Series inaugural championship kicks off at Sebring 12 hours

Driver Entry Fills Up as Sebring Countdown Reaches T Minus 9 Days

The 60th anniversary 12 Hours of Sebring will take place in Florida on the 17 March 2012, with a grid of 30 cars for the FIA WEC being joined by a similar number from the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), which will provide race fans from around the world a sportscar extravaganza.

The final driver for Audi Sport Team Joest has been confirmed as 2009 Formula Nippon Champion Loïc Duval, the Frenchman joining Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard in the LM P1 class nr3 Audi R18.

Oak Racing have also completed their line up in the LMP1 class Oak Pescarolo-Judd with French driver Guillaume Moreau begin joined by 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Champion Bertrand Baguette from Belgium and 22-year-old Austrian Dominik Kraihamer. In the LMP2 Class Morgan-Judd Jacques Nicolet with race with fellow French drivers Matthieu Lahaye and 2009 LMS LMP2 Champion Olivier Pla.

Gulf Racing Middle East have confirmed Maxime Jousse in the nr28 Lola-Nissan, racing with Fabien Giroix. Japanese driver Keiko Ihara will race the teams second Lola-Nissan with Frederic Fatien. Maxime Jousse is the younger brother of the Pescarolo driver Julien Jousse, who is racing the nr16 Judd powered LMP1 entry.

Italian Luca Moro has been confirmed as the third driver at Lotus alongside Thomas Holzer and Mirco Schultis.

In GTE AF Corse have confirmed former FIA GT2 Champion Toni Vilander as the third driver in the line up for the nr51 Ferrari 458 Italia.

The Audi R18 Ultra and E-tron

Photo by: Audi Communications Motorsport

Luxury Racing have announced Brazilian Jaime Melo and Frenchman Jean-Karl Vernay in the nr 59 LMGTE Pro class Ferrari alongside Fred Makowiecki, while Dominik Farnbacher replaces Anthony Beltoise in the team’s LMGTE Am class entry.

“The entry list for the first race has been firmed up over the last week and the grid for the opening race of the season at Sebring looks fantastic,” said FIA WEC CEO Gérard Neveu. “The depth of driver talent on the entry list is truly representative of a World Championship, with race winners and champions from every level of the sport. I’m confident that on the 17 March the fans at Sebring, and those watching on TV around the world, will see one of the best ever races held at the track in the 60 year history of the event.”

An updated entry list has been released with more driver names added to the grid for the very first race for the new FIA World Endurance Championship at Sebring