46 Cars Confirmed for Paul Ricard Round

Photo: Asian Le Mans Series

An entry list for next week’s opening double-header of the Asian Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard has been published, featuring a total of 46 cars across three classes.

The 2026-27 campaign, moved to Europe due to ongoing geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East, begins on Nov. 14-15 with a pair of four-hour races at the Le Castellet venue before fixtures at Jerez and Portimao early in the new year.

As confirmed by the full-season entry list, the new Hypercar division sees two entries only, both AF Corse-operated Ferrari 499Ps, bolstered by a field of 16 LMP2 cars, while the GT contingent has been reduced by one car to 28 entries.

That’s a result of the Dragon Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, which had Axcil Jefferies as its sole confirmed driver, dropping off the entry.

The entry list revealed on Monday confirms most of the missing driver lineups in LMP2 and GT, with the lineups for the two Ferrari Hypercars, one of which is entered under the Cetilar Racing banner, having been finalized in late September.

CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s No. 4 Oreca 07 is completed by Louis Deletraz and Laurin Heinrich, who join the previously-confirmed George Kurtz.

Alpine FIA World Endurance Championship racers Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg will both drive for Proton Competition, with Milesi partnering Georgio Kolovos and one more unconfirmed driver in the No. 11 car and Habsburg creating an all-Austrian trio alongside father-and-son duo Horst Jr. and Horst Felix Felbermayr in the No. 66.

Nielsen Racing has elected for an all-American trio comprising Steven Thomas, Max Garcia and Scott Huffaker for its solo entry, which no longer features Naveen Rao.

AF Corse has recruited ex-Formula 1 racer and Nielsen European Le Mans Series pilot Jack Doohan to complete its No. 55 lineup that also features Ferrari factory driver Phil Hanson and Lebanese newcomer Alex Demirdjian.

The sister No. 83 AF Corse car features a new-look lineup, as Jeremy Clarke and Julien Andlauer replace the previously-announced Francois Perrodo and Alessio Rovera, who moves down to the GT class, alongside Nico Varrone.

DKR Engineering has one of the four remaining TBCs, with a third driver alongside Tom van Rompuy and Laurents Hoerr unconfirmed (Jean Glorieux is no longer listed), while Inter Europol Competition has gaps to fill in both its cars.

The Polish team now has Niels Koolen as the first confirmed teammate for Bijoy Garg in its No. 34 entry.

One other change in LMP2 is that the No. 23 United Autosports entry of Phil Fayer, Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea is now been renumbered to No. 2.

Notable driver confirmations in GT include Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Tom Sargent, who joins the previously-confirmed Ralf Bohn and Mathieu Jaminet in Herberth Motorsport’s No. 21 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo.

2 Seas Motorsport has added last year’s British GT champions Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss to its No. 33 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo alongside sometime Formula 2 driver Christian Mansell, while the sister No. 46 car now features WEC LMGT3 race winner Darren Leung and Verstappen Racing regular Chris Lulham with Guy Albag.

Another WEC LMGT3 driver, Peter Dempsey, can be found in AF Corse’s No. 50 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo with Rafa Duran and David Perel, with Rovera having switched over to the No. 51 car to join Francesco Piovanetti and Jef Machiels.

Fabio Scherer completes Haupt Racing Team’s No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3 EVO crew alongside team owner Hubert Haupt and David Schumacher.

Anthony McIntosh is joined by his usual WEC partner Parker Thompson in Team WRT’s BMW M4 GT3 EVO, with Max Hesse completing that lineup.

At Proton, Seven x Seven Racing owner ‘Bankcy’ and Harry King have dropped off the lineup for the No. 77 Porsche, with Lenny Ried now flanked by Matt Kurzejewski and more unnamed driver. Robert de Haan has been added to the sister No. 99 car, which also features Jonas Ried but not the previously-listed Martin Berry, leaving another TBC.

Sergio Sette Camara is no longer listed for the Craft-Bamboo Racing by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, which now features factory driver Luca Stolz in his place.

Besides the two Proton Porsches, there is one TBC left to be filled in the GT class, which is aboard the Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo alongside the previously-named Giacomo Petrobelli and Kobe Pauwels.

Source: Sports Car 365