Morning Warm-Up: Laguna Seca 2024

Álex Palou scored his second pole position of 2024 with a lap of 67.1465 seconds around Laguna Seca on Saturday afternoon ahead of today’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. It is the fifth pole position of Palou’s career. Palou has won from pole position on three of his first four occasions leading the grid to the green flag, including in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis back in May. Every time he has started on pole position at a road or street course, Palou has won the race. The exception was the 2023 Indianapolis 500, where the Catalan driver finished fourth. Palou has finished on the podium in all three of his Laguna Seca starts. He won the 2022 race from 11th position while leading 63 of 95 laps. It was a a rather tight qualifying session with less than a quarter of a second covering the top five times.

Kyle Kirkwood missed out on pole position by 0.0739 seconds. This is Kirkwood’s best starting position of the season, and his best since he won pole position at Long Beach in 2023, 21 races ago. Kirkwood is attempting to become the first Andretti Global driver with three consecutive top five finishes since Colton Herta ended the 2021 season with a pair of victories and opened the 2022 season with a fourth at St. Petersburg.

Felix Rosenqvist was 0.1452 seconds off Palou in third. This is the fourth time this season Rosenqvist has started in the top five. He has finished better than his starting position in only three races this season. He went from fifth to fourth at Barber Motorsports Park in April, and he started 22nd in the last two races before finishing eight and 14th at Detroit and Road America respectively. Rosenqvist has two top five finishes at Laguna Seca as well has two finishes of 19th. 

Colton Herta fell 0.1507 seconds short of pole position and will start fourth. Herta could become the second driver with at least three Laguna Seca victories. Bobby Rahal has four victories at the circuit, though all of those were on the original 1.9-mile configuration. Herta has finished in the top five of the eighth race of the season for four consecutive years, but none of those results have been podium finishes.

Alexander Rossi is the top Chevrolet starter in fifth. Rossi was 0.2129 seconds slower than Palou. This is only Rossi’s second top five starting position this season. In 15 starts in his native California, Rossi has two victories, three top five finishes and ten top ten finishes, but his average finish is 11.2. He has finished 19th or worse in the other five races.

Christian Lundgaard was a distant sixth in the final round of qualifying, 0.3647 seconds from Palou. Lundgaard has finished outside the top ten in his last three starts, his longest drought since the first five starts of his IndyCar career. This is his first time starting in the top ten since he started on the front row for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis four races ago. The Dane has finished fifth and sixth in his first two Laguna Seca visits.

Scott McLaughlin fell 0.0269 seconds short of advancing from the second round of qualifying, and the New Zealander will take seventh on the grid. McLaughlin has led the most laps in three of the last five races, but he has only won one of them. Entering this season, he had led the most laps in a race on five occasions. 

Romain Grosjean has his best starting position since the St. Petersburg season opener in eighth. Grosjean was 0.0561 seconds from advancing to the final round. Grosjean has had consecutive top ten finishes only four times in his IndyCar career. The most recent was last season when he was runner-up in consecutive races between Long Beach and Barber Motorsports Park.

Patricio O'Ward takes ninth on the grid. In eight starts in the state of California, O'Ward has never finished on the podium and he has an average finish of 12.375 in the Golden State. After three consecutive results outside the top ten, O’Ward enters Laguna Seca on a streak of three consecutive top ten finishes. He has only led nine laps this season, all in the Indianapolis 500. He led 15 laps in this race last year before finishing ninth after starting ninth.  

Scott Dixon rounds out the top ten on the grid. This is a position better than where Dixon started on his way to victory last year at Laguna Seca. On seven occasions has Dixon won consecutive races at a circuit. He has never won from tenth starting position in his career. His 58 victories have come from 17 different starting positions in his career. 

Marcus Armstrong is a position behind his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and fellow New Zealander Dixon in 11th. A Chip Ganassi Racing driver has won the last two years at Laguna Seca from 11th starting position. Armstrong has made it out of the first round of qualifying at six races this season. He has finished better than his starting position in only two races this season. Armstrong has failed to finish three of seven races this year.

David Malukas starts 12th for his return to IndyCar. Malukas last competed in an IndyCar race 287 days ago in the 2023 season finale from Laguna Seca. He missed the opening six races due to a wrist injury. Malukas was contracted with Arrow McLaren but released from the team after missing the Barber Motorsports Park round at the end of April. Malukas has finished 13th and 20th in his first two Laguna Seca starts.

Speaking of returns, Agustín Canapino is back after sitting out of the Road America, and Canapino will start 13th, the best starting position of his IndyCar career. The Argentine was 0.0721 seconds from the second round of qualifying. Canapino was 14th in last year's Laguna Seca race. It is his only top fifteen finish on a permanent road course in IndyCar competition.

Josef Newgarden missed out on advancing from group two by 0.1159 seconds, and Newgarden will start 14th. This is the first time Newgarden is starting outside the top ten this season. Newgarden won the first race of summer in 2018 at Road America, however, in the first race of summer he has an average finish of 11.333 with six results outside the top ten.

Will Power makes it two Team Penske drivers starting outside the top ten for the first time this season as Power will roll from 15th. Power is the most recent IndyCar winner. He has not won consecutive races since he won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Indianapolis 500 in 2018. A podium finish at Laguna Seca would be Power's fifth in eight races. It would be the third time Power has had five podium finishes in the first eight races along with 2011 and 2014.

A race after starting on his first career pole position, Linus Lundqvist will start 16th, which is still his second-best starting position of the season. This is the seventh time in eight races Lundqvist has started outside the top fifteen in 2024. He has finished outside the top ten in six of seven races this season, and in nine of ten career starts.

Santino Ferrucci takes 17th on the grid. Ferrucci has finished better than his starting position in five of seven races this season. Only once this season has he finished more than five spots better than his starting position. Ferrucci went from 17th to seven at Barber in April. 

Marcus Ericsson is a position behind Ferrucci in the championship and a position behind him on the grid. Ericsson has started outside the top fifteen in four of eight races. He has finished in the top ten of the eighth race of the season in all five seasons he has been in IndyCar. That includes two podium finishes and three top five finishes.

Graham Rahal will start 19th, the sixth time he has started outside the top ten this season and the fifth time he has started outside the top fifteen. With his top ten result at Road America, Rahal has 142 top ten finishes in 282 career starts, 50.354% of his finishes have been top ten results.

Rinus VeeKay has the #21 Chevrolet starting 20th. It is also the fifth time VeeKay has started outside the top fifteen this season. It has been 30 races since his most recent top five result. During that span, VeeKay has five top ten finishes. The Dutchman has finished 18th, 14th and 18th in three Laguna Seca starts.

Christian Rasmussen is starting a position worse than his Ed Carpenter Racing teammate in 21st. This is the third time Rasmussen will be starting 21st this season. Rasmussen was second and first in each of the Indy Lights doubleheaders held at Laguna Seca the last two years.

Kyffin Simpson qualified 22nd, the sixth time Simpson will be starting outside the top twenty this season. Simpson has finished outside the top twenty in three consecutive races after opening the season with four consecutive finishes inside the top twenty, three of which were top fifteen results.

Nolan Siegel makes his first start with Arrow McLaren from 23rd starting position. This is the second-worst starting spot for a McLaren driver this season. Théo Pourchaire started 24th at Barber. This is Siegel’s third team in his first three starts. He drove for Dale Coyne Racing at Long Beach and Juncos Hollinger Racing at Road America.

Pietro Fittipaldi will be on the outside of row 12. Fittipaldi has qualified outside the top twenty in five races this season. He has finished better than his starting position in only three of the first seven races. He has also been the worst Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing finisher in five of the first seven races. The only time he was the best RLLR finisher was when he was 13th at St. Petersburg. 

For the 25th consecutive time, Sting Ray Robb will start outside the top twenty, and Robb will fittingly start 25th. Robb scored his best finish of his IndyCar career at Laguna Seca last year with a 12th from 24th on the grid.

Jack Harvey ended up 26th in qualifying. This is the third time Harvey will be outside the top 25 this season. He has never finished in the top fifteen when starting outside the top 25. This is the ninth time the Briton is starting worse than 25th in his career. Harvey's best finish in three Laguna Seca starts is 15th. 

Luca Ghiotto rounds out the grid, as the two Dale Coyne Racing drivers take the final two spots on the grid. Ghiotto could become the third Italian driver to win race at Laguna Seca. Alex Zanardi and Max Papis won at this circuit in 1996 and 2001 respectively.

USA's coverage of the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey begins at 6:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 95 laps.

Track Walk: Laguna Seca 2024

The eighth round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season is an earlier trip to Laguna Seca than the series is accustomed to. After IndyCar's last four trips were in September, three of which were the season finale, Laguna Seca moves to the first race of summer, a different but not an unusual date for a trip to Monterey. CART ran twice at Laguna Seca in June in 2002 and 2003. Since reunification, the winner of the first race of summer has only won the championship in five of 16 seasons. However, the first winner of summer has won the championship in three of the last four seasons. 

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday June 23 with green flag scheduled for 6:15 p.m. ET.
Channel: USA
Announcers: Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Dillon Welch and Georgia Henneberry will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 5:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 1:00 p.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 5:15 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 3:00 p.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 6:15 p.m. ET (95 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Can Andretti Global Have a Breakout Weekend?

Andretti Global has been knocking on the door of victory in recent races. It just hasn't been able to breakthrough. 

The team led a combined 57 of 100 laps at Detroit, but the best it could do was second and fourth. At Road America, Andretti Global drivers started in two of the top four positions. The Andretti drivers ended up finishing fifth, sixth and ninth. It has been 11 races since Andretti Global's most recent victory, not the worst streak in the world, but getting long enough to be unsatisfied, especially based on recent results. 

