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Proton Porsche team completes 963 lineup as WEC Qatar entry list released

Le Mans 24 Hours winner Neel Jani and Porsche-contracted driver Julien Andlauer have been named in the car alongside Harry Tincknell on the 37-car entry list for the Qatar 1812Km WEC season-opener on 2 March.

Jani has confirmed that he will again be a full-season driver in the car he raced from its debut at last year’s WEC round at Monza in July and it is expected that Proton regular Andlauer will also contest all eight races.

The Frenchman raced for the Dempsey-Proton GTE Am Porsche squad in 2018/19 to 2023 and also contested the 2023/24 Asian Le Mans Series in one of the team’s LMP2 ORECA-Gibson 07s.

Tincknell, who drove the 963 in the final three WEC rounds last year with Jani and Gianmaria Bruni, was confirmed as part of the line-up for a second season when he was listed against the car on the publication of the WEC entry last November.

The Briton is also racing for the Multimatic-run factory Ford GT Daytona Pro squad in the IMSA SportsCar Championship this year.

There are two clashes between the WEC and the GTD Pro IMSA calendar and it is understood that a decision on which programme will take priority for Tincknell will be made at a later date.

Jani told Autosport that he is hopeful that with the line-up in place Proton can challenge for podiums in Hypercar this year.

“We’ve got the drivers and the back-up behind the car, so podiums have to be a clear aim for us,” he said.

#59 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Harry Tincknell, Gianmaria Bruni, Neel Jani (Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images)

“We are realistic about our chances because we are not a factory team, but we’ve seen glimpses of pace so we want to spring a surprise or two.”

The two holes in the Proton line-up were the last to be filled on the 2024 WEC entry.

The United Autosports McLaren team firmed up its line-up across its two LMGT3 entries with a series of announcements over the past week.

European Le Mans Series race winner Nico Pino and Briton Josh Caygill will drive the #95 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo alongside Marino Sato.

The final seat in the team’s #59 entry has been taken by reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Brazil champion Nicolas Costa, who will race alongside Gregorie Saucy and James Cottingham.

The 2024 WEC season kicks off at the Losail circuit in Qatar on 24/24 February with the official pre-season Prologue test the weekend ahead of the race.

WEC 2024 entry list:

Hypercar

TEAM

CAR

DRIVER 1

DRIVER 2

DRIVER 3

2

CADILLAC RACING

Cadillac V-Series.R

Earl Bamber (NZL)

Alex Lynn (GBR)

Sébastien Bourdais (FRA)

5

PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT

Porsche 963

Matt Campbell (AUS)

Michael Christensen (DNK)

Frédéric Makowiecki (FRA)

6

PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT

Porsche 963

Kévin Estre (FRA)

André Lotterer (DEU)

Laurens Vanthoor (BEL)

7

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING

Toyota GR010 - Hybrid

Mike Conway (GBR)

Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)

Nyck de Vries (NLD)

8

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING

Toyota GR010 - Hybrid

Sébastien Buemi (CHE)

Brendon Hartley (NZL)

Ryo Hirakawa (JPN)

11

ISOTTA FRASCHINI

Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C

Antonio Serravalle (CAN)

Carl Wattana Bennett (USA)

Jean-Karl Vernay (FRA)

12

HERTZ TEAM JOTA

Porsche 963

William Stevens (GBR)

Callum Ilott (GBR)

Norman Nato (FRA)

15

BMW M TEAM WRT

BMW M Hybrid V8

Dries Vanthoor (BEL)

Raffaele Marciello (CHE)

Marco Wittmann (DEU)

20

BMW M TEAM WRT

BMW M Hybrid V8

Sheldon Van Der Linde (ZAF)

Robin Frijns (NLD)

René Rast (DEU)

35

ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM

Alpine A424

Paul-Loup Chatin (FRA)

Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen (AUT)

Charles Milesi (FRA)

36

ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM

Alpine A424

Nicolas Lapierre (FRA)

Mick Schumacher (DEU)

Matthieu Vaxiviere (FRA)

38

HERTZ TEAM JOTA

Porsche 963

Jenson Button (GBR)

