Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta’s pit lane will be filled to capacity for the Motul Petit Le Mans, as 54 entries are slated to contest the 10-hour endurance race that serves as the season finale for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Beyond the full-season entries, that includes 12 teams contesting the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.
With each team adding a third driver for the race, there are some interesting additions in the GTP class, including 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button joining Tijmen van der Helm and Mike Rockenfeller, Button’s partner in the NASCAR Garage 56 Le Mans entry, in the JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963. Porsche Penske Motorsports drafts from both its WEC squad – Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 963 as Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet go for the championship – and its IndyCar ranks, with Josef Newgarden joining Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr in the No. 7.
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Other IndyCar Series drivers joining their teams’ sports car efforts include Scott Dixon teaming with Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing, and Helio Castroneves once again jumping into the Meyer Shank Racing (2022 race winner) Acura ARX-06 with Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist, who will be contesting his final sports car race for the foreseeable future as he becomes and IndyCar Series driver for 2024.
Two drivers who become full-timers next year are back in their team’s cars as they have been for all the IMEC races so far. Jack Aitken will become Pipo Derani’s full-time co-driver next season, but for Petit Le Mans he will once again serve as the addition to Derani and Alexander Sims as they attempt to win another title for Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing. Louis Deletraz will join Jordan Taylor in the second Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 next season, but for this race he’ll by trying to help propel Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque to the championship. BMW M Team RLL is pulling in a couple of BMW factory shoes, Marco Wittmann (No. 24 M Hybrid V8) and Sheldon van der Linde (No. 25). Proton Competition reunites its WEC squad; Neel Jani joining Harry Tincknell and Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 59 Porsche 963.
In LMP2, AF Corse and Rick Ware Racing are returning to competition. Defending LMP3 Petit Le Mans winners Andretti Autosport, after having run a few races in GTD this season, returns to the prototype class with the No. 26 Ligier for Jarett Andretti, Gabby Chaves and Glenn van Berlo. JDC-Miller Motorsports (Till Bechtolsheimer, Dan Goldburg and Rasmus Lindh) and Performance Tech Motorsports are entered for Petit as well, but Performance Tech’s driver lineup is incomplete beyond Cameron Shields.
GTD PRO MEC entries include the two Ferrari 296 GT3s from AF Corse (Simon Mann, Miguel Molina and James Calado) and Risi Competizione (Alessandro Pier Guidi, Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon). Iron Lynx brings its Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 for Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera.
The Iron Dames – Rahal Frey, Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin – are back for Lamborghini in GTD. Ferrari runners Triarsi Competizione (Onofrio Triarsi, Charles Scardina and Alessio Rovera) and Cetilar Racing (Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Antonio Fuoco) are back, as is the Wright Motorsports Porsche for Ryan Hardwick, Zacharie Robichon and Jan Heylen.
Of course being the season finale, all eyes are on the championships. The GTD title has already been clinched by Paul Miller Racing, and GTD PRO is almost sealed by Vasser Sullivan Racing, which won the race last year with points leaders Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth and the addition of Kyle Kirkwood. The same trio returns for this year’s race. LMP3 has also been practically wrapped up by Riley Motorsports. In LMP2, it’s a two-way fight between TDS Racing’s No. 11 team and PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, and it’s a three-way virtual tie at the top of GTP between Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing, WTRAndretti and the Porsche Penske Motorsports No. 6, with the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 squad also in with a shot at taking the title.
For the Michelin Endurance Cup, none of the MEC-only teams is fighting for the championship. Look for RACER to break down the MEC championships in the coming days.
The Motul Petit Le Mans happens on Saturday, Oct. 14, with the green flag scheduled for 11:40 a.m. ET.