Le Mans 24 Hours Preview: Part 3, GTE Am & Garage 56

21 cars form the class for the final outing for GTE machinery at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and with the end of GTE Pro after the 2022 WEC season it is an entirely Pro-Am line-up, each crew must feature at least one Bronze and at least one Silver-ranked driver in the three driver line-up.

All cars run on Michelin rubber – slicks or full wets, with no intermediate options for changing weather. The reintroduction of tyre warmers for Le Mans only will be a source of relief to many in this field, regardless of experience!

Five Aston Martins, a single Corvette, seven Ferraris and no fewer than eight Porsche complete the roster with a wide variety of experience, talent and achievement through the 63 drivers, including four female drivers, on the class entry.

The racing thus far in 2023 has seen excellent action in the class, the emergence of some exciting new talent, and the assurance that the class will see out the GTE era with honours!

Proton Competition – Porsche 911 RSR-19

#16 Ryan Hardwick, Zacharie Robichon & Jan Heylen
#77 (Dempsey Proton) Christian Ried, Mikkel Pedersen & Julien Andlauer
#88 Don Yount, Jonas Ried, & Harry Tincknell
#911, Michael Fassbender, Richard Lietz & Martin Rump

Proton Competition is fielding four cars plus providing support for the two Iron Lynx Porsches on the entry.

The #16 arrives courtesy of Ryan Hardwick’s auto invitation via his success in IMSA – as the highest-ranked Bronze driver in GTD, Hardwick won the Bob Akin Award and the golden ticket for his Le Mans debut. He is joined by rapid young Canadian Zacharie Robichon and the hugely-experienced Jan Heylen. Both Pro drivers return for their second consecutive Le Mans starts.

Full-season car #77 features WEC’s ‘Iron Man’ Christian Ried who is set to start his 13th consecutive Le Mans (and 14th in total) in search of a second class win.  He’s joined by rapid Danish Silver Mikkel Pedersen who is struggling to find form this season, and by Julien Andlauer, equipped to go toe-to-toe with any of the Pros in this entry. Andlauer shared the class win with Ried in 2018.

The #88 team’s driver line-up came together with just days to go before the race. Harry Tincknell has won LMP2 and GTE Pro at Le Mans and makes for a perfect Pro anchor to a team which also welcomes IMSA gentleman driver Don Yount as its Bronze replacement for Brendan Iribe. Jonas Ried, the second-generation driver, makes his first start at the race where his father Christian already has years of experience.

The #911 welcomes back Hollywood star Michael Fassbender back to Le Mans for another crack at his dream.  The German/Irish actor has stepped up his pace thus far in 2023 and comes to Le Mans on a high. He’s alongside Estonian Silver Martin Rump and the hugely experienced and still hyper-competitive Richard Lietz.  The cameras will again be following every twist and turn of this story – Michael will be hoping that we watch a happy ending this time around!

Fastest Test Day time: 3:56.584 (5th in class, set by the #88 during the afternoon session)

AF Corse – Ferrari 488 GTE

#21 Julien Piguet, Simon Mann & Ulysse de Pauw
#54 Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci & Davide Rigon
#83 (Richard Mille AF Corse) Luis Perez Companc, Lilou Wadoux & Alessio Rovera

The Ferrari 488 has already been succeeded as the Prancing Horse’s flagship GT3 racer by the new 296 GT3. But the 488 lives on for one more year in GTE.

AF Corse field a trio of privateer GTE cars alongside entries in Hypercar and LMP2 – the only team to have representation in all three classes!

The #21 has had a torrid season after shunts at Sebring and Spa saw the team forced to replace the chassis last time out, despite that they still sit (an albeit distant) third place in the WEC Championship standings.

Piguet, an experienced GT racer and pro stunt driver, is the third different Bronze driver in the car this season, and is set to make his Le Mans 24 Hours debut. 2022 GT World Challenge Europe Silver Cup Champion Ulysse de Pauw may be a rookie here at Le Mans, but is showing real speed and consistency as a GT driver across multiple series. Simon Mann is getting to grips with the challenge of GTE in his second season.

The #54 teams up long-time WEC driver duo Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci with Ferrari factory driver Davide Rigon.  The car they race with in 2023 is the same mount that won the final LMGTE Championship as the #51 car. The #54 has been in the podium mix throughout 2023 thus far, aside from Spa where Jacques Villeneuve and Castellacci tangled putting both out of the race. Flohr’s pace has come on well, Castellacci is capable of very solid battling efforts, and Rigon’s pace is similarly World class. Better than a sleeper, but less than a sure thing.

