It is that time of year again and 60 cars are ready for the 86th 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year sees the LMP1 class grow to ten entries with twenty cars entered in LMP2. There are seven new entries in LMP1. This is the most LMP1 entries since 2015. This year's race is the second round of the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
This preview looks at the two prototype classes. After winning three consecutive years at Le Mans, Porsche has withdrawn and all five manufactures in LMP1 will be going for their first overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. German teams have won overall eight consecutive years at Le Mans and 11 of the last 12 years. This preview goes entry-by-entry and gives you each driver with their number of 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.
LMP1
#1 Rebellion Racing Rebellion R13-Gibson
Drivers: André Lotterer (10th), Neel Jani (10th), Bruno Senna (6th)
Test Day Result: 4th
About This Team: Lotterer and Jani are past Le Mans winners. Lotterer is going for his fourth Le Mans victory and Jani for this second. Only eight drivers have won Le Mans four times. This is Senna's first time competing in the LMP1 class since his Le Mans debut in 2009 driving an Oreca 01-AIM for Team Oreca Matmut AIM. Senna has never finished better than sixth in class at Le Mans. Senna could become the first Brazilian to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall. This car was disqualified from third at Spa-Francorchamps for a skid block worn beyond the allowable limits. Rebellion Racing could become the first Swiss team to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
#3 Rebellion Racing Rebellion R13-Gibson
Drivers: Mathias Beche (6th), Gustavo Menezes (3rd), Thomas Laurent (2nd)
Test Day Result: 2nd
About This Team: This will be the LMP1 class debuts at Le Mans for Menezes and Laurent. Menezes won in LMP2 on debut two years ago and he finished eighth in class and tenth overall last year. Laurent won in LMP2 last year and finished second overall driving for Jackie Chan DC Racing. Laurent is one of two drivers in LMP1 who could become the youngest overall winner in Le Mans history. Laurent will be 20 years, two months and 12 days old when the race finishes. Alexander Wurz is currently the youngest winner at 22 years, three months and one day old when he won in 1996. Menezes could be the first American to win Le Mans overall since Davy Jones in 1996. He won the Asian Le Mans Series championship earlier this year. Beche is back in LMP1 for the first time since 2015. He won the LMP1-L class in 2014, which featured two cars, both from Rebellion.
#4 ByKolles Racing Team ENSO CLM P1/01-Nismo
Drivers: Oliver Webb (6th), Dominik Kraihamer (8th), Tom Dillman (1st)
Test Day Result: 7th
About This Team: Webb has retired from four consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans with his only finish being in 2014 when he finished third in LMP2 driving for Signatech-Alpine. Kraihamer has retired from six of his previous seven Le Mans starts. His only finish was in 2015 driving for Rebellion and he finished 18th overall. Dillman won on his WEC debut in LMP2 at Shanghai in 2015. His last WEC race was the 2016 season finale at Bahrain with Extreme Speed Motorsports. This team finished fourth overall at Spa-Francorchamps. ByKolles Racing Team could become the first Austrian team to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 1970 when Porsche KG Salzburg took victory.
#5 CEFC TRSM Racing Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome
Drivers: Charlie Robertson (1st), Mike Simpson (1st), Léo Roussel (4th)
Test Day Result: 10th
About This Team: Robertson and Simpson both make Le Mans debuts after both competed in LMP3 racing. Robertson won the inaugural European Le Mans Series LMP3 class championship in 2015 with Sir Chris Hoy. Simpson also won a race that year. This is Roussel's first Le Mans appearance since 2016 and his first time in LMP1. CEFC TRSM Racing could become the first Chinese team to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Neither CEFEC TRSM Racing Ginetta participated in the Spa-Francorchamps after the team withdrew due to financial concerns.
#6 CEFC TRSM Racing Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome
Drivers: Alex Brundle (5th), Oliver Turvey (5th), Oliver Rowland (1st)
Test Day Result: 9th
About This Team: Turvey returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2015. He won in LMP2 in 2014 with Jota Sport. Brundle finished third overall last year and second in LMP2 with Jackie Chan DC Racing. Both are making their first start in LMP1. Rowland was third in the Formula Two championship last year with victories at Monaco and Hungary. The last time an all-British lineup won at Le Mans was 1957 with Ron Flockhart and Ivor Bueb driving for Ecurie Ecosse in a Jaguar D-Type.
