Recently, IMSA released the official entry list for Saturday’s 19th Annual Petit Le Mans presented by Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort (Note: This resort/presenting sponsor is located in Cherokee, N.C., approximately 119 miles away from the track). Â Officially, 41 cars are listed. Â However, 37 will show up.
With Saturday’s race being ten hours in length, the vast majority of the teams have brought in third drivers to fill out their driving lineups. Â Also, there are a couple of teams that have not run all the races that are back as well. Â The most notable example of this is Tequila Patron ESM, who has entered their No. 2 Ligier JS P2-HPD with the lineup of team owner Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek and Pipo Derani. Â Other third drivers in the Prototype ranks include Andy Meyrick, Filipe Albuquerque, Max Angelelli, Verizon IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud, and more.
Prototype Challenge is down to seven entries on the list, but it is really six since CORE autosport has withdrawn their No. 54 from the series in order to prepare for their full-time schedule in GT Daytona with a Porsche 911 GT3 R in 2017. Â Expect the class to be relatively lean in 2017 as the class is gradually phased out. Â Multiple teams have already announced plans outside of PC for next season, while others are still in the planning stages.
GT Le Mans is back up to ten entries with Scuderia Corsa bringing their No. 68 Ferrari 488 GTE out to play. Â Of note, yes, it has been on the entry list for every race this season as it is considered a full-season entry, but it is a part-time team.
Finally, GT Daytona looks to have a season-low 12 entries take the track. Â 15 are listed, but that includes Alex Job Racing‘s No. 22, which has already withdrawn for the season. Â It also includes Change Racing‘s No. 11, which hasn’t raced since the Spring and Black Swan Racing‘s No. 540, which was parked after Tim Pappas‘ father died. Â The team is getting back to the track, but it will be in next weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
2016 Petit Le Mans presented by Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort Entry List
| Number | Class | Drivers | Team | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Prototype | Katherine Legge Andy Meyrick Sean Rayhall | Panoz DeltaWing Racing | DeltaWing DWC13-Elan |
| 2 | Prototype | Pipo Derani Scott Sharp Johannes van Overbeek | Tequila Patron ESM | Ligier JS P2-HPD |
| 3 | GT Le Mans | Antonio Garcia Jan Magnussen Mike Rockenfeller | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| 4 | GT Le Mans | Marcel Fässler Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| 5 | Prototype | Filipe Albuquerque Jõao Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi | Action Express Racing | Chevrolet Corvette DP |
| 6 | GT Daytona | Andrew Davis Robin Liddell Mike Skeen | Stevenson Motorsports | Audi R8 LMS GT3 |
| 7 | Prototype Challenge | Stefano Coletti James Dayson Quinlan Lall | Starworks Motorsport | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| 8 | Prototype Challenge | David Heinemeier Hansson Alex Popow Renger van der Zande | Starworks Motorsport | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| 9 | GT Daytona | Lawson Aschenbach Matt Bell Dion von Moltke | Stevenson Motorsports | Audi R8 LMS GT3 |
| 10 | Prototype | Max Angelelli Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor | Wayne Taylor Racing | Chevrolet Corvette DP |
| 16 | GT Daytona | Richard Antinucci Corey Lewis Spencer Pumpelly | Change Racing | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 20 | Prototype Challenge | Tomy Drissi Johnny Mowlem Don Yount | BAR1 Motorsports | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| 23 | GT Daytona | Mario Farnbacher Ian James Alex Riberas | Alex Job Racing-Team Seattle | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| 25 | GT Le Mans | Bill Auberlen Augusto Farfus Dirk Werner | BMW Team RLL | BMW M6 GTLM |
| 27 | GT Daytona | Larry DeGeorge Paolo Ruberti Cedric Sbirrazzuoli | Dream Racing | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 31 | Prototype | Dane Cameron Eric Curran Simon Pagenaud | Action Express Racing | Chevrolet Corvette DP |
| 33 | GT Daytona | Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating Marc Miller | Riley Motorsports | Dodge Viper GT3-R |
| 38 | Prototype Challenge | James French Kenton Koch Kyle Marcelli | Performance Tech Motorsports | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| 44 | GT Daytona | Andy Lally John Potter Marco Seefried | Magnus Racing | Audi R8 LMS GT3 |
| 48 | GT Daytona | Bryce Miller Bryan Sellers Madison Snow | Paul Miller Racing | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| 52 | Prototype Challenge | Robert Alon José Gutierrez Tom Kimber-Smith | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| 55 | Prototype | Jonathan Bomarito Tristan Nunez Spencer Pigot | Mazda Motorsports | Lola B11/86 (Mazda) |
| 60 | Prototype | Oswaldo Negri, Jr. John Pew Olivier Pla | Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Ligier JS P2-HPD |
| 62 | GT Le Mans | James Calado Giancarlo Fisichella Toni Vilander | Risi Competizione | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| 63 | GT Daytona | Alessandro Balzan Christina Nielsen Jeff Segal | Scuderia Corsa | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| 66 | GT Le Mans | Sebastien Bourdais Joey Hand Dirk Müller | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Ford GT |
| 67 | GT Le Mans | Ryan Briscoe Scott Dixon Richard Westbrook | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Ford GT |
| 68 | GT Le Mans | Andrea Bertolini Alessandro Pier Guidi Daniel Serra | Scuderia Corsa | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| 70 | Prototype | Tom Long Joel Miller Spencer Pigot | Mazda Motorsports | Lola B11/86 (Mazda) |
| 73 | GT Daytona | Jörg Bergmeister Matthew McMurry Patrick Lindsey | Park Place Motorsports | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| 85 | Prototype Challenge | Misha Goikhberg Chris Miller Stephen Simpson | JDC/Miller MotorSports | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| 88 | Prototype Challenge | Richard Bradley Maxwell Hanratty Mark Kvamme | Starworks Motorsport | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| 90 | Prototype | Ryan Dalziel Marc Goossens Ryan Hunter-Reay | VisitFlorida.com Racing | Chevrolet Corvette DP |
| 96 | GT Daytona | Bret Curtis Ashley Freiberg Jens Klingmann | Turner Motorsport | BMW M6 GT3 |
| 97 | GT Daytona | Michael Marsal Markus Palttala | Turner Motorsport | BMW M6 GT3 |
| 100 | GT Le Mans | John Edwards Lucas Luhr Kuno Wittmer | BMW Team RLL | BMW M6 GTLM |
| 911 | GT Le Mans | Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy | Porsche North America | Porsche 911 RSR |
| 912 | GT Le Mans | Earl Bamber Frédéric Makowiecki | Porsche North America | Porsche 911 RSR |
Withdrawn:
No. 11 – Change Racing
No. 22- Alex Job Racing
No. 54- CORE autosport
No. 540 – Black Swan Racing
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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Good article. Would be nice if you would list a qualifying chart.