On Friday afternoon (European time), the FIA World Endurance Championship officially launched the 2018-19 season with an announcement in Paris. The full-season entry list was revealed, containing 36 teams. However, the biggest news was the shift of the 6 Hours of Fuji up by one week to Oct. 14.
The Fuji move has been met with significant anger since many drivers that compete in the series also compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The Fuji move creates a direct clash with the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Olivier Pla, who races for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing WEC and Tequila Patron ESM, was not pleased with the move.
Many thanks @FIAWEC I can’t believe you did it… your lack of consideration and respect for the drivers who had a contrat with a team in IMSA to race in NAEC the same weekend are unbelievable. I’m sure I will be not the only one to be impressed with what you did ??
— Olivier Pla (@olivierpla) February 9, 2018
Ryan Dalziel, Pla’s teammate at Tequila Patron ESM, agreed with Pla’s tweet, claiming that the WEC has become a joke.
On the other hand, Fernando Alonso was overjoyed.
????????????! Awesome news!! ?????? pic.twitter.com/5bo64WlPBa
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) February 9, 2018
Alonso appears to be the primary reason why this move was made. On the original schedule that was released last year, Fuji was a direct clash with the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Also, Fuji Speedway is owned by Toyota directly and is the centerpiece of their racing exploits in Japan. The move allows Alonso to race full-time in 2018. 2019 will be up in the air until the 2019 Formula 1 schedule is released.
Pla is not the only driver whose plans for mid-October have now been thrown into limbo. Up to a dozen drivers on the full season entry list were planning to be at Road Atlanta to compete in the Motul Petit Le Mans. Rolex 24 at Daytona pole sitter Renger van der Zande and Mazda Team Joest’s Harry Tincknell, IMSA full-timers, are in that group.
2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship Full Season Entry List
| Class | Team | Drivers | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMP1 | 1 - REBELLION Racing | Neel Jani André Lotterer Bruno Senna | REBELLION R13-Gibson |
| LMP1 | 3 - REBELLION Racing | Mathias Beche Thomas Laurent Gustavo Menezes | REBELLION R13-Gibson |
| LMP1 | 4 - ByKolles Racing Team | Oliver Webb | ENSO CLM P1/01-NISMO |
| LMP1 | 5 - CEFC TRSM Racing | Charles Robertson | Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome |
| LMP1 | 6 - CEFE TRSM Racing | Oliver Rowland | Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome |
| LMP1 | 7 - Toyota GAZOO Racing | Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi José María López | Toyota TS050-Hybrid |
| LMP1 | 8 - Toyota GAZOO Racing | Fernando Alonso Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima | Toyota TS050-Hybrid |
| LMP1 | 10 - DragonSpeed | Pietro Fittipaldi Ben Hanley Henrik Hedman Renger van der Zande | BR Engineering BR1-Gibson |
| LMP1 | 11 - SMP Racing | Mikhail Aleshin Vitaly Petrov | BR Engineering BR1-AER |
| LMP1 | 17 - SMP Racing | Stéphane Sarrazin Matevos Isaakyan Egor Orudzhev | BR Engineering BR1-AER |
| LMP2 | 28 - TDS Racing | Loïc Duval François Perrodo Matthieu Vaxiviere | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 29 - Racing Team Nederland | Nyck de Vries Jan Lammers Giedo van der Garde Frits van Eerd | Dallara P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 31 - DragonSpeed | Nathanaël Berthon Anthony Davidson (post-Le Mans) Roberto González Pastor Maldonado | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 36 - Signatech Alpine Matmut | André Negrão Nicolas Lapierre Pierre Thiriet | Alpine A470-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 37 - Jackie Chan DC Racing JOTA | Jazeman Jaafar Weiron Tan Afiq Ikhwan Yazid Nabil Jeffri | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 38 - Jackie Chan DC Racing JOTA | Gabriel Aubry Ho-Pin Tung | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 50 - Larbre Competition | Erwin Creed Fernando Rees Romano Ricci | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| GTE-Pro | 51 - AF Corse | James Calado Alessandro Pier Guidi | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO |
| GTE-Am | 54 - Spirit of Race | Francesco Castellacci Giancarlo Fisichella Thomas Flöhr | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| GTE-Am | 56 - Team Project 1 | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey Egidio Perfetti | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Am | 61 - Clearwater Racing | Matt Griffin Weng Sun Mok Keita Sawa | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| GTE-Pro | 66 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing WEC | Billy Johnson Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla | Ford GT |
