Former Formula 1 driver Jacques Villeneuve, world champion in 1997, will compete this season in the World Endurance Car Championship (WEC) in his premier category of Hypercars, according to the list of participants published Wednesday by the organizers.
The 51-year-old driver, entered with the Austrian team Vanwall, will drive alongside Frenchman Tom Dillmann and Argentinian Esteban Guerrieri one of the 13 cars entered in Hypercar for the 2023 season.
He is particularly expected for the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans event. This race, the high point of the season, will celebrate its hundredth anniversary this year, on June 10 and 11. The Quebecer had already raced at Le Mans, on a Peugeot 908 with which he finished 2e in 2008.
In addition to Villeneuve, the Italian Antonio Giovinazzi, reserve driver for Ferrari in F1, or the Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne, double world champion in Formula Electric in 2018 and 2019, are also expected this season in Hypercar.
At the lower level, after two contested seasons in Hypercar, the French team Alpine is back in LMP2 with two cars (out of 11 entered).
The WEC championship, which this year will see the return of several big names in motorsport such as Ferrari, Porsche and Cadillac at the highest level, will begin on March 17 with the 1000 Miles of Sebring (United States). A prologue will be organized at Sebring in the preamble to the season, on March 11 and 12.
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