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050 Hybrid
Drivers: Mike Conway (5th), Kamui Kobayashi (4th), José María López (2nd)
Test Day Result: 3rd
About This Team: This will be the fourth consecutive year Conway and Kobayashi have been co-drivers. López did not finish last year at Le Mans sharing a car with Nicolas Lapierre and Yuji Kunimoto. Conway and Kobayashi finished runner-up two years ago and this car did not finish last year's race. The team finished second at Spa-Francorchamps after being stripped of pole position. López could become the second Argentine to win Le Mans and first since José Frolián González in 1954.
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050 Hybrid
Drivers: Sébastien Buemi (7th), Kazuki Nakajima (7th), Fernando Alonso (1st)
Test Day Result: 1st
About This Team: This team won the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship season opener at Spa-Francorchamps. Buemi and Nakajima finished second in class last year but eighth overall. Buemi has not stood on the overall podium since 2014 and Nakajima has never finish on the overall podium. Alonso is attempting to complete the Triple Crown of Motorsports. He won the Monaco Grand Prix in 2006 and 2007 and he led 27 laps in last year's Indianapolis 500 before an engine failure ended his race early. Alonso finished 13th in the Prototype class in this year's 24 Hours of Daytona. Alonso could be the second Spaniard to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans joining Marc Gené, who won in 2009.
#10 DragonSpeed BR Engineering BR1-Gibson
Drivers: Henrik Hedman (2nd), Ben Hanley (2nd), Renger van der Zande (1st)
Test Day Result: 8th
About This Team: Hedman and Hanley made their Le Mans debut together last year in LMP2 and finished 12th in class, 14th overall. This car did not compete at Spa-Francorchamps after a qualifying accident totaled the car broke Pietro Fittipaldi's legs. Van der Zande had IMSA duty the weekend of Spa-Francorchamps. The Dutchman drives for Wayne Taylor Racing in the Prototype class and he is fourth in the championship. Hedman can become the third Swedish driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and first since Stefan Johansson. Van der Zande could become the third Dutchman to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and first since Jan Lammers in 1988.
#11 SMP Racing BR Engineering BR1-AER
Drivers: Mikhail Aleshin (4th), Vitaly Petrov (4th), Jenson Button (1st)
Test Day Result: 5th
About This Team: This will be Aleshin's fourth consecutive Le Mans appearance and first in LMP1. He has finished 33rd overall twice. Petrov finished third in LMP2 in 2016 driving for SMP Racing. He has twice failed to finish this race. Button is racing full-time in Super GT. Through three races, Button and co-driver Naoki Yamamoto have finished second, ninth and second and lead the GT500 championship. SMP Racing could become the first Russian team to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Button could earn his second leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsports. He won the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix.
#17 SMP Racing BR Engineering BR1-AER
Drivers: Matevos Isaakyan (1st), Egor Orudzhev (1st), Stéphane Sarrazin (17th)
Test Day Result: 6th
About This Team: Isaakyan and Orudzhev competed last year in Formula V8 3.5 World Series and European Le Mans Series with the duo winning the ELMS race at Circuit Paul Ricard. Isaakyan finished second in the Formula V8 3.5 World Series championship and Orduzhev was sixth. Both drivers won two races. Isaakyan is one of two drivers in LMP1 who could become the youngest overall winner in Le Mans history. Isaakyan will be 20 years and two months old when the race finishes. Alexander Wurz is currently the youngest winner at 22 years, three months and one day old when he won in 1996. Sarrazin has finished second overall four times but has yet to win at Le Mans. This is Sarrazin's 12th consecutive year competing at Le Mans in the LMP1 class.
LMP2
#22 United Autosport Ligier JS P217-Gibson
Drivers: Phil Hanson (2nd), Filipe Albuquerque (5th), Paul di Resta (1st)
Test Day Result: 6th
About This Team: Hanson and Albuquerque finished 10th in the ELMS round at Monza and Hanson made his 24 Hours of Daytona debut with Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris in January. Hanson finished 11th overall last year with Tockwith Motorsports. Albuquerque won the 24 Hours of Daytona overall earlier this year and he scored his career-best Le Mans finish in fifth overall. Di Resta won at the Hungaroring in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and he has scored points in every DTM race this season.
#23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier JS P217-Gibson
Drivers: Timothé Buret (3rd), Julien Canal (9th), Will Stevens (3rd)
Test Day Result: 13th
About This Team: This is Canal's fifth consecutive year at Le Mans in the LMP2 class but his first time with a French team since he drove for Larbre Compétition in GTE-Am. Stevens has finished on a class podium each year he has been to Le Mans. He was second in LMP2 in 2016 with G-Drive Racing and he won in GTE-Am last year with JMW Motorsport. All three of Buret's Le Mans appearances have been with Panis Barthez Competition.
