There is no shortage of talent in the LMP2 class at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, with several Hypercar/GTP drivers stepping down to the intermediate class. A total of 19 Oreca 07s are entered in LMP2, with 10 of those competing in the Pro-Am sub-class.
While LMP2 has always boasted some big names over the years, a variety of factors have led to an even bigger influx of star talent. Porsche’s exit from the Hypercar class is the single-biggest contributing factor, leaving a number of factory drivers without top-class seats. But many prominent drivers from IMSA have also jumped on the opportunity to take part in the biggest endurance race of the year, adding to the depth of the field.
Here is a look at all the drivers with Hypercar/GTP experience racing in the LMP2 class at Le Mans.
| Driver | Team | Sub-class |
|---|---|---|
| Renger van der Zande | #3 DKR Engineering | Pro-Am |
| Laurin Heinrich | #4 Crowdstrike by APR | Pro-Am |
| Kakunishin Ohta | #9 Proton | Main |
| Kevin Estre | #14 TDS Racing | Pro-Am |
| Mikkel Jensen | #22 United Autosports | Main |
| Julien Andlauer | #30 Duqueine | Main |
| Tom Dillmann | #43 Inter Europol | Main |
| Nick Yelloly | #43 Inter Europol | Main |
| Romain Dumas | #48 RD Limited | Pro-Am |
| Tristan Vautier | #48 RD Limited | Pro-Am |
| Dane Cameron | #99 AO by TF | Pro-Am |
| Matthieu Vaxiviere | #183 AF Corse | Pro-Am |
| Nico Mueller | #343 Inter Europol | Main |
Renger van der Zande
- Team: DKR Engineering
- Best Le Mans result: 4th (Hypercar)
Renger van der Zande will be making his ninth successive appearance at Le Mans this year, representing DKR Engineering alongside John Farano and Sebastian Alvarez. The Dutchman brings a wealth of prototype experience, particularly from the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and his CV includes two outright victories at the Daytona 24 Hours with Cadillac.
Van der Zande hasn’t enjoyed much success at Le Mans but will be hoping for a better result this time around as he chases a new full-season programme for 2027 following Acura’s decision to pause its GTP programme.
Laurin Heinrich
- Team: CrowdStrike Racing by APR
- Best Le Mans result: N/A
Laurin Heinrich will be making his Le Mans debut with CrowdStrike by APR, sharing the team’s Pro-Am-entered Oreca 07 with George Kurtz and Alex Quinn. After a baptism of fire in last year’s WEC finale in Bahrain, where he replaced Michael Christensen, Heinrich has starred aboard the Porsche 963 in IMSA, winning Daytona and Sebring races with PPM before registering another GTP victory with JDC-Miller at Laguna Seca.
Porsche may not be competing for outright honours at Le Mans this year, but Heinrich is one of the several drivers flying the flag for the German brand in the intermediate class.
Kakunoshin Ohta
- Team: Proton Competition
- Best Le Mans result: N/A
Honda driver Kakunoshin Ohta will contest Le Mans for the first time this year, sharing an Oreca 07 entered by Proton Competition with Jonas Ried and Harry King.
Ohta has a limited background in top-class prototype racing, having made less than a handful of outings with Acura in the 2025 IMSA season. Instead, he will be counting on his experience in Japan, where he has won multiple Super Formula races and finished on the podium in Super GT.
Kevin Estre
- Team: TDS Racing
- Best Le Mans result: 2nd (Hypercar), 1st (GTE Pro)
Kevin Estre is easily one of the biggest attractions on this year’s LMP2 grid. The Porsche star will join TDS Racing, racing its sole Pro-Am entry alongside Mathias Beche and Tobias Lutke.
Known for his one-lap pace and supreme racecraft, Estre’s first foray into the LMP2 class since 2015 comes in the wake of Porsche’s departure from the WEC - and signals his desire to fight for an outright Le Mans win again.
Mikkel Jensen
- Team: United Autosports
- Best Le Mans result: 8th (Hypercar)
Mikkel Jensen continues his preparations for McLaren’s upcoming Hypercar programme with an LMP2 outing at Le Mans. The Dane will join fellow Scandinavian Rasmus Lindh and ELMS race winner Grogoire Saucy aboard United Autosports’ #22 Oreca.
Although best known for his time with Peugeot, Jensen has plenty of experience in the LMP2 ranks, including a title in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and race wins in the ELMS.
