Musings From the Weekend: Feeling Flat

Josef Newgarden won a million dollars. A driver was thrown out at Le Mans. We await the official results from France. The LMDh cars cannot get here soon enough, and cars were revealed this weekend. Andrea Dovizioso was a spectator this weekend. The NASCAR Truck Series return to Sonoma for the first time since 1998. There was another first time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series. Ferrari keeps finding ways to lose races. The Formula One record book is looking a little different. Lewis Hamilton has a sore back. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.

Feeling Flat

One of the biggest things I noticed while attending the Belle Isle race weekend last week was the lack of passion from the fanbase for a driver. 

Fans were there, people wearing Patricio O'Ward shirts or Scott Dixon hats or Jimmie Johnson NASCAR gear. Romain Grosjean, Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta each had spectators sporting their apparel. Graham Rahal even had a few people supporting him. 

But these weren't zealous fans. No one was mobbed or attracted a hoard of screaming fans. Marcus Ericsson got additional attention a week after winning the Indianapolis 500, but there wasn't a rush of people overwhelming the paddock area. It was just a few more eager but rather silent attendees. 

The drivers are respected and most are accommodating, available to sign autographs and take pictures. It is an open experience for spectators. They are walking elbow-to-elbow with the drivers as they return from the pit lane from a practice. It is quite easy to interact with the drivers. Each has a following, but there is no strong favorite. 

O'Ward drew cheers. Johnson drew cheers. Rossi, Dixon, Conor Daly all received minor ovations, but IndyCar does not have those two drivers or three drivers that have captured the grandstands and everyone knows from looking around who has the healthiest followings. As of now, it is about a 15-way split for the top spot. 

I know at Indianapolis we hear the hearty cheers for Tony Kanaan, Ed Carpenter, Daly and the like, but that is one race, one location. IndyCar is more than that, and from taking the temperature from Belle Isle, you really aren't sure who is the guy. 

That might not be a bad thing, but IndyCar doesn't have a star. It isn't a case of it has a half-dozen stars or ten stars and who know who everyone knows. IndyCar doesn't have one guy that the average person knows where he races. The drivers, by being equally loved, are also equally anonymous. 

In turn, Formula One's meteoric rise in the United States has created at least a half-dozen popular faces that appeal to the fan base. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have fans. Daniel Ricciardo is definitely one of the more beloved drivers in this country. Sergio Pérez has the benefit of geography. Everyone sees the emergence of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris and are hopping on those bandwagons now. Pierre Gasly is a sentimental underdog. 

None of these drivers are going to rival Tom Brady, LeBron James or Simone Biles in terms of popularity, but you see more Ricciardo and Norris in American commercials than any IndyCar driver. The Formula One contingent is at least getting their names and faces out there and sparked some recognition. IndyCar isn't close to getting that right now, despite having notable sponsors in the series. It doesn't appear the series is capable of generating a star. 

IndyCar is playing with an outdated playbook, hoping great racing is what will attract viewers. The viewers aren't looking for a racing series. They fell in love with Formula One through Drive to Survive because of the people, the backroom exposure, and a little bit of racing on track. They don't care about the level of racing. There were 12 overtakes in the Monaco Grand Prix. Twelve! Belle Isle had 280 passes. What happens on track doesn't entirely matter. It helps, but people have bought in for what happens behind the scenes. 

Drive to Survive made the drivers relatable to the viewer, their talent behind the wheel be damned. 

In the wake of Drive to Survive, IndyCar doesn't know what it wants to do. It doesn't want to have its own version of Drive to Survive, but it really doesn't have any other ideas about how to increase its exposure to an otherwise unaware audience. Worst of all, it feels like the series is bound to blow another opportunity. 

Its two brightest young stars, Colton Herta and Patricio O'Ward, both have Formula One aspirations. Whether they make it or not is unknown, but the best drivers IndyCar could tie itself to for the next decade or more could be gone from the series before both are 25 years old. Two of the greatest drivers in IndyCar history, Scott Dixon and Will Power, are old, both over 40 and with fewer races ahead of them than behind. 

By the way, IndyCar missed the boat on Will Power. They had a driver whose name is Will Power. Come on! That should have sold itself. Even worse, not only has Power been winning races, is champion, won an Indianapolis 500 and has been a regular contender for nearly 15 years, he has had one of the most consistent sponsors in Verizon. Seeing as how Formula One has risen in this country despite having no American drivers and the one American team hasn't contributed to the popularity at all, Power's nationality really wasn't a hurdle for him becoming a known name, only an excuse for one-dimensional thinkers put in charge of the series' profile.

The youth could be elsewhere in a blink of an eye. The greatest are bound to retire soon. What is left? 

Can IndyCar turn Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi or Álex Palou into someone? Newgarden has already won two championships and plenty of races. The only thing left in front of him is an Indianapolis 500 victory. There is a story to tell. 

Rossi is trying to reinvent his career, about to change teams for the first time in 2023 while on a long winless streak, many questioning if he really has it and if his greatest triumph was only a fluke. There is a story to tell. 

Palou wasn't rich enough for Formula One. He didn't attract the backers. Taking a different road, he went to Japan, found success there, turned his relationship with Honda into a move to IndyCar, turned a good, but flawed rookie season into a move to Chip Ganassi Racing and won a championship in his sophomore season. Not to mention he has been a thrillingly consistent driver who appears will be one to beat for years to come, Ganassi's next generational talent after having one of the greatest IndyCar drivers for the lsat 20 years. There is a story to tell. 

Newgarden, Rossi and Palou aren't associated with any Formula One moves. While Herta and O'Ward are penciled into future McLaren F1 seats, those other three appear to be set in IndyCar for the rest of their careers, which should be for at least the next 10-15 years. That is the backbone IndyCar needs to build around. It can also tell the redemption stories about Ericsson and Grosjean finding new careers and re-igniting their passion in a new series, showing the grass is greener and there is life after Formula One. 

What about the likes of Callum Ilott, who came close to Formula One, never got a fair sniff and is now trying to balance that failure of not fully seeing out his childhood dream but also create a career in a new place around unfamiliar faces in unfamiliar places? 

