For the first time since 2019, the 24 Hours of Le Mans will take place in June and we are days away from the historic endurance race.
The third round of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship, Le Mans comes at a time when the Hypercar class is mixed up. Toyota has had a car drop out of each of the first two races and Alpine snapped Toyota's nine-race winning streak at the Sebring season opener while Glickenhaus won pole position at Spa-Francorchamps.
Sixty-two cars are entered for this year's race, but we again will split the grid into two, prototypes and GT cars while looking at each entry. Today, we will start with the prototype entries and give a brief blurb about the cars competing in Hypercar and LMP2.
Hypercar
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid
Drivers: Mike Conway (9th), Kamui Kobayashi (8th), José María López (6th)
About This Team: The defending world champions, the #7 Toyota scored its first Le Mans victory last year, and won the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps last month, but retired from Sebring after López's violent accident. Toyota has won four consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans and could become the sixth manufacture with at least five overall Le Mans victories.
Test Day: 1st
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid
Drivers: Sébastien Buemi (11th), Brendon Hartley (9th), Ryō Hirakawa (3rd)
About This Team: The #8 Toyota was runner-up at Sebring but retired at Spa-Francorchamps. Buemi has three victories and could become the ninth driver with four Le Mans victories. Hartley is a two-time Le Mans winner and Hirakawa makes his hypercar debut at Le Mans. Hirakawa had made two LMP2 starts at Le Mans in 2016 and 2017.
Test Day: 3rd
#36 Alpine Elf Matmut Alpine A480-Gibson
Drivers: Nicolas Lapierre (15th), André Negrão (6th), Matthieu Vaxivière (6th)
About This Team: Winners at Sebring, Alpine leads the championship after finishing second at Spa-Francorchamps. This trio was third overall last year. Lapierre and Negrão won the LMP2 class toggery in 2018 and 2019. Vaxivère was third in LMP2 in 2019 and 2020
Test Day: 5th
#708 Glickenhaus Racing Glickenhaus 007 LMH
Drivers: Pipo Derani (7th), Romain Dumas (22nd), Olivier Pla (15th)
About This Team: Dumas and Pla have finished third in each of the first two races this season and are second in the championship. Dumas is looking for his third overall victory with a third different manufacture. Pla's only class podium at Le Mans was a LMP2 runner-up finish in 2013. Pla and Derani was fourth overall last year.
Test Day: 2nd
#709 Glickenhaus Racing Glickenhaus 007 LMH
Drivers: Ryan Briscoe (8th), Franck Mailleux (8th), Richard Westbrook (12th)
About This Team: This is the sixth time Briscoe and Westbrook have run the 24 Hours of Le Mans together. They were third in the GTE Pro class in 2016 with Scott Dixon. Mailleux was apart of Glickenhaus' fourth-place effort last year, his first Le Mans starts since 2014.
Test Day: 4th
LMP2
#1 Richard Mille Racing Team Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Charles Milesi (3rd), Sébastien Ogier (1st), Lilou Wadoux (1st)
About This Team: Milesi won in the LMP2 class last year with Team WRT and won the Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers'. Ogier is an eight-time World Rally champion. Wadoux was third in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup championship last year with one victory.
Test Day: 10th
#3 DKR Engineering Team Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Alexandre Cougnaud (1st), Jean Glorieux (1st), Laurents Hörrs (1st)
About This Team: Hörrs won the European Le Mans Series LMP3 championship last year, a year after he won the Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 championship with Glorieux as his co-driver. Cougnaud spent 2021 in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup driving for Sainteloc Racing.
Test Day: 5th
#5 Team Penske Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Dane Cameron (1st), Emmanuel Collard (25th), Felipe Nasr (3rd)
About This Team: Cameron has three IMSA championship, a Daytona Prototype international, Prototype and GT Daytona. Nasr has two IMS DPi championships. Neither Cameron nor Nasr have won an overall 24-hour race in their careers. Nasr has twice finished runner-up overall in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He did win in the GTD Pro class this year with Pfaff Motorsports. Cameron has never even finished on the podium in Daytona. Collard is back in LMP2 at Le Mans for the first time since 2017. This will be Team Penske's final race of the WEC season as it turns its focus on the Porsche LMDh test program.
Test Day: 13th
#9 Prema Orlen Team Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Lorzeno Colombo (1st), Louis Delétraz (3rd), Robert Kubica (2nd)
About This Team: Prema has won the first two rounds of the European Le Mans Series season. Delétraz and Kubica were infamously apart of the Team WRT entry that broke down of the final lap while leading in LMP2 last year. Delétraz also won at Laguna Seca in the LMP2 class last month. Colombo won in the FIA Formula Three Championship last year at Spa-Francorchamps.
