Info AUTOhebdo: 62 cars at the start of the 24 2019 Hours of Le Mans

After revealing the list of 60 entries for the 87th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 15-16), the president of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest Pierre Fillon told us : “We were surprised by the number of applications, 75, and all deserved to be accepted. » The selection committee has never pulled out its hair so much, especially since the number automatically selected this year was 46. Solutions are being studied to change this – in particular a revision of the invitation system – and even more to increase the contingent of entrants, especially since the circuit would, according to our information, be approved to accommodate 66 cars. This will notably involve a major overhaul of the pit building, which will see the light of day by the centenary edition, in 2023. This should offer more garages, particularly at the bottom of the sports module.

Thus, we deplored the absence on the grid of the Oreca 07 n°30 and 20 of Duqueine Engineering (Romain Dumas-Nico Jamin-Pierre Ragues) and High Class Racing (Dennis Andersen-Andreas Fjordbach) as well as that of the Ligier JS P217 #32 from United Autosports (Alex Brundle-Ryan Cullen) who were initially, in the same order, in the first three places on the reserve list. The Anglo-American team did not hesitate to make this known publicly, having entered around ten cars in all categories and all ACO championships combined.

The case of the first cited was settled by the surprise package of the Ferrari 488 n°55 entered by Spirit of Race in GTE Am. But at the time of writing these lines, officially, the other two are still substitutes. But for how long ? Indeed, as CARhebdo reveals it to you in preview in its columns this week (see Ah n°2212, available since last night in digital version), wanting to satisfy its competitors and its fans as much as possible, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest will resort to to a system as original as it is unprecedented to allow these two cars to be at the start on June 15th.

How? 'Or' What ? By setting up two temporary stands in the space separating the stand building from the sports module, i.e. just before the first two boxes, reserved for Toyota Gazoo Racing. The problem of fuel tanks and safety conditions remains to be resolved. These “tents” would be occupied by United Autosports, with High Class taking place in the hard pit initially allocated to the Ligier no. 22 of the Zak Brown-Richard Dean duo. If necessary, we would initially have eight LM P1s, 20 LM P2s, 17 GTE Pros and as many GTE Ams, which would bring the number of entrants to 62. Until then, the record was 60. A quota that has become normal since 2016 and the construction of the four new stands, and previously reached during the 1950, 1951, 1953 and 1955 editions.

Update Tuesday April 16, 11:10 a.m.: United Autosports and High Class Racing will be present at the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2019. The ACO has formalized the number of 62 entries.

BREAKING/ This year's @ 24hoursoflemans to be a 62-car race!

A first for the last race of the season! On June 15-16, #WEC Super Finale will feature a record number of competitors. @HighClassRacing and @UnitedAutosport join # LEMANS24 field.

More >> https://t.co/aTvaCqY4fT pic.twitter.com/s9kzAe4nbK

— WEC (@FIAWEC) April 16, 2019