ELMS Teams and Drivers Head to Le Mans

Preparations for the big race get underway this weekend when the sixty cars take to the track for the official test on Sunday 4 June.  There have been some driver changes, with some making their Le Mans debut, and some of the cars have had to swap numbers due to their regular ELMS number being already taken. 

Twenty four of the ELMS drivers will be classed as ‘rookies’ as this will be their first experience of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Nearly 50% of the LMP2 grid will be made up of ELMS competitors

 Hopes are high of another ELMS class victory to emulate the win by the no38 JOTA Sport Gibson in 2014.

The IDEC Sport Racing Ligier-Gibson will swap numbers from its regular 28 to 17 for the 24 Hours with father and son duo Patrice and Paul Lafargue being joined by fellow French driver David Zollinger, who replaces Olivier Pla, who is fulfilling his role as factory driver for Ford in the no66 Ford GT.  Paul Lafargue has never raced during the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The no21 Dragonspeed Oreca-Gibson will be driven by Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley on their 24 Hours of Le Mans debut, with Nico Lapierre’s seat being taken by Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist, who is also competing at La Sarthe for the first time.  Lapierre is competing for Toyota in the no9 LMP1 class car.

ELMS points leaders Memo Rojas and Ryo Hirakawa in the no22 G Drive Racing Oreca will race with Mexico’s Jose Gutierrez, who is replacing Léo Roussel. Gutierrez is another debutant at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Nathanaël Berthon returns to the driver line up in the no23 Panis Bathez Competition Ligier rejoining Fabien Barthez and Timothé Buret after missing the 4 Hours of Monza.

A famous name will join the drivers of the no29 Racing Team Nederland with former Formula One star Rubens Barrichello making his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut alongside former winner Jan Lammers and his Dutch compatriot Frits Van Eerd.  Like Rubens Barrichello, Frits Van Eerd will be relying on Lammers experience as he competes in his first 24 Hours of Le Mans on 17/18 June.

The no32 United Autosports Ligier-Gibson has an unchanged driver line up, with the highly-experienced Filipe Albuquerque joining 24 Hours of Le Mans debutants Will Owen and Hugo De Sadeleer for the American team’s debut at Le Mans.

The no34 Tockwith Motorsports Ligier pairing of Nigel Moore and Phil Hanson are joined for the second time by ex F1 driver Karun Chandhok.  While Nigel Moore has competed at Le Mans in LMP1, this will be 17-year-old Phil Hanson’s debut in the big race in only his second season of competing in cars.

The no39 Graff Oreca-Gibson will be driven by regular drivers Enzo Guibbert and Eric Trouillet, with the French duo making their debut at Le Mans.  They are joined by Britain’s James Winslow, who replaces Paul Petit for the race.  The driver line up in the no40 Graff Oreca 07 is unchanged with former LMP2 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Richard Bradley racing once again with Australian James Allen and Franck Matelli from France, who are also both Le Mans rookies.

The no25 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier switches numbers to no45 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Matt McMurray, who is the youngest driver to ever compete in the big race as he was just 16 years old on his debut in 2014, will have two new teammates.  Mark Patterson switches from his regular LMP3 drive in ELMS to LMP2 and Vincent Capillaire will fill the third seat in the car.

Italian team Cetilar Villorba Corse will make their Le Mans debut as will Roberto Lacorte and Giorgio Sernagiotto, with Andrea Belicchi bring his Le Mans experience to an unchanged driver line up.

After missing the opening two ELMS races of the 2017 season the no27 SMP Racing Dallara-Gibson will make the grid at Le Mans with an all Russian driver line up of Mikhail Aleshin, Sergey Sirotkin and former ELMS Champion Victor Shaytar.

Five of the sixteen entries on the LMGTE Am grid are ELMS regulars

Marco Cioci will replace Matt Griffin in the no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari F488, racing alongside Duncan Cameron and Aaron Scott with Griffin fulfilling his WEC duties in the no61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari.

The no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari changes number to no84 but it is also the debut for the team’s new Ferrari 488 GTE.  Monza race winner Rob Smith will make his Le Mans debut, sharing the driving duties with two new teammates. Former F1 driver and LMP2 race winner Will Stevens will be bringing his experience to the British team, while Belgium’s Dries Vanthoor is an experienced GT driver but this will be his first time on the full 13.6km La Sarthe circuit during the 24 Hours event.

The no88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR will be driven By Nicolas Yelloly and Stephane Lemeret, with both drivers  being rookies in Le Mans.

Reigning Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup champions TF Sport will make their Le Mans debut with regular drivers Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey.  The third seat will be filled by the experienced Rob Bell, who replaces Nikki Thiim as the Dane is racing for Aston Martin Racing in the LMGTE Pro class no95 Vantage.

The no99 Beachdean AMR Aston Martin is the fifth ELMS competitor on the grid with reigning ELMS Champion Andrew Howard competing in his second 24 Hours of Le Mans, while Ross Gunn will be racing in Le Mans for the first time alongside Oliver Bryant.

The 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans test day takes place on Sunday 4^th June, where all rookie drivers must complete at least 10 laps of the 13.6km track. It will also be the first opportunity for the fans to see the teams and drivers in action ahead of the race on the 17/18 June.