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LE MANS: Sebring WEC Entry Updates
Driver lineups at AF Corse, JWA-Avila confirmed; 30 teams set to take green in WEC season-opener...
John Dagys  |  Posted March 05, 2012   Chicago, IL
Flying Finn Toni Vilander, who drove the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari in the European Le Mans Series last year, will join Gimmi Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella in the team's No. 51 entry for Sebring. (Photo: LAT)
With official testing set to get underway in one week's time, nearly all of the driver lineups for the FIA World Endurance Championship season-opener at Sebring have now been confirmed.

Thirty cars spread amongst LMP1, LMP2, GTE-Pro and GTE-Am are set to take the green flag on March 17, kicking off the new global sports car championship that will be contested across eight countries and on four continents.

While Audi Sport Team Joest confirmed its three-car assault last week, utilizing last year's Audi R18 TDIs in LMP1, it appears all nine LMP2 entries will make it to the grid next week, despite a handful of production delays for a few of the new cost-capped prototypes.

Gulf Racing Middle East, which will debut a pair of Lola B12/80 Nissans, has confirmed four of its drivers thus far, with team principal Fabien Giroix joining Maxime Jousse in the No. 28 entry and Frederic Fatien and Keiko Ihara rounding out the driving force in the No. 29 Lola.

Following Risi Competizione's withdrawal from Sebring, Finn Toni Vilander has been added to the driver lineup of the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia, joining season-long teammates Gianmaria Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella. The third driver for the team's No. 71 Ferrari, however, has yet to be announced and is expected to come later this week.

Peugeot refugee Pedro Lamy will return to Larbre Competition in 2012, sharing the wheel of the No. 50 Corvette C6.R with Patrick Bornhauser and Julien Canal for Sebring.

JWA-Avila, another GTE-Am entry, sees the professional racing return of 2007 Le Mans LMP2 winner Bill Binnie, who will team with Finn Markus Palttala and former CART driver Joel Camathias in the ex-Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Of note, the No. 61 Ferrari, originally entered by AF Corse, will now be run under the AF Corse-Waltrip banner, with two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip set to make his Sebring debut with MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman and Portuguese ace Rui Aguas.

ENTRY LIST: Sebring (WEC)

John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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