Ford’s return to endurance racing swells the ranks in LM GTE Pro. The American carmaker is entering four Ford Gts, no less. Two cars run by Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK will be competing in the World Endurance Championship and two others will be fielded by Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the cars will be numbered from 66 to 69, a reminder of Ford’s four consecutive wins at Le Mans. For the moment, we only know the names of the drivers who will be racing the full season. For the WEC, the line-up includes Marino Franchitti, Olivier Pla, previously with Nissan and OAK Racing, ex-Aston Martin driver Stefan Mücke and Andy Priaulx, formerly with BMW. On the other side of the pond, two more former BMW drivers, Joey Hand and Dirk Müller will share one car and Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe the other.
The two Chevrolet C7.Rs run by Corvette Racing will also be representing the USA. Last year, Doug Fehan’s men won the day despite losing a car during the test sessions. The Jordan brothers, who won in 2015, will join Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen – who already has 14 class wins at Le Mans to his name – and Ricky Taylor completes the list.

The Corvette Boys will be up against a familiar rival, also flying the flags for the states: the Ferrari #82 fielded by Risi Competizione. Just like Porsche, Ferrari will be running three cars, 488s, at Le Mans. The car to compete in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be driven by Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander who won the class together in 2012 and 2014 with AF Corse.

AF Corse will be running the two 488s entered for the World Endurance Championship so Fisichella and Vilander will be pitting their wits against their former co-driver Gianmaria Bruni. The Italian, who has won the GT drivers prize twice, will be sharing the wheel of the Ferrari 488 #51 with James Calado, who formerly drove the #71 with Davide Rigon. This year, his partner will be ex-LM P2 driver Sam Bird. The third drivers have yet to be announced.

Aston Martin will be fielding two Vantages in the World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, instead of three last year. For the moment, we only know the names of the number one drivers. Nick Thiim will be heading the #95 team and Rich Stanaway is to take the #97.

The full line-ups for the Porsche 911s have already been circulated. The German carmaker won the GT constructors cup last year but will only be taking part in the World Endurance Championship via Dempsey-Proton Racing this year, with one car. However, the three drivers of the 911 #77 are factory drivers, inlcuding Richard Lietz who won the GT driver’s cup in 2015.
The Austrian will continue driving with Michael Christensen who has just been named driver of the year in Denmark. Wolf Henzler will be completing the team for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jörg Bergmeister will be joining Frédéric Makowiecki and Earl Bamber in the #92. Bamber, who won the race last year, will be competing against his former co-driver Nick Tandy who will be in the #91 with Patrick Pilet and new recruit Kévin Estre.

This season, Porsche will be developing the successor to the current 911. Although the new LM GTE Pro were introduced on 1 January 2016, only Ford and Ferrari have designed their cars especially with the new specifications in mind. Corvette, Aston Martin and Porsche have adapted their old models to comply with the new rules.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO — Translated from French by Emma Paulay

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, LE MANS 24 HOURS, SATURDAY 13 JUNE 2015, RACE. In 2015, nine cars were invited to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, eight of which were on the starting grid. This year, there is a list of 14.