The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organisers of the Le Mans 24 Hours every June have released the list of the lucky 55 entries who can look forward to racing round the Circuit de la Sarthe, along with the 10 reserve teams who will look to take advantage of any ill fortune for the 55.
Earlier this month the ACO publically announced they had received 82 entries from which to pick the field for the 77th running of the world's premier sports car race.
Unfortunately this "long list" is never released to the public, so we have no way of knowing what teams have not had their entries taken up. However, of the 65 entries that have been named there are plenty of stories to follow in the four months until the race.
The biggest story is arguable the very make-up of the field. Over half the 55 first choice entries are prototypes. 33 to be exact. This is nothing short of phenomenal, especially given the dwindling fields in the P1 and P2 classes that have blighted ACO regulated race series of recent years.
Take the ALMS for example, last year only a handful of teams were found in P1, and this year only three teams are lodged as P2 entries.
Within the prototype classes there are several stories. The ACO's press release focuses on the number of works entries in the P1 class. There are three of the new Audi R15's, tow run under the Joest banner and a third under the Team North America name, a reverse of what has been the case in previous years.
They are joined by three works Peugeot 908 cars, as was confirmed by the manufacturer a few weeks ago.
These diesel goliaths are joined by not one, not two, but three of the brand new Aston Martin P1 cars. This is despite only having five drivers confirmed for its two full time European Le Mans Series, leaving at least four drives up for grabs. It is also noteworthy that the third Aston is officially entered by a team named "AMR Eastern Europe."
Believe none of this, this is going to be a works entry in all but name. The Czech flag next to the entry points to the presence of Jan Charouz, already a confirmed LMS driver and the man behind the team than ran the Lola-Aston coupe at Le Mans last year. That was not a completely private team, neither will this be.
On the other hand the fourth Aston Martin, entered by Speedy Racing Team Sebah is likely to be a private entry, infact I doubt they will be running one of the brand new models, more likely something closer to the coupe Charouz campaigned last years.
However, perhaps the biggest news is the fourth Peugeot. Henri Pescarolo, a man so French he probably bleeds bleu, blanc and rouge and snores in the tune of Le Marseillaise has brought himself a 908! In doing so he looks to become the first customer team to run on of the French diesels.
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