Test Day: 9th
#10 Vector Sport Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Sébastien Bourdais (15th), Ryan Cullen (4th), Nico Müller (1st)
About This Team: Bourdais makes his first Le Mans start in LMP2. This is his first Le Mans appearance in a prototype since 2012. Cullen won the 24 Hours of Daytona in the LMP2 class in 2019. Müller has twice finished runner-up in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship.
Test Day: 5th
#13 TDS Racing x Vaillante Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Mathias Beche (8th), Philippe Cimadomo (1st), Tijmen van der Helm (1st)
About This Team: Beche makes his first Le Mans start since 2019. This trio has finished tenth in each of the first two ELMS races this season.
Test Day: 8th
#22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Filipe Albuquerque (9th), Philip Hanson (5th), Will Owen (5th)
About This Team: Albuquerque won the 24 Hours of Daytona for the second time overall earlier this year. Albuquerque and Hanson won the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2020. Owen returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2020. All of Owen's starts have been with United Autosports.
Test Day: 1st
#23 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Oliver Jarvis (11th), Alex Lynn (6th), Josh Pierson (1st)
About This Team: Jarvis and Pierson won in LMP2 at the Sebring season opener. Jarvis is currently second in the IMSA DPi championship driving a Meyer Shank Racing Acura. Lynn won the 12 Hours of Sebring for the second time earlier this year driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. Pierson will become the youngest Le Mans starter. He spent the previous two seasons competing in U.S. F2000 and he currently runs an LMP2 entry for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in IMSA.
Test Day: 3rd
#24 Nielsen Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Matt Bell (1st), Ben Hanley (6th), Rodrigo Sales (2nd)
About This Team: Nielsen Racing won the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship this season with two victories and two runner-up finishes. This trio has finished 13th and 12th in the first two ELMS rounds this season. For the first time Hanley is running Le Mans for a team other than DragonSpeed.
Test Day: 5th
#27 CD Sport Ligier JS P217-Gibson
Drivers: Christophe Cresp (1st), Michael Jensen (1st), Steven Palette (1st)
About This Team: Cresp and Palette won the Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 championship last year. Cresp also competed in the last two years in LMP3 competition between the Michelin Le Mans Cup and European Le Mans Series. Jensen is driving for RLR MSport in the ELMS LMP3 class this year and is currently third in that championship.
Test Day: 5th
#28 Jota Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Jonathan Aberdein (2nd), Ed Jones (1st), Oliver Rasmussen (1st)
About This Team: On top of his WEC responsibilities, Aberdein is running in ADAC GT Masters and is currently third in that championship with Raffaele Marciello driving a Mercedes-AMG. Jones spent four of the previous five years competing in IndyCar and had three podium finishes, the last of which came over four years ago. Rasmussen ran in the FIA Formula Three Championship last year and competed in the Imola and Barcelona rounds earlier this season. He was seventh in the Imola sprint race.
Test Day: 12th
#30 Duqueine Team Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Richard Bradley (6th), Reshad de Gerus (1st), Memo Rojas (7th)
About This Team: Bradley has spent the last four seasons in ELMS but has not won a race since the 2017 season finale at Portimão. De Gerus ran the first half of the FIA Formula Three Championship in 2021 and did not score any points. Rojas has not competed full-time since 2019 and his best Le Mans finish was fifth in the LMP2 class three years ago.
Test Day: 5th
#31 Team WRT Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Robin Frijns (2nd), Sean Gelael (2nd), René Rast (4th)
About This Team: The current Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers leading team, the #31 Oreca won at Spa-Francorchamps and was runner-up at Sebring. Frijns won at Le Mans last year for Team WRT. Gelael was runner-up in LMP2 driving for Jota. This is Rast's first Le Mans appearance since he was runner-up in LMP2 driving for G-Drive Racing in 2016.
Test Day: 6th
#32 Team WRT Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Mirko Bortolotti (1st), Rolf Ineichen (2nd), Dries Vanthoor (3rd)
About This Team: Bortolotti and Ineichen have won the GT Daytona class together twice in the 24 Hours of Daytona driving for GRT Grasser Racing Team. Bortolotti is currently second in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship. Ineichen won the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Silver Cup championship last year. This is Vanthoor's first Le Mans start in LMP2. He won in GTE Am in 2017.
Test Day: 5th
#34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Alex Brundle (9th), Esteban Gutiérrez (1st), Jakub Śmiechowski (4th)
About This Team: Brundle and Śmiechowski were fifth in class last year. Gutiérrez returned to on-track competition this year for the first time since 2017 when he raced in IndyCar for Dale Coyne Racing. Inter Europol Competition has yet to be classified in the first two WEC races this season.
