24 Heures du Mans 2014 - Just a week to go!

The 82nd Le Mans 24 Hours will take place on 14-15 June 2014. On Thursday 6th February the Automobile Club de l’Ouest’s Selection Committee met to decide the 55 places on the grid, as the 56th is already allocated to the Nissan ZEOD RC. The list of entrants selected will be announced on Thursday 13th February in Paris in the George V-Eurosites.

The selection process for the Le Mans 24 Hours is a long and meticulous one spread over several major rendezvous.

- At the end of the 2013 season, which closed on 8th December after the Sepang 3 Hours the final round of the Asian Le Mans Series, the names of 12 teams invited to take part were known thanks to their results in the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours, the American Le Mans Series, the Asian Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Series. This represented 13 cars as the OAK Racing team had clinched two invitations. Concerning these invitations they cannot be granted unless the car is also entered in one of the Le Mans Continental Series including the Tudor United SportsCar Championship that has replaced the American Le Mans Series in North America.

- The opening date for entries to be sent to the Automobile Club de l’Ouest for the Le Mans 24 Hours, the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series was 19th December 2013.

- The closing date was fixed at 30th January 2014 at midnight.

- On the evening of 6th February the Selection Committee met under the presidency of the ACO President Pierre Fillon to draw up the list of the teams invited: the 55 cars taking part in the race plus the 10 reserves on hand to fill any withdrawal of the original selections. Since yesterday evening the Automobile Club de l’Ouest’s Sports Management has had a final look at the entries before validating them.

- On 13th February 2014 the field for the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours, the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series will be announced during a press conference starting at 15h00 in the George V-Eurosites. The conference will be broadcast in live streaming on the site www.24h-lemans.com thanks to collaboration with Michelin.

Just one piece of confidential information has filtered through from the deliberations of the Selection Committee, the blue riband prototype category, LM P1, which now has a new revolutionary set of technical regulations, associated with the LM P2s plus the 56th garage represents 50 per cent of the field with 28 cars and 28 car also in LM GTE Pro and Am.

So just six days to go for the entrants! Already a 56th car is assured of its place: the Nissan ZEOD RC. This prototype has been given an invitation in the context of the 56th garage, which is allotted to a car designed around an innovative technological project. The vehicle can take part in practice and the race provided it meets the safety and performance minima fixed by the ACO, but runs outside the overall classification. Above all, the Nissan ZEOD RC will serve as a test-bed for the Franco-Japanese manufacturer in the context of its entry in LM P1 in 2015!

A.C.O.