The championship organizers have already announced the selection of three rookies who competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June: British driver Sam Bird (third in LM P2) and New Zealander Richie Stanaway (sixth in LM GTE Pro) and Mitch Evans (second in LM P2) will take the wheel, respectively, of the Toyota TS040 Hybrid, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro and the Porsche 919 Hybrid.

The manufacturers have the ability to choose other drivers and teams from the other classes are also invited to give up-and-comers an opportunity, that is why the guest list has expanded. The names of some confirmed drivers may be surprising, but their times will serve as reference points to the young drivers so they can tweak their performances. The task will fall to Benoît Tréluyer for Audi, who will give Richie Stanaway and Mike Conway their chance for Toyota, who will also test Alex Lynn, currently in the GP2 Series and whose father, Shaun, took the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari in 2011 (retired).

Though no official Porsche drivers will take part in the Middle East, Timo Bernhard took on the role during the test session organized last week in Barcelona for the German marque, winner at Le Mans this year, therefore, Mitch Evans will already know what to expect. As for Juan Pablo Montoya, though a rookie in endurance, his experience in F1, NASCAR and the IndyCar Series speaks for itself.

Team ByKOLLES will be the only private LM P1 outfit to participate in the session, but no less than three LM P2 outfits will take part. Signatech Alpine will test Matthew Rao, present in British F3 in 2014, and Paul-Loup Chatin will handle his training. On the other hand, no representation for Strakka Racing, who will debut Lewis Williamson, a Formula Renault 3.5 regular, and Tio Ellinas, from the GP3 Series. Lastly, AF Racing, formerly SMP Racing, will go with Julian Leal Covelli, title-holder in the GP2 Series, and Memo Rojas, three-time winner at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

In LM GTE Pro, Porsche and Aston Martin will be hard at work. The German manufacturer will utilize official drivers Richard Lietz and Patrick Pilet, heavily involved in their employer's development program, as reference points for Philipp Eng, two-time winner of the German Porsche Carrera Cup, and to Nick Catsburg, seen in GT with Marc VDS Racing.

Darren Turner, whose training skills are well-established, will call upon his experience with Aston Martin as will Marco Sørensen, to train Ross Gunn, Jamie Chadwick, Jody Fannin, Dan Lloyd, Devon Modell and Jonny Adam.

Two sessions will be on the program Sunday, November 22nd in Bahrain: from 10:00 a.m. to noon and from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., local times.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

PHOTO : LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, MONDAY JUNE 8 2015, SCRUTINEERING. Richie Stanaway was a member of the Aston Martin armada at the last 24 Hours of Le Mans.