The Automobile Club de l'Ouest has released the entry list for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hour race.

February 03, 2012

The 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours will see a four car assault by Audi. Two diesels and two diesel-electric hybrids will lead the Audi charge at the twice around the clock event. With the withdrawal of Peugeot the main manufacturer challenge to the Audi juggernaut comes in the form of the works Toyota outift.

Toyota Racing will run two brand new Toyota TS 030 Hybrid cars at this year’s event. At this stage Toyota has only announced two drivers; experienced Le Mans racer and ex-Formula 1™ alumnus Alex Wurz, and Japanese driver Hiraoki Ishiura.

At this early stage the drivers announced for Audi Sport Team Joest are André Lotterer, Allan McNish, Timo Bernhard and Oliver Jarvis. Lotterer and McNish are set to take the wheel of the new diesel-electric hybrid car which has seen positive results from its early tests, whilst Bernhard and Jarvis will pilot the regular diesel machines.

Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich said: "The first test results [of the hybrid] are very encouraging and we are intrigued to see just how this technology performs on the race track at Le Mans.”

The Japanese constructor Dome will return to Le Mans in 2012 with an LMP1 machine. The Dome entry will be run by Pescarolo alongside one of the French team’s own prototypes. This is the first time Dome has run at Le Mans since their attempt at the race in 2008, and in this year’s race they will run a heavily updated version of that car.

Both GTE Pro and Am will be hotly contested between Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari and Aston Martin. Many of the entrants this year are competing at Le Mans as part of a tilt at the World Endurance Championship. This is true in all classes, not just GTE, with many of the LMP1 and LMP2 also taking Part in the WEC.

An interesting addition to the Le Mans grid this year is the car which will occupy the 56th garage for cars displaying new technologies. The Delta Wing car being run by Highcroft Racing is a revolutionary design, utilising light weight and an innovative approach to chassis design. Marino Franchitti will take the wheel of the Delta Wing machine with his team-mates to be announced closer to the event.

With a big field of competitive cars and the added spice of the World Endurance Championship, this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours is set to be a fantastic event.