Test Day: 5th
#35 Ultimate Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: François Heriau (1st), Jean-Baptiste Lahaye (1st), Matthieu Lahaye (6th)
About This Team: These three drivers ran together in ELMS for five seasons, four years in the LMP3 class and last year in LMP2. Last year, they had a pair of fifth-place finishes.
Test Day: 5th
#37 Cool Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Niklas Krütten (1st), Ricky Taylor (8th), Ye Yifei (2nd)
About This Team: Yifei won the LMP2 championship last year with Team WRT and was in the Team WRT entry that broken down from the lead last year at Le Mans. Yifei and Krütten are currently third in the ELMS LMP2 championship with Nicolas Lapierre. Krütten was runnr-up in the ELMS LMP3 championship last year. Taylor's best Le Mans finish was fifth in the GTE Am in a Larbre Compétition Corvette in 2013.
Test Day: 7th
#38 Jota Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: António Félix da Costa (5th), Roberto González (6th), Will Stevens (7th)
About This Team: Da Costa and González will drive together at Le Mans for the third consecutive year. Stevens was third in LMP2 last year with Papis Racing. He won at Le Mans in 2017 in the GTE Am class and he was runner-up at the 24 Hours of Daytona this year with Wayne Taylor Racing.
Test Day: 2nd
#40 Graff Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: David Droux (1st), Sébastien Page (1st), Eric Trouillet (2nd)
About This Team: Droux, Page and Trouillet won the ALMS LMP2 Pro-Am championship earlier this year with three class victories. They were fifth in the ELMS LMP3 championship last year.
Test Day: 5th
#41 RealTeam by WRT Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Rui Andrade (2nd), Ferdinand Habsburg (2nd), Norman Nato (5th)
About This Team: Currently third in the Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers championship, RealTeam by WRT has been on the podium in each of the first two races. Habsburg won in LMP2 last year with Team WRT. Nato was second overall in 2020 driving for Rebellion Racing.
Test Day: 4th
#43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Pietro Fittipaldi (1st), David Heinemeier Hansson (9th), Fabio Scherer (2nd)
About This Team: Heinemeier Hansson is returning to Le Mans for the first time since 2019. Scherer won two races last year with United Autosport. Fittipaldi makes his Le Mans debut four years after he was originally supposed to run an LMP1 car with DragonSpeed.
Test Day: 5th
#44 ARC Bratislava Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Miroslav Konôpka (6th), Tristan Vautier (1st), Bent Viscaal (1st)
About This Team: Vautier has three podium finishes this season in IMSA's DPi class. Viscaal was 14th in the Formula Two championship last year. Viscaal ran in Formula Two last year and had a pair of runner-up finishes. He was second in the ELMS season opener driving for Algarve Pro Racing with Sophia Flörsch. Konôpka competes in the other WEC races with Tijmen van der Helm.
Test Day: 5th
#45 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: James Allen (5th), René Binder (4th), Steven Thomas (1st)
About This Team: The #45 Oreca has finished 11th in the first two WEC races. Allen was third in class last year at Le Mans. Thomas was second in IMSA's LMP2 championship driving for WIN Autosport.
Test Day: 5th
#47 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Jack Aitken (1st), John Falb (4th), Sophia Flörsch (3rd)
About This Team: Aitken is driving for Racing Team Turkey in ELMS this season and he has been in the top Pro-Am LMP2 car in each race. Falb is driving full-time in ELMS with James Allen and Alex Peroni. Flörsch was second overall in the ELMS season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard driving with Bent Viscaal.
Test Day: 5th
#48 IDEC Sport Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Paul-Loup Chatin (8th), Paul Lafargue (6th), Patrick Pilet (14th)
About This Team: Chatin and Lafargue will drive together for the fifth consecutive Le Mans. Their best finish was fifth in 2019. This is the second consecutive year Pilet has joined them. Pilet has only two class podium finishes at Le Mans, both in GTE-Pro.
Test Day: 5th
#65 Panis Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Julien Canal (13th), Nico Jamin (4th), Job van Uitert (4th)
About This Team: Currently second in the ELMS LMP2 championship, Panis Racing has finished third in class the last two years at Le Mans. Jamin was a part of the team in 2020. This will be the fourth different team van Uitert has driven for at Le Mans.
Test Day: 11th
#83 AF Corse Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Nicklas Nielsen (3rd), François Perrodo (9th), Alessio Rovera (2nd)
About This Team: This trio won in GTE Am last year and won the Endurance Trophy for GTE Am Drivers championship. They have started on pole position in LMP2 for the first two races of this season but has finished ninth each time.
Test Day: 5th
Practice opens with a three-hour session on Wednesday June 8 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.
