WEC reveals 28-car entry list for 2017
The FIA World Endurance Championship has revealed a 28-car entry list for the 2017 season.
Photo by: Vision Sport Agency
The list was unveiled during the annual ACO press conference held in Le Mans, along with the entry lists for the Le Mans 24 Hours and European Le Mans Series.
As expected, the LMP1 division consists of just five cars for the full-season following Audi's withdrawal from the championship and Rebellion Racing's move down to LMP2.
Two Porsche 919 Hybrids, two Toyota TS050 Hybrids and a sole ByKolles CLM - to be driven by Robert Kubica - make up the class entry, with a third car from Toyota joining for Spa and Le Mans only.
The new-look LMP2 class remains stable at 10 cars, all of them Oreca 07s - albeit with two rebadged as Alpine A470s by defending class champion Signatech Alpine.
As well as previously-confirmed efforts from Rebellion, TDS Racing and DC Racing (now in partnership with Jota Sport), Manor's return is confirmed with a two-car entry, entered under the 'CEFC Manor TRS Racing' banner in deference to new sponsor CEFC China Energy.
Tor Graves and Roberto Gonzalez are the team's nominated drivers, while the entry list also confirms Stephane Richelmi's return at Signatech, albeit no longer alongside fellow reigning champions Nicolas Lapierre and Gustavo Menezes.
Bruni in doubt at Ferrari
The GTE Pro entry is up by one to eight for 2017, thanks to the return of Porsche with a full two-car works entry alongside rivals Ferrari, Ford and Aston Martin.
Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen, who were teammates in the semi-works Dempsey-Proton entry last year, are split apart as the nominated drivers for cars 91 and 92 respectively.
Frederic Makowiecki has already been confirmed as a Porsche WEC driver, although it remains unclear who he will partner, while the identity of the fourth driver has also yet to be confirmed.
This is partly down to Gianmaria Bruni, who is believed to be locked in a legal battle with Ferrari to escape his commitments with the Italian marque in order to join the Porsche camp.
Bruni's name is notably absent from the provisional entry list, with 2016 teammate James Calado the nominated entry in the #51 car, and it remains possible the ex-Minardi F1 driver may be forced to sit out the season entirely.
Elsewhere, Pipo Derani joins Ford as the third driver for the #67 car at Silverstone, Spa and Le Mans, with Billy Johnson reprising a similar role in the sister #66 machine.
The GTE Am entry is down by one to six cars, with Larbre Competition and KCMG exiting the series and Proton Competition scaling back to a single Porsche 911 RSR.
Bolstering the entry are two Ferrari 488 GTEs from Spirit of Race and Clearwater Racing, which join returnees Aston Martin, Gulf Racing and the remaining Proton Porsche.
Entry list:
N° | Team | Car | Confirmed drivers |
LMP1 - 5 cars |
|||
1 | Porsche Team | Porsche 919 Hybrid |
Neel Jani Andre Lotterer Nick Tandy |
2 | Porsche Team | Porsche 919 Hybrid | Brendon Hartley Timo Bernhard Earl Bamber |
4 | ByKolles Racing Team | CLM P1/01-Nissan |
Robert Kubica Oliver Webb TBA |
7 | Toyota Racing | Toyota TS050 Hybrid |
Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi Jose Maria Lopez |
8 | Toyota Racing | Toyota TS050 Hybrid |
Anthony Davidson |
LMP2 - 10 cars |
|||
13 | Vaillante Rebellion | Oreca 07-Gibson |
Nelson Piquet Mathias Beche David Heinemeier Hansson |
24 | CEFC Manor TRS Racing | Oreca 07-Gibson |
Tor Graves TBA TBA |
25 | CEFC Manor TRS Racing | Oreca 07-Gibson |
Roberto Gonzalez TBA TBA |
26 | G-Drive Racing | Oreca 07-Gibson |
Roman Rusinov Pierre Thiriet TBA |
28 | TDS Racing | Oreca 07-Gibson |
Emmanuel Collard Francois Perrodo Matthieu Vaxiviere |
31 | Vaillante Rebellion | Oreca 07-Gibson |
Nicolas Prost Bruno Senna Julien Canal |
35 | Signatech Alpine | Alpine A470-Gibson |
Stephane Richelmi TBA TBA |
36 | Signatech Alpine | Alpine A470-Gibson |
Nicolas Lapierre TBA TBA |
37 | Jackie Chan DC Racing | Oreca 07-Gibson |
Ho-Pin Tung TBA TBA |
38 | Jackie Chan DC Racing | Oreca 07-Gibson |
David Cheng TBA TBA |
LMGTE Pro - 8 cars |
|||
51 | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE |
James Calado TBA |
66 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Ford GT |
Stefan Mucke Olivier Pla Billy Johnson* |
67 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Ford GT |
Andy Priaulx Harry Tincknell Pipo Derani* |
71 | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE |
Davide Rigon Sam Bird |
91 | Porsche GT Team | Porsche 911 RSR |
Richard Lietz TBA |
92 | Porsche GT Team | Porsche 911 RSR |
Michael Christensen TBA |
95 | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin Vantage GTE |
Nicki Thiim Marco Sorensen |
97 | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin Vantage GTE |
Darren Turner Jonny Adam |
LMGTE Am - 5 cars |
|||
54 | Spirit of Race | Ferrari 488 GTE |
Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci TBA |
61 | Clearwater Racing | Ferrari 488 GTE |
Matt Griffin Keita Sawa Weng Sun Mok |
77 | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Porsche 911 RSR |
Christian Ried TBA TBA |
86 | Gulf Racing | Porsche 911 RSR |
Mike Wainwright TBA TBA |
98 | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin Vantage GTE |
Paul Dalla Lana Mathias Lauda Pedro Lamy |
* - first three races (Silverstone, Spa, Le Mans) only
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