Andretti could not be heading to a better track. 

Andretti and Andretti-adjacent teams have won two of the four Laguna Seca races since IndyCar's return. This place was Colton Herta's playground for two years. Herta won in 2019 with Harding Steinbrenner Racing and then won in 2021 with Andretti Global. Out of 185 laps run, Herta led 174 laps in those two races. He won both races from pole position.

The last two Laguna Seca visits have not been as kind to Herta. He was 11th at in 2022 and he was caught in an accident in last year's race.

Though Herta has started on the front row in the last two races in 2024, and he opened the season with a pair of podium finishes, Kyle Kirkwood is the top Andretti Global driver in the championship through seven races. Kirkwood has 179 points, three more than Herta, and Kirkwood is tied with Scott McLaughlin for fifth in the championship with McLaughlin owning the tiebreaker. 

Kirkwood has finished in the top five in the last two races. He had two top five finishes over the entire 2023 season, his two victories at Long Beach and Nashville. Kirkwood has not finished worse than 11th this season. His average finish is 7.7142 through seven races. Last year, his average finish over the entire season was 13.059. 

In four Road to Indy starts, Kirkwood won three times at Laguna Seca. However, he has finished 21st and 25th in his first two IndyCar starts at the track. He has started outside the top fifteen on each occasion as well. 

It has been a tough season for Marcus Ericsson, but the last two races have been steps in the right direction. After having three consecutive results of 18th or worse and having four results of 18th or worse through the first five races, Ericsson has been second and ninth in the last two races. He is 13th in the championship. 

Ericsson has been good at Laguna Seca, but not great. Through four starts, he has two top ten finishes and an average finish of 10.25. He has finished better than or equal to his starting position all four years at Laguna Seca. 

Road America was the second time this season Andretti Global had all three cars finish in the top ten. Last season, Andretti had three cars finish in the top ten of only one race. Andretti has had multiple top five finishers in two races this season. Last year, the team had only one race with multiple top five finishers, and it was the same race as its only race with three cars finishing in the top ten as Andretti cars went 1-2-4 at Long Beach in 2023.

Andretti Global has had a top five finisher in the last two races. The team has not gone three consecutive races with a top five finisher since a four-race run that covered the Grand Prix of Indianapolis through Road America in 2022.

Can Chevrolet Win?

Though Laguna Seca has been on the schedule for four of the last five seasons, Chevrolet has yet to win at the circuit since its return. Honda is four-for-four at the Northern California circuit. Along with the two victories for Colton Herta, Álex Palou won in 2022 and Scott Dixon won in 2023, both victories for Chip Ganassi Racing. 

These haven't just race victories for Honda, these have been dominant performances for the manufacturer. Honda has led 319 of 375 laps run over the last four Laguna Seca races. It has taken at least two of the three podium positions in three of the four races. 

This is the only circuit that has been on the schedule since 2019 where Chevrolet has not won at. Chevrolet will be coming in with Team Penske having won three of the last five races, and Will Power as the championship leader after his victory at Road America. Power has finished on the podium four times this season. While he was 26th in 2021 Laguna Seca race, Power has finished second, third and fourth in the other three races. 

Last year was Josef Newgarden's first bad day at Laguna Seca. Contact left him in 21st, four laps down. Prior to that, Newgarden had finished in the top ten in his first three Laguna Seca starts, including a second from 25th on the grid in 2022. 

Scott McLaughlin was third at Road America two weeks ago. McLaughlin has finished in the top six in all three permanent road course races this season and he has eight consecutive top ten finishes on permanent road course dating back to last season. He was 12th in his first Laguna Seca race but he has been sixth and second the last two years here.

Patricio O'Ward is the second-best Chevrolet driver in the championship on 184 points in fourth. While O'Ward has finished in the top ten in the last three races, he has not finished on the podium on a permanent road course since the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race last August. His only victory on a permanent road course was at Barber Motorsports Park in 2022. He has finished in the top ten in all three of his Laguna Seca visits. 

This is a home race for Alexander Rossi, and a waste gate failure led to an 18th place finish at Road America for Rossi two weeks ago. Rossi has three top ten finishes in four Laguna Seca starts, but he has never finished in the top five. It has been 19 races since Rossi has stood on the podium and 28 races since his most recent victory. This year's Laguna Seca race falls on the five-year anniversary of Rossi's dominant Road America victory where he led 54 of 55 laps and he won by 28.4391 seconds over Will Power. 

That Road America race in 2019 was Rossi's 60th career start and his seventh career victory. It was also his 17th career podium finishes. He has made 78 starts since and he has only one victory and 12 podium finishes. 

Last year, Ryan Hunter-Reay was tenth in the #20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. It was ECR's first top ten finish at Laguna Seca in four races with two entries in each. The team's average finish at this track is 19.375. Last year was the first time the team had both cars finish in the top twenty. Rinus VeeKay was 18th. 

A.J. Foyt Racing has only one top fifteen finisher over the last four Laguna Seca races. Sébastien Bourdais was eighth in 2021. Its other eight entrants over the last four Laguna Seca races have all failed to finish better than 16th. Coincidentally, in three of the four Laguna Seca races, Foyt cars have finished next to one another. In 2019, Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist were 16th and 17th respectively. In 2021, Charlie Kimball was 18th, directly ahead of Dalton Kellett. Last year, Benjamin Pedersen finished 16th with Santino Ferrucci behind him in 17th. 

Juncos Hollinger Racing had its best year at Laguna Seca last year. Callum Ilott was fifth, matching the team's best finish ever while Agustín Canapino was 14th. In the previous two Laguna Seca races, JHR had not cracked the top twenty. Ilott is gone, but Romain Grosjean has finished in the top ten in two of his three Laguna Seca starts.

Entering Laguna Seca, Chevrolet and Honda have been trading victories. Chevrolet has won the four odd-numbered races this season while Honda has won the three even-numbered races. If the pattern holds, Honda would be the winner at Laguna Seca. Dating back to last season, there have been eight consecutive races without a manufacturer repeating as the race winner. This is the longest streak since the return of engine competition in 2012.

Welcome Back From Le Mans

It might have been an off-week for IndyCar last week, but for five drivers, they were competing across the Atlantic in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Scott Dixon, Álex Palou, Romain Grosjean, Kyffin Simpson and, a late addition to the Laguna Seca entry list, Nolan Siegel all competed at Le Mans. 

Dixon, Palou and Grosjean all ran in the Hypercar class. Siegel and Simpson competed in the LMP2 class. All five drivers will be back to their day jobs this weekend at Laguna Seca. For Siegel, he returns with a promotion. 

Siegel was announced as the driver of the #6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on Tuesday afternoon, replacing Théo Pourchaire. Siegel will forgo the remainder of the Indy Lights season to compete in IndyCar. Prior to this announcement, Siegel became a class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last Sunday. Driving for United Autosports, Siegel won in the LMP2 class, finishing 15th overall, with co-drivers Oliver Jarvis and fellow American Bijoy Garg. It was Siegel and Garg’s Le Mans debut. McLaren CEO Zak Brown owns United Autosports. 

Palou was the top IndyCar representative, finishing seventh overall and completing all 311 laps in the #2 Cadillac. Grosjean was 13th driving for the Lamborghini Iron Lynx, two laps down. Simpson was 11th in the LMP2 class, 25th overall driving for Nielsen Racing. Dixon's #3 Cadillac retired after completing 223 laps due to an oil leak.

This is the most drivers entered for the IndyCar race the week after the 24 Hours of Le Mans who competed at Le Mans since 1988 when seven drivers competed in France and then ran at Portland the following weekend. That year the seven drivers were Michael Andrettti, John Andretti, Didier Theys, Kevin Cogan, Derek Daly, Danny Sullivan and Raul Boesel. 

These five drivers competed in a grueling endurance race while 22 drivers were resting. Does that extra work hurt a driver returning to IndyCar competition? By competing at Le Mans, these five drivers have spent six consecutive weekends competing at a racetrack between the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Indianapolis 500 qualifying, the Indianapolis 500, Detroit, Road America and Le Mans, with Laguna Seca being their seventh consecutive weekend of action. 

Since 1988, 32 drivers have competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and then competed in an IndyCar race the following weekend. The average finish for those 32 drivers is 13.25. In that time frame, three times has a driver competed at Le Mans and then won the IndyCar race the following week. 

Danny Sullivan did it in 1988, finishing 16th in his Le Mans debut before winning at Portland. Sébastien Bourdais did not finish the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans driving for Pescarolo Sport, but he did win at Portland, leading 85 of 94 laps from pole position a week later. Eight years ago, Dixon left Le Mans after finishing seventh in the GTE Pro class driving a Ford GT, 23rd overall. A week after that, Dixon won at Road America with 24 laps led from fifth on the grid.

Only seven of the 32 drivers since 1988 have finished in the top five and only 12 of the 32 finished in the top ten. Twelve of the 32 drivers have finished outside the top fifteen. 

Of those 32 competitors, 12 have occurred since 2016. The average finish for those dozen drivers improves to 11.583. A third of those competitors were top five finishers while another third finished outside the top fifteen. 

Dixon has run at Le Mans five times. In each of those cases he had an IndyCar race the following weekend. His average finish in those five starts is seventh with four top five finishes. The one exception was in 2016 when Dixon suffered an engine failure after six laps at Road America to finish 22nd. 

For Palou, Grosjean, Siegel and Simpson, this will be their first time competing in IndyCar a week after Le Mans. Along with Siegel, Palou and Simpson are coming off their Le Mans debuts. This was Grosjean's first Le Mans appearance since 2010.