| GTE-Pro | 67 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing WEC | Tony Kanaan Andy Priaulx Harry Tincknell | Ford GT |
| GTE-Am | 70 - MR Racing | Olivier Beretta Eddie Cheever III Ishikawa Motoaki | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| GTE-Pro | 71 - AF Corse | Sam Bird Davide Rigon | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO |
| GTE-Am | 77 - Dempsey-Proton Racing | Matt Campbell Christian Ried | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Pro | 81 - BMW Team MTEK | Nicky Catsburg Philipp Eng Martin Tomczyk | BMW M8 GTE |
| GTE-Pro | 82 - BMW Team MTEK | Augusto Farfus Antonio Felix da Costa Alexander Sims | BMW M8 GTE |
| GTE-Am | 86 - Gulf Racing UK | Ben Barker Alex Davison Michael Wainwright | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Am | 88 - Dempsey-Proton Racing | Khaled Al-Qubaisi Matteo Cairoli Giorgio Roda | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Am | 90 - TF Sport | Charles Eastwood Euan Hankey Salih Yoluç | Aston Martin Vantage |
| GTE-Pro | 91 - Porsche GT Team | Gianmaria Bruni Richard Lietz Frédéric Makowiecki (Le Mans) | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Pro | 92 - Porsche GT Team | Michael Christensen Kevin Estre Laurens Vanthoor (Le Mans) | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Pro | 95 - Aston Martin Racing | Marco Sørensen Nicki Thiim Darren Turner | Aston Martin Vantage AMR |
| GTE-Pro | 97 - Aston Martin Racing | Jonny Adam Alex Lynn Maxime Martin | Aston Martin Vantage AMR |
| GTE-Am | 98 - Aston Martin Racing | Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda | Aston Martin Vantage |
On the entry list, there are 10 LMP1 cars declared for the full season, up from five in 2017 (only the four factory cars competed beyond the Nürburgring). Toyota is the only manufacturer in the class after Porsche pulled out. As previously announced, Alonso will drive the No. 8, replacing Anthony Davidson.
Toyota will be joined by the returning ByKolles Racing Team and newcomers. REBELLION Racing returns to the LMP1 class after a year away to field two ORECA-built REBELLION R13s. CEFC TRSM Racing (formerly CEFE Manor TRS Racing) moves up from LMP2 with two new Ginettas, while SMP Racing returns with two AER-powered BR Engineering chassis. DragonSpeed also moves up from the European Le Mans Series with a BR1 of their own with Gibson power.
LMP2 has full-time variety in 2018, a welcome change after running as a spec class for the vast majority of 2017 after Tockwith Motorsports’ withdrawal. DragonSpeed is running one of their ORECA 07-Gibsons in LMP2 in addition to the new LMP1 entry. Racing Team Nederland also switches from the ELMS to put their Dallara on the grid. Finally, Larbre Competition moves up to LMP2 after competing in GTE-Am as Corvette Racing’s primary customer in recent years.
GTE-Pro grows with the addition of the new two-car BMW Team MTEK. As BMW Team RLL showed in Daytona, it could be an uphill battle for the new BMW M8 GTEs. Aston Martin also debuts the new Aston Martin Vantage AMR as well.
GTE-Am grows from six teams to nine this season. Team Project 1, entered as a German squad, will run in cooperation with Park Place Motorsports. Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Lindsey, who have driven full-time for Park Place in the past, will be full-time in Team Project 1’s No. 56 Porsche. In addition, TF Sport’s Aston Martin is now full-time after competing at Le Mans last year. Finally, the Japan-based MR Racing has joined the grid with former F1 racer Olivier Beretta and Eddie Cheever III as part of the lineup.
24 Hours of Le Mans
For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the field will be expanded from 36 to 60 with the addition of teams from the ELMS and those who have earned spots in the race otherwise. Not everyone that earned automatic spots in the field will take their places, though.
The LMP1 class is unchanged. The same 10 cars that will contest the full 2018-19 season will compete at Le Mans.
LMP2 expands substantially. Only seven cars will compete full-time in the WEC. For Le Mans, that number will still be reduced from last year’s 25, but it will still constitute a healthy 20 entries.
For GTE-Pro, there will be 17 cars in the class. Both Ford and Porsche will field four cars each with their combined IMSA and WEC efforts. In addition, Corvette Racing will be back with their two Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs as well. AF Corse will enter a third Ferrari with Toni Vilander driving as well.