Entered as Richard Mille AF Corse, the #83 has literally had a topsy-turvy season. Its Sebring run ended with the car on its roof after an off for ex-WRC driver and WEC LMP2 race-winner Perez Companc. He and the team have bounced back from that and now look like real contenders.

Perez Companc is finding his feet, Alessio Rovera is a factory driver of real quality and the talents of Silver-rated Lilou Wadoux are proving to be a revelation. Spa saw a breakthrough win for the trio, with Wadoux becoming the first-ever female WEC class winner.  This is a car to watch, for at least a decent chance at a podium – and will trouble the very best if trouble doesn’t find it first!

Fastest Test Day time: 3:56.184 (2nd in class, set by the #54 during the afternoon session)

TF Sport – Aston Martin Vantage

#25 (ORT by TF) Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Dinan & Charlie Eastwood
#72 Arnold Robin, Maxime Robin & Valentin Hasse-Clot

Multiple title winners TF Sport arrive at Le Mans as reigning Le Mans class winners and WEC Champions, but with two very different crews aboard their pair of Aston Martin Vantage GTEs.

The #25 ORT (Oman Racing Team) by TF effort is a full-season WEC car that saw experienced Bronze Ahmad Al-Harthy take pole position at Spa. He is growing in confidence and will be relishing his Le Mans 24 Hours debut in the centenary edition. SRO America export Michael Dinan, another Le Mans debutant, has been solid enough so far – but needs to find more of his undoubted pace to feature in this company.

Charlie Eastwood, meanwhile, is in the form of his life.  A standout talent in the Asian Le Mans Series where he helped DKR Engineering to the LMP2 title, that confidence has followed through into the ELMS with Racing Team Turkey and to the WEC where his pace is amongst the best.

The #72 effort is one with heart and emotion, a full-season ELMS car, with an all-Sarthoise crew: The Robin brothers, Arnold and Maxime, supported by Aston Martin factory driver Valentin Hasse-Clot, the latter in his Le Mans debut.

For the centenary Le Mans, this car is adorned in the colours of Pescarolo Sport. Henri is a very close family friend of the rapid, focused and affable Hasse-Clot. It’s unlikely to be amongst the very fastest, but it will nevertheless be a fan favourite, and all three drivers will be pushing hard in a home-grown effort!

Fastest Test Day time: 3:56.795 (9th in class, set by the #25 during the morning session)

Corvette Racing – Corvette C8.R

#33 Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg & Nicolas Varrone

Can Corvette Racing win its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the ninth time? The General Motors/Pratt & Miller factory squad is certainly off to a hot start in the 2023 World Endurance Championship.

In the hands of top-tier gentleman driver Ben Keating, proven pro Nicky Catsburg, and young rising Argentine star Nico Varrone, the V8-powered Chevrolet Corvette C8.R started the season with consecutive wins at Sebring and Portimão, and a second-place finish at Le Mans. Reigning LMGTE Am class winner Keating has been the difference maker for Corvette Racing in its transition to Pro-Am racing.

Catsburg finished runner-up in GTE Pro two years ago with the factory Corvette squad, and Varrone should fare much better in his second outing at this event. What’s more, the “Success Weight” handed down at Spa to try and reign this car in does not apply here.

But there’s an added, sentimental value attached to this Corvette Racing entry. After 22 years on the Le Mans entry list – interrupted only by the Corona Shock of 2020 – this will certainly be the last dance for this team as the singular factory racing team that we’ve known for multiple generations.

From next year on, with the launch of the Corvette Z06.R GT3, Corvette Racing will become the network supporting many prospective customer racing efforts eager to carry on the Corvette’s winning legacy at Le Mans. But before that new chapter can begin, this one must conclude – and Corvette Racing fans all around the world will be hoping that it will end with a fairytale win.

Fastest Test Day time: 3:57.768 (15th in class, set during the afternoon session)

GMB Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage

#55 Gustav Dahlmann Birch, Marco Sørensen & Jens Reno Moller

A new name for the Le Mans 24 Hours is the all-Danish GMB Motorsport, who cashed in its auto invitation from a GT3 Championship win in last season’s Michelin Le Mans Cup.

In place of their trusty Honda NSX GT3, GMB acquired a brand new Aston Martin Vantage for the effort, with a full season in the ELMS also on the agenda this year. But after the car was lucklessly eliminated by an early multi-car shunt in the first round, there’s little data available through which to project its Le Mans fortunes.