Julien Andlauer
- Team: Duquenie Team
- Best Le Mans result: 1st (GTE Am), 6th (Hypercar)
Rising star Julien Andlauer will join fellow Porsche drivers Heinrich and Estre in contesting Le Mans’ LMP2 class on an independent basis. Together with Doriane Pin and Richard Verschoor in Duqueine’s #30 entry, Andlauer will form one of the best driver line-ups in the category.
Although Andlauer made his name in GT and GTP classes with Porsche, the Frenchman has some background in the LMP2 formula, having contested two seasons of the Asian Le Mans Series.
Tom Dillmann
- Team: Inter Europol
- Best Le Mans result: 1st (LMP2)
Tom Dillmann will be aiming to defend his LMP2 crown as he reunites with Jakub Smiechowski and Nick Yelloly at Inter Europol.
The Frenchman got limited results when he raced in the WEC’s top class with ByKolles/Vanwall, but has made his mark since stepping back to the LMP2 division. In 2024, he claimed the LMP2 title in IMSA, before following that with a runner-up result in the ELMS last year.
Nick Yelloly
- Team: Inter Europol
- Best Le Mans result: 1st (LMP2)
Inter Europol’s LMP2 line-up also boasts GTP race winner Nick Yelloly. The Briton has been a regular in IMSA’s top class since 2023, first with BMW and now with Acura.
More recently, he has also been dabbling in LMP2 racing, and his recent exploits with Inter Europol have proved hugely successful.
Romain Dumas
- Team: RD Limited
- Best Le Mans result: 1st (LMP1)
Romain Dumas returns to Le Mans after a two-year hiatus with his self-entered RD Limited team.
The veteran Frenchman brings with him an impressive CV that includes two outright wins at Le Mans, the outright Pikes Peak record and even off-road experience at the Dakar Rally.
He was a key member of Glickenhaus’ Hypercar effort with the SCG 007 and has experience in previous LMP2 machinery, most notably the Porsche RS Spyder.
Tristan Vautier
- Team: RD Limited
- Best Le Mans result: 26th (LMP2)
Tristan Vautier will team up with Dumas and Fred Poordad in RD Limited’s Pro-Am-entered Oreca.
The Frenchman has spent much of his prototype career in America, racing with teams like Action Express and JDC-Miller in DPi/GTP. However, he also contested the second half of the 2023 WEC with Vanwall and made three Le Mans appearances in prototype machinery.
Dane Cameron
- Team: AO by TF
- Best Le Mans result: 1st (LMP2 Pro-Am)
Dane Cameron is easily one of the most successful drivers on the LMP2 grid, having won three overall IMSA titles with as many different manufacturers (Cadillac, Acura and Porsche).
He also enjoyed a hugely successful year in LMP2 with AO Racing last year, winning class titles in IMSA and ELMS, and the Pro-Am sub-category at Le Mans. This year, he will team up with tech billionaire PJ Hyett and James Allen.
Matthieu Vaxiviere
- Team: AF Corse
- Best Le Mans result: 3rd (Hypercar)
Matthieu Vaxiviere enjoyed a long association with Alpine which saw him finish third overall at Le Mans in 2021.
But following his split with the Renault brand at the end of 2024, Vaxiviere has been devoting more time to his commitments with AF Corse in the LMP2 class.
This year, he will join gentleman driver Francois Perrodo and factory Lexus driver Ben Barnicoat in an Oreca 07 entered in the Pro-Am sub-division.
Nico Muller
- Team: Inter Europol
- Best Le Mans result: 12th (Hypercar)
After missing Le Mans last year, Nico Muller will return to La Sarthe as part of Inter Europol’s second LMP2 entry. The Swede will team up with in-form Bijoy Garg and Reshad de Gurus, who started the 2026 ELMS with back-to-back runner-up finishes.
Muller spent a little over two seasons with Peugeot in Hypercar before joining Porsche last year in a deal primarily focused on Formula E. He made one appearance onboard the 963 before Porsche curtailed its Hypercar programme.
Other notable names
Mathias Beche, Ben Hanley and Oliver Jarvis all have top-level prototype experience, despite having never raced modern LMDH/LMH machinery.
TDS Racing’s Beche enjoyed a long stint with Rebellion in LMP1 that also saw him score an overall WEC win at Silverstone in 2018.
Meanwhile, United’s Hanley made about a dozen LMP1 outings with BR Engineering and Ginetta, while his team-mate Jarvis was part of Audi’s factory LMP1 programme in the early 2010s and won the 2022 DPi title with Acura.
