The European Le Mans Series has revealed the first provisional entry list for the 6 Hours Of Le Castellet. Unfortunately there have been several changes compared to the initial full season list and it seems that even the current list is still somewhat optimistic. Right now 23 cars are on the list, a number that will most likely go down.

In the LM P2 category there are currently 12 cars entered, 1 less than shown on the full season entry list. The Jetalliance Lola B12/80 Judd that was initially entered for David Heinemeier-Hansson, Kristian Poulsen and Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer is no longer on the list. DSC believes this project did not materialize in the end and will not be running at all this season..

At this moment 2 out of 12 cars are entered by OAK Racing. One of them for Nicolet/Moreau/Kraihamer and the other still TBA. Last weekend at Sebring the team was still looking at options to run the second car, so it might be a no-show after all. That would reduced the number of cars to 22.

Pecom Racing, Race Performance, Greaves Motorsport, Jota, Extreme Limite ARIC, Boutsen Ginion Racing, Murphy Prototypes, Status GP, Thiriet by TDS Racing and Sébastien Loeb Racing are all still on the entry list. Newcomers Status GP, who were expected to run the old Pecom Racing Lola for the first race, will use their new Lola B12/80 Judd HK.

No LM PC cars were on the season entry list and the provisional entry list isn't looking good either. There are 3 FLM Oreca 09 entered for Boutsen Ginion Racing, Sébastien Loeb Racing and Curtis Racing Technologies. Sébastien Loeb Racing has however only announced their line-up for the LMP2 effort - Minassian/Sarrazin/Marroc - and the FLM 09 has not been mentioned for a while. This could mean another entry will drop from the list and reduce the number of cars to 21.

In LM GTE Pro there were 5 full season entries: JMW Motorsport, Prospeed Competition, JMB Racing, Lotus and Downforce1. When looking at the entry list for the first race of the season it is interesting to see that number reduced to just 3 cars, including a new entry for Kessel Racing. Lotus Giudici has announced plans for GT Open instead, Downforce1 is waiting for final confirmation on drivers, budgets and the car and Prospeed Competition has been moved to LM GTE Am. It remains to be seen though if Prospeed will in fact enter, as the team has already announced it will focus on the Blancpain Endurance Series. JMB Racing is also on the list, but the team has so far missed several test sessions in various series and it is not yet sure that they will race at Paul Ricard, despite having its workshop at the circuit. This could potentially lead to an entry of just 19 cars

The LM GTE Am category currently has four cars, including the aforementioned Prospeed Porsche. AF Corse and IMSA Performance Matmut will run in GTE Am and at Paul Ricard they will be joined by the Aston Martin Vantage of Gulf Racing.

And finally there is the Race Art Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in the GTC category. The team wasn't at Paul Ricard for the European Le Mans Series Official Test Days, but did attend the Blancpain Endurance Series tests and has gone very quiet on its European Le Mans Series campaign. Possibly down to 18 cars.

But the lack of cars isn't the only problem at the moment. In recent years the Le Mans Series had races at Europe's best race circuits and there was always a decent support package with the Le Mans Series. At Paul Ricard the SPEED EuroSeries and GT4 European Cup were set to join, but with the cancellation of GT4 this season only SPEED EuroSeries and ELMS will race in what has become a two-day race weekend.

For the second round at Zolder it is currently rumoured that a lack of entries and of support series - no SPEED EuroSeries in Zolder - could result in the round to be dropped or replaced. Drivers, media and spectators will likely opt to go to Brands Hatch (DTM) or the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (Nürburgring 24/British GT) instead of going to Zolder.

That something is set to change is certain, with European Le Mans Series officials saying there will be more information regarding the Zolder round in the coming days. Until then, we can only hope for a miracle it seems.