Intra-Team Battles

Through seven rounds this season, we have a good idea about how these drivers are doing within their own organizations, giving the picture of who is the leader, who is looking to make up ground and which teams have it pretty even across the lineup. 

Will Power leads the championship, and he has been the best Team Penske driver in four of seven races. Josef Newgarden has been the top Penske finisher twice while Scott McLaughlin's only time being the best Penske finisher was his Barber Motorsports Park victory. McLaughlin has been at least the second-best Penske driver in four of the other six races.

In qualifying, it has been pretty even. Power has been the top Penske qualifier in three races while Newgarden and McLaughlin have each been the best starter in two races. At no point has the top Penske qualifier been the same over consecutive races. 

Álex Palou and Scott Dixon have each been the best Chip Ganassi Racing finisher in three races this season. The lone exception was Barber when Linus Lundqvist was the best Ganassi driver in third. Palou has been the first or second best Ganassi driver in six of seven races. Marcus Armstrong has been the second-best Ganassi finisher only once, his fifth at Detroit. Lundqvist was the second-best Ganassi driver at Road America, though he finished 12th. 

In qualifying, Palou has been the top Ganassi starter four times while Armstrong was the best twice and Lundqvist was best with his pole position at Road America. Dixon has been the second-best Ganassi starter in four races this season. 

Patricio O'Ward and Alexander Rossi have each been the best Arrow McLaren finisher in three races. Théo Pourchaire was the top McLaren driver at Barber, but that is when Pourchaire was 22nd in a race where none of the McLaren cars finished in the top twenty. The picture is the same in qualifying. O'Ward and Rossi have each been the top McLaren starter in three races while Pourchaire has been on top once. 

Colton Herta is not the best Andretti Global driver in the championship, but he has been the top Andretti finisher in four of seven races. The only problem is Herta was the best Andretti finisher in the first four races. Kyle Kirkwood was the best at the Indianapolis 500 and Road America while Marcus Ericsson was the best with his runner-up finish at Detroit.

Herta holds a 4-3 advantage in qualifying over Kirkwood while Ericsson has yet to be the best starter for Andretti this season.

Felix Rosenqvist has Meyer Shank Racing in the top ten of the championship and he has been the best MSR finisher in six of seven races. The only time he wasn't was the Indianapolis 500 when an engine failure took Rosenqvist out before halfway and allowed Hélio Castroneves to be the best finisher. Rosenqvist has been the top MSR starter in all seven races. He has started on average 10.142 positions better than the second MSR car this season.

Prior to Road America, Christian Lundgaard had been the best Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver in four consecutive races. Graham Rahal was the best RLLR driver for the second time this season at Elkhart Lake. Pietro Fittipaldi was the best RLLR at St. Petersburg. 

In qualifying, Lundgaard has been the top RLLR starter six times. The lone exception was the Indianapolis 500 when Takuma Sato qualified tenth and the three full-time RLLR drivers all started 28th or worse. Rahal has been the second-best starter in five of the other six races.

Santino Ferrucci holds a 5-2 advantage head-to-head against A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Sting Ray Robb. The two drivers split the first four races. Each time Ferrucci has failed to finish inside the top twenty, Robb has been the best finisher. In qualifying, Ferrucci is up 7-0 on Robb. 

Rinus VeeKay is leading the Ed Carpenter Racing battle, up 5-2 over Christian Rasmussen in race finishes. Like Ferrucci, each time VeeKay has finished outside the top twenty, Rasmussen has been the best finisher. Unlike Ferrucci, it is tight in qualifying. VeeKay holds the edge 4-3, but Rasmussen has been the top ECR starter in the last two races. 

At Juncos Hollinger Racing, Romain Grosjean has been the top finisher in five races. Make it a hat trick, as each time Grosjean has finished outside the top twenty, he has not been the best JHR finisher. Grosjean also holds a 5-2 edge in qualifying. Agustín Canapino will return to the #78 Chevrolet this weekend.

Dale Coyne Racing has had six different drivers in its two cars over the seven races this season. Jack Harvey has run six of seven races and been the best finisher in four of them. Nolan Siegel bested Harvey at Long Beach and Luca Ghiotto led DCR at Road America. Katherine Legge was the only DCR car in the Indianapolis 500, making her the best finisher by default.

In qualifying, Harvey has been the top DCR starter three times. Colin Braun, Luca Ghiotto, Katherine Legge and Tristan Vautier have each been the top DCR starter once. For Braun, Ghiotto and Vautier, they were each the best DCR starter but in all three cases neither DCR car started in the top twenty. 

Indy Lights

Only one Road to Indy series will make the trek west to Laguna Seca, but Indy Lights will run a doubleheader at the famed course this weekend. 

Jacob Abel has a 19-point lead in the championship after his fifth podium finish in six races two weeks ago at Road America. Abel has yet to finish worse than fifth this season and that has him on 256 points. Louis Foster is riding three consecutive podium finishes into California. Caio Collet is up to third in the championship on 179 points as he has been in the top five in three consecutive races and in four of the last five. 

Nolan Siegel has abandoned his Indy Lights efforts to pursue the McLaren IndyCar opportunity. Siegel was fourth in the championship on 177 points. Christian Brooks will move up from USF Pro 2000 to drive the #39 HMD Motorsports entry for the remainder of the season. Brooks is fourth in the USF Pro 2000 championship with three runner-up finishes, and he is 64 points behind championship leader Lochie Hughes.

In Indy Lights, Siegel is still 21 points ahead of Callum Hedge and Reece Gold, who are tied with Hedge holding the tiebreaker as Hedge's best finish is third to Gold's best finish being fourth. 

Myles Rowe dropped to seventh in the championship after his worst finish of the season at Road America, a 19th. Rowe is on 151 points, eight points ahead of Michael d'Orlando and ten points ahead of Road America winner Jamie Chadwick. Chadwick led every lap from pole position in her first career Indy Lights victory. 

Jonathan Browne rounds out the championship top ten on 127 points, five more than fellow Irishman James Roe, Jr.

Indy Lights will race at 3:25 p.m. ET on Saturday June 22nd and at 3:55 p.m. ET on Sunday June 23rd. Both race will be 35 laps in length. 

Fast Facts

This will be the ninth IndyCar race to take place on June 23 and the first since Alexander Rossi won at Road America in 2019.

Andretti Global has won the last three races held on June 23. Along with Rossi in 2019, Andretti won on June 23, 2012 at Iowa with Ryan Hunter-Reay, and on June 23, 2013 at Iowa with James Hinchcliffe. 

This year's race falls on the 28th anniversary of Alex Zanardi's first career victory at Portland. 

Five times has the Laguna Seca race winner also won the championship in the same season, most recently in 2002 with Cristiano da Matta. The other four were Bobby Rahal in 1986 and 1987, Danny Sullivan in 1988, and Michael Andretti in 1991. 

Team Penske leads all teams with six Laguna Seca victories. Five of those victories came over a seven-race period from 1988 through 1994. 

Bryan Herta, Cristiano da Matta and Scott Dixon are the only drivers to win at Laguna Seca in Indy Lights and IndyCar. Jimmy Vasser and Patrick Carpentier are the only drivers to win at Laguna Seca in the Atlantics Championship and IndyCar.

On six occasions has a driver won consecutive Laguna Seca races (Bobby Rahal 1984-87, Michael Andretti 1991-92, Paul Tracy 1993-94, Bryan Herta 1998-99, Patrick Carpentier 2003-04, and Colton Herta 2019, 2021).

The average starting position for a Laguna Seca winner is 3.1923 with a median of first. 

Even with the last two Laguna Seca winners starting 11th, the median finish is still first. 

Sixteen of 26 Laguna Seca races have been won from pole position. 

The Laguna Seca pole-sitter has never gone three consecutive races without a victory.

Twenty-two of 26 Laguna Seca races have been won from a top three starting position. 

The average number of lead changes in a Laguna Seca race is 3.346 with a median of three. 

Three of the four Laguna Seca races since 2019 have had at least six lead changes. Prior to this stretch, only three of the first 22 Laguna Seca races had at least six lead changes.

The average number of cautions in a Laguna Seca race is 1.961 with a median of one. The average number of caution laps is 8.153 with a median of 7.5.

Last year's Laguna Seca race had a record-tying eight cautions and a record-breaking 35 caution laps.

There have been six caution-free races at Laguna Seca, most recently in 1997.

Predictions

Andretti Global goes four-for-four and wins at Laguna Seca, but it is Kyle Kirkwood taking the victory, and Colton Herta will be the worst finishing Andretti driver. Chevrolet will put two drivers on the podium. The championship lead will change hands. There will be fewer than five cautions and none will occur for an incident in the final corner. Everyone will let Agustín Canapino be, at least on the track. At least two rookies finish in the top ten. Sleeper: Felix Rosenqvist.

Hey! We Have the 2025 IndyCar Schedule

Last week, IndyCar released its 2025 schedule along with the announcement of the new broadcast partnership with Fox. The next media rights deal we expected. The schedule we didn’t. That was something we likely thought we had a few months until we would see it. 

Instead, we got it as a surprise, preventing three months of speculating of what was to come in following year. Like a plane dumping an ungodly amount of water on a forest fire, any hope of returning oval races, filling gaps in the schedule and trips to new places were doused before the blaze could rage. That doesn’t mean people didn’t get upset. All they know is hope must turn to 2026. That isn’t helping.

However, the 2025 schedule is here, mostly looking the same as 2024. There is nothing new, per se. All the tracks are the same. A few have new dates. One weekend will have one fewer race. One weekend will now count toward the championship. 

