24H Le Mans 2020: Participants confirmed đ„
STARTING LIST PUBLISHED 62 teams have been selected for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 13/14. Among them are several Swiss drivers who can hope for success at the grand world championship finale. In mid-June, the 88th staging of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be the eighth race to conclude the eighth season of the 2019/20 multi-year World Endurance Championship. As with the [...]
In mid-June, the 88th staging of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be the eighth race to conclude the eighth season of the multi-year World Endurance Championship in 2019/20. As with the number 8, this closes a circle as the era of the LMP1 cars comes to an end. In the future, the new Le Mans hypercars will form the premier class, although not too much has been seen of them yet.
Toyota and Buemi want the hat trick
The report published in Paris on February 28 List of the teams invited to take part (in return for a generous entry fee, of course) is headed by Toyota Gazoo Racing. If the German-Japanese factory team manages to score its third triumph in a row, the coveted Le Mans trophy will finally be in its possession.
Previously, their opponents Audi and Porsche, who have not been present since 2017, had achieved this. With SĂ©bastien Buemi as one of the six factory drivers, a Swiss has the chance to also win for the third time with Toyota. This would put the Vaudois on a par with Marcel FĂ€ssler.
Rebels hunt Toyota
The only LMP1 opponents, which are now on a par with the Toyota TS050 Hybrid due to the power restriction, are two cars each from Rebellion Racing and LNT (Ginetta). For the Swiss-flagged team from England, it will be the last race ever because main sponsor Rebellion is withdrawing afterwards.
As a winner? That is not unrealistic. With Louis Delétraz, a young man from Geneva is also hoping that this miracle will happen.
Swiss quintet in LMP2
In the LMP2 class, no fewer than 24 competitors are on the provisional list. Among them is a Swiss team with Cool Racing and its three drivers Nicolas Lapierre (F/CH), Alexandre Coigny and Antonin Borga. Victory at the WEC opener in Silverstone also raises their expectations. Other Swiss LMP2 drivers are Simon Trummer at Algarve Pro Racing from Portugal and Jonathan Hirschi at the French team Duqueine.
Marcel FĂ€ssler again with Corvette
Four brands with eleven cars (two each of Aston and Martin and Chevrolet, three Ferrari and four Porsche) will meet in the GT factory team class. BMW and Ford, after all, are no longer there.
For Marcel FĂ€ssler, one of the last chances to clinch his fourth Le Mans victory overall in this category for the first time. The new mid-engined Corvette Stingray C8-R already showed its potential in January at the 24 Hours of Daytona and at the 6H Cota USA a week ago.
Two women's teams at the start
No fewer than twenty sports cars will be competing for victory in the LMGTE Am category. As in the previous year, special attention from the Swiss side will be paid to the Ferrari of Kessel Racing, manned by three women and competing under the new entry Iron Lynx. They are relieved that they were able to convince the selection committee with their performances last year at Le Mans (9th place) and in the ELMS (4th place overall with two podium finishes).
As before, Rahel Frey will take turns at the wheel with Denmark's Michelle Gatting and Italy's Manuela Gostner. However, they are no longer the only female trio, as three other women (Katherine Legge, Tatiana Calderon and Sophia Flörsch) are competing in the LMP2 prototypes for the first time.
Thomas Flohr and Christoph Ulrich on two different Ferraris from factory partner AF Corse are named as further Swiss Am drivers.
Not yet final list
75 applications were received by the organizing A.C.O., 62 were selected. Among them was an LMP2 team with three handicapped drivers in a separate class.
The teams not included are on the reserve list. Some of them will move up due to cancellations of selected teams.
