DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — While not part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule, nearly 100 of the 186 drivers entered in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans have made at least one IMSA race start thus far in 2024. Le Mans runs this Saturday and Sunday, a week before the IMSA season resumes at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
The Le Mans entry list of 62 cars also includes more than 10 teams from IMSA that run either full or partial-season schedules. Here’s a look through the field of which IMSA participants will make the voyage to France:
Hypercar
Three full-season and one partial-season IMSA Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) teams are part of the 23-car Hypercar class, the top class in the field. Beyond that, there are several other IMSA drivers sprinkled within this class:
• Cadillac Racing: For a second consecutive year, two Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh entries prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing are part of the lineup. The IMSA-specific car, the No. 3 entry, will again feature Le Mans native Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon. Its sister car that runs the FIA World Endurance Championship season with full-season drivers Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn, both who’ve run some IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) races this year in the new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, share the No. 2 car with Le Mans debutante Alex Palou, the two-time IndyCar champion who’s started a pair of Rolex 24 At Daytona races.
• Whelen Cadillac Racing: The defending IMSA GTP champion team from Action Express Racing is preparing for a second attempt at Le Mans. Full-season IMSA drivers Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken share the Le Mans-numbered No. 311 Cadillac with Hypercar rookie Felipe Drugovich, a Formula 2 champion who’s raced in European Le Mans Series competition this year.
• Porsche Penske Motorsport: After winning the Rolex 24, Porsche Penske Motorsport has the rare opportunity to double up on marquee 24-hour overall race wins in 2024. Its IMSA-specific entry shifts from a one-off number of 75 last year to No. 4 this year, but keeps the same driver trio of Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr. Of the six drivers in its two WEC-entered cars, five have made at least one IMSA start this year, including Matt Campbell, who like Nasr in the No. 4 has a chance to add Le Mans to his Rolex win in January in the No. 5 Porsche.
• Lamborghini Iron Lynx: After the team enjoyed a successful debut with its Lamborghini SC63 at Sebring, its IMSA-flagged entry will run as a second car at Le Mans (No. 19) with the trio of Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli and Matteo Cairoli. Mirko Bortolotti, who’s also started an IMSA race this year, will be in the WEC-entered No. 63 car.
• Other IMSA 2024 drivers: Beyond the drivers and teams listed above, more than 20 other drivers entered in Hypercar have made at least one IMSA start in 2024. Those drivers are present across seven teams and five manufacturers. (Toyota, BMW, Alpine, Jota Porsche, Ferrari, Peugeot, Proton Porsche):
o Toyota: Brendon Hartley (No. 8 Toyota),
o BMW: Dries Vanthoor (No. 15 BMW), Sheldon van der Linde, Rene Rast (No. 20 BMW)
o Alpine: Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi (No. 35 Alpine), Matthieu Vaxiviere (No. 36 Alpine)
o Jota Porsche: Phil Hanson, Jenson Button (No. 38 Jota Porsche)
o Ferrari: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen (No. 50 Ferrari), Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado (No. 51 Ferrari)
o Peugeot: Mikkel Jensen (No. 93 Peugeot), Paul di Resta (No. 94 Peugeot)
o Proton Porsche: Neel Jani, Harry Tincknell, Julien Andlauer (No. 99 Proton Porsche)
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)
The 16-car class of identical ORECA 07 cars makes its first and only appearance in a 2024 WEC race at Le Mans, as its popularity for season-long entries has increased in IMSA. IMSA drivers and teams from 2024 at Le Mans include:
• AO by TF: “Spike” the LMP2 Dragon makes its first Le Mans appearance after the “Rexy” dinosaur livery proved a fan-favorite in 2023. Team owner PJ Hyett shares the purple No. 14 car with Alex Quinn and Louis Deletraz.
• United Autosports: The Anglo-American team is one of only two LMP2 teams with two cars. Pfaff McLaren driver Oliver Jarvis shares the team’s No. 22 car with young Americans and Le Mans rookies Bijoy Garg and Nolan Siegel. A trio of IMSA winners – Ben Keating, Filipe Albuquerque and Ben Hanley – share the No. 23 car.
• Nielsen Racing: Kyffin Simpson, who has class wins at Sebring and Motul Petit Le Mans to his name and raced at this year’s Rolex 24 with DragonSpeed, shares this team’s No. 24 car.
