Le Mans Friday Notebook
Photo: Bruno Vandevelde/MPS Agency
***Thirty-nine of the 62 cars entered for next weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans passed through Place de la Republique in downtown Le Mans on Friday, kicking off the official activities for this year’s French endurance classic. Among the notable Hypercar teams to go through the technical checks, for both cars and drivers, included BMW M Team WRT, newcomers Genesis Magma Racing, Heart of Racing Team, Peugeot, both the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA and Wayne Taylor Racing squads, as well as Alpine.
***LMGT3 favorites TF Sport, AF Corse, Proton Competition and Manthey Racing were also present over the course of the packed day, along with LMP2 teams such as CLX Motorsport, TDS Racing and two-time and defending class winners Inter Europol Competition, which were the first two entries to go through the process at 10 a.m. local time.
***Among the notable absences included Nielsen Racing driver Jack Doohan, who is in Monaco this weekend in his reserve driver duties with Formula 1 team Haas. It’s understood that the 23-year-old Australian, who is making his Le Mans debut, is aiming to arrive on Saturday evening in order to take part in the test day. FIA Platinum-rated Le Mans rookie drivers could apply for an exemption from the test day but would need to complete their mandatory laps in Free Practice in order to be eligible to race.
***Ben Keating, who is set to make his racing comeback next weekend after breaking his elbow in a mountain biking incident earlier this year, meanwhile, had two canceled flights while en route to Le Mans and missed his scheduled appointment according to TF Sport team boss Tom Ferrier.
***Genesis Magma Racing reserve driver Jamie Chadwick has been added t0 both Genesis GMR-001s for Sunday’s test day. Chadwick’s name was not on the initial entry list for the test day that was released on Thursday. Her exact run plan has yet to be defined according to a team spokesperson.
***Esteban Masson, who was listed on both Toyota Racing TR010 Hybrids, is serving as the team’s unofficial reserve driver for the first time, marking a notable change from Jose Maria Lopez, who had previously been in that position. Masson, who usually drives for Akkodis-ASP Team in the WEC, is in the No. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca 07 Gibson this weekend.
***Masson told Sportscar365: “To be fully honest, I will do a few laps just to validate the fact I can drive in race week as the reserve driver, because you need to do some laps. If anything happens to any of the drivers at Toyota, which I really hope it doesn’t, I need to have done some laps during the test day.”
***With the No. 12 JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R of Will Stevens and Norman Nato not scoring any points in April’s season-opener in Imola, Louis Deletraz, who made his debut with the team at Soa-Francorchamps, enters Le Mans on equal points to his co-drivers, amid increased rumors that the likely McLaren-bound Alex Lynn will not return to the team after recovering from his pending neck surgery.
***There are no additional IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship clashes with the remainder of the WEC season for GTP drivers, with the LMP2 headline round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, which also includes GTD Pro and GTD entries, set for the same weekend as next month’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo.
***BMW factory driver Kevin Magnussen will make his NASCAR race debut later this month as part of Trackhouse Racing’s Project91 entry for the inaugural Cup Series race on the San Diego Coronado Naval Base on June 19-21. The team, co-owned by former sports car racer Justin Marks, last fielded its Project91 effort in the Daytona 500 last year for Helio Castroneves and used the program to bring Shane van Gisbergen into the series, where he won in his debut on the Chicago Street Course in 2023.
***Magnussen, who will get his first laps in the car during the event due to testing restrictions told Sportscar365: “Justin called me up and asked if I had an interest, which I did. I think NASCAR is one of the biggest forms of motorsport and as a racing driver, I think it’s cool to tick that box and have a go, just to go enjoy myself and try and learn as much as fast as I can. I’ll be getting thrown in, but that’s what I like and I’m looking forward to it.”
***Roman De Angelis said it’s a “strange” feeling to be back with Heart of Racing’s WEC Hypercar team after, along with fellow WeatherTech Championship GTP driver Ross Gunn, not running with the George Howard-Chappell-led outfit since last year’s season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain. The duo were scheduled to serve as third drivers in the team’s Aston Martin Valkyrie’s in Qatar prior to the race’s postponement.
***De Angelis told Sportscar365: “Having jumped in last year in Qatar and met all those guys. These teams are massive; there’s so many personnel that I’m having to remind myself. But it’s cool. Everyone’s close. We all stay in touch regarding engineering stuff. It’s all one big family.”
***Team principal Ian James confirmed to Sportscar365 that De Angelis will be in Heart of Racing’s GTD class Aston Martin alongside Eduardo Barrichello in next month’s WeatherTech Championship race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. De Angelis is reprising the role in subbing for Tom Gamble, who will be on WEC duty in Sao Paulo that weekend.
***A decision has not yet been made on Barrichello’s replacement for Sao Paulo. Aston Martin Racing junior driver Kobe Pauwels filled the seat in April’s season-opener in Imola, which was the first of two IMSA/WEC overlapping weekends.
***James, who has continued to drive as the team’s designated Bronze-rated driver in WEC LMGT3 competition and other GT3 championships, indicated he has no plans of slowing down soon after reversing the decision to hang up his helmet several years ago.
***He told Sportscar365: “I’m still really enjoying it. I’m still reasonably competitive in my division. There’s no defined decision on what that could be. I just try to enjoy every race and you never know.”
***Renger van der Zande, who is set for his ninth consecutive Le Mans start, and fourth in LMP2, revealed that his race engineer in the No. 3 DKR Engineering Oreca 07 Gibson is Andrew Sayer, who is the claims loss-adjuster for his Pagona motorsports insurance business. The Dutchman said it was actually a combination of Sayer, and Bronze driver John Farano, that got him the ride.
***The two first met when Sayer engineered the Peter Baron-owned Starworks Motorsport Oreca FLM09 to Prototype Challenge class victory in the 2014 Petit Le Mans. “Every claim that Pagona has with a race car, he works on the claim because he’s in the paddock, he knows exactly what a team needs,” said the Dutchman.
***While the No. 3 entry that van der Zande is sharing with Farano and Sebastian Alvarez is in the Tower colors made famous in the WeatherTech Championship, the only crossover between the Ricky Capone-owned IMSA LMP2 team, other than the drivers, is oddly the seat, which van der Zande made with Farano when he took part in last year’s LMP2 headline race at CTMP with the team.
***The Alpine Endurance Team drivers showed up in special firesuits, designed by renowned digital artists Italian twin brothers Stefano and Marco Schiavon, more commonly known as Van Orton. Alpine’s first Le Mans entry, the M63 from 1963, is depicted, along with the 1978-winning Renault Alpine A442B and its current, and final scheduled entry for Le Mans, the A424.
***Saturday’s activities will see the final 23 cars go through scrutineering, followed by a revised route for the fourth annual ‘roulage’ race car parade, which will now offer 12 vantage points for spectators through the streets of Le Mans, which begins at 3 p.m.
***Nineteen of the cars taking part in the race, including a car from each Hypercar and LMGT3 manufacturer, plus two LMP2 cars, will take part in the hour-long procession, which will be accompanied by safety cars, a vintage car and a trophy car. Click Here for more info and the route plan.
Jamie Klein contributed to this report
Source: Sports Car 365