Next month’s 12 Hours of Sebring promises to be a particularly exciting race. But there also will be plenty going on at the Florida venue in the immediate aftermath of the 2011 ILMC’s opening clash, since a number of teams plan to stay on for testing.

57 cars entries for the 12 hours of Sebring

The latest entry list for this year’s ILMC/ALMS opener features just 57 cars following Luxury Racing’s decision to run a single Ferrari F458 (for Ortelli/Mako/Deletraz), while the Intersport Lola will stay in its garage and the Hope Racing Oreca no longer figures on the list.

The majority of the LMP1 driver line-ups have already been announced, with Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller and Capello/Kristensen/McNish on duty for Audi, and Wurz/Gené/Davidson and Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian named to give the new Peugeot 908 its first competitive outing.

Prost/Jani/Bleekemolen will share the Rebellion’s N°12 Lola-Toyota, while Mücke/Turner/Fernandez will take turns behind the wheel of the new AMR-One Aston Martin. Pickett/Graf/Luhr and Dyson/Smith/Cochran will be back in the Muscle Milk Lola-Dysons and two of the three OAK Racing crews have been announced, namely Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues (N°15) and Nicolet/Hein/Yvon (N°24).

There are a few TBAs still to be confirmed, however: at Oreca-Matmut (Lapierre/Duval/TBA) and, more especially, at Highcroft Racing which has yet to name a driver. Indeed, the HPD-ARX01e hasn’t turned a wheel, and it remains to be seen whether the team will employ the services of Frenchman Simon Pagenaud (who was out on last weekend’s Rallye de la Vienne in France) for the test session at Sebring on Tuesday, March 15, and for the first practice session on Thursday, March 17….

After the 12 Hours of Sebring, many of the top teams – with the exception of Peugeot – plan to stay on in Florida. Audi has a four-day programme scheduled with its new R18. Aston Martin and Highcroft are also expected to run.

12 heures de Sebring, Audi, Highcroft Racing, Oreca, Peugeot