Run your eyes over the Hypercar entry list for the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and it is quite impressive. Outside of the current Formula One grid, arguably it’s the best talent in motorsport.
Sixty-three drivers in a record 21 Hypercars from eight different manufacturers makes up one of the most competitive grids for quite some time.
This year Aston Martin returns with its Valkyrie AMR-LMH, powered by a naturally aspirated V12, joining last year’s winner Ferrari, record-holder Porsche, WEC long-timer Toyota, General Motors brand Cadillac, 1999 winner BMW and French car makers Alpine and Peugeot.
Delve deeper into the sixty-three and we find there are 15 former F1 drivers (Felipe Nasr, Pascal Wehrlein, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Will Stevens, Kevin Magnussen, Mick Schumacher, Sebastien Bourdais, Jenson Button, Antonio Giovinazzi, Robert Kubica, Paul di Resta, Stoffel Vandoorne).
Nearly one quarter of the grid are previous Le Mans winners, either outright or Class.
This brings us to a point worth considering. Do we appreciate the talent and experience of both Kiwi Hypercar drivers, Brendon Hartley (Toyota Gazoo Racing) and Earl Bamber (Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA). Both multiple winners of the race, both well established as specialist in this class and in endurance driving.
It was in 2013 that Porsche announced their drivers for an assault on the FIA World Endurance championship and at the age of 24, Hartley was included in that squad. He had an extensive background in single seater racing throughout Europe as a Red Bull Junior driver, even becoming a reserve F1 driver for the team. Having been dropped in 2010, his single seater career stumbled, and a switch was made in 2012 to the European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 Class with Murphy Prototypes with Porsche eventually taking notice.
Four FIA WEC seasons with Porsche Team saw Hartley win twice at Le Mans as well as two FIA WEC championships. Having been able to switch to Formula One and over a full season with Toro Rosso, Hartley signed with Toyota Gazoo Racing and has been competing with them since 2020, netting another win at Le Mans as well as two more WEC championships.
Bamber, on the other hand, initially went down the single seater path before making his appearance in the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series, winning the drivers’ championship. Later that year, having been nominated for the Porsche Motorsport International Cup Scholarship shootout in Oschersleben, Bamber won and received funding for an assault on the 2014 Porsche Supercup season.
Racing with FACH Auto Tech, he became the first Kiwi to win the drivers Supercup title as well as the first rookie. Having signed with Porsche Motorsport as a works driver, 2015 saw him competing in both Europe and the Us and his first 24 Hours of Le Mans victory alongside teammates Nick Tandy and Nico Hulkenberg.
Hartley is a three-time winner (2017, 2020, 2022) while Bamber is a two-time winner (2015, 2017). The only other two Kiwi drivers to have won the race were Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, driving a Ford GT40 to victory in 1966. Both Hartley and Bamber’s talents were recognised early, over ten years ago, and they are still competing at the top. So much talent on display and competing for top honours and we have two of the best.
Hypercar Class
| # | Team | Marque | Drivers |
| 7 | Aston Martin THOR | Aston Martin Valkyrie | Harry Tincknell |
| Tom Gamble | |||
| Ross Gunn | |||
| 9 | Aston Martin THOR | Aston Martin Valkyrie | Alex Riberas |
| Marco Sorensen | |||
| Roman de Angelis | |||
| 4 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Felipe Nasr |
| Nick Tandy | |||
| Pascal Wehrlein | |||
| 5 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Julien Andlauer |
| Michael Christensen | |||
| Mathieu Jaminet | |||
| 6 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Kevin Estre |
| Laurens Vanthoor | |||
| Matt Campbell | |||
| 7 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 Hybrid | Mike Conway |
| Kamui Kobayashi | |||
| Nyck de Vries | |||
| 8 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 Hybrid | Sebastien Buemi |
| Brendon Hartley | |||
| Ryo Hirakawa | |||
| 12 | Cadillac Hertz team JOTA | Cadillac V-Series.R | Will Stevens |
| Norman Nato | |||
| Alex Lynn | |||
| 15 | BMW M Team WRT | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Dries Vanthoor |
| Raffaele Marciello | |||
| Kevin Magnussen | |||
| 20 | BMW M Team WRT | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Rene Rast |
| Robin Frijns | |||
| Sheldon van der Linde | |||
| 35 | Alpine Endurance Team | Alpine A424 | Paul-Loup Chatin |
| Ferdinand Habsburg | |||
| Charles Milesi | |||
| 36 | Alpine Endurance team | Alpine A424 | Mick Schumacher |
| Frederic Makowiecki | |||
| Jules Gounon | |||
| 38 | Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA | Cadillac V-Series.R | Earl Bamber |
| Sebastien Bourdais | |||
| Jenson Button | |||
| 50 | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Antonio Fuoco |
| Nicklas Nielsen | |||
| Miguel Molina | |||
| 51 | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Alessandro Pier Guidi |
| James Calado | |||
| Antonio Giovinazzi | |||
| 83 | AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Robert Kubica |
| Yifei Ye | |||
| Phil Hanson | |||
| 93 | Peugeot TotalEnergies | Peugeot 9X8 | Paul di Resta |
| Mikkel Jensen | |||
| Jean-Eric Vergne | |||
| 94 | Peugeot TotalEnergies | Peugeot 9X8 | Loic Duval |
| Malthe Jakobsen | |||
| Stoffel Vandoorne | |||
| 99 | Proton Competition | Porsche 963 | Neel Jani |
| Nicolas Pino | |||
| Nicolas Varrone | |||
| 101 | Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Ricky Taylor |
| Jordan Taylor | |||
| Filipe Albuquerque | |||
| 311 | Cadillac Whelen (Action Express Racing) | Cadillac V-Series.R | Jack Aitken |
| Felipe Drugovich | |||
| Frederik Vesti |
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