The Road to Indy system has brought many drivers to IndyCar, but those careers are still on life support. Numerous Indy Lights champions have come and gone within three seasons. How are Tristan Vautier, Sage Karam, Gabby Chaves, Spencer Pigot, Ed Jones, Kyle Kaiser and Oliver Askew doing in IndyCar? These rookie seasons and sophomore seasons are pivotal for the likes of Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas. They could be somebodies. They are more likely to end up being nobodies. Too often are those stories ignored. People love rooting for an underdog, someone scraping for their lives. IndyCar has those story, and while it isn't great to show those difficult situations, it is real and an audience will appreciate it.

There is plenty floating around the IndyCar paddock to work with. It could tell those stories without being constrained to a television window for a race. It must tell those stories outside of the normal race time. It is one thing to be content as a racing series, but when you are sliding down the pecking order in your own country to a series that only shows up twice a year, it is time to do something different. 

IndyCar cannot remain closed to the world any longer. It must promote the drivers as more than drivers and give people a reason to actually care beyond he or she won here or won there or likes blue Gatorade or plays the drums. It must give the people a legitimate reason to be passionate about the drivers on track and turn a race into something more than a Sunday soiree. These must be sporting events where the results on track cause an emotional reaction from those watching. 

IndyCar is losing, and it is soon going to find itself facing an insurmountable deficit if it doesn't do something soon.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Josef Newgarden, but did you know...

The #8 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi, Brandon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa won the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans. The #38 Jota Oreca-Gibson of António Félix da Costa, Roberto González and Will Stevens won in LMP2. The #91 Porsche of Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz and Frédéric Makowiecki won in GTE-Pro. The #33 TF Sport Aston Martin of Ben Keating, Marco Sørensen and Henrique Chaves won in GTE-Am. 

Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, his fifth victory of the season and 25th of his career, tying him with Jim Clark and Niki Lauda for ninth all-time. 

Frederik Vesti and Dennis Hauger split the Formula Two races from Baku. 

Christian Rasmussen won the Indy Lights race from Road America, his first career Indy Lights victory. Louis Foster and Braden Eves split the Indy Pro 2000 races. Jace Denmark and Michael d'Orlando split the U.S. F2000 races. 

Daniel Suárez won the NASCAR Cup race from Sonoma, his first career Cup victory. Kyle Busch won the Truck race, his 62nd Truck victory and 224th NASCAR national touring series victory.

Álvaro Bautista won the main races while Toprak Razgatlioglu won the Superpole race during the World Superbike weekend from Misano. Dominique Aegerter swept the World Supersport races and has won seven consecutive races.

Mikel Azcona and Santiago Urrutia split the World Touring Car Cup races from the Hungaroring.

Coming Up This Weekend

Formula One returns to Canada for the first time since 2019.

MotoGP will be at the Sachsenring. 

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters makes its first visit to Imola.

Supercars has a round at Hidden Valley Raceway.

Super Formula will be at Sportsland SUGO.

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup will be at Zandvoort.

GT World Challenge America will be at Virginia International Raceway.

SRX opens its season at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.

The top two NASCAR national series are off, but the Truck Series will race at Knoxville Raceway.

First Impressions: Road America 2022

1. Josef Newgarden, on his third attempt, claimed the PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge $1 million prize, and Newgarden was the only one to get a crack at it. You might think that would summarize the season so far, but the only repeat winner of the season is third in the championship, as Newgarden's year has been feast or famine. Three victories, four top five finishes and four finishes outside the top ten. 

This week was near flawless. After last year's defeat at Road America, combined with a slightly disappointing Belle Isle race and a tough qualifying run yesterday, Newgarden was set to take this one from the competition. Alexander Rossi showed he was the man to beat the first two days, and Newgarden knew the task at hand. Rossi was his only real challenger. Both drivers started on the alternate tires and that opening stint was going to set the tone for the race. Newgarden rode in Rossi's shadow and both drivers stopped on the same lap. Rossi was hung up in traffic exiting his pit stall while Newgarden had a clean out and he was gone. 

There was eight seconds behind the two drivers and Rossi had to work just to get back to Newgarden's rear. Rossi clawed, but Newgarden appeared to have this set before a pair of late cautions. The first restart was quickly canceled out when Hélio Castroneves spun coming to the green. On the second restart, Newgarden left Rossi and the rest of the field in the dust. 

You would think three victories would have Newgarden as the clear favorite as the second half of the season approaches, but he is third in the championship, 32 points off Marcus Ericsson. But Newgarden is the only multi-time winner this year. The only other drivers that have been close to multiple victories this season are Scott McLaughlin and Colton Herta. McLaughlin hasn't been close since the second race of the season. Herta hasn't been consistent enough to be a title threat. 

Ever since he joined Team Penske, Newgarden has been in the title mix. He dominated Mid-Ohio last year. He loves Iowa and Iowa hosts two races this year. Not to forget mentioning there is still the second IMS road course race and Gateway. The schedule is set up for Newgarden to come from behind. Someone else has to step up to convince us they have what it takes to be champion. Until then, Newgarden coming out on top through July looks likely.

2. Back on top of the championship is Marcus Ericsson after his stunning runner-up finish. Again, Ericsson had a quiet run, didn't put a wheel wrong and when presented with a chance for a spot late, Ericsson pounced on Rossi, strengthened the Swede's championship lead. 

Ericsson hasn't been flashy this year. He has just been smooth, finishing in the top ten, getting the best result possible each day and not driving over his head. The Indianapolis 500 victory is boosting his championship prospects. I am not sure one victory and clicking off top ten finishes will be enough, but so far it has been. Ericsson leads and it isn't by a few measly point, it is a 27-point advantage over Will Power. It isn't massive, but the field has work to do. 

3. This was a missed opportunity for Alexander Rossi. The pole-sitter led from the drop of the green flag, but Newgarden remained close to Rossi. The first pit stop would be crucial. Rossi caught a break with a frantic start that saw three cautions in the first seven laps. A historically poor driver on alternate tires, Rossi caught a gift in the opening stint, as he basically had five fewer laps to run on the alternate tires as they were under caution conditions. 

