Pierre Ragues (14th)
About This Team: Aubry is competing in ELMS' LMP2 class with Team Virage. This is his first time running a GT car at Le Mans. Ragues returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2019. He has twice finished third in class, in LMP2 in 2008 and in LMP2 in 2017. Dezoteux competed in Michelin Le Mans Cup and an ELMS race last year before joining WEC this year.
Test Day: 3rd
#75 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Pierre Ehret (10th), Christian Hook (2nd), Nicolás Varrone (1st)
About This Team: Ehret and Varrone won the ELMS season opener in the GT class at Circuit Paul Ricard. Last year, Ehret returned to Le Mans for the first time since 2014 with Hook as a co-driver. The team retired after an accident.
Test Day: 9th
#77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Seb Priaulx (1st), Christian Ried (13th), Harry Tincknell (9th)
About This Team: Winners at Spa-Francorchamps, the #77 Porsche is third in the championship. Ried's only Le Mans class victory was in 2018. Tincknell has two class victories, the 2014 LMP2 victory with Jota Sport and the 2020 GTE Pro victory with Aston Martin. Priaulx won the Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship last year. His father Andy never had a class victory at Le Mans. In six starts, Andy Priaulx was runner-up in GTE-Pro in 2017, and Tincknell was his co-driver, as they were co-drivers for three years in the Ford GT program.
Test Day: 11th
#79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Julien Andlauer (5th), Cooper MacNeil (8th), Thomas Merrill (1st)
About This Team: Andlauer won the GTE-Am class at Le Mans on debut in 2018. He was third in the Michelin Le Mans Cup GT3 championship. MacNeil won three races in the IMSA GTLM class last year, including the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. Merrill competes in the Trans-Am Series and was fourth in the TA2 championship last year.
Test Day: 18th
#80 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Matteo Cressoni (5th), Giancarlo Fisichella (13th), Richard Heistand (2nd)
About This Team: Cressoni and Fisichella have finished eighth in the first two races this season. Cressoni won the ELMS GT championship last year with three victories and podium finishes in every race. Heistand remains active in IMSA's GTD class.
Test Day: 5th
#85 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Drivers: Sarah Bovy (2nd), Rahel Frey (4th), Michelle Gatting (4th)
About This Team: This team was fifth at Sebring. In the two ELMS races, it was fourth at Circuit Paul Ricard and eighth at Imola.
Test Day: 6th
#86 GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Ben Barker (7th), Riccardo Pera (3rd), Michael Wainwright (8th)
About This Team: GR Racing was sixth at the Spa-Francorchamps round. Barker and Wainwright's best class finish at Le Mans is fifth, and they have never won a WEC race. Pera was second in class at Le Mans in 2020, and he won the 2019 Spa-Francorchamps WEC round in GTE-Am, his second start in the series.
Test Day: 17th
#88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Jan Heylen (1st), Patrick Lindsey (3rd), Fred Poordad (1st)
About This Team: Heylen won the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS championship last year, and he has won twice this season in IMSA's GTD class with Wright Motorsports, including the 24 Hours of Daytona. Lindsey won at Le Mans in GTE-Am in 2019 with Team Project 1. Poordad has spent the last two seasons competing in GT World Challenge America.
Test Day: 23rd
#93 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Matt Campbell (5th), Michael Fassbender (1st), Zacharie Robichon (1st)
About This Team: Campbell has two victories this season in IMSA's GTD Pro class, including at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Robichon won IMSA's GTD championship with Laurens Vanthoor last year and won in GTD at the 24 Hours of Daytona this year. Fassbender is in his third season competing in ELMS and he has three podium finishes in his ELMS career.
Test Day: 7th
#98 Northwest AMR Aston Martin Vantage AMR
Drivers: Paul Dalla Lana (10th), David Pittard (1st), Nicki Thiim (9th)
About This Team: The #98 Aston Martin leads the Endurance Trophy for GTE AM Drivers championship after a victory at Sebring and third at Spa-Francorchamps. Dalla Lana has yet to finish on a class podium at Le Mans. Thiim won in GTE-Am at Le Mans in 2014. Pittard competed in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup last year.
Test Day: 4th
#99 Hardpoint Motorsport Porsche 911 RSR-19
Drivers: Andrew Haryanto (2nd), Alessio Picariello (2nd), Martin Rump (1st)
About This Team: Haryanto and Picariello were seventh in GTE-Am last year. Rump has spent majority of his career competing in the GT World Challenge Asia Championship.
Test Day: 10th
#777 D'station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR
Drivers: Charlie Fagg (1st), Tomonobu Fujii (2nd), Satoshi Hoshino (3rd)
About This Team: Fujii and Hoshino are competing full-time in the GTE-Am class for the second consecutive year. Fagg won the GT4 European Series Silver Cup championship last year with Bailey Voisin.
Test Day: 13th
Practice opens with a three-hour session this morning at 8:00 a.m. ET. A one-hour qualifying practice session will follow at 1:00 p.m. ET before a two-hour practice closes out the day at 4:00 p.m. ET
On Thursday June 9, a three-hour session opens the day at 9:00 a.m. ET. The 30-minute Hyperpole session will be held at 2:00 p.m. ET with another two-hour night practice at 4:00 p.m. ET.
The cars will not return to Circuit de la Sarthe until 4:30 a.m. ET on Saturday June 11 for the 30-minute warm-up session. The 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET.
