Two invitations for the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans already confirmed

The 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans is the biggest endurance classic in international motorsport. However, Le Mans is also an invitational event. This means that the organiser, the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest), decides who is allowed to take part. The 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled for the weekend of 12–13 June.

Next year, 62 cars will once again be entered at Le Mans. In principle, the race cars competing at Le Mans will be (as usual) those entered for the full 2027 season in the FIA WEC. The reason for this is quite simple: the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans forms part of the World Endurance Championship.

However, in addition to the WEC entries, there are further places available for Le Mans 2027. These will be allocated by the ACO via invitations based on results achieved. To actually be able to take up this starting permit, however, the relevant teams must also fulfil various conditions.

Invitations are, for example, allocated based on the final overall standings of the 2026 European Le Mans Series or the Asian Le Mans Series, which is due to take place in the coming winter of 2026/27. LM invitations are also available via the American IMSA series. The winners of the Jim Trueman and Bob Akin Awards will be honoured. The American championship had already held its season finale at the recent Petit Le Mans.

There, George Kurtz claimed the Jim Trueman Award, which is presented to the best LMP2 gentleman driver. “In my view, this was probably one of my best seasons ever,” said Kurtz. “We are over the moon and, in a way, also very relieved to have won the championship.”

Orey Fidani wins the Bob Akin Award

Orey Fidani has now won the Bob Akin Award for the best IMSA GT gentleman driver for the third year running. In theory, Kurtz and Fidani can now look for teams willing to take on the Le Mans 2027 challenge with them, as the entries are tied to specific individuals. However, Kurtz has most recently been racing exclusively with CrowdStrike Racing by APR; Fidani is the team owner of 13 Motorsports. Consequently, there are already strong indications as to which teams they would choose, should the entries be accepted. Kurtz’s entry would be in the LMP2 class at Le Mans, whilst Fidani’s would be in the LMGT3 category.

IMSA is also allocating a third Le Mans entry, which would be for the Hypercar class. This has traditionally gone to the championship-winning team in the IMSA GTP class. In 2026, Cadillac Whelen clinched the IMSA title. As is well known, Action Express Racing is behind that team. However, the decision on who receives the entry lies with IMSA. Theoretically, the IMSA series could therefore also award the entry to another team from the premier GTP prototype class. The coming weeks will certainly shed some light on this.