All 55 cars registered for the 24 Hours of Le Mans have passed the mandatory scrutineering process and, following two free practices on Wednesday, drivers are now all set for the qualifying session on Thursday night.
Part of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the June 14-15 race offers double the points for the top 10 drivers in their respective categories.
The Le Mans P1 category will see Audi R18 e-tron quattros engage in familiar battle with the Toyota TS 040 hybrids, the latter currently leading the championship after having narrowly missed out on the title last year.
Audi have an impressive record at Le Mans, with Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Loic Duval claiming the title last year, which was sadly marred by the death of GT driver Allan Simonsen of Denmark.
Toyota Racings car No8, piloted by Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Stephane Sarrazin were beaten into second by one minute and six seconds.
This year also marks the long overdue return of Porsche Team, with Australian former Formula One driver Mark Webber behind the wheel of car No20, a Porsche 919 hybrid.
Sharing driver duties with Webber will be Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley, while Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Mark Lieb will drive an identical hybrid in car No14.
And finally, even before the first lap of the 82nd running of the event could get under way, a record has already been set in the French Pays de la Loire region.
Matthew McMurry will be the youngest driver to take the start of the race.
Born on November 24, 1997, he will be 16 years and 202 days when the race starts on June 14, almost a year younger than the current holder of the record, the late Ricardo Rodriguez who in 1959 was 17 years and 126 days old.
American McMurry will share the wheel of a Zytek Z11SN-Nissan No42 of Caterham Racing with Thomas Kimber-Smith and Chris Dyson.
In contrast, the senior-most driver at Le Mans this year will be Howard Blank, driver of the No62 Ferrari 458 Italia, aged 65.
