Reigning Le Mans 24 Hours champion Toyota has announced its line-up for the virtual version of the event this June, as have Aston Martin and Corvette Racing.
In the absence of the flagship LMP1 class from the virtual event, Toyota will field a pair of Oreca 07 LMP2s and will incorporate nearly its full World Endurance Championship driver roster, despite the rules only mandating two pro drivers – rather than simracing specialists – per car.
Toyota’s #7 car will have simracer Maxime Brient join Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez, while The Race All-Star Series regular Yuri Kasdorp will partner Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Toyota protege Kenta Yamashita – racing in place of Kazuki Nakajima – in the #8 car.
Aston will likewise have three real-world professionals in each of its three works Vantage GTE entries.
All-Star Series Pro Cup title contender Charlie Eastwood will join Aston WEC regulars Harry Tincknell and Alex Lynn in the #97 car, which will also include Tiziano Brioni.
Another Pro Cup frontrunner Nicki Thiim will be in his usual #95 car with his regular team-mate Richard Westbrook and former junior single-seater prospect Lasse Sorensen, the brother of Aston Martin WEC driver Marco. That line-up will be completed by Manuel Biancolilla.
Finally, Aston works drivers Darren Turner, Ross Gunn and Jonathan Adam will team up with Giuseppe De Fuoco in the #98 Vantage.
The fourth Vantage on the grid will be entered by MAHLE Racing Team, which will field W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, DTM driver Ferdinand Habsburg, YouTube star Jimmy Broadbent and simracer Kevin Rotting.
Corvette Racing has pulled out of the real-world Le Mans – which was initially scheduled for June but has now been moved to September 19-20 – this year, but will take part in the virtual event.
All-Star Series regulars Dennis Lind and Alen Terzic will join Tommy Milner and Jan Magnussen in the #64 Corvette C7.R, while the #63 car will be piloted by Jordan Taylor, Nicky Catsburg, Alex Voss and Laurin Heinrich.
Elsewhere, Nissan Formula E driver Oliver Rowland has entered the contest as part of 2 Seas Motorsport’s #33 Oreca 07 line-up, while the European Le Mans series crew of Sophia Floersch, Katherine Legge and Tatiana Calderon will be joined by simracer Emily Jones under the Richard Mille Racing Team banner, likewise in the LMP2 class.
