LM GTE Pro: 7 Cars

51 M AF Corse Gianmaria Bruni, James Calado Ferrari 488 GTE

66 M Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Olivier Pla, Stefan Mucke Billy Johnson Ford GT

67 M Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Marino Franchitti, Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell Ford GT

71 M AF Corse Davide Rigon, Sam Bird Ferrari 488 GTE

77 M Dempsey Proton Racing Richard Lietz, Michael Christensen Porsche 911 RSR (2016)

95 D Aston Martin Racing Nicki Thiim, Darren Turner, Marco Sorensen Aston Martin Vantage

97 D Aston Martin Racing Richie Stanaway, Fernando Rees, Jonny Adam Aston Martin Vantage

It’s a new look all round for the 2016 GTE Pro class.

New and revised cars all round with more extreme aero, new colour schemes for many and new drivers too.

The biggest news is the arrival of the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing effort with a pair of the spectacular new Ford GTs which will join the US entered pair at Le Mans this year.

The UK flagged pair field their full Le Mans trios for the Silverstone and Spa rounds with George Howard Chappell and co. keen to hit the ground running in the WEC after a stuttering start for the IMSA effort at Daytona and Sebring.

The Ford is a unique beast, a race car upon which the road car, due to enter limited production in the Autumn, is based rather than the other way around. It’s a GTE car that has raised interest far beyond the usual specialist media, and for that we should be very grateful.

The major push is, of course, Le Mans, on the 50th anniversary of the iconic GT40s first win, but competitive runs, and most of all race mileage, is the next milestone for the Ford effort.

The driver squad is an interesting one, the #66 car sees the mercurial Olivier Pla teamed for the season with ex AMR man Stefan Muecke with Billy Johnson, long-time Multimatic favoured wheel man, the third man.

In the #67 car Andy Priaulx has been tempted from his long-time BMW berth, he’s joined by Marino Franchitti, the Scot a Ganassi favourite after his overall Sebring win in 2014 in the similarly Ford engined DP. Harry Tincknell completes an all British trio and joins for Silverstone and Spa before the Le Mans odyssey.

Ferrari arrive with a new car, the turbo engined 488 GTE replacing the wailing 458, and a new look driver squad in a package which the drivers say is easier to take to the edge, and keep it there!

The #51 sees multiple champion Gianmaria Bruni back again, he’s been an ever present in the WEC, but joined this time by James Calado, moving over from the #71 car last year after a 2015 season that saw the ex GP2 man stake a claim as one of the very quickest in the class.

His seat in the sister #71 alongside Davide Rigon is filled by another Briton, Sam Bird getting the nod after a standout year in LMP2 where his results defined his pay check. That gamble paid off for Sam, the class Championship and a Ferrari factory seat his ultimate reward. There will be friendly rivalry of the most positive kind here, and if the 488’s reliability is there early enough, this could be a real season long contender.

Aston Martin Racing field a pair of very green V8 Vantage GTE’s and feature Dunlop rubber too as the team look for the slice of pace they lost to a Michelin tyre that was designed principally around rear/ mid engined cars after mid-season development last season, funded in the main by Porsche.

The Aston features a completely revised external skin for enhanced aero, and a prominent rear diffuser to take advantage of the new regulations too.

On the driving from there are no new names for 2016 but a reshuffled squad.

Darren Turner becomes an apparent honorary Dane as he joins Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen in the #95 ‘Dane Train’ Aston.

The #97 meanwhile sees Fernando Rees and Jonny Adam combined with Richie Stanaway.

With an entirely proven engine and drivetrain there is potential for profit from any early development difficulties from others, if the Dunlop factor can play a part there might be head turning performances to come.

Finally Porsche, but no return of Manthey Racing this season, instead the defending Champion driver Richard Lietz, again paired with near full season 2015 partner Michael Christensen, returns with a solo 911 RSR in the Pro class under the Dempsey Proton Racing banner though Patrick Dempsey will play no part in proceedings this season.

The rear engined configuration of the 911 RSR means that it is unable to utilise the allowed increase in rear diffuser size to the max. That hasn’t been too much of an issue in the US classics that the 2016 spec car has contested this far. We’ll soon see how it stacks up in the WEC!

The WEC Prologue saw a lot of running, but little evidence of a real display of 2016 potential. Unless that is that all the manufacturer investment in development, 12 months of tyre development and thousands of kilometres of testing were meant to produce slower times year on year?

Balance of Performance it seems is the defining factor at the moment, with all the major players unprepared to show their hand. No changes to report at Silverstone on that front, and for that this writer is very grateful. Will the shadow dancing continue until June, It very well might!