But a chain of events could not have fallen worse for Rossi. It wasn't a bad stop, but Scott McLaughlin was entering his pit box as Rossi was ready to go out, he had to hold up and that let Newgarden leapfrog into the lead. Then Rossi lost even more time negotiating traffic. For the second consecutive race, Dalton Kellett and Jimmie Johnson did Rossi no favors. He did end up clawing back on Newgarden's gap, but he went from six-tenths ahead of Newgarden to 7.6 seconds back in about seven laps. At least four of those seconds were lost dealing with traffic. It was more than Rossi could overcome. 

When the late cautions came out, it felt like Rossi would get a challenge. He ran some better laps on the primary tires later in stints. However, he had one restart too many. Rossi looked good on the one that was canceled out by Castroneves' spin, but Rossi had no burst on the final one, leaving him prone to Ericsson's jump. Rossi held on for third, but it really wasn't a position he should have been in. This is still a good day, but it could have been much better.

4. Andretti Autosport had a great day across the board. Romain Grosjean took fourth and he was competitive. Grosjean only got one flying lap in the second round of qualifying, and he was a fraction of a second from advancing to the Fast Six. He had a slight twitch in the first corner of that lap. Rossi was the one who advanced over Grosjean. If that lap was clean or Grosjean had multiple laps in that round, this could have been a much different race. Rossi would have failed to advance and Grosjean might have been the one on the front row, possibly even pole position. 

Grosjean needed a strong day. The last three races have been dreadful. He was a solid top five car and held off Colton Herta late. It is a step in the right direction.

5. Colton Herta served a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, but he made up five spots in the first seven laps, of which only about three laps were under green flag conditions. The engine penalty was wiped out almost immediately. But Herta was a little off strategy starting on the primary tires. It might have been better if the race had stayed green and he could have picked off a few more spots late in the opening stint, but Herta was always going to need to run the alternate compound, and that stint took him out of contention to push for the podium. 

Herta did well and nearly stepped over the line late. He didn't and Andretti Autosport had three top five finishers. Like Grosjean, it is a step in the right direction.

6. With the number of early cautions, we had the rare multi-strategy Road America race. Some cars came in on lap nine under the third caution as it was only about three laps outside the first pit window. Felix Rosenqvist rolled the dice and Rosenqvist would have to run conservative laps to keep it as a three-stop race. It worked. He was a sitting duck late in the stints, but Rosenqvist didn't lose significant chunks of time and he turned it into a sixth-place result. 

That might not sound like much considering he started seventh, but I am not sure following the leaders was going to work out for him. He was never going to have a winning strategy unless the caution came out immediately after a pit stop. Either way, Rosenqvist has four consecutive top ten finishes. He is in better form and is reviving his IndyCar career. 

7. Scott McLaughlin had a strong day and finished seventh. After the last three results, McLaughlin needed this. He easily tossed away a pair of top ten finishes the last two weeks. This stops the bleeding a bit, but those opening two races are still more flashes in the pan than something significant. McLaughlin still has work to do in IndyCar, but he is competitive. He just needs a little polish.

8. Graham Rahal ran the same strategy as Rosenqvist but was doing it from deeper in the field. It worked and took Rahal to eighth place from 22nd on the grid. Rahal had to do something today. The team is throwing the kitchen sink at it to get results. The qualifying pace isn't there. The team is lost. It has to fling stuff at the wall. It isn't ideal, but it worked today and it is a minor positive to take away, but the search for a permanent solution will continue.

9. Scott Dixon was ninth. We do not write that often about Dixon. Nothing special, not bad, just ninth. Early in the race, it felt like he and Simon Pagenaud passed each other on about eight consecutive laps. This is weird, but Dixon hasn't really factored in any race other than the Indianapolis 500 this season. He hasn't been a regular in the Fast Six. The team has been pointing to qualifying issues as to why the race results have been down. Until we see Dixon qualify better, we will not know if that is the solution and we are running out of races to find out.

10. Before this weekend, I said Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing would have its best weekend of the season. It didn't come easy, but with Christian Lundgaard in tenth, his second career top ten finish and the first time RLLR has had multiple top ten finishers this season, I would say that fits the description. Lundgaard was able to run long and made time late in stints. It kept him in the fight. He needed a good result, and he has it, strengthening his grip on the rookie battle.

11. Speaking of rookies, Callum Ilott was 11th. Solid run for Ilott. He was around the edge of the top ten all race. He is positioning himself for a move upward next year. When I see a highly successful European junior formula driver stepping into IndyCar and performing better than the team he is driving for, I think he is meant for Chip Ganassi Racing. Look at what Ganassi did with Juan Pablo Montoya and Bruno Junqueira. Ilott fits that mold. Let's see how the rest of the season goes, but Ilott is bound for better things. 

12. Simon Pagenaud nearly threw his race away in the kink but kept it straight. Pagenaud lost ground, but considering that moment, 12th is a good day. Since joining Meyer Shank Racing, we really haven't seen Pagenaud have a day where everything clicks. We are still waiting for that one great day. 

13. Speaking of Meyer Shank Racing, its former driver Jack Harvey was 13th. It is an odd result for Harvey. He was the worst RLLR finish, but in the same zip code as his teammate, but he never really was a challenger for a top ten then again his teammate really didn't run that much better. I cannot say Harvey made a step back considering MSR is running only slightly better. It is definitely a lateral move at the moment, which still isn't the direction Harvey hoped to go.

14. Conor Daly was 14th. That feels right up Daly's alley. It helps Daly that Rinus VeeKay is struggling. We will cover Ed Carpenter Racing here as VeeKay was 17th. VeeKay had an early off drop him down the order. VeeKay has bursts of speed, get the occasional impressive result, but then has stretches where he is woeful. Daly never has any bursts of speeds, but sometimes that is good enough to finish 14th and other times Daly is 20th and you never realize he is out there. 

