DragonSpeed is the third U.S. contestant. Team principal Elton Julian appreciates the legacy. “We’re really proud (to be at Le Mans). It’s our fifth Le Mans,” Julian said. “It’s a huge source of pride for a small team like us to rise up to that level and consistently come back to an event like this and has been a pleasure. Every year you learn a little bit. Every year you come back a little better prepared. There are so many nuances to getting it right. It’s a lot like the Indy 500, that’s why you keep coming back.”
Though the team has not gotten the results it wanted for the past two years, Julian thinks they have a shot this year.
“We come back this year with a single entry and we’re focused on getting the result there,” Julian said. “We have a couple interesting people in the car (Ben Hanley, Henrik Hedman and Juan Pablo Montoya). They deserve it individually and together. With a race of that length, I always think our prospects are quite good.”
Moving down the grid to GTLM/GTE Pro the field is a small eight-car grid. Corvette will run the C8R for the first time at Le Mans. Their two cars will square off against a couple Ferraris and a squadron of Porsches.
Corvette Racing’s team manager Marc Maurini is cautiously confident about the team’s chances.
“We ran at Spa, the last week of April, first week of May in the WEC with Ollie Gavin and Antonio Garcia,” Maurini said. “We had a fourth-place finish, which was a good result.”
Maurini knows Le Mans will be a much bigger challenge.
“Certainly, there are no slackers in that field. Porsche showed very well at Spa. They had a little differential between their two cars,” he continued. “They had one very quick car and we were on pace with the other car. And we were right there with both of the Ferraris. One Porsche was very fast at Spa, but Le Mans is better suited for our car and, hopefully, we can bring home the win.”
Maurini is mum about Corvette’s future in the GTLM class.
“You’ll be seeing some announcements in the middle and latter parts of the year from GM for the future plans for the Corvette,” he hinted. “It’s an interesting time to be in sports car racing, certainly a resurgence on the prototype side and some interesting approaches by the sanctioning bodies looking at homologation, particularly with GT3-based machinery. Now there’s an option to run a GT3-based car at Sebring or the Nürburgring or Le Mans. That certainly could be an option going forward if we could showcase Corvette on a worldwide stage.”
WeatherTech’s Proton-prepared Porsche is the other American GTE Pro entry. Cooper MacNeil will be running his eighth race at circuit de la Sarthe. He flatly says wine and fine dining play second fiddle to racing.
“It’s long (the race length). It’s the best drivers, the best manufacturers and the best preparation in the world,” MacNeil said. “It’s the best competition and is extremely strong. I’ll be racing the pro class, so it will be that much stronger.”
He hopes the bad breaks of the past two years are history.
“I think we have a good chance of doing well this year. Obviously, it’s going to take pace and it’s going to take some luck staying out of trouble.”
MacNeil’s teammates, Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor, have 17 confidence-inspiring Le Mans starts.
“After missing the event in 2020, I can’t wait to get back to one of my favorite tracks in the world,” said Bamber. “I am also looking forward to joining Cooper and Laurens for the event.” Vantoor likes the matchup. “I have a lot of experience driving with Earl over the years. I haven’t teamed up with Cooper yet, but I’ve seen him race and have heard a lot of good things about him.”
While there are many IMSA GTD teams, none will head to France this year. One hopes they will make the trip in 2022.