#25 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier JS P217-Gibson
Drivers: Mark Patterson (6th), Ate de Jong (1st), Tacksung Kim (1st)
Test Day Result: 17th
About This Team: Patterson makes his sixth consecutive Le Mans appearance. His best finish overall was 12th on debut with Brendon Hartley and Karun Chandhok as co-drivers with Murphy Prototypes. Kim is a veteran of the Asian Le Mans Series and de Jong ran in the LMP3 class in ALMS last year. This team competes full-time in ELMS this season.
#26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Roman Rusinov (8th), Jean-Éric Vergne (2nd), Andrea Pizzitola (2nd)
Test Day Result: 3rd
About This Team: This team is coming off victories at Monza in ELMS and at Spa-Francorchamps in the WEC. Rusinov has finished third and second in LMP2 in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Vergne finished sixth in class, seventh overall driving for CEFC Manor TRS Racing. Pizzitola made his Le Mans debut in 2016 driving for Algarve Pro Racing.
#28 TDS Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: François Perrodo (6th), Matthieu Vaxivière (2nd), Loïc Duval (8th)
Test Day Result: 4th
About This Team: After making four starts in GTE-Am, last year Perrodo stepped up to LMP2. Vaxivière made his Le Mans debut last year as Perrodo's co-driver. Duval replaces Emmanuel Collard in this lineup. Duval missed last year's Le Mans. This is Duval's first time at Le Mans not in the LMP1 class.
#29 Racing Team Nederland Dallara P217-Gibson
Drivers: Frits van Eerd (2nd), Giedo van der Garde (2nd), Jan Lammers (24th)
Test Day Result: 16th
About This Team: Van Eerd made his Le Mans debut last year with Lammers and Rubens Barrichello as co-drivers. It has been 22 years since Lammers last stood on a class podium at Le Mans. Lammers will set the record for most races between first and last start at 36 years. Van der Garde returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2016. After winning the 2016 European Le Mans Series LMP2 championship with G-Drive Racing, van der Garde only raced one round of the Audi Sport TT Cup last year at Zandvoort. He finished 12th and seventh in those races as a guest driver.
#31 DragonSpeed Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Roberto González (2nd), Pastor Maldonado (1st), Nathanaël Berthon (5th)
Test Day Result: 1st
About This Team: González ran the entire WEC season with CEFC Manor TRS Racing last year and he scored 46 points. Maldonado spent the last two years being Pirelli's test driver in Formula One. This will be Berthon's fourth different team he has competed with at Le Mans. This team finished sixth in the WEC season opener at Spa-Francorchamps.
#32 United Autosport Ligier JS P217-Gibson
Drivers: Hugo de Sadeleer (2nd), Will Owen (2nd), Juan Pablo Montoya (1st)
Test Day Result: 14th
About This Team: Owen and de Sadeleer finished fourth in class, fifth overall last year in their Le Mans debuts. They won twice and finished second in the ELMS LMP2 championship last year and they finished fourth overall this year at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Unfortunately for these two they have finished ninth and 11th in the first two ELMS races this season. Montoya could complete the Triple Crown of Motorsports this year. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 and 2015 and he won the Monaco Grand Prix in 2003.
#33 Jackie Chan DC Racing Ligier JS P217-Gibson
Drivers: David Cheng (5th), Nicholas Boulle (1st), Pierre Nicolet (2nd)
Test Day Result: 19th
About This Team: Cheng finished third overall last year at Le Mans but he has two new co-drivers this year. Nicolet made his Le Mans debut last year with Eurasia Motorsport and finished 15th overall. Boulle has made six starts in IMSA since 2016. He won the in Prototype Challenge class in the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona with Performance Tech Motorsports.
#34 Jackie Chan DC Racing Ligier JS P217-Gibson
Drivers: Ricky Taylor (5th), Côme Ledogar (1st), David Heinemeier Hansson (67h)
Test Day Result: 18th
About This Team: Taylor will make his third Le Mans start in the LMP2 class. Taylor won at Mid-Ohio in IMSA driving for Team Penske Acura and he finished second in the most recent round at Belle Isle. Ledogar won the 2016 Blancpain Endurance Series championship. Heinemeier Hansson has finished on a class podium three times at Le Mans. He finished third overall last year with Rebellion Racing before the car was disqualified for intentionally modified bodywork.