Philip Hanson (GBR)

Oliver Rasmussen (DNK)

50

FERRARI AF CORSE

Ferrari 499P

Antonio Fuoco (ITA)

Miguel Molina (ESP)

Nicklas Nielsen (DNK)

51

FERRARI AF CORSE

Ferrari 499P

Alessandro Pier Guidi (ITA)

James Calado (GBR)

Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA)

63

LAMBORGHINI IRON LYNX

Lamborghini SC63

Mirko Bortolotti (ITA)

Edoardo Mortara (ITA)

Daniil Kvyat

83

AF CORSE

Ferrari 499P

Robert Kubica (POL)

Robert Shwartzman (ISR)

Yifei Ye (CHN)

93

PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES

Peugeot 9X8

Mikkel Jensen (DNK)

Nico Müller (CHE)

Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA)

94

PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES

Peugeot 9X8

Paul Di Resta (GBR)

Loïc Duval (FRA)

Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL)

99

PROTON COMPETITION

Porsche 963

Harry Tincknell (GBR)

Neel Jani (CHE)

Julien Andlauer (FRA)

LMGT3:

TEAM

CAR

DRIVER 1

DRIVER 2

DRIVER 3

27

HEART OF RACING TEAM

Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3

Ian James (USA)

Daniel Mancinelli (ITA)

Alex Riberas (ESP)

31

TEAM WRT

BMW M4 LMGT3

Darren Leung (GBR)

Sean Gelael (IDN)

Augusto Farfus (BRA)

46

TEAM WRT

BMW M4 LMGT3

Ahmad Al Harthy (OMN)

Valentino Rossi (ITA)

Maxime Martin (BEL)

54

VISTA AF CORSE

Ferrari 296 LMGT3

Thomas Flohr (CHE)

Francesco Castellacci (ITA)

Davide Rigon (ITA)

55

VISTA AF CORSE

Ferrari 296 LMGT3

François Heriau (FRA)

Simon Mann (USA)

Alessio Rovera (ITA)

59

UNITED AUTOSPORTS

McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo

James Cottingham (GBR)

Nicolas Costa (BRA)

Grégoire Saucy (CHE)

60

IRON LYNX

Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2

Claudio Schiavoni (ITA)

Matteo Cressoni (ITA)

Franck Perera (FRA)

77

PROTON COMPETITION

Ford Mustang LMGT3

Ryan Hardwick (USA)

Zacharie Robichon (CAN)

Ben Barker (GBR)

78

AKKODIS ASP TEAM

Lexus RC F LMGT3

Arnold Robin (FRA)

Timur Boguslavskiy

Kelvin Van Der Linde (ZAF)

81

TF SPORT

Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R

Tom Van Rompuy (BEL)

Rui Andrade (AGO)

Charlie Eastwood (IRL)

82

TF SPORT

Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R

Hiroshi Koizumi (JPN)

Sébastien Baud (CHE)

Daniel Juncadella (ESP)

85

IRON DAMES

Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2

Sarah Bovy (BEL)

Doriane Pin (FRA)

Michelle Gatting (DNK)

87

AKKODIS ASP TEAM

Lexus RC F LMGT3

Takeshi Kimura (JPN)

Esteban Masson (FRA)

Jose Maria Lopez (ARG)

88

PROTON COMPETITION

Ford Mustang LMGT3

Giorgio Roda (ITA)

Mikkel Pedersen (DNK)

Dennis Olsen (NOR)

91

MANTHEY EMA

Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3

Yasser Shahin (AUS)

Morris Schuring (NLD)

Richard Lietz (AUT)

92

MANTHEY PURERXCING

Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3

Aliaksandr Malykhin (KNA)

Joel Sturm (DEU)

Klaus Bachler (AUT)

95

UNITED AUTOSPORTS

McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo

Joshua Caygill (GBR)

Nicolás Pino (CHL)

Marino Sato (JPN)

777

D'STATION RACING

Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3

Clément Mateu (FRA)

Erwan Bastard (FRA)

Marco Sorensen (DNK)

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