There is much to breakdown about the calendar, though we still aren’t halfway through 2024. With the news still fresh, and some time to digest, let’s go over what we already know about 2025, where and when races take place, and what some of these decisions mean.

March 2 - St. Petersburg

The traditional season opener remains the season opener, though St. Petersburg will be a week earlier than previously announced. Not that anyone complain about the season starting a week earlier than intended. The offseason will still be 167 days long from Nashville 2024 to St. Petersburg 2025. 

March 23 - Thermal Club

No longer a non-championship race, the Thermal Club will be the second round of the championship, three weeks after St. Petersburg on the same weekend Thermal was in 2024. 

The answer to all of your questions is money. Thermal Club was willing to pay for a non-championship race. It is willing to pay for a championship race. There has been plenty of pushback on Thermal’s presence since it was first announced. It isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

There were plenty of questions about Thermal going into this year’s event. Live pit stops were not possible due to pit lane constraints. Some of the runoff area was question. There is really one, maybe two passing zones. Work will be done but skepticism remains. 

What we do know about Thermal is it was a high tire-wear circuit. With a full race and a full field, it could be a fascinating race to watch. There are reasons for optimism even if Thermal disgusts some viewers. 

April 13 - Long Beach

Long Beach remains in the middle of April. It will be the only race in April, three weeks after Thermal. Nothing much to say about this one. 

May 4 - Barber Motorsports Park

Barber moves into May, but this was likely out of necessity. Easter is April 20, and you can likely pencil in Talladega for April 27. Barber will kick off what will be five consecutive weeks of action as immediately after this will be the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Indianapolis 500 qualifying, the Indianapolis 500 and then Detroit.

Normally, the week prior to the Grand Prix of Indianapolis is a week off. Likely, the Indianapolis 500 open test will be in late April. Something will be going on, but it keeps a busy period busy. It only has an extra race in May. 

May 10 - Grand Prix of Indianapolis

This is still the Saturday 15 days prior to the Indianapolis 500. It is a tighter turnaround with Barber the week before. With how much time IndyCar spends on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, I almost expect this to be a condensed weekend. Practice mid-Friday afternoon, qualifying almost Friday evening with a warm-up Saturday morning ahead of the race that afternoon. 

May 25 - Indianapolis 500

Memorial Day weekend. Where else would IndyCar be?

June 1 - Detroit

Week after Indianapolis with Roger Penske running the series. Where else would IndyCar be?

June 15 - Gateway

The first truly significant change is Gateway moving up two months to the middle of June from the middle of August. It does spread out the oval races as six of the final eight races are on ovals. 

This was a bit shocking because IndyCar loves to shout date equity and Gateway had a consistent date. Moving Gateway to June allows some other scheduling decisions to take place. The NASCAR race from Gateway has been the first weekend in June the last three years. With NASCAR also having new television partners in 2025, some of those races could be moving around. IndyCar’s move could signal the NASCAR weekend at Gateway is moving as well, whether that is forward into spring or deeper into summer remains to be seen. 

There were plenty upset as Gateway will run on Le Mans weekend, but this is what IndyCar must do to fit in its schedule on Fox. As much as we love seeing IndyCar drivers attempt other disciplines, IndyCar is their first responsibility. We also don’t see many IndyCar drivers run Le Mans to begin with. The five drivers entered for Laguna Seca a week after Le Mans is the most since seven in 1988. It isn’t the case of a dozen drivers or 15 drivers going to Le Mans. It isn’t the 24 Hours of Daytona. We will live. 

June 22 - Road America

Summer starts at Road America, a back-to-back with Gateway. No concerns here. 

July 6 - Mid-Ohio

Mid-Ohio remains around Independence Day weekend. It has been working. Why change it?

July 12 & 13 - Iowa

Iowa retains its mid-July doubleheader. That’s fine. 

July 20 - Toronto

A third consecutive weekend will take IndyCar across the border to Toronto, which will be the final street course race of the season. 

July 27 - Laguna Seca

This is where the next significant change occurred. Laguna Seca moves back a month to July. Every weekend in July has a race weekend and there will be five races during the month as it will rush IndyCar into the final quarter of the season. 

Again, nothing says date equity like taking a struggling event and giving it a third different date in as many years in three different months. I guess Laguna Seca must go somewhere if it isn’t going to be the season finale, but it will be a cross-continental trip from Toronto. 

I think there should be great concern about Laguna Seca’s long-term health. It is the weakest race on the schedule. It practically had the season finale for four seasons and it never felt like an event. Moving it to the start of summer might not help in 2024. It is hard to see it drawing more people in this June/July timeframe. I am hopeful, but I am not expecting a significant change. 

We will know how 2024 looks in late-June in a few days. It should give us an idea of what is realistic for 2025. 

August 10 - Portland

It isn’t quite a western swing because there is a week off between Laguna Seca and Portland, but it is two consecutive western races. I am not sure how much it helps the teams, but it looks sensical on paper. 

August 24 - Milwaukee

Milwaukee will be back for a second consecutive season, but it will be a week earlier and it will only be a single race instead of a doubleheader. This allows the championship to remain at 17 races with the inclusion of Thermal as a championship round. It will make Milwaukee an easier weekend for the teams as there will only be one race instead of two with a potential tight turnaround from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon. 

I wonder how much losing a doubleheader hurts an event. When you can get two races for a respectable price it is a great deal for a spectator and makes a race weekend more enticing than others. It isn’t the worst change in the world but it something to keep an eye on.  

August 31 - Nashville Superspeedway

The season finale remains at the 1.333-mile oval in Lebanon, Tennessee but it moves up two weeks and will take place on Labor Day weekend. This allows the IndyCar season to end before the NFL season begins, something that takes up a great deal of real estate on Fox’s broadcast schedule on Sundays from September through January. 

I have said for some time if IndyCar was going to end the season on week two of the NFL season, it should work to squeeze all those races in and end on Labor Day weekend. This is about ratings, and taking one race, even if it is the season finale, out of NFL season where it is completely forgotten and in almost no way has a chance of garnering attention, it is the best decision. 

It must be kept in mind Labor Day weekend will likely be the hard end date for IndyCar as long as it is on Fox and commitment to putting every race on network television. With the amount of football Fox has, Sunday afternoon will be off the table come September. The same goes with college football on Saturdays. If IndyCar is flexible, the season could go into September if the finale and any additional races are on FS1, but it would be sacrificing viewership numbers in that case. This move to Fox signals IndyCar wants to maximize viewership as much as possible to increase exposure and value of the series.

If IndyCar is going to race into football season, it needs to be more than one race. If there were four or five races spread over September and October, IndyCar would still take a dip in viewership but it would have some substance to stick around and keep an audience. One race during football season, especially the IndyCar season finale, is an unnecessary ratings hit. Avoiding it is the smartest play. 

Final Takeaways

There are plenty of IndyCar schedule discussions we still must have but we will take those on at a later date. For 2025, IndyCar got a television partner that is giving it the world and it kept all the pieces in place. Race retention is a positive thing. No track is losing a date. No current local fan base is losing a race weekend and are left wondering if they can afford to take a trip to see IndyCar. Stasis is good. 

This schedule is no different than where IndyCar has been for the last decade. The season has basically been completed in six or six-and-a-half months since 2012. Even before then some of those later IRL seasons prior to reunification were completed early September. We have been here for a long time. I don’t think it is changing any time soon. It likely will never change. 

It is the same old tune. One schedule comes out and everyone believes the year after that will be the year of great change. IndyCar is always 18 months away from that big shakeup. It hasn’t ever really come. With a new television partner and more money pouring into IndyCar coffer’s on an annual basis, maybe 2026 will finally be the year. Don’t count on it. 

Musings From the Weekend: You Got the Money, Now It is Time For Results

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Ferrari successfully defended its Le Mans success with a second consecutive victory, this time with the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Niklas Nielsen. United Autosport came out on top in LMP2 with Oliver Jarvis, Nolan Siegel and Bijoy Garg. Manthey EMA Racing won in LMGT3 with Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin. NASCAR held its first Cup race in Iowa. There was World Superbike action. Some Australians returned to their day jobs. IndyCar announced its new television partner and then some, and that news captured much of my attention.

You Got the Money, Now It is Time For Results

I have a rule that I will not talk about the next year's calendar until we get to July. We must get through half of a year before we can start looking to next year. It is healthier. However, IndyCar announced its 2025 calendar on Thursday morning along with the news IndyCar would have Fox as its broadcast partner for the 2025 season. IndyCar and NBC had an exclusive partnership dating back to 2018, and IndyCar had a relationship with Comcast dating back to 2009 when the series moved to Versus for a majority of its races.

This is a significant change for IndyCar. Fox has made the commitment to show every race on network television in 2025 as well as showing both Indianapolis 500 qualifying days in network windows. Practice and qualifying sessions will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 or Fox Sports 2, and Indy Lights will have majority of its races shown on Fox Sports 1.  

IndyCar was a big winner from this television bidding war. At the start of 2024, it was difficult to imagine IndyCar would have two major networks offering practically every race being broadcasted over network television. It would have been realistic to expect some sort of cable or streaming aspect of the broadcast package. That is how it has been for IndyCar's modern existence. 

Instead, every race will be on Fox, and the series will make $40 million per year in this broadcast partnership. 

It looks great on paper, and the series should be pleased, but now that it has its money, it is time to get results. 

Money is part of the problem. The other part is viewership. One can increase the other. We aren't sure if the reciprocate is true. 

