Their aim on the undulating layout in the Belgian Ardennes will be to score the best possible result while preparing cars, drivers and engineers for the blue-riband rendezvous in the Sarthe.

Some teams will arrive with the driver line-ups foreseen for Le Mans. In the LM P1 category (nine entries) Audi and Porsche have entered a third car for Felipe Albuquerque - Marco Bonanomi - René Rast and Earl Bamber - Nico Hulkenberg - Nick Tandy respectively. The performance of Hulkenberg, the young German F1 driver with the Force India team, who will be at the wheel of the Porsche 919 Hybrid in which he will be making his debut in endurance, will be watched with particular interest.

As Rebellion Racing will not be making its competition debut until Le Mans, the only privateer LM P1 is the CLM P1/O1 AER entered by the Team Bykolles squad.

The field in the LM P2 category in the WEC will be boosted with the arrival of British team Jota Sport, victorious in the category in the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours, and a regular in the European Le Mans Series. Note the presence at the wheel of the no. 47 KCMG Oreca-Nissan of Nicolas Lapierre, winner of the Spa 6 Hours in 2014 at the wheel of a Toyota: he replaces Nick Tandy called up by Porsche.

Swiss team SARD Morand will make its debut in this year’s world championship in Belgium with a Morgan Evo SARD, while the American outfit, Extreme Motorsports, will give their Ligier chassis powered by the Honda HPD engine their first outing.

In LM GTE Pro (7 entries) Ferrari, victorious at Silverstone, is hoping to make it two on the trot on a circuit that suits the AF Corse-run works 458s down to the ground. Porsche has tweaked its driver line-ups in the 911 RSRs because of a clash on the sporting calendar. Frédéric Makowiecki and Richard Lietz will team up in no. 92, while no. 91 will be driven by German Sven Muller and Frenchman, Kevin Estre, both of whom have been given a great opportunity to impress.

Aston Martin Racing has again entered three Vantage V8s. Note the arrival of Rob Bell in no. 97 to help him prepare for Le Mans with Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner.

And in LM GTE Am there are eight cars as the no. 55 Ferrari of AF Corse (Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin, Alexander Mortimer) has joined the seven cars entered for the year. A few days after his spectacular and highly-pubilicised exit from the series Grey’s Anatomy, Patrick Dempsey in the no. 97 Porsche will be the object of close media attention in Belgium.

A reminder: Audi triumphed in LM P1 in the first race of the season (Silverstone 12th April) thanks to the 3-time Le Mans winning trio of Benoît Tréluyer-Marcel Fässler-André Lotterer. In LM P2 victory went to the Ligier JS P2 driven by Roman Rusinov, Julien Canal and Sam Bird (G-Drive Racing). In LM GTE Pro the Ferrari 458 Italia of Gianmaria Bruni-Toni Vilander (AF Corse) came home first, and in LM GTE Am the Paul Dalla-Lana-Pedro Lamy-Mathias Lauda Aston Martin Vantage V8 entered by Aston Martin Racing came out on top.

While the Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours is the big rehearsal for the Le Mans 24 Hours, the latter event poses its own particular challenges and often throws up a result that’s very different to the one in the Belgian Ardennes.

In 2014, for example, Toyota won in Belgium only to be beaten by Audi at Le Mans. G-Drive Racing dominated the LM P2 category but retired in the Sarthe where victory went to Jota Sport. At Spa AF Corse and Ferrari clinched the only win in LM GTE that escaped Aston Martin. Only Bruni and Vilander (AF Corse Ferrari) came out on top in LM GTE Pro in both Belgium and France. Thus Le Mans retains its specific character. In what looks like a thriller on Saturday the capricious weather in the Ardennes could play a major role in deciding the outcome.

The start of the race will be given at 14h30 on 2nd May with qualifying taking part the previous day (1st May) between 18h00 and 19h00.

On 13-14 June the 34 cars in the Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours will arrive at Le Mans and join up with the other 22 entries to form the grid for the 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours. 

List of entries for the Spa-Francorchamps WEC event

Timetable

Practical information
The 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours
83rd running
3rd round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship
 

Dates : 13-14 June 2015

General enclosure ticket price: 56,25 euros (ACO members) 75 euros (non ACO members).

Free for young people born after 14th June 1999 accompanied by an adult.

Test day: Sunday 31st May 2015.

Scrutineering and administrative checks: Sunday 7th and Monday 8th June 2015.

Free practice and qualifying: Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th June 2015.

Start of the 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours: Saturday 13th June 2015 at 15h00.