Neither are good problems for ECR. I am not sure how to cure both issues. Daly isn't really picking up the team when it needs someone. It is hard to say beating your teammate in 14th is a good day.

15. Another team that has two drivers doing nothing is Dale Coyne Racing. Takuma Sato was 15th and David Malukas was 16th. Isn't it weird we haven't had a Dale Coyne Racing masterclass strategy performance yet? We are eight races in and we haven't had a DCR car run a three-stopper and pull out a top ten result or a fuel gamble turn an 18th starting position into an eighth place result. Last week, both cars make the Fast Six and neither car finished in the top ten. DCR has two top ten results all season, a tenth at St. Petersburg and a seventh in the wet in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, both at the hands of Sato. This hasn't been a good year for this group.

16. Devlin DeFrancesco ran over Will Power into turn five early in this race and took Power out of contention for any promising result. 

There were too many early cautions in this one. It started with Jimmie Johnson spinning from side-by-side contact with Tatiana Calderón. Then Marcus Ericsson and Álex Palou made slight contact, but enough to bend Palou's suspension and force him to park it in the gravel at the exit of turn five. Finally, DeFrancesco runs over Power. 

This is a good grid, but we also have to acknowledge the bottom isn't close to the middle let alone the top. DeFrancesco shouldn't be in IndyCar. He should be spending another year in Indy Lights. Calderón doesn't tear up equipment, but she is slow. We know Johnson is out of his element and we haven't even touch upon Dalton Kellett yet. 

Someone has to be at the bottom, but the current expectation is the bottom is bound to cause a problem during a race. These four drivers have been response for ten of 30 cautions this season. That is about 15% of the grid responsible for a third of the cautions. We know what we are dealing with in IndyCar.

17. We should probably touch upon Power specifically because he lost the championship lead and has 27 points to overcome. It is doable, but he has to qualify better. He won from 16th at Belle Isle. He wasn't going to win from 15th today and when you start 15th you are more likely to have DeFrancesco run through you. 

Despite everything that happened, Power was calm. I think he saw the deficit afterward and feels confident he can get back on top quickly. Two good results and easily flip that gap to Power's favor. Ericsson has been good, but Power must be feeling in his current form Ericsson will not beat him. 

18. Let's quickly wrap up the field. Kyle Kirkwood was nowhere and finished 20th, the best A.J. Foyt Racing finisher. It is partially the team, but Kirkwood's hand injury isn't helping. 

Simona de Silvestro didn't do thing wrong and was 21st. I am not sure this weekend was going to be much better than that. She hasn't been in an IndyCar on a road/street course in seven years. I hate to say it but de Silvestro's best years were wasted chasing a fruitless opportunity with Sauber F1 and in Supercars in Australia. She has two races left. If he can be competing for 15th-20th, that will be great progress.

Hélio Castroneves was an afterthought in this race prior to his spin. He is classified in 22nd, but this return to full season competition was a step too far. Meyer Shank Racing is seeing it firsthand. Castroneves better get comfortable as a one-off driver. Look on the bright side, he won a fourth Indianapolis 500 when he was a part-time participant. Maybe that is the recipe to success in your late 40s. 

19. Not often do you see Patricio O'Ward and Álex Palou in the bottom two positions. O'Ward's car crapped out on him with nine laps to go. Palou's damage was odd. It wasn't hard contact at all. Ericsson just hit Palou in the right place. Ericsson didn't do anything wrong. That was just side-by-side racing. Palou squeezed the Swede more than anything else. It was lap three of the race. Palou should have taken fourth position and lived to fight another day. 

20. Slow zones, onboard starters and cranes. Those three things should be on IndyCar's to-do list. 

The Johnson, Palou, O'Ward and Castroneves incidents could have just been slow zones. At Le Mans this weekend, when a car stopped on the circuit or there was a minor incident, they would put that portion of the circuit in a slow zone, no one could go faster than 60 or 80 mph, once a car cleared that zone, the cars could go full throttle around the rest of the course. 

For the Johnson incident, from the exit of turn one through the exit of turn three could have been a slow zone. Have the cars run at caution speed and once clear, they could race full speed into turn five. It would save us a lot of time and allow more racing to take place. 

Another way to prevent at least the Johnson and Castroneves incidents are onboard starters. The next car must have onboard starters. We shouldn't have single car spins with no barrier contact halting the field. It will be 2024 or 2025 when the next regulations are rolled out. IndyCar has to at least get into the 1990s and prevent cars from stalling for spin. 

And the Palou incident shouldn't have been more than a slow zone with a crane lifting that car out of the gravel. Why IndyCar doesn't have two or three cranes at each race strategically placed around the course for high incident areas is beyond me. For Road America, the obvious areas were turns three, five and the carousel. When IndyCar goes to Mid-Ohio in a few weeks it would be the keyhole and China Beach on the outside of turn five. 

Everything costs money, slow zones are the cheapest option and should already be practiced, but these are little things that can make races significantly better.

21. And now we get a little summer break before returning to competition over Independence Day weekend at Mid-Ohio. It will be a whirlwind third quarter of the IndyCar season. In July alone there is Mid-Ohio, Toronto's return, the Iowa doubleheader and then the second IMS road course race run in combination with the NASCAR weekend. That is not mentioning that the Nashville race is the week after Brickyard weekend. We are about to see five races over 28 days and six races over 36 days. 

It is going to get late early. Who will be ready for the dog days?

Morning Warm-Up: Road America 2022

Alexander Rossi won pole position at Road America with a lap of 104.8656 seconds in the final round of qualifying. It is Rossi's first pole position since the first Belle Isle race in 2019. It is his seventh career pole position. Rossi is the eighth different pole-sitter through eight races this season. This is the most different pole-sitters to start a season since 1961, which opened with nine different pole-sitters. Rossi was second last week at Belle Isle. The only time Rossi has won after finishing runner-up in a race was in 2019 when he was second at Texas and then won at Road America. Last week was Rossi's ninth runner-up finish. His average finish in races after a runner-up result is 6.5 with five top five finishes and seven top ten finishes.

