As with the prototypes preview, this preview goes entry by entry and gives you each driver with their Le Mans appearances, including this year in parentheses, followed by that entry's result on the Le Mans Test Day and a little additional information on each entry.
GTE-Pro
#51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: James Calado (3rd), Alessandro Pier Guidi (2nd), Lucas di Grassi (5th)
Test Day Results: 8th
About This Team: Calado and Pier Guidi have finished second in both GTE-Pro races this season while Calado has finished on the podium in eight consecutive GTE-Pro races but he hasn't won since Nürburgring last year and that is Calado's only victory in 26 WEC starts. Di Grassi's four previous Le Mans appearances were all with the Audi LMP1 program. He finished on the overall podium three times and his worst finish was fourth overall.
Update: Michele Rugolo will replace Lucas di Grassi as the Brazilian is dealing from an ankle injury that he suffered playing soccer. This will be the Italian's fifth Le Mans appearance but first since 2014. He finished third in GTE-Am in 2012 with Krohn Racing.
#63 Corvette Racing - GM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
Drivers: Jan Magnussen (19th), Antonio García (12th), Jordan Taylor (6th)
Test Day Results: 4th
About This Team: Magnussen and García head to Le Mans having won two of four GT Le Mans races in the IMSA season this year. Taylor's unbeaten streak in the DPi has been well covered. Taylor has contested all five of his Le Mans appearances with Corvette. This is his first time with Magnussen and Garciá after two years with Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner. Magnussen has not won at Le Mans since 2009. Magnussen and García won the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year with Mike Rockenfeller.
#64 Corvette Racing - GM Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
Drivers: Oliver Gavin (17th), Tommy Milner (9th), Marcel Fässler (12th)
Test Day Results: 1st
About This Team: While Corvette was fastest at the Le Mans test day, Corvette has been handed a 0.2 mm smaller air restrictor, which should decrease horsepower by five to ten horsepower. Corvette is the only manufacture to have been handed a balance of performance adjustment. Gavin and Milner won at Long Beach but their next best finish this season was seventh at Austin. Fässler returns to GTE for the first time since he drove with Corvette in 2009.
#66 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford GT
Drivers: Stefan Mücke (11th), Olivier Pla (10th), Billy Johnson (2nd)
Test Day Results: 13th
About This Team: Mücke, Pla and Johnson were the top finishing WEC championship-eligible entry in GTE-Pro last year but were fourth in the class behind three IMSA entries, two of which were Ford GTs. Mücke and Pla finished second twice last year at Fuji and Shanghai. This team finished third at Spa-Francorchamps. Johnson is only confirmed through Le Mans.
#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford GT
Drivers: Andy Priaulx (4th), Harry Tincknell (4th), Pipo Derani (3rd)
Test Day Results: 11th
About This Team: Priaulx, Tincknell and Derani lead the GT World Endurance Drivers' Championship after a victory at Silverstone and a fourth-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps. Like Johnson in the #66 Ford, Derani is only confirmed for the first three rounds of the FIA WEC season. This will be the Brazilian's first appearance in a GT class after contesting the last two years in LMP2.
#68 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford GT
Drivers: Joey Hand (3rd), Dirk Müller (6th), Tony Kanaan (1st)
Test Day Results: 12th
About This Team: Hand and Müller look to defend their Le Mans victory as well add to their 24 Hours of Daytona victory earlier this season. Kanaan will make his Le Mans debut substituting for the injured Sébastien Bourdais after the Frenchman was hurt in Indianapolis 500 qualifying. Hand, Müller and Bourdais also finished second in this year's 12 Hours of Sebring. Kanaan won the 24 Hours of Daytona overall in 2015 and he won in the LMP2 class at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2007.
#69 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford GT
Drivers: Ryan Briscoe (4th), Scott Dixon (2nd), Richard Westbrook (7th)
Test Day Results: 10th
About This Team: This trio finished third in GTE-Pro last year. It was the second time Westbrook finished third in class at Le Mans. Briscoe and Westbrook's best finish this year in IMSA was second at Long Beach. Dixon enters having not won yet in the IndyCar season.