The GTE-Am class expands to 13 cars with notable additions. Riley Motorsports (racing as Keating Motorsports) earned their way into the race as a result of Ben Keating winning IMSA’s Bob Akin Award for the best GT amateur. He’ll drive a Ferrari 488 GTE.
EBIMOTORS has a Porsche entered in the race with Fabio Babini driving. Their spot was clinched by winning the Michelin Le Mans Cup’s GT3 championship last year with a Lamborghini. The same car raced in last year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. In addition, Proton Competition has entered a third Porsche with Patrick Long driving.
There is one notable absence from the entry list. That is JDC-Miller MotorSports. The Minnesota-based team earned an automatic entry into the race by virtue of Misha Goikhberg winning the Jim Trueman Award for best amateur in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Prototype class.
The team tried their darndest to put together a proper entry, but just couldn’t pull it off.
“After spending the past several months working towards participating in the event, the team regretfully informed IMSA, the ACO and their partners that some unexpected challenges came up late in the planning process,” the team stated in a press release. “The team was unable to finalize arrangements that would have allowed them to be as competitive as they required for running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year.”
In addition to the 60 cars with spots in the field, there are nine more reserve entries. Reserve entries can move up into the field if one of the teams ends up withdrawing from the race prior to scrutineering. One entry has already been drawn from the reserve pool as a result of JDC-Miller MotorSports being unable to attend.
The reserve entry teams come from a variety of backgrounds and would compete in either the LMP2 or GTE-Am classes. Most of them compete in the ELMS, but there are some exceptions. California-based Scuderia Corsa is No. 5 on the list with their Ferrari 488 GTE. IMSA regular Cooper MacNeil is listed as the team’s designated driver. In addition, BAR1 Motorsports’ Riley Mk. 30 is the ninth reserve entry with team owner Brian Alder as the driver.
2018 24 Hours of Le Mans Entry List
| Class | Team | Driver(s) | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMP1 | 1 - REBELLION Racing | Neel Jani André Lotterer Bruno Senna | REBELLION R13-Gibson |
| LMP1 | 3 - REBELLION Racing | Mathias Beche Thomas Laurent Gustavo Menezes | REBELLION R13-Gibson |
| LMP1 | 4 - ByKolles Racing Team | Oliver Webb | ENSO CLM P1/01-NISMO |
| LMP1 | 5 - CEFC TSRM Racing | Charles Robertson | Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome |
| LMP1 | 6 - CEFC TSRM Racing | Oliver Rowland | Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome |
| LMP1 | 7 - Toyota GAZOO Racing | Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi Jose Maria Lopez | Toyota TS050-Hybrid |
| LMP1 | 8 - Toyota GAZOO Racing | Fernando Alonso Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima | Toyota TS050-Hybrid |
| LMP1 | 10 - DragonSpeed | Ben Hanley Henrik Hedman Renger van der Zande | BR Engineering BR1-Gibson |
| LMP1 | 11 - SMP Racing | Mikhail Aleshin Vitaly Petrov | BR Engineering BR1-AER |
| LMP1 | 17 - SMP Racing | Stéphane Sarrazin Matevos Isaakyan Egor Orudzhev | BR Engineering BR1-AER |
| LMP2 | 22 - United Autosports | Filipe Albuquerque Paul Di Resta Phil Hanson | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 23 - Panis Barthez Competition | Timothé Buret | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 25 - Algarve Pro Racing | Ate De Jong Mark Patterson | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 26 - G-Drive Racing | Roman Rusinov Jean-Eric Vergne | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 28 - TDS Racing | Loïc Duval François Perrodo Matthieu Vaxivière | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 29 - Racing Team Nederland | Jan Lammers Giedo van der Garde Frits van Eerd | Dallara P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 31 - DragonSpeed | Roberto Gonzalez | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 32 - United Autosports | Juan Pablo Montoya Hugo de Sadeleer William Owen | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 33 - Jackie Chan DC Racing | David Cheng | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 34 - Jackie Chan DC Racing | Jacques Nicolet | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 35 - SMP Racing | Victor Shaitar | Dallara P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 36 - Signatech Alpine Matmut | André Negrão Nicolas Lapierre Pierre Thiriet | Alpine A470-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 37 - Jackie Chan DC Racing JOTA | Jazeman Jaafar | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 38 - Jackie Chan DC Racing JOTA | Ho-Pin Tung | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 39 - GRAFF Racing/SO24 | Vincent Capillaire | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 40 - G-Drive Racing | James Allen Enzo Guibbert José Gutierrez | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 44 - Eurasia Motorsport | Marko Asmer | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 47 - Cetilar Villorba Corse | Andrea Belicchi Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto | Dallara P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 48 - IDEC Sport | Paul-Loup Chatin Paul Lafargue | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| LMP2 | 50 - Larbre Competition | Erwin Creed Fernando Rees Romano Ricci | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| GTE-Pro | 51 - AF Corse | James Calado Alessandro Pier Guidi | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO |
