It’s been a long wait, but the 88th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is finally upon us. What can we look forward to in the GTE Am class, the second biggest class in the field? MotorsportWeek.com takes a closer look.
If you are a Ferrari fan, then GTE Am is where it is at for you. Out of the 22 cars entered into the category for this year’s race, a staggering twelve cars are Ferrari 488 GTE Evos. They are joined by eight Porsche 911 RSRs and a pair of Aston Martin Vantage AMRs.
One of those Ferraris is AF Corse’s championship-leading #83 Ferrari of Francois Perrodo, veteran Emmanuel Collard and factory ace Nicklas Nielsen. It’s one of a number of full-season WEC entries that have to be considered favorites.
Also included in that is both of Team Project 1’s full season Porsches. The #56 is staffed by last year’s GTE Am winner and reigning champion Egidio Perfetti, partnered with Porsche Supercup champion Larry ten Voorde and last year’s polesitter Matteo Cairoli. Perfetti was handed the win after the Keating Motorsports Ford GT was disqualified in 2019.
As luck would have it, the three drivers that won on the road are now on the other side of the garage: Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Felipe Fraga pilot the Wynn’s coloured #57 Porsche 911 RSR. They will surely be looking for revenge.
The two Aston Martins in the field also can’t be counted out. The #98 Aston Martin Racing crew has had its fair share of rotten luck, but Paul Dalla Lana is still looking for his first win at Le Mans. He now has a competitive car underneath him and strong team-mates in Ross Gunn and Augusto Farfus.
TF Sport meanwhile already have multiple wins this season and have 2017 winner Jonny Adam partnering the ever-quick Charlie Eastwood and Turkey’s Salih Yoluc, who has proven himself to be one of the quicker bronze drivers on the grid.
Aside from these WEC top runners, GTE Am features a bunch of notable and interesting competitors amongst its ranks. Jan Magnussen is back at Le Mans, not running with Corvette for the first time since 2003 at JMW Motorsport.
Ex-BMW factory driver Tom Blomqvist makes his Le Mans debut with Asian Le Mans Series champions HubAuto Corsa.
One of the Dempsey-Proton Competition Porsches features the oldest driver to ever start a race at Le Mans, as 74-year-old Dominique Bastien drives the #78 Porsche 911 RSR.