#71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Davide Rigon (4th), Sam Bird (4th), Miguel Molina (1st)
Test Day Results: 7th
About This Team: Rigon and Bird are coming off of victory in the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, their second consecutive victory in the Belgian race. Rigon finished second at Le Mans in GTE-Pro in 2015 while Bird finished third in LMP2 that year. Molina makes his Le Mans debut and steps up from his full-time ride with Spirit of Race in GTE-Am. Prior to his role with the Ferrari GT program, Molina made 87 starts over seven seasons in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, which saw him pick up two victories.
#82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Toni Vilander (9th), Giancarlo Fisichella (8th), Pierre Kaffer (11th)
Test Day Results: 9th
About This Team: Vilander and Fisichella have finished on the GTE-Pro podium five of the last six years, which includes two class victories. The one year Vilander and Fisichella didn't finish on the podium was the year they were split and neither driver finished on the podium. Vilander won the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year while he and Fisichella won Petit Le Mans last October with James Calado. Kaffer won in GT2 at Le Mans in 2009 with Risi Competizione and Mika Salo and Jaime Melo were his co-drivers.
#91 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR
Drivers: Richard Lietz (11th), Frédéric Makowiecki (7th), Patrick Pilet (9th)
Test Day Results: 2nd
About This Team: Leitz and Makowiecki finished third and fifth in the first two rounds of the WEC season. Leitz is a three-time Le Mans class winner and this is his 11th consecutive year contesting Le Mans and all have been in a Porsche in a GT class. Makowiecki has failed to finish fourth of his six starts but he has finished second and third in class the two years he has finished. Pilet's best Le Mans finished was second in GTE-Pro in 2013.
#92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR
Drivers: Michael Christensen (3rd), Kévin Estre (3rd), Dirk Werner (3rd)
Test Day Results: 3rd
About This Team: Christensen heads to Le Mans after winning in the GT Daytona class at this year's 24 Hours of Daytona with Alegra Motorsports. Christensen and Estre finished sixth at Spa-Franchorchamps after retiring at Silverstone. This is Werner's first Le Mans appearance since 2011 when he drove for BMW. Werner failed to finish both of his prior Le Mans starts.
#95 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Drivers: Nicki Thiim (4th), Marco Sørensen (3rd), Richie Stanaway (3rd)
Test Day Results: 5th
About This Team: Thiim and Sørensen are the defending GT World Endurance Drivers' Champions but their best finish through the first two races this year was sixth. Thiim and Sørensen finished fifth in class last year, second of the WEC championship-eligble entries. Stanaway is confirmed only through Le Mans. Stanaway has finished sixth in class in both his Le Mans starts.
#97 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Drivers: Darren Turner (15th), Jonathan Adam (2nd), Daniel Serra (1st)
Test Day Results: 6th
About This Team: Turner and Adam are defending European Le Mans Series GTE champions. Turner has seven class podiums at Le Mans but he has not won in class since 2008. Like Stanaway, Serra is only confirmed through Le Mans. The #97 Aston Martin has finished seventh in the first two races of the WEC season. Serra competes full-time in the Stock Car Brasil series and he currently second in that championship.
GTE-Am
#50 Larbre Compétition Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
Drivers: Romain Brandela (3rd), Christian Philippon (1st), Fernando Rees (3rd)
Test Day Results: 2nd
About This Team: After competing at Le Mans the last two years with Aston Martin in GTE-Pro, Fernando Rees returns to GTE-Am and Larbre Compétition. He finished sixth in GTE-Pro the last two years. Brandela returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2014 and this will be his first time he is competing in a GT class after running in LMP2 in his first two appearances. Brandela ran at Shanghai last season with Larbre Compétition. Philippon ran the Michelin Le Mans Cup races last year at Le Mans with Larbre Compétition and he will also compete in both Michelin Le Mans Cup races this weekend as well.
#54 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Thomas Flohr (1st), Francesco Castellacci (2nd), Olivier Beretta (21st)
Test Day Results: 13th
About This Team: Flohr and Castellacci won the Gulf 12 Hours Pro-Am class in December. They contested the Michelin Le Mans Cup race last year at Circuit de la Sarthe. Last year was the first time Beretta was not at Le Mans since 1995. Beretta is a six-time Le Mans class winner but he has not won since leaving Corvette after the 2011 season. He finished second in GTE-Pro in 2015 with AF Corse.
