TEAM BY TEAM

SPOTLIGHT ON THE 60 ENTRIES Your guide to all the cars and drivers that will tackle the 86th Le Mans 24 Hours

LMP1

Pure-bred prototypes with mandatory energyretrieval systems (if run by a manufacturer) are the fastest cars at Le Mans. Power outputs of around 500bhp from their conventional engines are boosted by up to 400bhp of electric drive from their hybrid systems. The non-hybrid P1s run by the privateers are given a series of performance breaks, including nearly 200bhp more power and a 40kg lower minimum weight, to enable to run near — but not quite at — the pace of the remaining factory team, Toyota.

LMP2

A faster breed of machine came on stream last year in the secondary prototype division, which is aimed at the privateer. All cars are powered by the one-make Gibson V8 engine pushing out around 600bhp and four constructors have been granted licences to build the cars, of which three are represented on the grid at Le Mans this year. The LMP2 category is a pro-am class of sorts: each line-up must have a silver-rated driver — a kind of amateur — on its line-up.

GTE PRO GTE AM

The class for road-based GT machinery is split into two: GTE Pro is the domain of factory or works-supported teams with all-professional driver line-ups; GTE Am is fought out by pro-am crews that can only include one platinum or gold-ranked professional driver and must have one bronze or true amateur. GTE Am is for year-old machinery, so that means the Aston Martin teams are running the first-generation Vantage GTE rather than the all-new car of the factory squad.