For all the network television windows IndyCar will have and for all the extra money the series will make on this new contract, we need to see more. It is great that 17 races will be on Fox, but if the viewership remains stagnant, it will be difficult to call this a success. It will be even tougher to get an increase in rights fees next time around. 

IndyCar has one big race and the rest get around one million viewers when on network television. That has been the case for the better part of 20 years. Whether it was on ABC/ESPN or NBC, a million viewers was the benchmark. It never rose higher than that. IndyCar didn’t get a greater pay day because of growth, it got a greater pay day because a million viewers became more valuable in this media landscape. It is dangerous to gamble that will remain the case going forward. 

At some point, it is not the broadcast partner that is the problem. The series should already recognize the broadcaster can only take you so far. 

It is one thing to make the races available. In terms of exposure and general awareness of the series, that is more than just showing races in 2024. We just spoke last week about the importance of a docuseries that takes viewers behind the scenes, but which more importantly exposes new viewers to the series. Formula One exploded because of something other than the races. It will be great that every race will be on the same network in 2025, but history tells us it will take more than that to significantly increase viewership.

This is the same playbook IndyCar has been using for the last few years. It is just doing it with a brand new broadcast partner. Every race on network is fantastic, but two seasons ago 14 of 17 races were on NBC. Two races were on USA and Toronto was a Peacock exclusive race. Last year, 13 races were on NBC with an extra on USA. Average viewership was up 2% in 2023 compared to 2022 despite one fewer network race. 

Three or four non-network races aren't torpedoing IndyCar’s average viewership. Having the races on network would definitely help the average, but those races weren't what was holding IndyCar back. It needs greater cultural relevance and cachet with the average adult. If you want that, it requires much attention beyond the races themselves.

We have this new contract. We have every race on network television. What does success look like for this next contract? We all think it will be better now with every race on Fox, but what is the number we can say where it is clearly better? 

The Indianapolis 500 inflates the numbers. While the average IndyCar race had about 1.32 million viewers in 2023, remove the Indianapolis 500 from that total and the average drops to 1.094 million. That is where IndyCar beyond the month of May has been living for two decades or so. At some point that average must improve. What is success over the next three years? 

We can celebrate all the network races we want, but if the viewership remains flat, has IndyCar really won? 

Is it realistic to shoot for an average of 1.5 million viewers outside of the Indianapolis 500? It might sound like a lot but it is distance from where IndyCar is at in this moment. Increasing to 1.25 million in three years is something, but it is only an increase of use north of 150,000 viewers. That isn't a spectacular gain. 

That is what is important for this next contract. It must be more than what is gained on paper. There must be some kind of results from this deal that are notable. If in three years the average viewership outside the Indianapolis 500 is around 1.15 million viewers, there should be hesitation to celebrate. That is inches gained when IndyCar needs yards. 

IndyCar hates being compared to Formula One, but Formula One is now practically level on average viewership despite Formula One's average being around 671,000 viewers in 2019. IndyCar's average in 2019 was 1.108 million viewers, and that is including the Indianapolis 500 that year. 

In five years, Formula One has caught up. It didn't catch up because all the races were on network television. It didn't catch up because the championship went undecided into the finale every year. It didn't catch up because there are on average nine different drivers winning a race each season and hundreds of passes in each race. It didn't catch up because there is an American driver that is competitive and winning races. It caught up because it connected with people and give people a reason to care about those competing. It did that through an avenue that wasn't the race broadcasts.

IndyCar will have the races in a good spot. There should be no complaints about difficulty finding where the races are being broadcasted, but IndyCar needs substantial results over this contract. That will require more than just 17 race broadcasts in an accessible location.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Le Mans, but did you know...

Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup race from Iowa, his first victory of the season. Sam Meyer won the Grand National Series race, his second victory of the season. 

Toprak Razgatlioglu swept the World Superbike races from Misano. Adrián Huertas swept the World Supersport races.

Broc Feeney swept the Supercars races from Darwin.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar will be at Laguna Seca.

Formula One returns to Barcelona. 

NASCAR moves to Loudon.

One week after Le Mans, IMSA has a six-hour race at Watkins Glen. 

Super Formula will have an all-domestic affair at Sportsland SUGO.

2024 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGT3 Preview

For the first time, GT3 regulations are being used at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the inaugural year of the LMGT3 class sees 23 entries representing nine manufacturers. Eighteen of the cars are full-time FIA World Endurance Championship entries. Three European Le Mans Series teams, one IMSA entrant and an additional Le Mans-only participant round out the class.

Twenty-five of the 49 Le Mans debutants are in LMGT3. Fifteen of the 23 cars in LMGT3 have at least one driver making a Le Mans debut. Of the 69 drivers in this class, 52 drivers have made fewer than five Le Mans appearances.

#27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo

Drivers: Ian James (4th), Daniel Mancinelli (2nd), Alex Riberas (2nd)

Test Day: 2nd

About This Team: Heart of Racing is back for a second consecutive year with this lineup. This trio was sixth in GTE-Am last year. After opening the WEC season with a second in Qatar, Heart of Racing is tied for second in the LMGT3 championship on 37 points, but loses the tiebreaker to the #31 Team WRT BMW.

#31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

Drivers: Augusto Farfus (6th), Sean Gelael (4th), Daniel Leung (1st)

Test Day: 3rd

About This Team: The #31 BMW won at Imola in April. Farfus has never finished in the top five of his class in his first five Le Mans appearances. Gelael makes his first Le Mans appearance outside of LMP2 this year. He was runner-up in the LMP2 class in 2021 with Jota. 

#44 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3

Drivers: John Hartshorne (3rd), Christopher Mies (1st), Ben Tuck (1st)

Test Day: 13th

About This Team: This is the only one-off Le Mans entry in LMGT3. Mies makes his Le Mans debut at 35 years old. The German has won the 24 Hours Nürburgring twice and the Bathurst 12 Hour twice. Hartshorne and Tuck are co-drivers in the European Le Mans Series for JMW Motorsports. This is Hartshorne's first Le Mans appearance since 2011 when he drove a Lotus Evora GTE for Jetalliance Racing.

#46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3

Drivers: Ahmad Al Harthy (2nd), Maxime Martin (9th), Valentino Rossi (1st)

Test Day: 9th

About This Team: The #46 BMW opened the season with finishes of fourth and second before being taken out at Spa-Francorchamps. Rossi has spent the last three years competing int GT World Challenge Europe. He and Martin won a Sprint Cup race at Misano last year on their way to fifth in the championship. Martin and Rossi also won another Sprint Cup race at Misano this year. Martin won the GTE Pro class in 2020 with Aston Martin. Al Harthy made his Le Mans debut last year in an Aston Martin and finished second in GTE Am.

#54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: Francesco Castellacci (9th), Thomas Flohr (8th), Davide Rigon (10th)

Test Day: 15th

About This Team: Castellacci, Flohr and Rigon were third in the GTE Am championship last year and won at Fuji. It was Castellacci and Flohr's first WEC victory since Fuji 2017. They were fifth in GTE Am at Le Mans last year.Through three races, the #54 Ferrari has 23 points with its best finish being fifth at Qatar.

#55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: François Heriau (1st), Simon Mann (3rd), Alessio Rovera (4th)

Test Day: 14th

About This Team: Rovera won at Le Mans in GTE Am in 2021. Mann has had two different co-drivers in each of his three Le Mans appearances. Heriau was supposed to make his Le Mans debut in 2021 in the SRT41 Garage 56 entry but an injury kept him from participating. Mann and Heriau were co-drivers in the Asian Le Mans this past winter and were eighth in that championship with Rigon as their third driver. 

#59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo

Drivers: Nicolas Costa (1st), James Cottingham (1st), Grégoire Saucy (1st)

Test Day: 5th

About This Team: The #59 McLaren enters Le Mans coming off a fourth-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps. Costa won the Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil championship last year. Cottingham was runner-up in the British GT Championship GT3 class last year. Saucy is a part of the ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am championship leading team.

#60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2

Drivers: Matteo Cressoni (7th), Franck Perera (1st), Claudio Schiavoni (6th)

Test Day: 5th

About This Team: After driving a Ferrari and a Porsche the previous two years at Le Mans, Cressoni is now in a Lamborghini. Perera won the GTD class at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2018. Cressoni and Schiavoni were third in the ELMS GT championship last year. The #60 Lamborghini was third at Spa-Francorchamps.

#66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: Giacomo Petrobelli (2nd), Larry ten Voorde (2nd), Salih Yoluç (6th)

Test Day: 18th

About This Team: Ten Voorde has opened the 2024 Porsche Supercup season with two victories. This is the Dutchman's first Le Mans appearance since 2020 when he was fourth in GTE Am. Yoluç won the GTE Am class that year, and the Turkish driver is focused on the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup this season while Petrobelli is running in British GT. Petrobelli and JMW retired after 89 laps last year due to an accident. 

#70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo

Drivers: Brendan Iribe (3rd), Ollie Millroy (3rd), Frederik Schandorff (1st)

Test Day: 12th

About This Team: Iribe and Millroy did not run Le Mans last year, but they ran the two years prior to that. Schandorff and Iribe are full-time in IMSA and they were sixth in the GTD championship last year.

#77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3

Drivers: Ben Barker (9th), Ryan Hardwick (2nd), Zacharie Robichon (3rd)

Test Day: 21st

About This Team: The #77 Ford has been ninth in the last two WEC races. Barker scored his first class podium at Le Mans last year when he was third in GTE Am. This is the first time Barker is not driving a Gulf/GR Racing Porsche. Hardwick and Robichon fell out after 28 laps in last year's race. Hardwick and Robichon did win the ELMS GT championship last year.