#55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Duncan Cameron (3rd), Aaron Scott (2nd), Marco Cioci (6th)
Test Day Results: 5th
About This Team: This is a full-time ELMS entry with the exception of Marco Cioci, who steps in for Matt Griffin, who will be competing with Clearwater Racing. Cameron and Scott were the penultimate finishers in last year's race and the 11th and final finishers in the GTE-Am class having completed 289 laps. Cioci returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2014. He finished fourth in GTE-Pro in 2012 and third in GTE-Am in 2013 and 2014. In 2003, Cioci contested two Indy Lights races, the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis and Chicagoland, both for Sam Schmidt. He finished ninth at Indianapolis.
#60 Clearwater Racing Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Richard Wee (1st), Álvaro Parente (2nd), Hiroki Katoh (7th)
Test Day Results: 16th
About This Team: Parente returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2014 when he competed in the GTE-Am class with AF Corse. He is the defending Pirelli World Challenge GT champion and he has won twice this year in PWC with five podiums from nine races. Wee's only major sports car race was the 2014 3 Hours of Sebring in the ALMS series and he, along with Weng Sun Mok and Hiroshi Hamaguchi won in the GT class that day. This is Katoh's first Le Mans appearance since 2008 and he will be making his first appearance in a GT class.
#61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Weng Sun Mok (2nd), Keita Sawa (2nd), Matt Griffin (6th)
Test Day Results: 9th
About This Team: Clearwater Racing won at Silverstone in the team's debut on the international stage after becoming a powerhouse in the Asian Le Mans Series. Mok and Sawa won the 2015-16 ALMS GT championship and they with Griffin finished fourth in the 2016-17 season. Mok and Sawa finished fourth in class last year in both their Le Mans debuts. Griffin finished third in GTE-Am at Le Mans in 2013.
#62 Scuderia Corse Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Cooper MacNeil (3rd), Bill Sweedler (3rd), Townsend Bell (3rd)
Test Day Results: 4th
About This Team: Sweedler and Bell are the defending GTE-Am winners and the duo finished third in class the year prior. This year, Cooper MacNeil replaces Jeff Segal in the driver line-up. This is MacNeil's first Le Mans appearance since 2014 when he and Jeroen Bleekemolen were a late change to the GTE-Pro class from GTE-Am after Bret Curtis was not cleared to driver after suffering a concussion and a replacement was not allowed. Despite being a man down and the late-class change, MacNeil and Bleekemolen finished fifth in class.
#65 Scuderia Corse Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Christina Nielsen (2nd), Alessandro Balzan (1st), Bret Curtis (2nd)
Test Day Results: 12th
About This Team: Nielsen and Balzan are the defending GT Daytona champions in IMSA and the duo has finished on the GTD podium in the last four races, including three runner-up finishes. Besides his near start in 2014, Curtis will hope to contest this year's race for the first time since 2012 when he drove for Prospeed Competition in a Porsche with the late-Sean Edwads and Abdulaziz al Faisal.
#77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR
Drivers: Christian Ried (8th), Marvin Dienst (1st), Matteo Cairoli (1st)
Test Day Results: 3rd
About This Team: This entry has finished third and second in the first two rounds of the WEC season. Ried finished second in the GTE-Am class in 2014 with Proton Competition. Cairoli finished second in the Porsche Supercup championship last year after winning four races and standing on the podium six times in ten races. Dienst competed in the ADAC GT Masters series last year.
#83 DH Racing Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Tracy Krohn (12th), Niclas Jönsson (12th), Andrea Bertolini (6th)
Test Day Results: 8th
About This Team: DH Racing won the 2016-17 Asian Le Mans Series GT championship last year to earn this invitation to Le Mans. Krohn and Jönsson contest Le Mans together for the 12th consecutive year. Krohn and Jönsson has finished on the class podium three times. Bertolini won in the GTE-Am class in 2015 with SMP Racing.
