The 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans will welcome an outstanding grid, featuring Hypercars for the very first time, to the iconic racetrack on 21-22 August 2021. For the 4th round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, five Hypercars will join 25 LMP2 prototypes, plus seven LMGTE Pro and 24 LMGTE Am entries for the 16:00 CET start on Saturday 21 August. This year also sees the return of the “Innovative car” category.
The 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans promises to be historic in more ways than one! First and foremost, the 62-strong field will feature five Hypercars, the new top class of Endurance.
Toyota Gazoo Racing will field its new GR010 in its quest for a fourth successive outright win, but the Japanese marque will face stiff opposition from the two Glickenhaus Hypercars and Alpine.
Two all-women line-ups will be on the starting grid of the French endurance classic: Richard Mille Racing Team in LMP2 and Iron Lynx in LMGTE Am. These two outfits will look to build on last year’s excellent performance and show that motorsport really can be a sport for all.
The return of Corvette to LMGTE Pro promises another sizzling on-track battle. The US firm will be running the C8-R for the first time at Le Mans but will have to be on top form to rival with Ferrari and Porsche, two legendary marques that will be in the mix for the outright win in the Hypercar class in 2023.
In LMP2, an exceptional field of 25 cars will take to the track. United Autosports will be back to defend its title after its superb 2020 season.
The LMGTE Am class will see a 24-strong grid with last year’s winner TF Sport back with two of the four Aston Martins in the field. They will face competition from eight Porsches and 12 Ferraris.
The 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans sees the welcome return of the “Innovative car” category and Frédéric Sausset! In 2016, Sausset became the first-ever quadruple amputee to start and finish the race. This year, his SRT-41 academy will be striving to write another page in the race’s history books by entering a full line-up of drivers with disabilities.
To offer teams greater flexibility following the rescheduling of the race to 21-22 August, the ACO will open a two-week registration period (12-26 March) for competitors wishing to join the reserve list.
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest: This year, the 24 Hours of Le Mans enters a new era. The introduction of Hypercars promises to bring even more spine-tingling action to the endurance racetrack. Sixty-two cars will line up for this 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans. In these challenging times, this number is a strong signal that our discipline is more appealing than ever before. We are eager to welcome fans once again to the racetrack to experience this historic edition together.
Richard Mille, FIA Endurance Commission President: The announcement of the entry list of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is always an important milestone, and this year, given it will be the first Le Mans race of the Hypercar era, this moment is particularly special. Having said that, I’m pleased to see a strong entry across all four classes which should be a guarantee of a fascinating endurance spectacle on all fronts. Even though the race itself is still some months away, I hope the organisers will be able to welcome at least a limited number of spectators at Circuit de la Sarthe as the fans are an integral and vital part of this great race.