#78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3

Drivers: Timur Boguslavskiy (1st), Arnold Robin (3rd), Kelvin van der Linde (1st)

Test Day: 4th

About This Team: In its first season in WEC, Lexus has only one point between its two entries. Boguslavskiy is a two-time GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup champion while Robin won the Michelin Le Mans Cup GT3 championship last year. Van der Linde is a two-time 24 Hours Nürburgring winner. 

#81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Drivers: Rui Andrade (4th), Charlie Eastwood (5th), Tom van Rompuy (2nd)

Test Day: 10th

About This Team: The #81 Corvette won pole position at the Qatar season opener but failed to score points in two fo the first three rounds of the WEC season. Andrade won the WEC LMP2 title last year while Eastwood was second in the GTE Am class at Le Mans. Eastwood won in GTE Am at Le Mans in 2020. Van Rompuy made his debut in LMP2 last year and finished 32nd overall, 31 lap down and 17 laps off the LMP2 class winner.

#82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R

Drivers: Sébastien Baud (1st), Daniel Juncadella (1st), Hiroshi Koizumi (1st)

Test Day: 1st

About This Team: The #82 Corvette has yet to finish better than eighth this season, but it was on top o the test with a lap at 3:59.883. Juncadella was second in the IMSA GTD Pro championship last year. Baud drove in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup's bronze class last year and Koizumi was in Michelin Le Mans Cup in 2023.

#85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2

Drivers: Sarah Bovy (4th), Rahel Frey (7th), Michelle Gatting (6th)

Test Day: 8th

About This Team: Frey remains in the Iron Dames entry as Doraine Pin misses the race due to a ribs injury suffered in Formula Regional European competition. This trio was fourth in GTE Am last year and they ended up second in the championship. Iron Dames was on pole position at Spa-Francorchamps before finishing fifth.

#86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: Riccardo Pera (4th), Daniel Serra (8th), Michael Wainwright (9th)

Test Day: 11th

About This Team: GR Racing moved to ELMS competition this year and Pera and Wainwright are third in the championship after finishing second and fifth in the first two races. They were third at Le Mans last year. With Rigon driving for AF Corse, Serra moves over from Kessel Racing in ELMS. Serra has been first or second in class in four Le Mans appearances. 

#87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3

Drivers: Takeshi Kimura (6th), Jack Hawksworth (1st), Esteban Masson (1st)

Test Day: 16th

About This Team: Hawksworth found a seat in the #87 Lexus lineup after José María López moved to the #7 Toyota in Hypercar after Mike Conway's injury. Hawksworth won the IMSA GTD Pro championship last year, and he won the GTD Pro class in the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year. The #87 Lexus has finished 16th, 15th and 14th in the first three WEC races.

#88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3

Drivers: Dennis Olsen (3rd), Mikkel O. Pedersen (3rd), Giorgio Roda (3rd)

Test Day: 19th

About This Team: Olsen returns to Le Mans for the first time in three years. Pedersen's entry has not finished in his first two Le Mans appearances. Roda last appeared at Le Mans in 2019 and, like Pedersen, neither of Roda's first two entries have finished the race.

#91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)

Drivers: Richard Lietz (18th), Morris Schuring (1st), Yasser Shahin (1st)

Test Day: 22nd

About This Team: The most recent winners at Spa-Francorchamp, Lietz is looking for his fifth Le Mans class victory. Shahin is a two-time GT World Challenge Australia champion and he won the Pro-Am class in the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year. Schuring was fourth in Porsche Supercup last year.

#92 Manthey Pure Rxing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)

Drivers: Klaus Bachler (4th), Alex Malykhin (1st), Joel Sturm (1st)

Test Day: 23rd

About This Team: After finishes of first, third and second, the #92 Porsche leads the LMGT3 championship on 72 points, 35 points ahead of the competition. The Pure Rxing group won the Asian Le Mans GT championship this past winter.

#95 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo

Drivers: Hiroshi Hamaguchi (1st), Nico Pino (2nd), Marino Sato (1st)

Test Day: 7th

About This Team: Hamaguchi joins this team for Le Mans replacing Josh Caygill, who runs the remainder of the WEC season. Pino was third in LMP2 last year at Le Mans while Sato was second in the ELMS LMP2 championship in 2023 with United Autosports. 

#155 Spirit of Race Ferrari 296 GT3

Drivers: Conrad Laursen (1st), Johnny Laursen (2nd), Jordan Taylor (9th)

Test Day: 20th

th

About This Team: Taylor makes his first Le Mans appearance in something other than a Corvette. He won the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year driving a Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura. The Laursens won the ELMS season opener in the GT3 class at Barcelona. Johnny Laursen's first Le Mans appearance was in 2016. 

#777 D'station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo

Drivers: Erwan Bastard (1st), Satoshi Hoshino (5th), Marco Sørensen (10th)

Test Day: 17th

About This Team: Bastard spent last season in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Silver Cup class. D'station has failed to finish in the previous two years at Le Mans. Sørensen won in the GTE Am class at Le Mans two years ago.

Wednesday Recap

BMW was the surprise fastest in the Hypercar qualifying session as the #15 BMW had the fastest lap at 3:24.465. The #3 Cadillac was second only 0.177 seconds off the leading BMW. The #50 Ferrari was third while the #35 Alpine was in fourth. 

The #2 Cadillac rounded out the top five, only 0.056 seconds ahead of the #51 Ferrari. The #6 Porsche was another 0.002 seconds behind the Ferrari in seventh. The #7 Toyota brought out a red flag and had all of its lap times deleted, meaning the Japanese manufacturer will not have a representative in Hyperpole session. With the #7 Toyota knocked out of the top eight, the #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche took the final Hyperpole spot. However, the #12 Porsche suffered an accident in Wednesday night practice and the team will be changing over to a spare chassis ahead of Thursday’s sessions.

The #36 Alpine will be starting ninth ahead of the #5 Porsche and #8 Toyota. The #83 Ferrari will start 12th while the best Lamborghini will be the #63 entry in 13th. Proton Competition's #99 Porsche takes 14th on the grid ahead of the #93 Peugeot, #20 BMW and #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche.

Whelen Cadillac Racing has the #311 Cadillac starting 18th, just ahead of the #4 Porsche. The #94 Peugeot rounds out the top twenty ahead of the #19 Lamborghini and the #11 Isotta Fraschini. With the lap times deleted, the #7 Toyota will start 23rd on race day.

Cool Racing led the LMP2 qualifying session with the #37 Oreca running a lap at 3:32.827, over three tenths faster than the #14 AO by TF Oreca. United Autosport put the #23 Oreca third in the session with the #65 Panis Racing exactly one second off the top time.

The #28 IDEC Sport Race rounded out the top five ahead of the #10 Vector Sport Oreca. DKR Engineering was a surprise in seventh while the #22 United Autosport Oreca took the final spot in the LMP2 Hyperpole session.

Seven different manufacturers took the eight Hyperpole spots in LMGT3, starting with the #77 Proton Competition Ford, which ran a lap at 3:55.263. Inception Racing had the #70 McLaren in second, 0.143 seconds off the top with the #82 TF Sport Corvette in third, 0.842 seconds from the #77 Ford. The #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini was in fourth.

Manthey Pure Rxing had the #92 Porsche in fifth ahead of the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin by 0.054 seconds. JMW Motorsport had the #66 Ferrari in seventh while D'Station Racing took the final spot with the #777 Aston Martin 0.030 seconds ahead of the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini and 0.061 seconds clear of the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus.

Thursday begins with a three-hour practice at 9:00 a.m. ET. Hyperpole qualifying will take place at 2:00 p.m. ET before a one-hour night practice at 4:00 p.m. ET. 

There will be a 15-minute warm-up at 6:00 a.m. ET on Saturday June 10 with the 91st 24 Hours of Le Mans beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET.

2024 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 Preview

Though absent from the FIA World Endurance Championship, the LMP2 class will remain present at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sixteen entries fill the secondary prototype class meant for gentlemen drivers. Fourteen of the 16 entries come from the European Le Mans Series while the other two cars come from IMSA. All of the entries are Oreca 07 chassis. 

 

#9 Proton Competition Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Macéo Capietto (1st), Jonas Ried (2nd), Bent Viscaal (3rd)

Test Day: 15th

About This Team: While running full-time in ELMS, Viscaal has also sampled IMSA's GTP class this season. At 19 years old, Ried is in his second year of LMP2 competition. Capietto's first two sports car races were earlier this year in ELMS with Ried as his co-driver. 

#10 Vector Sport Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Ryan Cullen (6th), Patrick Pilet (16th), Stéphane Richelmi (4th)

Test Day: 8th

About This Team: This is the fifth consecutive year Pilet is competing in LMP2 at Le Mans. Richelmi returns for the first time since 2019. He won in LMP2 in 2016 and he was second in 2019. Cullen's best class finish at Le Mans was seventh last year. 

#14 AO by TF Sport Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Louis Delétraz (6th), P.J. Hyett (2nd), Alex Quinn (1st) 

Test Day: 3rd

About This Team: Delétraz was one of the best-kept secrets in sports car racing until Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti signed him for a full IMSA season. Deletraz has been second in LMP2 the last two years at Le Mans. Hyett is leaping up from GTE Am competition. He ran a full Asian Le Mans Series season and the first two IMSA races in LMP2. Quinn spent most of 2022 on the sidelines but won all three U.S. F2000 races he started. Last year, he was an IMSA Endurance Cup driver for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. 