Josef Newgarden qualified second and Newgarden will start on the front row for a second consecutive race. Newgarden was 0.0715 seconds off Rossi's pole position time. This is the fourth time Newgarden has started on the front row at Road America. While he won from pole position in 2018, he was 14th in the first Road America race in 2020 and 21st last year. Newgarden has won from second on the grid eight times, including at Long Beach in April. Only four times has the Road America winner started second, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1992, Jacques Villeneuve in 1994, Cristiano da Matta in 2002 and Alexander Rossi in 2019. 

Álex Palou leads an all-Chip Ganassi Racing row two. This is the third time Palou has started third this season. He has finished on the podium in the other two starts. Palou was over a half-second off Rossi's pole position lap. Palou could become the fourth driver to win consecutive Road America races joining Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve. 

Marcus Ericsson will start fourth. This is only the fourth time Ericsson has qualified in the top five in his IndyCar career. Ericsson had never started in the top ten at Road America prior to this race. He has finished in the top ten in the eighth race of the season every year he has run in IndyCar. Two of those results were top five finishes. 

Patricio O'Ward moves up to fifth on the grid after Colton Herta serves a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. O'Ward is looking for three consecutive top five finishes for the second time in his career. He was fourth at Indianapolis and then third and first at the Belle Isle doubleheader last year.

Romain Grosjean missed out on the final round of qualifying by 0.0810 seconds, but Grosjean will slide up to sixth on the grid. He has finished outside the top fifteen in three consecutive races. This is Grosjean's longest top ten drought in his IndyCar career.

Felix Rosenqvist will be seventh on the grid. This is the sixth time Rosenqvist has started in the top ten this season. Last year, he started in the top ten in only four races. A top ten finish would mean Rosenqvist would have four consecutive top ten finishes for the first time in his IndyCar career. Rosenqvist won from seventh position in the first Road America race in 2020.

Scott McLaughlin moves up to the outside of row four. Like Rosenqvist, this is the sixth time McLaughlin has started in the top ten this season. Last year, McLaughlin started in the top ten only twice, and one of those was the second Texas race where the field was set via entrants' points. McLaughlin has been the top Penske finisher in only one race this season, his St. Petersburg victory. 

For the second consecutive race, Scott Dixon will start ninth. Dixon was the top Chip Ganassi Racing finisher last week at Belle Isle. It was the first time Dixon has been the top Ganassi finisher this season. He won from ninth in the first Road America race in 2020. 

Simon Pagenaud is now tenth on the grid. Pagenuad has finished outside the top ten in his last three Road America starts. He has gone 32 starts since his most recent victory in the first race of the 2020 Iowa doubleheader. This is Pagenaud's longest drought since he went 38 starts before his first career victory. 

Colton Herta qualified fifth but his six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change drops him to 11th. This will be Herta's worst starting position at Road America. This is the third time in four races he has started outside the top ten. Herta has yet to have consecutive top ten finishes this season. 

Callum Ilott starts 12th after causing a red flag at the very start of the second round of qualifying. Ilott is back after missing Belle Isle due to a broken hand suffered during the Indianapolis 500. This was the third time Ilott has advanced to the second round of qualifying this season. 

Christian Lundgaard missed out from advancing from group one by 0.0118 seconds and Lundgaard will start 13th. Last year, Kevin Magnussen became the all-time leader in laps led for Danish drivers in IndyCar history with six laps led at Road America. Lundgaard has two laps led in his IndyCar career.

David Malukas was 0.0339 seconds off advancing to round two of qualifying for the second consecutive race, Malukas will start 14th. He has finished worse than his starting position in five of seven races this season. Malukas scored his first career fastest lap last week at Belle Isle. 

Will Power starts on row eight for the second consecutive week, but this time in 15th position. Power was 0.0321 seconds off advancing from group one. This is the first time Power did not advance from the first round of qualifying at a Road America race. Power has six top five finishes this season. His most top five finishes in a season was 11 in 2010 and 2011. 

Hélio Castroneves missed out on round two by 0.0539 seconds and Castroneves starts beside his former Team Penske teammate in 16th. Castroneves has two consecutive top five finishes at Road America in IndyCar competition, and he won his most recent start at the track in IMSA competition in 2020.

Rinus VeeKay leads an all-Ed Carpenter Racing row nine. This is VeeKay's third Road America appearance after missing last year's race due to a broken collarbone from a cycling accident. In his first two Road America starts, VeeKay started 16th and 15th. He has finished outside the top fifteen in the last three races and 11 of the last 15 races dating back to last season. 

Conor Daly is next to VeeKay on the grid for a second consecutive race. This time the ECR drivers are two rows further back. Daly's best Road America finish was 15th in 2017. Ed Carpenter Racing's best Road America finish is eighth, which Josef Newgarden first achieved in 2016 and Spencer Pigot matched in 2018.

Takuma Sato qualified 19th, the sixth time he has failed to advance from round one in eight Road America appearances. Despite his qualifying record, Sato has five consecutive top ten finishes at Road America. Last year, he led two laps, his first laps led at the circuit. 

Jack Harvey will be 20th on the grid for the second consecutive race. Last week, Harvey gained five positions and finished in 15th, his fourth top fifteen finish this season. Harvey has never finished better than 17th in three Road America starts. 

Devlin DeFrancesco occupies 21st on the grid. DeFrancesco was second and fourth in the Indy Pro 2000 races held at Road America in 2020. Last year, he was outside the top five in both Indy Lights races.

Graham Rahal qualified 22nd, his worst starting position for a Road America race. This is the third consecutive race Rahal has started outside the top twenty. He has not finished in the top ten in the last three races. This is his longest slump since a four-race stretch between the final three events in 2019 and the 2020 season opener. 

Dalton Kellett finds himself 23rd on the grid, his seventh consecutive start outside the top twenty. Kellett scored his best road/street course result this season at Belle Isle finishing 20th. It was the first time Kellett has been top A.J. Foyt Racing finisher this season. He was the top Foyt finisher only twice in his first 31 starts. Kellett's best Road America finish is 20th. 