• Algarve Pro Racing: Talented young Canadian Roman De Angelis, usually in Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in IMSA’s GT Daytona (GTD) class, is set for his first prototype start in this team’s No. 25 car.
• Inter Europol Competition: The 2023 Le Mans LMP2 winners have partnered with PR1/Mathiasen in IMSA. Two of its planned 2024 Rolex 24 drivers, Jakub Smiechowski and Clement Novalak, are part of this team’s No. 34 car at Le Mans.
• Cool Racing: Rising stars Malthe Jakobsen and Ritomo Miyata are in this team’s No. 37 car; British driver Matt Bell is part of its No. 47 car with longtime co-driver Naveen Rao.
• Crowdstrike Racing by APR: Jim Trueman Award recipient George Kurtz shares the No. 45 car with Colin Braun and Nicky Catsburg.
• AF Corse: Vasser Sullivan Lexus’ Ben Barnicoat is another IMSA GT regular in an LMP2 at Le Mans, aboard the No. 183 car he shares with Nico Varrone and Francois Perrodo.
• Duqueine Team: James Allen is in the team’s No. 30 car.
• DKR Engineering: Laurents Hoerr is in the team’s No. 33 car.
• Panis Racing: Rodrigo Sales and Scott Huffaker are in this team’s No. 65 car.
LMGT3
GT3-specification cars are now eligible for Le Mans as part of a WEC class shift away from the previous GTE-specification cars. There are a number of familiar IMSA names and teams in this class:
• Heart of Racing Team: The globetrotting Heart of Racing Team has a dual effort in both IMSA and WEC, with team principal Ian James and IMSA regular Alex Riberas sharing the team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 with Daniel Mancinelli.
• Team WRT: Augusto Farfus and Maxime Martin have raced Michelin Endurance Cup races with the BMW M Team RLL GTP program in 2024 and are the respective Platinum-rated drivers in WRT’s Nos. 31 and 46 BMW M4 LMGT3s. One of Martin’s co-drivers is celebrated motorcycle racing convert Valentino Rossi.
• Proton Competition: Christian Ried’s team has three LMGT3 cars entered, all Ford Mustang GT3s. Those who have made IMSA starts this year sprinkled in these Fords include Christopher Mies (No. 44), Ryan Hardwick and Zacharie Robichon (No. 77) and Dennis Olsen (No. 88).
• Akkodis ASP Team: Jack Hawksworth from the IMSA Vasser Sullivan Lexus team was a last-minute call-up to drive the No. 87 Lexus RC F LMGT3. Hawksworth replaces Jose Maria Lopez, who moved to the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid after Mike Conway was sidelined following a cycling accident.
• Vista AF Corse: Four Michelin Endurance Cup regulars are split between these two Ferrari 296 LMGT3s: Davide Rigon (No. 54) and Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera (No. 55).
• Iron Lynx/Iron Dames: The pair of Lamborghini Huracán LMGT3 Evo2s feature six drivers who’ve started an IMSA race this year: Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni and Franck Perera (No. 60) and the Iron Dames trio of Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey (No. 85).
• JMW Motorsport: Larry ten Voorde and Salih Yoluc are part of the team’s No. 66 Ferrari 296 LMGT3.
• Inception Racing: Bob Akin Award winner Brendan Iribe brings the Inception Racing program to Le Mans, sharing the No. 70 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo with Ollie Millroy and Frederik Schandorff.
• TF Sport: Corvette Racing factory drivers Charlie Eastwood (No. 81) and Daniel Juncadella (No. 82) are split between the pair of Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R cars, with Rui Andrade (No. 81) having also made an IMSA start this year.
• GR Racing: Ferrari veteran Daniel Serra is part of this team’s No. 86 Ferrari 296 LMGT3.
• Manthey PureRxcing: IMSA driver Klaus Bachler is part of this No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3.
• United Autosports: Occasional IMSA LMP2 driver Nico Pino is part of United’s No. 95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo.
• Spirit of Race: IMSA veteran Jordan Taylor is in this team’s No. 155 Ferrari 296 LMGT3.
• D’Station Racing: Marco Sorensen is part of the No. 777 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3, racing against his usual IMSA program, Heart of Racing Team.