While it’s only December, and the deadline to compete in the 2015 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans isn’t until Jan. 27, Sportscar365 and Endurance-Info have formulated a list of projected entry requests for next year’s twice-around-the-clock French endurance classic. (En Français)
The following list of 73 cars is not final or officially representative of what has been submitted to the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. The race will again feature a total of 56 cars, meaning not all of the listed cars would be eligible to receive entries.
LMP1 (14 cars)
There will be four manufacturers on the grid next year with the addition of Nissan, joining the premier class alongside Toyota, Porsche and Audi. Rebellion Racing and Lotus, formerly of the LMP1-L class, which now gets absorbed back into LMP1, are both expected to return but with some likely changes. A number of driver lineups have yet to be confirmed.
LMP2 (33 cars)
According to our calculations, the ACO could receive more than 30 applications for the cost-capped prototype class, including a large number of teams from the European Le Mans Series. Possible teams such as Thiriet by TDS Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing have yet to finalize chassis/engine options, while there are question marks on potential programs from RSR Racing and Project Brabham as well.
GTE-Pro (9 cars)
No major changes are expected in GTE-Pro next year, with factory efforts from Aston Martin, Corvette, Porsche and the Ferrari-supported AF Corse squads all expected to field two cars apiece. Note that SMP Racing has the ability to run a Ferrari F458 Italia in GTE-Pro as well, while Risi Competizione has also applied for an invite.
GTE-Am (17 cars)
It’s safe to say that all of the 17 projected entry requests will not take part in the June classic. The status of a number of teams, including ProSpeed Competition, Craft-Bamboo Racing and JMW Motorsport, remains unclear, while automatic entries, such two invites from AAI Motorsports for its success in the Asian Le Mans Series, remain undetermined at this point.
*Automatic entries already awarded by the ACO.
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