Kyle Kirkwood joins his A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Kellett on row 12. This is the fifth time Kirkwood has started outside the top twenty this season. He has finished outside the top twenty in four of seven races, three of which were retirements. 

Tatiana Calderón makes it three consecutive Foyt cars on the grid as the Calderón starts 25th. This is her fourth time starting 25th in six appearances this season. Calderón has yet to finish outside the top twenty in consecutive races in her brief IndyCar career.

Jimmie Johnson joins Calderón on row 13. Johnson will be making his 20th career start this weekend. Only three drivers have had their first career victory come in their 20th start: Walt Brown on June 20, 1948 at Langhorne, Bobby Grim on September 10, 1960 at Syracuse and Justin Wilson on July 10, 2005 at Toronto. 

Simona de Silvestro rounds out the grid in 27th position. This is her worst start on a road/street course since she started 27th for the 2012 Sonoma race when she drove a Lotus-powered car. She did finish 17th in that race. De Silvestro has five top ten finishes in her last six road/street course starts. 

NBC's coverage of the Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America begins at 12:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 12:45 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 55 laps.

Track Walk: Road America 2022

The eighth round of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season takes place at Road America, the longest track on the IndyCar schedule. It will be the 33rd time IndyCar has raced around the famed course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Through seven races, there have been six different winners this season and we have had seven different pole-sitters. While there has been variety, it is rather contained this season. Team Penske has four victories, the only team with multiple victories this season. Penske has two of the top five in the championship while Chip Ganassi Racing also has two in the top five of the championship. After this weekend, IndyCar will have two weeks off before hitting the midway point of the season at Mid-Ohio.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday June 12 with green flag scheduled for 12:50 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 4:25 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 10:45 a.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 1:45 p.m. ET 

Final Practice: 5:20 p.m. ET (30 minutes)

Sunday:

Race: 12:50 p.m. ET (55 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Power Back On Top

After dropping to fourth in the championship following his 15th place finish in the Indianapolis 500, Will Power's victory at Belle Isle has put him back in the championship lead. Power holds a three-point advantage over Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson entering Road America. 

Power has not been worse than fourth in the championship this season and he has six top five finishes from seven races, his most top five finishes through seven races in his IndyCar career. Belle Isle was Power's first street course victory since Toronto 2016 and after starting 16th this was the third time Power has won from outside a top ten starting position in his career, all three of which have come on street courses. 

Belle Isle wasn't just another victory for Power. It was his 41st career victory, putting him one behind tying Michael Andretti for fourth all-time. With 41 victories in 258 starts, Power has a 15.891% winning percentage. Andretti's 42nd victory came in his 293rd start at Long Beach in 2002. Andretti ended his career with a 13.249% winning percentage. 

Through seven races, Power has the best average finish in IndyCar at 4.8571. He is the only driver with at least five top five finishes this season, and he is one of three drivers with six top ten finishes this season. Power's 78 laps led are tied for third most in IndyCar with Colton Herta, and Power has led in four races. Only Álex Palou has led more races this season. 

Since 1946, this is the 38th time a driver has had at least six top five finishes through the first seven races. In 26 of the first 37 occasions, that driver has gone on to win the championship. This is the fifth time in the last six seasons a driver has scored at least six top five finishes in seven races. However, in two of those four occasions, that driver did not win the championship. In 2017 and 2018, Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi each had six top five finishes, but did not bring home the championship. However, in 2019 and 2020, Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon each opened with six top five finishes through seven races and held on to claim the title.

In Power's favor are his Road America results. In seven races since IndyCar's return in 2016, Power has five podium finishes on the Wisconsin road course. He has made the Fast Six on six occasions with his worst starting position at Road America being eighth. Since 2016, Power has the third best average finish at Road America among the drivers with at least three starts. Power's average finish is 6.7, and Power's average starting position of 3.6 is behind only Colton Herta. He is one of five drivers with five top ten finishes in the last seven Road America races, and he and Scott Dixon are tied for most top five finishes at Road America with five apiece. 

One other thing to give Power confidence this weekend is the last time he won at Belle Isle in 2016, he won the following race, which was at Road America.

Newgarden's Shot at Redemption

While Power found redemption at Belle Isle last week, scoring victory one year after his car's failure to restart after red flag conditions were lifted while leading, Road America will be the second consecutive race where a Team Penske driver seeks retribution from a lost result in 2021. 

Last year, Josef Newgarden led 32 laps at Road America from pole position when a late caution caused a restart with two laps to go. Newgarden had to hold off Álex Palou, but unfortunately gearbox issues on the restart cost Newgarden the lead and the American dropped like a rock in the final two laps, crossing the finish line 21st. 

That one failure saw Newgarden go from possibly scoring the maximum 54 points to bringing home only 13 points. Throw in the additional ten points Palou scored from inheriting the race victory and that mechanical failure caused a 51-point swing in the championship. Newgarden lost the 2021 championship by 38 points to Palou. 

Road America was the second consecutive victory that slipped through Newgarden's fingers last year. At the previous race, Newgarden lost the lead with three laps to go at Belle Isle after leading the first 67 laps. This year, Newgarden was fourth at Belle Isle after leading the first 13 laps from pole position, but the two-stop strategy and running long the alternate tire compound in the opening stint cost him valuable time while Power and Dixon started on the primary tires and clawed their way up the field and Alexander Rossi vaulted forward on the three-stop strategy. 

After a feast or famine start, Newgarden found some middle ground at Belle Isle. He might have finished fourth, but he had either won or finished outside the top ten in the first six races of the season. Three top ten finishes is his fewest through the first seven races of a season since he had two in the first seven races of 2014. 

An argument could be made Road America owes Newgarden two victories. Besides last year's heartbreak, in the first race of the 2020 doubleheader, Newgarden led 25 of the first 27 laps from pole position but stalled on his second pit stop and ended up 14th in that race. After finishing no worse than eighth in his first four Road America races, three of which were podium results, Newgarden has finished ninth or worse in his last three Road America starts. Two of those last three starts were from pole position. 

Newgarden is one of two drivers to complete all 380 laps at Road America since 2016 along with Simon Pagenaud. Newgarden has led 123 laps at the track, more than double the next best driver, his teammate Will Power, who has led 60 laps.