GMB has consistently fielded well-prepped cars and has a solid driver squad, with 19-year-old Gustav Birch finding pace throughout last season in the team’s GT3 Honda, and the hugely experienced Jens Möller, whose two prior Le Mans appearances came at the wheel of the Lister Storm LMP!

They will have huge support from the reigning GTE Am class winner and three-time WEC class Champion – at both levels of GTE – Marco Sørensen.  His grit and sheer pace will help to lift the whole effort.

Fastest Test Day time: 3:59.286 (21st in class, set during the morning session)

Project 1 AO – Porsche 911 RSR-19

#56 PJ Hyett, Gunnar Jeanette & Matteo Cairoli

Project 1 field a single full-season WEC car in 2023 for PJ Hyett and Gunnar Jeannette’s AO Racing, an organisation which was formed less than a year ago but is already making waves in the world of sports car racing.

Part of that surge is in no small part due to the team’s creative livery designs. For much of the season, the #56 Porsche has been adorned in colours that harken back to the Preston Henn Swap Shop Porsche 935. But after a rave debut at the Sebring 12 Hours, there was no doubt that the Rexy livery – the brainchild of rookie Gentleman driver PJ Hyett – needed to be a part of this first effort at Le Mans.

But it’s important to know that there is substance behind the style and if the cards fall well for them, the Project 1/AO Racing collab can be a Le Mans winner right away!

Hyett is ambitious and talented for a relative newcomer to racing at this level.  If he can curb his enthusiasm by the percentage point or two needed to reduce the error rate, he is set to become quite a force among the Bronze drivers in GT racing. He is recovering from a lumbar strain suffered in a shunt at Spa but has recovered in time for his first Le Mans start.

Jeannette now ranks as something of a veteran – it’s now over two decades since he became the youngest-ever finisher at the race back in 2000. He arrives with a pair of class podiums on his racing CV.

Matteo Cairoli is the hired gun, an Italian Porsche specialist with factory driver-level pace. As always, in his seventh consecutive Le Mans, he’ll be looking at pushing for a podium or better.

Fastest Test Day time: 3:57.814 (16th in class, set during the afternoon session)

Kessel Racing – Ferrari 488 GTE

#57 Takeshi Kimura, Scott Huffaker & Daniel Serra
#74 Kei Cozzolino, Yorikatsu Tsujiko & Naoki Yokomizo

Kessel Racing is a Swiss team through and through, with a pedigree of sports car racing success – including an LMGTE Am Le Mans victory in support of Scuderia Corsa in 2016.

But its two-car effort for the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans has a distinctively Japanese flair on all fronts.

The #57 is Kessel’s full-time WEC entry in collaboration with Takeshi Kimura and CarGuy Racing. Kimura, in his fifth Le Mans start, now has plenty of experience at this level and is due to take the next step. He has a fantastic crew around him: The combination of 2019 LMGTE Pro winner Daniel Serra from Brazil, and Le Mans rookie Scott Huffaker, a young talent from the LMP2 ranks in IMSA.

The #74 car earned its entry through the European Le Mans Series, boasting a totally new, all-Japanese line-up for Le Mans.

Kei Francesco Cozzolino, Kimura’s mentor who co-authored a perfect season in the 2018-19 Asian Le Mans Series, returns to the race for the first time since 2020. Yorikatsu Tsujiko brings the backing of his video game development firm and a serious racing acumen honed in GT3s and single-seaters to his first-ever Le Mans outing. Naoki Yokomizo, a past GT300 champion and GT500 race winner in SUPER GT, also makes his Le Mans debut.

If “CarGuy Kimura” and “Ponos Tsujiko” are at their best, Kessel should factor into the discussion for a podium finish.

Fastest Test Day time: 3:56.281 (3rd in class, set by the #57 during the afternoon session)

Iron Lynx – Porsche 911 RSR-19

#60 Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni & Alessio Picariello
#85 (Iron Dames) Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy & Michelle Gatting

A switch from Ferrari to Porsche machinery serves as a bridge towards Iron Lynx’s switch to Lamborghini next season in ACO rules racing. Two brightly coloured, Proton Competition-assisted Porsche 911 RSRs are running for the full FIA WEC season.

The yellow #60 is anchored by team co-owner Claudio Schiavoni. There are few greater enthusiasts on this grid than Claudio, and the Italian is improving – but he would readily acknowledge there is still a way to go.  He’s joined by veteran GT racer, the still-rapid and competitive Matteo Cressoni, and by Belgian Pro Alessio Picariello who will add some extra punch here.

