The Le Mans 24 Hours grid will increase to 60 entrants for June's 84th running of the event, with four Ford GTs set to compete in the GTE Pro class to mark the 50th anniversary of the American manufacturer's first Le Mans victory.
Race organiser the Automobile Club de l'Ouest published the entry list on Friday following a 2016 event press conference in which it confirmed the field would increase in size by an additional four entrants, two more than was originally proposed, after the ACO brought forward its pitlane expansion plans.
Ford's four GTs will run under the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing banner and will run numbers #66 through to #69 in recognition of their four consecutive victories between 1966 and 1969.
The cars will be driven by Marino Franchitti (#66), Olivier Pla (#67), Joey Hand (#68) and Ryan Briscoe (#69) – the latter two running the full-time WEC entrants.
The GTE Pro class will field 14 entrants in total, with Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari and Porsche running two cars apiece.
The LMP2 class has expanded to 22 cars, with Manor fielding an entry headed up by John Booth and Graeme Lowdon.
Meanwhile the LMP1 class is headed up by Audi, Porsche and Toyota, with each running a pair of cars. Both Audi and Porsche made a joint decision to drop its third entry as part of a plan to scale back its Le Mans participation in order to cut costs.
They're joined by privateer entries from Rebellion Racing and the ByKolles team.
2016 Le Mans Entry List in Full:
LMP1
Webber/Hartley/Bernhard GER Porsche 919 Hybrid
Jani/Dumas/Lieb GER Porsche 919 Hybrid
Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler GER Audi Sport Joest R18 e-tron
di Grassi/Duval/Jarvis GER Audi Sport Joest R18 e-tron
Davidson/Buemi/Nakajima JPN Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid
Sarrazin/Conway/Kobayashi JPN Toyota TS050 Hybrid
Trummer AUT CLM P1/01 AER
Heidfeld/Beche/Prost SUI Rebellion R-One – AER
Imperatori/Tuscher/Kraihamer SUI Rebellion R-One – AER
LMP2
Rusinov RUS G-Drive JOTA Oreca 05 Nissan
Dolan RUS G-Drive JOTA Oreca 05 Nissan
Gonzalez MEX RGR Sport by Morand Ligier JSP2 Nissan
Dalziel USA ESM Ligier JS P2 Nissan
Sharp USA ESM Ligier JS P2 Nissan
Leventis GBR Strakka Racing Gibson 01S Nissan
Krohn USA Krohn Racing JS P2 Nissan
Rojas GBR Greaves Motorsport JS P2 Nissan
Leutwiler SUI Race Performance Oreca 03 Judd
Murphy IRL Murphy Oreca 03 Nissan
Junjin PHI Eurasia Oreca 05 Nissan
Thiriet PHI Thiriet by TDS Oreca 05 Nissan
Matsuda HKG KCMG Oreca 05 Nissan
Schell GER Pegasus Morgan Nissan
Capillaire FRA SO24! Lombard Racing Ligier JSP2 Judd
Barthez FRA Panis Barthez Ligier JSP2 Nissan
Pew FRA Michael Shank Racing Ligier JSP2 Nissan
Graves GBR Manor Oreca 05 Nissan
Cheng CHN Baxi DC Racing Alpine A460 Nissan
Menezes FRA Signatech Alpine A460 Nissan
Minassian RUS SMP BR01 Nissan
Petrov RUS SMP BR01 Nissan
GTE Pro
Franchitti USA Chip Ganassi Ford GT
Pla USA Chip Ganassi Ford GT
Hand USA Chip Ganassi Ford GT
Briscoe USA Chip Ganassi Ford GT
Gavin USA Corvette Racing C7R
Magnussen USA Corvette Racing C7R
Fisichella USA Risi Ferrari 488
Bruni ITA AF CORSE Ferrari 488
Rigon ITA AF CORSE Ferrari 488
Makowiecki GER Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR
Pilet GER Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR
Thiim GBR Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin Vantage V8
Sorensen GBR Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin Vantage V8
Lietz GER Dempsey-Proton
GTE Am
Roda GER Proton Porsche 911 RSR
Laursen DEN Formula Ferrari 458 Italia
Sweedler USA Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia
Dermont FRA TDS Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Sun SIN Clearwater Ferrari 458 Italia
Chen TWN Team AAI Ferrari 458 Italia
Dalla Lana GBR Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage
Howard GBR Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage
Al Quabisi GER Abu Dhabi Proton Porsche 911 RSR
Reid HKG KCMG Porsche 911 RSR
Waintwright GBR Gulf Porsche 911 RSR
Cameron ITA AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia
Perrodo ITA AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia
Yamagishi FRA Larbre Chevrolet Corvette C7
Garage 56 (Prototype)
Sausset FRA Garage 56 Ligier