Another thing on Newgarden's side this weekend is this will be his third shot to complete the PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge. With victories at the Texas oval and Long Beach street course, all Newgarden needs is a victory on a road course to claim the $1 million prize, half of which will go to a charity of the team's choosing. Newgarden will get consecutive cracks to complete the challenge as following Road America will be Mid-Ohio.

Every other winner will only have a chance to check off a box in the next two races. Marcus Ericsson could check off the road course box, but the earliest he could complete the challenge would be the Toronto race next month. Scott McLaughlin and Will Power both could complete the road course requirement this weekend, but they could not claim the $1 million prize until Iowa next month.

Patricio O'Ward and Colton Herta cannot check off another box until Toronto, as O'Ward and Herta already took care of the road course victory last month. O'Ward won at Barber and Herta won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. 

Rising and Falling

Heading into the second weekend of June, the IndyCar championship is all jumbled up from where it was at the start of May. 

Marcus Ericsson is the most notable leaper over the last three races. Ericsson was tied for ninth in the championship, 60 points off the championship lead after the Barber Motorsports Park round. Three consecutive top ten finishes with an Indianapolis 500 victory smack-dab in the middle of that run and Ericsson is up to second in the championship, three points behind Power's lead. Ericsson has three consecutive top ten finishes at Road America. 

After Barber Motorsports Park on May 1, Alexander Rossi was 13th in the championship. Entering Road America, Rossi is up to seventh in the championship off the back of consecutive top five finishes between the Indianapolis 500 and Belle Isle. This is the first time he has had consecutive top five finishes since a four-race streak at the end of the 2020 season between the Mid-Ohio doubleheader and Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader. Rossi is not only up six positions, he is also up eight points from where he was after Barber, now only trailing the championship lead by 74 points instead of 82 points. 

Felix Rosenqvist hasn't had the sexiest results, but his three consecutive top ten finishes, including a fourth-place finish at Indianapolis has Rosenqvist up to ninth in the championship, 81 points behind Power in the championship. After Barber, Rosenqvist was 16th in the championship, 88 points off the lead. The Swede returns to the location of his one and only IndyCar victory. He missed last year's Road America race while recovering from a concussion suffered in a horrendous accident in the first Belle Isle race.

Conor Daly might not have cracked the top ten in the IndyCar championship, but Daly is up from 19th after Barber, 94 points off the championship lead, to 12th after Belle Isle, albeit he is now 100 points off the championship lead. Daly has turned around his season to be the top Ed Carpenter Racing finisher in four of seven races. On the other hand, Rinus VeeKay has gone from seventh in the championship, 38 points off the championship lead after Barber to 13th, 107 points behind Power, a six-spot, 69-point drop over the last three races. 

VeeKay isn't even the most notable fall over the last three races.

Scott McLaughlin has gone from second in the championship, three points off Álex Palou's championship lead after Barber to tenth in the championship, 82 points off Power's lead. McLaughlin has finished outside the top fifteen in the last three races. 

Romain Grosjean was the top Andretti Autosport driver in the championship after Barber, eighth and 43 points off the lead. After two finishes of 17th and a 31st in the Indianapolis 500, Grosjean is now the third best Andretti driver in the championship, down to 14th and 114 points off the championship lead. 

Tied with Marcus Ericsson after Barber Motorsports Park was Graham Rahal. Now 117 points a part, Rahal is down to 15th in the championship with finishes of 16th, 14th and 26th in the last three races.

Open Door at Road America

There have been six different winners through seven races this IndyCar season, but there have also been six different winners in the seven Road America races since IndyCar's return in 2016. 

Scott Dixon is only the repeat winner in the last seven races while Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Felix Rosenqvist and Álex Palou have all stood on the top of the podium at the famed circuit. Prior to IndyCar's return in 2016, CART/Champ Car had 11 different winners in its final 12 races at the circuit. The only repeat winner during that time was Bruno Junqueira. 

With 27 drivers entered this weekend, 20 have a chance to keep up the run at Road America. 

Marcus Ericsson would be a different winner, and Ericsson could also extend Chip Ganassi Racing's Road America winning streak to four races.

Patricio O'Ward nearly had his first IndyCar victory come at the circuit in the second race of the 2020 doubleheader only for worn alternate tires to cost him in the closing laps to Rosenqvist. O'Ward has three consecutive top ten finishes at the circuit. 

As mentioned above, Simon Pagenaud has completed every lap at Road America since 2016, however Pagenaud has finished outside the top ten in his last three Road America starts. His only top five result here was fourth in the 2017 race.

In four Road America starts, Colton Herta is averaging a fifth-place finish. Herta's worst result was eighth as a rookie in 2019. He was runner-up to Palou last year after Newgarden's mechanical issues late. Despite having started on pole position in the 2019 race, Herta has yet to lead a lap at Road America. 

While Graham Rahal is in a slump, not many are more competitive at Road America than Rahal. He had six consecutive top ten finishes before his last two starts. In the second race of the 2020 doubleheader, Rahal was taken out on the opening lap. Last year, he was 11th. Prior to last year, he had started in the top ten in every one of his Road America starts, and he has started in the top six in six Road America races.

Rinus VeeKay, Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas won the last three Indy Lights races at Road America, and each has additional Road to Indy victories at the track. In 2017, VeeKay swept the U.S. F2000 races. Kirkwood swept the U.S. F2000 races the following year and then swept the Indy Pro 2000 races in 2019. Last year, Kirkwood split the Indy Lights races with Malukas. A suspension issue in the second race knocked Kirkwood out of a possible podium finish. Malukas swept the 2018 Indy Pro 2000 races at Road America, his first victories in Road to Indy competition.

There is a familiar name returning to the IndyCar grid this weekend. Simona de Silvestro returns with Paretta Autosport, in the first of a three-race program run in partnership with Ed Carpenter Racing. De Silvestro will also run Mid-Ohio next month and Nashville in August. This will be de Silvestro's first road/street course start in IndyCar since she finished fourth in the one and only NOLA Motorsports Park race driving for Andretti Autosport in 2015. She has not raced at Road America since the 2008 Atlantics Championship doubleheader. 