#22 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Bijoy Garg (1st), Oliver Jarvis (12th), Nolan Siegel (1st)

Test Day: 2nd

About This Team: Jarvis ended up second in the ELMS championship last year with three victories. His lone class victory at Le Mans was seven years ago in LMP2 when it also netted an overall runner-up finish. Garg is a rookie in ELMS after winning the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge championship last year. Siegel has been splitting his time between Indy Lights and IndyCar in 2024, but he won two races in IMSA's LMP2 class last year as an Endurance Cup driver for CrowdStrike Racing by APR. Siegel was not at the test day due to his IndyCar start with Juncos Hollinger Racing, but the #22 Oreca was second fastest on the test day. 

#23 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Filipe Albuquerque (11th), Ben Hanley (8th), Ben Keating (10th)

Test Day: 6th

About This Team: Albuquerque enters Le Mans as the most recent winner in IMSA at Detroit. Hanley is currently second in the ELMS championship while also running in IMSA while Keating. Keating has won at Le Mans the last two years in GTE Am. This is his first appearance in an LMP2 car since 2017, but he won the IMSA LMP2 championship last year.

#24 Nielsen Racing Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: David Heinemeier Hansson (11th), Fabio Scherer (5th), Kyffin Simpson (1st)

Test Day: 14th

About This Team: Scherer was a part of the Le Mans-winning Inter Europol Competition entry last year. Simpson won the ELMS championship last year and has been having a respectable IndyCar rookie season. Heinemeier Hansson is ten years removed from his Le Mans class win in GTE Am. In LMP2 competition, he has never finished better than tenth in class. 

#25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Olli Caldwell (2nd), Romain De Angelis (1st), Matthias Kaiser (2nd)

Test Day: 9th

About This Team: Caldwell and Kaiser were second in the ELMS round from Barcelona. De Angelis comes over in place of Alex Lynn, who is driving for Cadillac in Hypercar. The Canadian has finished third, first and second in IMSA's GTD championship the previous three years. This is De Angelis' first LMP2 start.

#28 IDEC Sport Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Reshad de Gerus (3rd), Paul Lafargue (8th), Job van Uitert (6th)

Test Day: 1st

About This Team: The #28 IDEC Oreca led the test day at 3:37.044. IDEC has finished fourth in each of the first two ELMS races this year, and it started on pole position for the second race at Circuit Paul Ricard. Lafargue has finished fifth, sixth, sixth, eighth and sixth in his last five Le Mans starts. Van Uitert's best class finish at Le Mans was sixth in LMP2 as a rookie in 2019.

#30 Duqueine Team Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: James Allen (7th), John Falb (3rd), Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (1st)

Test Day: 12th

About This Team: Simmenauer is making the step into LMP2 racing after spending the last few years in GT competition. He and Allen are co-drivers in ELMS. Allen is coming off the ELMS championship in 2023, and he has been in the top LMP2 Pro-Am entry the last two years at Le Mans. Falb last ran at Le Mans in 2020. Both of his previous two starts have been in LMP2.

#33 DKR Engineering Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: René Binder (8th), Laurents Hörr (3rd), Alexander Mattschull (1st)

Test Day: 16th

About This Team: Binder was third in LMP2 last year at Le Mans while Hörr is in his second season of ELMS LMP2 competition. Mattschull has run regularly in the 24H Series lately. This was the slowest car on the test day, 6.768 seconds off the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca.

#34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca-Gibson    

Drivers: Vladislav Lomko (2nd), Clémenet Novalak (1st), Jakub Śmiechowski (6th)

Test Day: 4th

About This Team: Lomko is leading the ELMS championship through two races and won at Circuit Paul Ricard last month. Novalak is in his first season of sports car racing. Šmiechowski won at Le Mans last year in LMP2, his first victory in five seasons of LMP2 competition across ELMS and WEC.

#37 Cool Racing Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Lorenzo Fluxá (1st), Malthe Jakobsen (2nd), Ritomo Miyata (1st)

Test Day: 7th

About This Team: This trio won the ELMS season opener at Barcelona. Miyata has had a trying season in Formula Two with only three points finishes in the first ten races. Jakobsen did win the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship over the winter. Fluxá only started racing sports cars this year.

#45 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Colin Braun (3rd), Nicky Catsburg (6th) George Kurtz (2nd)

Test Day: 10th

About This Team: Braun is coming off an exceptional IMSA season in 2023 where he won the 24 Hours of Daytona and Petit Le Mans. He and Kurtz have been paired in GT World Challenge America competition and regularly are competing at the front. They were tenth in LMP2 last year at Le Mans, but were the top Pro-Am entry. Catsburg won last year in GTE Am, but he will be making his LMP2 debut this year.

#47 Cool Racing Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Matt Bell (2nd), Naveen Rao (1st), Frederik Vesti (1st)

Test Day: 13th

About This Team: Vesti was second in the Formula Two championship last year, and along with ELMS competition, he has been keeping busy as a Mercedes-AMG Formula One reserve driver. Bell's only Le Mans start was two years ago. Rao has competed in only five races over the last three years, one GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup race, two Porsche Carrera Cup North America races and two Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America races.

#65 Panis Racing Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Mathias Beche (10th), Scott Huffaker (2nd), Rodrigo Sales (2nd)

Test Day: 5th

About This Team: Beche and Sales are together again and running last year at Le Mans. Unfortunately, they only completed 18 laps in last year's race. They are currently leading the ELMS LMP2 Pro-Am championship standings. Huffaker was a regular winner in IMSA's LMP2 class. He spent last year in GTE competition driving for Kessel Racing. 

#183 AF Corse Oreca-Gibson

Drivers: Ben Barnicoat (4th), François Perrodo (12th), Nicolás Varrone (3rd)

Test Day: 11th

About This Team: Barnicoat and Perrodo remain together for another year at Le Mans. This year, Varrone joins the Anglo-Franco duo a year after the Argentine won in GTE Am. Barnicoat has been one of the best drivers in IMSA's GTD Pro category for the last three years. Perrodo won at Le Mans in GTE Am three years ago, but he was third in LMP2 in 2019. 

Practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans will begin today at 8:00 a.m. ET and last for three hours. Qualifying practice will be for one-hour at 1:00 p.m. ET with night practice lasting two hours and beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET. 

Thursday begins with a three-hour practice at 9:00 a.m. ET. Hyperpole qualifying will take place at 2:00 p.m. ET before a one-hour night practice at 4:00 p.m. ET. 

There will be a 15-minute warm-up at 6:00 a.m. ET on Saturday June 15 with the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET. 

2024 24 Hours of Le Mans Hypercar Preview

For the 92nd time, the town of Le Mans will host a 24-hour race through its streets to determine who has built the best machine for endurance. This year's race will have 62 entries, but we are seeing another year of regulation changes, as this will be the first year with GT3 regulations and this is the first time since 2010 the LMP2 class is competing in a non-championship form. 

Hypercar is back with 23 entries, matched for the most with LMGT3. In Hypercar, nine manufacturers are represented with four cars making their Le Mans debut this year. Out of the 69 drivers in the top class, 13 of them are past Le Mans overall winners while ten drivers entered in Hypercar this year will be making their Le Mans debut. 

Ferrari enters as the defending race winners and it will have three entries looking for the Italian manufacturers' 11th Le Mans triumph. Porsche has a half-dozen cars as it shoots for it 20th Le Mans victory. Toyota is looking to get back on top after its five-year winning streak ended last year. Peugeot is going for its fourth Le Mans victory while BMW is looking to add its second Le Mans victory, its first since 1999. 

Cadillac has three cars entered in hopes of being the first American manufacturer to win the race since 1969. Along with Cadillac, Alpine, Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini are all competing for their first Le Mans victory.

This year's race marks the fourth of eight rounds in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship.

#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R

Drivers: Earl Bamber (8th), Alex Lynn (8th), Álex Palou (1st)

Test Day: 16th

About This Team: The #2 Cadillac will have a five-spot grid penalty after Bamber caused an accident at Spa-Francorchamps. Bamber and Lynn were on the podium last year and Cadillac showed good reliability but didn't have the pace to compete with Ferrari and Toyota. Bamber has been on the overall podium in all three years he has competed in the top class. This will be Palou's second race in the Cadillac, but he is an otherworldly talent. 

#3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R

Drivers: Sébastien Bourdais (17th), Scott Dixon (6th), Renger van der Zande (7th)

Test Day: 19th

About This Team: Bourdais is the most experienced driver in the Hypercar class and an overall victory would give him the record for most starts before a first overall Le Mans victory. This lineup was fourth last year and it was second at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. Cadillac will be carrying more weight at Le Mans after a six-kilogram increase in the Balance of Performance ahead of the test day. 

#4 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963

Drivers: Mathieu Jaminet (3rd), Felipe Nasr (5th), Nick Tandy (12th)

Test Day: 2nd

About This Team: Porsche looks to be the manufacturer to beat entering Le Mans. It has won two of three WEC and it has won two of five IMSA races, including the 24 Hours of Daytona. Nasr was a member of the Daytona winning team. Jaminet and Tandy won at Laguna Seca. This lineup only completed 84 laps last year at Le Mans due to a fuel pressure issue. This car was 0.235 seconds off the best time on the test day, which was set by one of its sister cars, the #6 Porsche.

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963

Drivers: Matt Campbell (6th), Michael Christensen (10th), Frédéric Makowiecki (14th)

Test Day: 4th

About This Team: Campbell had a stellar race at Daytona in January as the endurance driver. The #5 Porsche has started on pole position in two of the first three WEC races with a pair of third-place finishes. Last year, Christensen and Makowiecki did not get on the podium once. All three factory Porsches were within a second of one another on the test day.

