A 38-car entry list for Round 3 of the FIA WEC season at Spa-Francorchamps on the last weekend of April has been revealed. It includes a boosted Hypercar grid of 13 cars for the six-hour Le Mans “dress rehearsal.”
The top class field will increase by two from the 11 that raced at Sebring and are set to compete in Round 2 at Portimao on April 16. The new entries come from Cadillac Racing and Hertz Team JOTA, which will bring an additional V-Series.R and Porsche 963 to the hotly contested category.
For Cadillac, entering its gold-liveried V-Series.R that competes in IMSA full-time serves as part of the preparations for the car’s Le Mans debut in June. At La Sarthe both Ganassi-run Cadillacs will take the start, joined by the Sebring 12 Hours-winning Action Express example, which also runs full-time in IMSA and will make a three-pronged effort for the GM brand.
The 6 Hours of Spa will be the second time that both Cadillac Racing V-Series.Rs have competed together, as both cars took part at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the car’s global race debut.
“We are looking forward to the first WEC race where both of our Cadillac Hypercars will be participating,” said Mike O’Gara, director of operations for Chip Ganassi Racing. “Cadillac and Chip Ganassi Racing believe that we are stronger when we race multiple cars on any given race weekend. The Spa event will serve as a much-needed dress rehearsal for the Le Mans 24-hour race. It will be a great opportunity for our ‘IMSA regulars’ to be immersed in the WEC rules and race procedures in anticipation of the big event in June.”
Driving the No. 3 Cadillac will be full-season IMSA pair Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande.
Hertz Team JOTA’s No. 38 963, meanwhile, was previously announced to be making its debut at Spa back at the British outfit’s car reveal in London. Antonio Felix da Costa, Will Stevens and Yifei Ye are due to compete as a trio from Round 3 onwards in the team’s new car.
As expected, the addition of JOTA’s Hypercar entry to the WEC grid means its LMP2 effort has been reduced to a single car — the No. 28 of David Heinemeier Hansson, Pietro Fittipaldi and Oliver Rasmussen. However, JOTA will compete in Portimao with its two LMP2 ORECAs prior to the race at Spa, with da Costa competing on home soil in the seat filled by Stevens at Sebring, where the No. 48 took a dramatic class win.
The only other change in the Hypercar class is at Glickenhaus, where Romain Dumas and Olivier Pla are listed as a pair in the No. 708 007, with the third driver a TBA. At Sebring Ryan Briscoe was part of the team’s lineup.
Elsewhere on the 38-car entry, in GTE Am there is only one notable change. In the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari, Diego Alessi will drive in the seat filled by Stefano Constantini at Sebring. He will race alongside Simon Mann and Ulysse de Pauw.
The FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa is set to get underway on April 29.