#35 SMP Racing Dallara P217-Gibson
Drivers: Viktor Shaitar (5th), Harrison Newey (1st), Norman Nato (1st)
Test Day Result: 12th
About This Team: Shaitar has two class podiums at Le Mans and this is his first time he does not have at least one Russian co-driver. Newey won the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship this year. Nato won the ELMS season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard with Racing Engineering. Nato won three races between GP2/Formula Two.
#36 Signatech Alpine Matmut Alpine A470-Gibson
Drivers: Nicolas Lapierre (11th), André Negrão (2nd), Pierre Thiriet (8th)
Test Day Result: 5th
About This Team: Lapierre had won two consecutive years in LMP2 before driving for Toyota last year. Negrão finished third in class last year on debut. Thiriet has twice finished second in LMP2. This team finished third at Spa-Francorchamps last month.
#37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Jazeman Jaafar (1st), Nabil Jeffri (1st), Weiron Tan (1st)
Test Day Result: 11th
About This Team: All three drivers make their Le Mans debut and they finished fourth at Spa-Francorchamps last month.
#38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Ho-Pin Tung (6th), Gabriel Aubry (1st), Stéphane Richelmi (2nd)
Test Day Result: 10th
About This Team: Tung was victorious last year with in LMP2 and finished second overall. His previous best class finish was seventh and his previous best overall finish was 11th. Aubry is also competing in GP3 Series this year with Arden International. Richelmi did not race at Le Mans last year after he won in LMP2 with Signatech Alpine in 2016. This team finished second in LMP2 at the WEC season opener at Spa-Francorchamps but was the top WEC eligible team.
#39 Graff-SO24 Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Vincent Capillaire (5th), Jonathan Hirschi (6th), Tristan Gommendy (9th)
Test Day Result: 7th
About This Team: Capillaire has finished 32nd overall the last two years at Le Mans. Hirschi score his best career class finish last year at Le Mans when he finished sixth with CEFC Manor TRS Racing. Gommendy was apart of the Jackie Chan DC Racing entry that finished third overall last year.
#40 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: James Allen (2nd), Enzo Guibbert (2nd), Jose Gutiérrez (2nd)
Test Day Result: 9th
About This Team: All three drivers made their Le Mans debut last year with Allen scoring the best finish of the three coming home sixth overall. Gutiérrez finished 39th overall with G-Drive Racing and Guibbert finished 43rd overall. This team competes in ELMS and they finished sixth in the season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard.
#44 Eurasia Motorsport Ligier JS P217-Gibson
Drivers: Andrea Bertolini (7th), Niclas Jönsson (13th), Tracy Krohn (13th)
Test Day Result: 15th
About This Team: Bertolini won in the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2015 driving for SMP Racing. This is the 13th consecutive year Jönsson and Krohn have been co-drivers together and the third time they have driven together in LMP2. They finished second in GT2 in 2007 with Colin Braun as their third driver.
#47 Cetilar Villorba Corsa Dallara P217-Gibson
Drivers: Roberto Lacorte (2nd), Giorgio Sernagiotto (2nd), Felipe Nasr (1st)
Test Day Result: 8th
About This Team: Lacorte and Sernagiotto finished ninth overall last year in their Le Mans debuts and they finished ninth at Monza last month in ELMS with Nasr. Nasr picked up his first career IMSA victory at Belle Isle with Eric Curran and Action Express Racing.
#48 IDEC Sport Racing Oreca 07-Gibson
Drivers: Paul Lafargue (2nd), Paul-Loup Chatin (4th), Memo Rojas (3rd)
Test Day Result: 2nd
About This Team: Rojas makes his third consecutive Le Mans appearance. Chatin returns for the first time since 2016 and he finished third in LMP2 in 2014. This team finished third at Monza in ELMS last month. Lafargue finished 12th overall last year.
#50 Larbre Compétition Ligier JS P217-Gibson
Drivers: Erwin Creed (1st), Roman Ricci (2nd), Thomas Dagoneau (2nd)
Test Day Result: 20th
About This Team: Ricci last contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2000 with his brother Jean-Louis Ricci and Thierry Perrier in a Porsche 911 GT3-R and they finished 23rd overall. Dagoneau returns to Le Mans for the first time since 2013. Creed won in LMP3 at Monza last year in ELMS. He and Ricci finished seventh in the WEC Spa-Francorchamps season opener.
Practice begins at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday June 13th with a four-hour session. The first qualifying session is set for 4:00 p.m. ET and will be two hours long. Thursday will see a two-hour qualifying session at 1:00 p.m. ET with the final qualifying session that night at 4:00 p.m. ET. The morning warm-up will be held at 3:00 a.m. ET on Saturday. The race starts at 9:00 a.m. ET.
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