The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the biggest events in the motorsport world and logically attracts a globally diverse set of teams and drivers.
A not insignificant numbers of these teams and drivers find their home in the premier American sportscar racing series: the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship
Want to know which IMSA drivers are active at Le Mans this weekend? MotorsportWeek.com takes a closer look.
Hypercar
Several drivers racing in Hypercar at Le Mans are also actively involved in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.
Aboard Glickenhaus’ #708 007 LMH, team-mates Pipo Derani and Olivier Pla are usually rivals, racing for Whelen Engineering and Meyer Shank Racing respectively.
Aside from those two full-time drivers, Toyota’s #7 drivers Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi have made appearances at some of the Michelin Endurance Cup events this season.
Conway joined Derani aboard the #31 Whelen Cadillac while Kamui Kobayashi has been one to watch aboard the #48 Action Express-operated Ally Cadillac Racing entry that raced at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen.
LMP2
The amount of drivers and teams in LMP2 that also see action on the other side of the Atlantic is almost too numerous to name.
IDEC Sport’s #17 ORECA 07-Gibson is connected to IMSA LMP2 outfit Era Motorsport, with recent Road America class winners Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel in the line-up.
Other teams involved in IMSA are PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (making their Le Mans debut), United Autosports and long time sportscar stalwarts Risi Competizione.
The list of drivers, however, is even more impressive. IMSA’s DPi ranks are particularly well-represented at Le Mans. Wayne Taylor Racing’s Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque are racing for United Autosports and High Class Racing.
Over on the Cadillac side, Kevin Magnussen makes his Le Mans debut, also with High Class Racing, Renger van der Zande is racing with Inter Europol Competition and Whelen Engineering’s Felipe Nasr is at Risi Competizione alongside Mazda ace Oliver Jarvis. Loic Duval, meanwhile, is competing with Realteam Racing.
Furthermore, Patrick Kelly, Gabriel Aubry and Simon Trummer form PR1/Mathiasen’s debut line-up and Racing Team Nederland, popular newcomers at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, look a strong contender for LMP2 Pro/Am honours.
Similarly, High Class Racing also raced in Daytona earlier this year, with Team WRT duo Robert Kubica and Ferdinand Habsburg in its ranks.
GTE Pro
Of course, the foremost torchbearer for IMSA competition in this year’s GTE Pro ranks at Le Mans is Corvette Racing.
The team was absent in 2020, but is back to give the C8.R its debut at La Sarthe. It has brought its full IMSA line-up to France, with Jordan Taylor, Antonio Garcia and Nick Catsburg in the #63 car and Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims in the #64.
Their biggest competition during this year’s full IMSA campaign, WeatherTech Racing, are also present in GTE Pro. Cooper MacNeil, recent winner in Road America, is joined aboard the #79 Proton Competition-operated Porsche 911 RSR-19 by 2019 GTLM champions Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor, collectively known as MacBamThor.
GTE Am
Ben Keating, LMP2 ace with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in the United States, is one of the drivers that is competing in GTE Am. He’s part of TF Sport’s #33 Aston Martin Vantage AMR.
His IMSA team-mate, Mikkel Jensen, is a rival in GTE Am as part of the very brightly coloured #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
Meanwhile, GTD points leader Robby Foley has found himself a late seat alongside Dennis Olsen and Anders Buchardt aboard the #46 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19.
Cetilar Racing, who took part at Daytona this January with a Dallara P217-Gibson, have since transitioned to one of the top GTE Am teams in the World Endurance Championship.
Matt Campbell, who recently partnered Cooper MacNeil in their victorious effort at Road America, is a regular at Dempsey-Proton Racing.
Finally, Ross Gunn, race winner in GTD with Heart of Racing, has joined TF Sport’s #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR and Harry Tincknell, Watkins Glen 6H winner with Mazda, joins Proton Competition’s #99 Porsche.
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