#84 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE
Drivers: Robert Smith (1st), Will Stevens (2nd), Dries Vanthoor (1st)
Test Day Results: 14th
About This Team: Stevens ran last year with G-Drive Racing in LMP2 and finished second in class. He also won in LMP2 at Fuji and Shanghai last year and he is currently second in the Blancpain Sprint Series and just won the most recent round at Zolder. Vanthoor and Stevens both drive for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in the Blancpain GT Series. Smith finished second in the ELMS GT Championship last year with JMW Motorsport and picked up three victories in six races.
#86 Gulf Racing UK Porsche 911 RSR
Drivers: Michael Wainwright (3rd), Ben Barker (2nd), Nick Foster (1st)
Test Day Results: 11th
About This Team: Wainwright and Barker were the third-best WEC championship-eligible finisher at Le Mans last year in GTE-Am and Gulf Racing UK was fifth-best in GTE-Am as a whole. Gulf Racing UK has finished fourth in GTE-Am in five of the last seven races. Foster finished third in Class B at the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour.
#88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR
Drivers: Klaus Bachler (3rd), Stéphane Lémeret (1st), Khalid Al Qubaisi (5th)
Test Day Results: 10th
About This Team: Bachler finished second in the GTE-Am class on his Le Mans debut in 2014 with Al Qubaisi and Christian Reid as his co-drivers. Al Qubaisi finished third in GTE-Am last year and he is a two-time winner of the Dubai 24 Hours. Lémeret ran the final three races of the 2016-17 ALMS season with DH Racing and was apart of the winning team at Fuji.
#90 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Drivers: Salih Yoluc (1st), Euan Hankey (1st), Rob Bell (9th)
Test Day Results: 7th
About This Team: This entry won the opening round of the ELMS season at Silverstone with Nicki Thiim driving in place of Rob Bell. Yoluc could become the first Turkish driver to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Yoluc and Hankey finished second in the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup and won two races and finished fourth in the Le Mans round last year and they finished fifth in the International GT Open championship. Bell matched his career-best class finish last year when he finished fourth with Clearwater Racing.
#93 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR
Drivers: Patrick Long (14th), Abdulaziz Al Faisal (6th), Mike Hedlund (1st)
Test Day Results: 15th
About This Team: Long has finished on the GTE-Am podium the last two years but he is ten years removed from his second and most recent Le Mans class victory, which came in GT2 with IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche with Richard Lietz and Raymond Narac as his co-drivers. Al Faisal has yet to finish better than seventh in class at Le Mans. Hedlund drives full-time for K-PAX Racing McLaren in Pirelli World Challenge. Last year, Hedlund finished fourth in the ELMS GT Championship with Wolf Henzler and they won the 4 Hours of Imola.
#98 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Drivers: Paul Dalla Lana (5th), Pedro Lamy (18th), Mathias Lauda (3rd)
Test Day Results: 1st
About This Team: This entry leads the Endurance Trophy for GTE Am Drivers after finishing second at Silverstone and winning at Spa-Francorchamps. Dalla Lana and Lamy have failed to be classified three of the last four years. Since Dalla Lana became a full-time GTE-Am driver in 2014, he has won 12 of 27 GTE-Am races. Lamy has six class podiums at Le Mans with his only class victory being in 2012 in GTE-Am with Larbre Compétition.
#99 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Drivers: Andrew Howard (2nd), Ross Gunn (1st), Oliver Bryant (2nd)
Test Day Results: 6th
About This Team: Howard won the ELMS GT championship last year with Darren Turner and Alex MacDowell. Gunn won the 2015 GT4 championship in the British GT Championship with Jamie Chadwick. Howard and Gunn are full-time ELMS entries with Darren Turner. Bryant made his Le Mans debut in the GTE-Am class with Team AAI.
Practice begins today at 10:00 a.m. ET. After the four-hour practice session, a two-hour qualifying session will take place at 4:00 p.m. ET. A two-hour practice will be held at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday with one final two-hour qualifying session scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET. A warm-up session will be held at 3:00 a.m. ET on Saturday with the start of the race taking place at 9:00 a.m. ET.
