WEC: entry for official end-of-season Rookie Test revealed

Entry list for the official FIA World Endurance Championship post-season Rookie Test, taking place the day after the 8 Hours of Bahrain, includes a mix of familiar faces from the WEC paddock, although in different cars, as well as racers from various series around the world

A total of 18 cars will take part in the test, with nine Hypercars, five LMP2s and four LMGTE AM cars expected on track across the two-hour morning session followed by three hours of running in the afternoon.

The 2023 rookies are an eclectic mix of drivers, with backgrounds in various forms of racing, including single-seaters (Formula 2, Formula 3, IndyCar), endurance (IMSA) and GT racing (DTM).

As previously revealed, WEC-nominated rookie Josh Pierson will drive the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar. He will be joined by British drivers Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat, who have had a stellar season as team-mates in the USA, taking IMSA’s GTD Pro class championship title for Toyota’s sister brand Lexus. All three will be joined at the test by Toyota’s seasoned professional, José María López.

Lilou Wadoux, Ferrari’s first-ever female works driver and the first woman to take a WEC class victory with her win in LMGTE Am at Spa earlier this year, will pilot the #51 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 499P. It will be the 22-year-old’s second Hypercar outing, as she tested Toyota’s GR010 Hybrid last year.

Cadillac Racing will have WEC-nominated driver Nicolas Varrone in the cockpit of the Cadillac V-Series R following the Argentine racer’s superb performance in his title-winning LMGTE Am class campaign this season.

The #5 Porsche Penske 963 has enlisted factory Porsche driver Thomas Preining, the Austrian driver having just sealed the 2023 DTM title.

Peugeot TotalEnergies will use both of its Peugeot 9X8 cars for the rookie test, with Stoffel Vandoorne, who will drive for the team in 2024, set to drive alongside Mikkel Jensen and Denmark’s Malthe Jakobsen, the squad’s official junior driver.