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963

Drivers: Kévin Estre (10th), André Lotterer (13th), Laurens Vanthoor (9th)

Test Day: 1st

About This Team: The #6 Porsche leads the World Endurance Drivers' Championship through three races with 74 points, and it was fastest on the test day with its best lap at 3:26.907. This team has finished first, second and second in the first three races. Lotterer has three overall Le Mans victory, but the most recent was a decade ago. Estre and Vanthoor were co-drivers in the 2018 Le Mans GTE Pro winning entry with Christensen.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid

Drivers: Kamui Kobayashi (10th), José María López (8th), Nyck de Vries (5th)

Test Day: 9th

About This Team: Mike Conway suffered an injury in a cycling accident and has been removed. López has been drafted in from the Lexus LMGT3 program to fill this vacancy. The #7 Toyota won at Imola and is currently third in the championship. Prior to last year's retirement, the #7 Toyota had been on the overall podium in five consecutive years and in six of the previous seven. This is de Vries first year at Le Mans in the premier class.

#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid

Drivers: Sébastien Buemi (13th), Brendon Hartley (11th), Ryō Hirakawa (5th)

Test Day: 3rd

About This Team: The #8 Toyota has not finished better than fifth this year in WEC. This is the longest podium drought for this entry since a 14-race stretch that started in May 2015 and went through October 2016. This car has been first or second in six consecutive years at Le Mans. The #8 Toyota was within 0.708 seconds of the top time on the test day. Buemi could become the sixth driver with at least five Le Mans victories. Hartley could become the tenth driver with at least four Le Mans victories.

#11 Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6-C

Drivers: Carl Bennett (1st), Antonio Serravalle (1st), Jean-Karl Vernay (2nd)

Test Day: 23rd

About This Team: Isotta Fraschini was 2.583 seconds off the next slowest car on the test day. It is three seconds away from being three seconds away. Its best finish in class through three races is 15th. Vernay's only other Le Mans appearance was in 2013, where he won in the GTE Am class.

#12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963

Drivers: Callum Ilott (2nd), Norman Nato (7th), Will Stevens (9th)

Test Day: 10th

About This Team: Hertz Team Jota ride a high into Le Mans after its victory in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps last month. Combined with a finish of second in Qatar, Ilott and Stevens are second in the championship, 22 points off the #6 Porsche. Jota has three class victories at Le Mans, all in LMP2, including two years ago with Stevens as one of its drivers.

#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8

Drivers: Raffaele Marciello (1st), Dries Vanthoor (5th), Marco Wittmann (1st)

Test Day: 15th

About This Team: The #15 BMW has failed to score a point through three races. Marciello and Wittmann are still brand new to prototype racing let alone Le Mans debutants. Vanthoor won on his Le Mans debut in the GTE Am class seven years ago. He competed the previous two years in the LMP2 class.

#19 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63

Drivers: Matteo Cairoli (8th), Andrea Caldarelli (1st), Romain Grosjean (2nd)

Test Day: 18th

About This Team: This is the IMSA Endurance Cup team, which has only competed at the 12 Hours of Sebring, where they finished seventh and on the lead lap, but was not much of a contender. Grosjean make this first Le Mans appearance since 2010 when he drove a Ford GT1 for Match Competition. Caldarelli dabbled in some LMP2 action last year ahead of this move into a prototype. Cairoli has only ever competed in the GTE Am class at Le Mans prior to this year.

#20 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8

Drivers: Robin Frijns (4th), René Rast (6th), Sheldon van der Linde (1st)

Test Day: 6th

About This Team: Sixth on the test day and only 1.165 seconds from the top time was a little bit of a surprise for the #20 BMW. The Art Car does have a past Le Mans class winner in Frijns at the wheel, as well as a driver who has five starts, all in prototype classes including a run in an Audi R18 e-tron quattro, in this race in Rast. This could be the sleeper for the 2024 race.

#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424

Drivers: Paul-Loup Chatin (10th), Ferdinand Habsburg (5th), Charles Milesi (5th)

Test Day: 20th

About This Team: Alpine has not shown the pace to be a race contender. The team has scored 11 points through the first three races. Habsburg is back after missing the last two races due to injuries suffered in a test at Aragón. Habsburg and Milesi won the LMP2 class at Le Mans three years ago. Chatin's first nine Le Mans appearances came in the LMP2 class. 

#36 Alpine Endurance Team  Alpine A424

Drivers: Nicolas Lapierre (16th), Mick Schumacher (1st), Matthieu Vaxivière (8th)

Test Day: 17th

About This Team: The #36 Alpine has not scored a point this season. Lapierre has four class victories at Le Mans. He and Vaxivière were third overall in a grandfathered LMP1 car. Schumacher makes his Le Mans debut 33 years after his father Michael's only Le Mans start. Michael Schumacher ran the fastest lap in the 1991 race as he was fifth overall in a Team Sauber Mercedes.

#38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963

Drivers: Jenson Button (3rd), Phil Hanson (8th), Oliver Rasmussen (3rd)

Test Day: 11th

About This Team: The second Hertz Team Jota entry has not had the same pace as the #12 Porsche through the first three races, but the #38 Porsche was right in line with its teammate on the test day. Though this is an experienced lineup, it is quite green in comparison to the other Hypercar lineups. Hanson did win in the LMP2 class in 2020, but he finished tenth or worse the last three years in LMP2 at Le Mans.

#50 Ferrari - AF Corse Ferrari 499P

Drivers: Antonio Fuoco (4th), Miguel Molina (8th), Nicklas Nielsen (5th)

Test Day: 5th

About This Team: Though this was not the winning team at Le Mans last year, the #50 Ferrari was the more celebrated entry for the entire 2023 season. It is currently the best Ferrari in the championship, tied for fourth on 40 points, and it was third at Spa-Francorchamps. This group is still looking for its first WEC victory. It was on pole position last year at Le Mans. It will be a factor in this race.

#51 Ferrari - AF Corse Ferrari 499P

Drivers: James Calado (10th), Antonio Giovinazzi (3rd), Alessandro Pier Guidi (9th)

Test Day: 12th

About This Team: Since winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year, the #51 Ferrari has not finished on the podium in its last six starts. It was fourth at Spa-Francorchamps last month. This was the slowest of the three Ferraris on the test day. 

#63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63

Drivers: Mirko Bortolotti (3rd), Daniil Kyvat (2nd), Edoardo Mortara (1st)

Test Day: 7th

About This Team: The full-time WEC Lamborghini has not scored a point this season. Bortolotti and Kyvat were co-drivers last year in LMP2, but retired after completing 113 laps. Bortolotti is a two-time class winner in the 24 Hours of Daytona, both in the GTD class. Mortara has spent the last seven seasons competing in Formula E.

#83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P

Drivers: Robert Kubica (4th), Robert Shwartzman (1st), Ye Yifei (4th)

Test Day: 8th

About This Team: The privateer Ferrari is ahead of the #51 Ferrari in the championship, but the #83 Ferrari has finished eighth in the last two races. Kubica won the LMP2 championship last year in WEC and he was runner-up in LMP2 the last two years at Le Mans. Shwartzman was the 2019 Formula Three championship and runner-up in the 2021 Formula Two championship to Oscar Piastri. Ye and Kubica were leading the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class three years ago before the car broke down on the final lap and the car was not classified. Ye made his Hypercar class debut last year driving for Hertz Team Jota.

#93 Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 2024

Drivers: Nico Müller (3rd), Mikkel Jensen (5th), Jean-Éric Vergne (6th)

Test Day: 21st

About This Team: Peugeot is bringing an updated 9X8 with a rear spoiler. Results have not been much better with the new car. The #93 Peugeot has finished ninth and tenth in the last two races. None of these three drivers have ever finished better than fifth in class at Le Mans.

#94 Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 2024

Drivers: Loïc Duval (12th), Paul di Resta (6th), Stoffel Vandoorne (3rd)

Test Day: 13th

About This Team: The #94 Peugeot has yet to finish better than 14th this season in WEC competition. Duval won overall 11 years ago with Audi. Di Resta won in the LMP2 class four years ago. This is Vandoorne's first Le Mans appearance since 2021. He was third overall in 2019 and second in LMP2 in 2021.

#99 Proton Competition Porsche 963

Drivers: Julian Andlauer (7th), Neel Jani (14th), Harry Tincknell (11th)

Test Day: 22nd

About This Team: Andlauer and Jani were fifth in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps as Tincknell was unable to compete due to IMSA commitments. All three drivers have won at Le Mans before. Jani won overall in 2016 with Porsche. Tincknell has two class victories, on debut in 2014 with Jota in LMP2 and in 2020 with Aston Martin in GTE Pro. Andlauer won on debut in 2018 in GTE Am.

#311 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R

Drivers: Jack Aitken (3rd), Pipo Derani (9th), Felipe Drugovich (1st)

Test Day: 14th

About This Team: Action Express was runner-up in the 24 Hours of Daytona in January from pole position, and a promising Sebring was ended after an untimely accident. Aitken has settled in as a full-time driver of the Cadillac in IMSA. Derani is a great leader, but Drugovich has two sports car races to his name. 

Practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans will begin at 8:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday June 12 and last for three hours. Qualifying practice will be for one-hour at 1:00 p.m. ET with night practice lasting two hours and beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET. 

Thursday begins with a three-hour practice at 9:00 a.m. ET. Hyperpole qualifying will take place at 2:00 p.m. ET before a one-hour night practice at 4:00 p.m. ET. 

There will be a 15-minute warm-up at 6:00 a.m. ET on Saturday June 15 with the 92nd 24 Hours of Le Mans beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET.