Le Mans 24 Hours entry list announcement delayed

Publication of the full 62-car entry for the double-points round of the FIA World Endurance Championship on June 11-12 had been due on Monday, but race organiser the Automobile Club de l’Ouest has announced a delay for what it described as “administrative reasons”.   

It said in a short statement on its Twitter feed that the entry will now be released “later this week”. 

It is unclear if the move is linked to either Peugeot’s decision not to take part in the race with its new 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar or to the participation of Russian entrant G-Drive Racing, which has a full-season LMP2 WEC entry and had filed an entry for a second Oreca 07-Gibson that will compete in the European Le Mans Series this year. 

The G-Drive WEC entry has been made under the flag of the Russian Automobile Federation, but the publication of the Le Mans entry was due just days after the country’s Formula 1 grand prix set for Sochi in September was cancelled in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Soccer governing body FIFA, however, has announced that it will allow the Russian national team to continue its qualification campaign for the this winter’s World Cup in Qatar. 

The entry for the 90th edition of Le Mans will include the full WEC grid minus the two Peugeots, which will account for 37 of the 62 slots.

It is expected that a second Glickenhaus 007 LMH will bolster the field in the top Hypercar class to five cars as last year. 

It can also be taken as read that Chevrolet will gain an entry for a second Corvette C8.R alongside the car it will run full time in the WEC this season. 

There are a total of 14 guaranteed entries for the race gained by teams on the basis of their results in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the European and Asian Le Mans Series.

The Belgian WRT LMP2 squad has already announced that it will be taking up one of its two automatic spots with a third Oreca entered alongside its two full-season WEC cars.