Proton Competition has announced John Hartshorne will join Ben Tuck and Christopher Mies in their third Ford Mustang LMGT3 entrant for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June.
They have announced the livery for their third #44 Ford Mustang LMGT3 for the 92nd running of Le Mans, after the team earned an invitation from claiming the 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series title in the GT class.
In addition to the black and yellow look, the team has confirmed team owner Christian Ried will not compete as the provisional entry list suggested in February, and so John Hartshorne will act as the Bronze-graded driver in the lineup.
Ried retired from the FIA World Endurance Championship last year after notably competing in every race since the inception of the WEC in 2012.
Meanwhile Hartshorne will take on his fourth Le Mans start next month, having previously driven for TF Sport in 2021 when he was at the wheel of an Aston Martin Vantage AMR and finished eighth in the GTE Am class.
Along with the help of Ford Multimatic factory driver Mies, Hartshorne will be reunited with Tuck – who is making his Le Mans debut – as the pair also compete together in the European Le Mans Series and the GT World Challenge Europe series albeit in Ferrari 296 machinery.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans serves as an exception to the two-car mandate in the LMGT3 category for a number of additional entries, including Proton with their #44 Mustang along with the WEC #77 and #88 regulars.
As expected, Ryan Hardwick, Zacharie Robichon and Benjamin Barker will pilot the #77 as Giorgio Roda, Mikkel Pedersen and Dennis Olsen will do so in the #88, noting one factory driver in each car for the new Mustang’s first-ever Le Mans effort.