The #85 Iron Dames car in its signature pink is a stone-cold fan favourite, way beyond the regular reach of the FIA WEC.  The all-female crewed effort has been scoring World Championship podium finishes galore, knocking on the door of a first WEC win to add to their milestone 2022 race victory in the ELMS.

Sarah Bovy is a regular in the battles for pole position that have become such a part of the storyline in the class, whilst Michelle Gatting’s pace is now equal to that of her more experienced team-mate Rahel Frey.

This effort should not be counted out – the Dames finished ninth in class two years ago, seventh last year, and have only gotten better with every race. An Iron Dames win would rank up there as one of the most popular efforts to stand on the top step of the podium, in any class!

Fastest Test Day time: 3:56.972 (11th in class, set by the #60 during the afternoon session)

JMW Motorsport – Ferrari 488 GTE

#66 Thomas Neubauer, Louis Prette & Giacomo Petrobelli

A Le Mans 24 Hours staple, JMW Motorsport is back for the 14th time in total and 10th time in a row – fielding the very same Ferrari 488 GTE that the team has utilised since the car’s victorious racing debut at Le Mans in 2017.

Neubauer returns with JMW for his second Le Mans after contesting the race with them in 2021. He arrives as reigning class Champion in the Silver Cup of the GT World Challenge Europe, Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali – Trofeo Pirelli winner and with a pair of 2022 24 Hour race class wins at Dubai and the Nürburgring.

Hong Kong-based Monégasque racer Louis Prette starts his third Le Mans 24 Hours and has proven to be quick and consistent in a variety of machinery, whilst Italian gentleman racer Giacomo Petrobelli returns to JMW after racing for the team in the ELMS last season.

On paper, JMW’s 2023 effort seemed unlikely to feature as a pacesetter in GTE Am, but has the potential to be a bit of a sleeper if the team can minimise the mistakes and manage the pace of its drivers effectively. After both phases of Test Day, the potential is only growing.

Fastest Test Day time: 3:56.088 (1st in class, set during the afternoon session)

GR Racing – Porsche 911 RSR-19

#86 Michael Wainwright, Ben Barker & Riccardo Pera

Long-time, full-season WEC entrants, GR stands for Gulf Racing, the colours the #86 car ran for many seasons.

Even with their more recent black and orange scheme it’s still the same team underneath, anchored by owner/driver Mike Wainwright the Bronze driver, and Benjamin Barker the rapid full Professional. Last year, the combination of Wainwright and Barker came as close to a GTE Am podium as they have ever done with a fourth-place finish.

GR Racing’s ever-present duo are joined by Riccardo Pera for 2023, and the addition of a young race winner in WEC and ELMS has made for an improved effort all around.

As always in Pro-Am racing, so much depends on the speed, consistency and errors (or lack thereof) of the amateur driver. Wainwright has plenty of experience and has shown improvement season by season. But to ascend to the peak in this deep field, he will need to be pretty much entirely error-free if this car is going to be in the mix.

Fastest Test Day time: 3:56.286 (4th in class, set during the afternoon session)

NorthWest AMR – Aston Martin Vantage

#98 Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli & Alex Riberas

The official entrant name is still NorthWest AMR, in deference to the Pro-Am squad built around gentleman driver Paul Dalla Lana, a man who’s been a fixture of Le Mans for the past decade – one of the most dedicated competitors who came close, but never could win his class at Le Mans.

But when the Canadian businessman called time on his driving career after Portimao, the entry and operation of NorthWest AMR was handed off to The Heart of Racing Team.

This new (to WEC) team is the Aston Martin customer standout squad from the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, racing to raise funds for Seattle Children’s Hospital as per the mission statement of co-founders Gabe Newell and Yahn Bernier – who first made their names as video game developers.

Anchoring this new-look team is 30-year veteran driver and Heart of Racing Team manager Ian James, who hasn’t raced at Le Mans since 2006 when he was driving a Courage C65. But the reigning Daytona 24 Hours class winner is eager to make the most of his first opportunity in 17 years to participate.

Backing him are Le Mans rookies Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas – the latter, a standout of Heart of Racing Team’s IMSA programme, and the former, a recent export from the Italian GT Championship.

Fastest Test Day time: 3:57.815 (17th in class, set during the afternoon session)

Walkenhorst Motorsport – Ferrari 488 GTE

#100 Chandler Hull, Andrew Haryanto, & Jeff Segal

Walkenhorst Motorsport has been a successful staple of GT racing throughout the world since 2011, and it has always been competing as a representative of BMW…until this occasion, their first-ever entry into the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The BMW M4 GT3 – with which they won the Asian Le Mans Series GT Championship this winter and secured their inaugural Le Mans entry – isn’t eligible for the race until next season. A return of the cult favourite M8 GTE was teased, but rejected by the ACO – and likely would have been unfeasible if it was allowed. Instead, they’ll field a Ferrari 488 GTE EVO in the same grey and blue colours that adorned the title-winning M4.

