The Circuit Paul Ricard has been a permanent fixture on the ELMS calendar since 2013, when the circuit hosted the 3 Hours of Le Castellet, and even hosted two races in the same season in 2020. The 2022 4 Hours of Le Castellet will be the 10th 4-Hour ELMS race held at the track since 2014.
The entry list features 42 cars across the three classes, with 124 drivers and 28 teams representing 32 nations from all corners of the globe.
LMP2
The LMP2 grid for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet will feature 17 entries.
There are 50 drivers and 16 teams from 19 different nations.
Algarve Pro Racing are the only team to run two cars on the LMP2 grid.
Reigning drivers’ champions Yifei Ye and Louis Deletraz are back on the grid but in different teams. Ye will be driving the no37 Cool Racing Oreca and Deletraz the no9 Prema Racing Oreca.
FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 Championship winning team Prema Racing will make their ELMS debut in 2022 with reigning ELMS champion Louis Deletraz, reigning FIA WEC LMP2 champion Ferdinand Habsburg and American Juan Manuel Correa.
There are 7 entries in the LMP2 Pro/Am Trophy with reigning champion John Falb returning to defend his title in the no47 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca.
Team Virage and Nielsen Racing will make their LMP2 ELMS debut, stepping up from LMP3. Nielsen Racing start the ELMS season as the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 Champions, with Ben Hanley, Matt Bell and Rodrigo Sales.
Haas F1 reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will start his first full season in the ELMS alongside Fabio Scherer and David Heinemeier-Hansson in the no43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca.
After becoming the first female driver to stand on an ELMS overall podium in Portimão last October, Sophia Floersch will race alongside Dutch driver Bent Viscaal in the no19 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca.
Former ELMS LMP2 champions on the 2022 grid include Phil Hanson (2020) in the no22 United Autosports Oreca, Paul Lafargue (2019) and Paul Loup Chatin (2019 and 2014) in the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca and Memo Rojas (2020 and 2017) in the no30 Duqueine Oreca.
LMP3
The LMP3 grid for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet will feature 13 entries
There are 38 drivers and 8 teams from 19 different nations.
Reigning champions DKR Engineering return with a new driver line up of Tom Van Rompuy, Sebastian Alvarez and Alexander Bukhantsov.
Three timeLMP3 Champions United Autosports, 2018 LMP3 Champions RLR MSport, 2019 Champions Eurointernational, 2020 Vice Champions Eurointernational and 2021 Vice Champions Cool Racing will each run two cars in the LMP3 category.
DKR Engineering, 360 Racing and Nielsen Racing will each run a single car entry.
DKR Engineering will be the only entry with the Duqueine M30-D08-Nissan, the car they won the championship in 2021.The rest of the field will run the Ligier JS P320-Nissan.
Kay Van Berlo became the youngest ever winner in the ELMS in 2018 at the age of 17.He returns to the ELMS with United Autosports this season.His brother Glenn is racing for Eurointernational.
Former ELMS LMP3 champions who are racing in LMP2 this season – Tom Gamble (2020), Job Van Uitert (2018) and John Falb (2017)
LMGTE
The LMGTE grid for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet will feature 12 entries
There are 36 drivers and 8 teams from 21 different nations
The grid will be comprised of 7 Ferrari F488 GTE EVO, 3 Porsche 911 RSR-19 and 2 Aston Martin Vantage AMR.
Reigning champions Iron Lynx return with two Ferrari F488s, with 2021 drivers’ champion Matteo Cressoni in the no60 Ferrari alongside Claudio Schiavoni and Davide Rigon.
The no80 Iron Lynx Ferrari will be the Iron Dames car with Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy.
2018 and 2020 Team Champions Proton Competition will field two Porsche 911s.The no77 car will feature 2020 champion Christian Ried alongside Gianmaria Bruni and Lorenzo Ferrari.The no93 Porsche will see Michael Fassbender start his third season in the ELMS, alongside Richard Lietz and Canadian Zacharie Robichon.
Hong Kong flagged team Absolute Racing will make their ELMS debut with 2020 LMGTE Champion Alessio Picariello leading their driver line up.
Oman Racing with TF Sport will become the first Omani flagged team in the ELMS with two Aston Martin Vantage AMRs.Former FIA WEC World Champion Marco Sorensen will join Ahmad Al Harthy and Samuel de Haan in the no69 Vantage, while 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Jonathan Adam will lead the driver line up in the no95 car.
2021 Vice Champions Spirit of Race, with 2013 Champion Matt Griffin at the wheel alongside David Perel and Duncan Cameron once again.
Rinaldi Racing will enter two Ferrari F488s.
2017 Team Champions JMW Motorsport will enter a single F488, as will 2020 Vice Champions Kessel Racing.
The 4 Hours of Le Castellet will take place on Sunday 17 April, which will be Round 1 of the 2022 European Le Mans Series. The official preseason test will take place on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 April.
Entrance to the circuit for the duration of the event will be free. Spectators will have access to the Xtrem Park from Monday 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday: 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.