The ELMS 2017 season is off to a good start, with 36 cars competing full season.
13 cars is ready in the LMP2 categoty, as a good mixture of the new chassis. Four ORECA 07 cars, five Ligier JSP217 and three Dallara P217 cars. Only Graff will come with two cars; every other team comes with one. The defending champion JOTA won’t compete this year, so there will be a new champion. Dragonspeed and Panis-Barthez Competition are back, as well as Algarve Pro Racing. G-Drive Racing has changed their operator, so now it’s TDS Racing who’s behind the operation of the cars, under the name G-Drive Racing. United Autosports steps up to LMP2 after winning the LMP3 championship in 2016.
Photo: Gabi Tomescu/AdrenalMedia.com
In LMP3 we have 16 competitors, and here United Autosports once again comes with two Ligier JS P3 cars. Duqueine Engineering, EuroInternational and M.Racing – YMR have two cars each. AT Racing goes up from the GTE class and has bought a Ligier. There are two Norma M30 cars on the track, where Oregon Team will have one, and M.Racing – YMR has the other, in parallel with their second Ligier. All the other cars in LMP3 are of Ligier chassis.
The GTE class has seven competitors, divided in three brands. Spirit Of Race comes with two Ferrari 488 GTE cars, while JMW Motorsport is keeping their old, trustworthy 458 Italia. Proton Competition is coming with two Porsche 911 RSR cars, while TF Sport and Beechdean Motorsport show up with an Aston Martin V8 Vantage each.
It looks like we’ll have another close season, where nothing is decided before the 6th and last round at Portimao at the end of October.