Road to Indy

All three Road to Indy series will be competing at Road America this weekend, and it is getting late early in Indy Lights. Road America marks the halfway point in the 2022 Indy Lights season with only seven races remaining after this weekend. 

Linus Lundqvist has a stranglehold on the championship after sweeping the Belle Isle doubleheader. Lundqvist has 283 points and an 84-point lead over Benjamin Pedersen. Lundqvist has won four races this season while there have only been two other winners this season. Pedersen has been runner-up three times. Danial Frost and Sting Ray Robb are tied for third in the championship on 191 points. Frost holds the tiebreaker with his victory on the IMS road course. Robb has finished in third position in four of the last five races. 

Matthew Brabham scored a pair of top five finishes in Detroit, his first top five finishes since his St. Petersburg victory. Brabham has 186 points, 97 points off the championship lead. Hunter McElrea is sixth in the championship on 163 points while Christian Rasmussen and Kyffin Simpson are tied on 147 points. Rasmussen was 13th in both Belle Isle races. Antonio Serravalle is on 145 points while Jacob Abel rounds out the top ten on 136 points.

Ernie Francis, Jr. has 134 points. Christian Bogle scored his first top five finish in Indy Lights competition in the first Belle Isle race. Bogle has 128 points. James Roe, Jr. had a pair of top ten finishes in Detroit and now has 116 points in the championship. 

Indy Lights will race at 10:35 a.m. ET on Sunday June 11. It is scheduled for 20 laps. 

Indy Pro 2000 will surpass its halfway point during the middle of the Road America weekend. Louis Foster has won the last two races and holds the championship lead with 184 points. Foster has a 14-point lead over Reece Gold after Gold was runner-up to Foster at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Nolan Siegel is 17 points back in third with seven top ten finishes from eight races. 

Enaam Ahmed is 41 points behind Foster with six top five finishes this season. Josh Green rounds out the top five, 45 points behind Foster with Braden Eves 49 points back. Green was third at IRP, his first podium finish since winning the St. Petersburg season opener. Eves has one top five finish in the last four races. Kiko Porto has yet to finish on the podium this year and has 129 points, good enough for seventh in the championship.

Colin Kaminsky has 119 points with Jack William Miller on 112 points. Salvador da Alba rounds out the top ten with 108 points. Yuven Sundaramoorthy sits on 104 points with Wyatt Brichacek on 102 points. 

The first Indy Pro 2000 race will be at 3:15 p.m. ET on Saturday June 11 with the second race set for 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday June 12. 

U.S. F2000 will also enter the second half of its season during the middle of the Road America weekend. Michael d'Orlando took the championship lead with his victory at Indianapolis Raceway Park, his seventh top five finish through eight races. D'Orlando has 177 points and a 17-point advantage over Myles Rowe. Rowe was third at IRP. Jagger Jones is 19 points back after finishing fifth on the 0.686-mile oval. 

Billy Frazer has finished seventh in the last two races and has dropped to fourth in the championship, 25 points off d'Orlando. Jace Denmark has finished fourth in the last three races and he is fifth in the championship, 32 points back. Bijoy Garg was runner-up at IRP and he is 52 points behind d'Orlando. 

Simon Sikes has finished outside of the top five in the last four races and has dropped to seventh in the championship on 119 points. Thomas Nepveu sits on 115 points, nine points ahead of Spike Kohlbecker. Christian Weir rounds out the top ten on 99 points. 

There will be an extra d'Orlando on the grid this weekend. Nicholas d'Orlando, Michael's younger brother, will make his U.S. F2000 debut at Road America.

Both U.S. F2000 races will be on Saturday June 11, first at noon ET and then at 4:20 p.m. ET.

Fast Facts

This will be the 13th time an IndyCar race has taken place on June 12 and the first time since last year when Marcus Ericsson won the first Belle Isle race.

Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi are tied for the most Road America victories with three apiece. 

Newman/Haas Racing leads all teams with ten Road America victories. Chip Ganassi Racing is second all-time with seven victories while Team Penske has five victories.

Paul Tracy remains the only driver to win at Road America in IndyCar and Indy Lights. 

The average starting position for a Road America winner is 3.84375 with a median of fifth. 

The last three Road America races have been won from outside the first two rows of the grid. It is the first time three consecutive Road America races have been won from further back than fourth position. 

Fourteen of 32 Road America races have been won from the front row. The pole-sitter has won ten times at Road America. 

Seven Road America races have been won from outside a top five starting position. 

The worst starting position for a Road America winner is 13th by Alex Tagliani in the 2004 race. Tagliani is the only driver to win from outside the top ten at Road America.

The driver who has led the most laps has won every odd-numbered race this season. The driver who has led the most laps has not won any of the even-numbered races this season.

Eight drivers have had their first career victory come at Road America. 

Honda has had at least seven top ten finishers in the last six Road America races.

Neither manufacture has swept a Road America podium since the track returned to the schedule.

The average number of lead changes in a Road America race is 4.3125 with a median of four. 

Last year's race had 11 lead changes, matching the most all-time in a Road America race, which first occurred in 1983. 

The average number of cautions in a Road America race is 2.129 with a median of two. The average number of caution laps is 6.48387 with a median of five. 

The last three Road America races have had multiple caution periods after three of the previous four Road America races had one caution or fewer. 

Predictions

Two years after his most recent victory, Alexander Rossi is back on the top step of the podium, but this victory will be by under five seconds. Andretti Autosport will have multiple top five finishers. Felix Rosenqvist keeps his top ten streak going. David Malukas will get his first career top ten finish. Rinus VeeKay will not have an accident on the final lap. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has its best day of the season. There will be under two cautions. There will be under six lead changes. The first retirement will be a Chevrolet. At least one driver will finish at least ten positions better than his or her starting position. Sleeper: David Malukas.

2022 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE Preview

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. 

2022 24 Hours of Le Mans Prototype Preview

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.