Of the 12 drivers who mounted the top step of the podium at last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours – overall, plus class winners in LMP2, LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am – a full 10 will be back at La Sarthe to take part in the race on 18/19 June, round three of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The winning line up from Porsche Team of Nico Hulkenberg, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber is no more, for multiple reasons. The German F1 driver will undoubtedly be watching the race avidly from the Azerbaijan capital of Baku, while both Tandy and Bamber will be racing for Porsche Motorsport in the LMGTEPro category. Briton Tandy will be in the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR and New Zealander Bamber will be racing against his former team mate in the No.92 entry.
In LMP2 the British duo of Matt Howson and Richard Bradley will be reunited for Hong Kong-based team KCMG in the no.47 ORECA 05 Nissan, but their French team mate from last year – Nicolas Lapierre – will be competing against them with WEC full season entrant Signatech Alpine. The WEC 6 Hours of Spa winner will be in the No.36 Alpine A460.
While Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor is the only line up of winners 100% identical to last year, they were not the maximum points scorers in the classification for GT drivers as they are not full season WEC entrants.
That honour went to the winners of the LMGTEAm category – SMP Racing’s Alexsey Basov, Andrea Bertolini and Victor Shaytar. Basov is the second driver of the 12 not featured on the 2016 entry list, while hugely experienced Italian Bertolini has been drafted into AF Corse’s line up in the No.71 Ferrari 488 GTE (LMGTE Pro). The second of the Russians to have won in 2015, Shaytar, will be competing in LMP2 for SMP Racing in the No.37 BR01.
Taking top WEC honours in LMGTE Pro last year was the No.71 AF Corse car which was driven by Italian Davide Rigon and Briton James Calado through the 2015 season. They will both be fighting for the top spot again this year but against each other as Calado has moved across to the No.51 entry.