It’ll be the first Le Mans outing for young Texan Chandler Hull who was a member of the Asian Le Mans title-winning crew, and the second for Indonesian gentleman racer Andrew Haryanto. Joining them is Pennsylvania’s Jeff Segal, the 2016 GTE Am class winner, back for his first Le Mans start in three years.

Segal should have little trouble getting back up to pace even after sporadic racing activity in recent years, but the rookie Hull and Haryanto – who finished seventh on debut in 2021 – will be the keys to the team’s fortunes.

Fastest Test Day time: 3:57.352 (13th in class, set during the afternoon session)

D’station Racing – Aston Martin Vantage

#777 Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii & Casper Stevenson

In less than a decade since beginning full-scale racing activities, D’station Racing has established itself as the strongest privateer racing team out of Japan and is now a reliable presence in ACO-rules racing.

It’s a testament to what team owner Satoshi Hoshino, managing director Tomonobu Fujii, and general manager/baseball legend Kazuhiro Sasaki have built over the years, and a testament to the support they’ve had from technical partners TF Sport to ensure a seamless transition to the world stage.

Hoshino and Fujii, the gentleman driver and the veteran professional known as a perennial GT300 title contender in SUPER GT, will race together for the third straight year. Hoshino is far from the overwhelmed newcomer he was in 2019 – his mounting experience in ACO racing and Super Taikyu is paying dividends. Fujii is still capable of flashes of the speed that has made him a top driver in Japan.

The latest in a line of up-and-coming British drivers that will join them is 20-year-old Casper Stevenson of London – a young man with a single-seater pedigree and recent success in GT3 racing. Stevenson is racing with cerebral palsy, but is eager to reinforce that his condition is not an impairment by any measure!

Sixth in 2021 is the best Le Mans result for the “Triple Seven,” and the crew will be eager to bounce back after a mechanical retirement in last year’s outing.

Fastest Test Day time: 3:56.727 (7th in class, set during the afternoon session)

Garage 56

For the first time since 2016, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has reserved one entry for a unique, innovative vehicle in “Garage 56.”

In this class, Nissan backed and brought the wildly futuristic DeltaWing and all-electric ZEOD RC in 2012 and 2014. A specially-adapted Morgan LMP2 carried quadruple amputee Fréderic Sausset to the chequered flag in 2016, and he gave that same opportunity to paraplegic drivers Nigel Bailly and Takuma Aoki five years later in an adapted Oreca 07.

The fifth Garage 56 entry to take the start at Le Mans is something a bit different: A seventh-generation NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, modified towards the unique challenges of endurance racing.

It won’t compete for a class win, it won’t even be officially counted in the overall results. But it will be a memorable sight and a worthy addition to the centenary Le Mans field.

Hendrick Motorsports – Chevrolet Camaro ZR1 (Garage 56)

#24 Jimmie Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller & Jenson Button

The organisation behind this project is the best of the best that NASCAR has to offer. Hendrick Motorsports is the most successful organisation in NASCAR Cup Series history with nearly 300 race wins and 14 championships over 40 years. They were the obvious choice to spearhead this effort.

A special entry deserves an equally-special crew of drivers to support them. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, 2010 Le Mans Overall winner Mike Rockenfeller, and 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button. Jordan Taylor works behind the scenes as a driver coach and reserve and decorated NASCAR crew chief Chad Knaus takes the helm as project leader.

Johnson’s a NASCAR legend enjoying a career sunset after dabbling in IMSA DPi and IndyCar racing for the past two years. Le Mans serves as another bucket-list item for him in these sunset years.

“Rocky” last drove this event in 2019 with Corvette Racing, and even made some part-time forays into NASCAR racing to get his head around driving this car at Le Mans. Button recently made his debut in NASCAR this year, and through his two successful seasons in SUPER GT and one-off WEC LMP1 campaign, he has more than enough multi-class experience at hand.

Many will be rooting for this car to complete the full 24 hours, of that there is no question!

Fastest Test Day time: 3:53.761.584 (41st overall, during the afternoon session)

Missed any of our other class previews? Catch up with the links below:

PART 1 (HYPERCAR) – PART 2 (LMP2)

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