APR, Manthey Secure Final Le Mans Auto-Invites

Photo: Asian Le Mans Series

Algarve Pro Racing and Manthey have picked up the two final automatic invitations for the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans thanks to their championship success in the Asian Le Mans Series.

The two squads took the championship in the LMP2 and GT ranks, respectively, with Manthey notably claiming the title thanks to a class victory in the season-ending 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi for Antares Au, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler.

Algarve Pro has received an automatic entry slot thanks to the title-winning campaign for Malthe Jakobsen, Michael Jensen and Valerio Rinicella, which saw the No. 25 Oreca 07 Gibson pick up three race wins out of six starts.

Manthey, meanwhile, could potentially have as many as three cars on the grid thanks to its auto-invite, which will guarantee the team a spot on the LMGT3 grid.

The German squad is already set to be represented through its two-car FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 effort, which will ensure the team is part of the French endurance classic this summer.

The two final invitations awarded at the conclusion of the Asian campaign add to the nine further guaranteed entry slots that were already handed out previously.

The bulk of the invitations came through the European Le Mans Series, where AO by TF, Inter Europol Competition, AF Corse and RLR M Sport all picked up spots on the LMP2 grid.

Iron Lynx received a third LMGT3 entry for its European title success last year, while IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship-specific invitations were given out to Porsche Penske Motorsport, Nick Boulle (Jim Trueman Award) and Orey Fidani (Bob Akin Award).

Finally, Sky-Tempesta Racing earned an invitation through GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Bronze Cup competition.