The season kicks off on the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit

The cars in the Le Mans Series will be back on the track after a 5-month winter break. During the official test session on the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit on 11th-12th March, the Prototypes and GTEs entered for the eighth Le Mans Series will be able to measure themselves against one another. This year, the tests are even more important than usual because of the major changes in the regulations in LMP1, LMP2, FLM and GTE with the arrival of two new categories, LMGTE Am and LMGTE Pro. Twentyseven cars will take part in the first tests of the year on the circuit that will host the first round of the championship, the Le Castellet 6 Hours, from 1st to 3rd April.

In LMP1, four cars will be in action on the circuit in the Var. The Swiss squad Rebellion Racing will run two Lola B10/60s with Toyota engines and Michelin tyres. Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani will again drive car no. 12 with Jeroen Bleekemolen as backup, while Andrea Bellichi and Jean-Christophe Boullion will be joined by Guy Smith in no. 13. Back again after a year’s absence is the Pescarolo outfit run by the man who holds the record for the number of Le Mans participations. Pesca’s team will be represented by an LM P1 Pescarolo-Judd and three drivers, Christophe Tinseau, Emmanuel Collard and Julien Jousse. The fourth LM P1 car present will be the Quifel-ASM Zytek 09SC with Dunlop tyres entrusted to Miguel Amaral and Olivier Pla.

There will be six LMP2s in the Var for the tests on 11th-12th March. RML will bring along its HPD ARX-01d tweaked by Honda Performance Development and Wirth Research. Two Oreca 03s prepared by the eponymous company based in Signes, a stone’s throw from the circuit, will also be put through their paces. The Race Performance entry has Judd power while the TDS Racing squad has installed a Nissan engine in its Oreca 03 chassis. Argentinean team Pecom Racing has entered a Lola B11/40 with a Judd engine, which will also power the RLR Sport MG Lola EX265 and the Norma M200P of Extreme Limit AM Paris.

The best-represented category is LMGTE Pro with seven cars. There are three Porsche 997s entered by Prospeed Competition and Felbermayr Proton both continuing their association with the Stuttgart company, and three Ferraris, two F458 Italias and one F430 GT plus two Aston Martin Vantages. AF Corse will bring along a Ferrari F458 Italia for former F1 driver, Giancarlo Fisichella. The F430 GT will be run by Farnbacher Racing. The two Aston Martins are entered by Young Driver AMR and Jota Racing respectively.

In LMGTE Am open to gentlemen drivers Ferrari is well represented with four F430 GTs, two for AF Corse, and one each for CRS Racing and Kessel Racing. IMSA Performance Matmut has entered its Porsche 997.

The Formula Le Mans will also take to the track during the two days’ testing. Five of the FLM-Oreca 09s will be present entered by Hope Racing, Neil Garner Motorsport, Pegasus Racing and JMB Racing with two.