This is still last year’s field, but next month there will be 186 drivers at Le Mans again The Automobile Club de l’Ouest has published the list of 186 drivers (m/f) who will take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 10 and 11 June with a total of 62 cars. There were no real surprises, after the participation of Giedo van der Garde in Graff Racing in the LMP2 class confirmed earlier this week. In total there are seven Dutch riders on the list.Text: René de Boer (Twitter: @renedeboer)
Photo: ACO
In the hypercar class there are 16 cars from seven brands, namely Cadillac, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, Porsche, Toyota and Vanwall. Renger van der Zande, who comes from the No. 3 Cadillac, is the only Dutch driver in this category. There are 24 cars entered in LMP2, including the confirmation earlier this week of an all-Belgian driver line-up at DKR Engineering, consisting of Tom van Rompuy, Ugo de Wilde and Maxime Martin. The Dutch in LMP2 are Bent Viscaal (no. 9 Prema), Robin Frijns (no. 31 Team WRT), Giedo van der Garde (no. 39 Graff Racing) together with Tijmen van der Helm and Job van Uitert (both no. 65 Racing of Panis). 21 cars are participating in GTE-Am, with Nicky Catsburg (no. 33 Corvette Racing) the only Dutchman.
Last week, Lilou Wadoux took the first victory for a woman in the FIA WEC. The Frenchman is also at the start at Le Mans, with Richard Mille AF Corse’s Ferrari in the GTE-Am class. In the same category we find Iron Dames Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey in Iron Dames-Porsche, while Doriane Pin drives Prema-Oreca in the LMP2 class.
Formula 1 world champions Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button are also taking part in the race. Button famously drives a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, similar to Camaros in the NASCAR Cup series, which he shares with seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and former DTM champion Mike Rockenfeller, winner of the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The full entry list can be found here.