| GTE-Pro | 52 - AF Corse | Toni Vilander | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO |
| GTE-Am | 54 - Spirit of Race | Francesco Castellacci Giancarlo Fisichella Thomas Flohr | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| GTE-Am | 56 - Team Project 1 | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey Egidio Perfetti | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Am | 61 - Clearwater Racing | Matt Griffin Weng Sun Mok Keita Sawa | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| GTE-Pro | 63 - Corvette Racing | Antonio Garcia Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| GTE-Pro | 64 - Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| GTE-Pro | 66 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing WEC | Billy Johnson Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla | Ford GT |
| GTE-Pro | 67 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing WEC | Tony Kanaan Andy Priaulx Harry Tincknell | Ford GT |
| GTE-Pro | 68 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing IMSA | Sébastien Bourdais Joey Hand Dirk Müller | Ford GT |
| GTE-Pro | 69 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing IMSA | Ryan Briscoe Scott Dixon Richard Westbrook | Ford GT |
| GTE-Am | 70 - MR Racing | Olivier Beretta Eddie Cheever III Ishikawa Motoaki | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| GTE-Pro | 71 - AF Corse | Sam Bird Davide Rigon | Ferrari 488 GTE EVO |
| GTE-Am | 77 - Dempsey-Proton Racing | Matteo Cairoli | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Am | 80 - EBIMOTORS | Fabio Babini Christina Nielsen | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Pro | 81 - BMW Team MTEK | Nicky Catsburg Philipp Eng Martin Tomczyk | BMW M8 GTE |
| GTE-Pro | 82 - BMW Team MTEK | Augusto Farfus Antonio Felix da Costa Alexander Sims | BMW M8 GTE |
| GTE-Am | 84 - JMW Motorsport | Liam Griffin | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| GTE-Am | 85 - Keating Motorsports | Ben Keating | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| GTE-Am | 86 - Gulf Racing UK | Michael Wainwright | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Am | 88 - Dempsey-Proton Racing | Matt Campbell | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Am | 90 - TF Sport | Charles Eastwood Euan Hankey Salih Yoluc | Aston Martin Vantage |
| GTE-Pro | 91 - Porsche GT Team | Gianmaria Bruni Richard Lietz Frédéric Makowiecki | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Pro | 92 - Porsche GT Team | Michael Christensen Kevin Estre Laurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Pro | 93 - Porsche GT Team | Earl Bamber Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Pro | 94 - Porsche GT Team | Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas Sven Müller | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GTE-Pro | 95 - Aston Martin Racing | Marco Sørensen Nicki Thiim | Aston Martin Vantage AMR |
| GTE-Pro | 97 - Aston Martin Racing | Alex Lynn Maxime Martin | Aston Martin Vantage AMR |
| GTE-Am | 98 - Aston Martin Racing | Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda | Aston Martin Vantage |
| GTE-Am | 99 - Proton Competition | Patrick Long | Porsche 911 RSR |
| Reserve Entry LMP2 | 41 - APM Monaco Team KCMG | Louis Prette | Dallara P217-Gibson |
| Reserve Entry GTE-Am | 55 - Spirit of Race | Duncan Cameron | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| Reserve Entry LMP2 | 49 - High Class Racing | Dennis Andersen Anders Fjordbach | Dallara P217-Gibson |
| Reserve Entry LMP2 | 24 - Repsol Racing Engineering | Norman Nato | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| Reserve Entry GTE-Am | 62 - Scuderia Corsa | Cooper MacNeil | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| Reserve Entry GTE-Am | 83 - Krohn Racing | Andrea Bertolini Nic Jonsson Tracy Krohn | Ferrari 488 GTE |
| Reserve Entry LMP2 | 27 - IDEC Sport | Patrice Lafargue | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| Reserve Entry LMP2 | 43 - ARC Bratislava | Miroslav Konopka | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| Reserve Entry LMP2 | 42 - BAR1 Motorsports | Brian Alder | Riley Mk. 30-Gibson |
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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