Piquet, the 2014/15 Formula E champion, will drive an ORECA 07 LMP2 car for United Autosports a day after the 2022 WEC season finale at the Bahrain International Circuit on 13 November.
He will share the Anglo-American squad’s #22 entry with fellow Brazilian Daniel Schneider and two-time Le Mans 24 Hours starter Andy Meyrick, while Australians Yasser Shahin and Garnet Patterson will be in action in the sister #23 car.
Piquet previously raced the ORECA 07 in the 2017 WEC for Rebellion, and finished third overall at Le Mans before being disqualified for a technical infringement.
It follows the news that Piquet, Schneider and Meyrick will drive for United in the Pro-Am sub-class of European Le Mans Series next year, with Schneider serving as the team's designated bronze driver.
Another notable name on the entry list is 23-year-old Correa, who scored his first podium finish in Formula 3 at Zandvoort earlier this year. The American driver has been given a chance to test for Prema after taking the squad to victory in only his second European Le Mans Series appearance in Portugal last month.
Correa will split the running in Prema’s sole LMP2 car with teenager race Tijmen van der Helm.
Elsewhere, Antonio Fuoco will sample AF Corse’s ORECA 07 following the conclusion of his maiden season in GTE Pro with the factory Ferrari squad. Fuoco is one of the several drivers in contention for a seat in Ferrari’s Hypercar programme that will come on stream in 2023.
Meanwhile, Ben Keating will get his first chance to drive the Corvette C8.R in Bahrain before he embarks on a campaign with the GM-owned brand in next year’s GTE Am category.
Interestingly, Nick Tandy will also be on duty for Corvette in the rookie test despite his imminent departure from the American marque in favour of an expected return to Porsche.
Nicolas Varrone and Axcil Jefferies will be taking part in the test as well for Corvette, likely as an audition for the third seat in the manufacturer’s 2023 line-up along with Keating and Nicky Catsburg.
As announced earlier on Friday, Stoffel Vandoorne will drive the Peugeot Hypercar during the five-hour test after joining sister marque DS to defend his Formula E title in 2023.
Vandoorne will share the #92 Peugeot 9X8 with full-season driver Mikkel Jensen, while the French marque’s sister entry will be piloted by new signing Nico Muller, Maximilian Guenther - who will race for another Stellantis brand Maserati in FE next season - Yann Ehrlacher and 19-year-old Malthe Jakobsen.
Finally, four drivers have been chosen by the WEC to take part in the test, each of which will get at least 30 laps behind the title-winning car of their allocated class.
Richard Mille LMP2 racer Lilou Wadoux will drive for either Toyota or Alpine in the Hypercar division, depending on who wins the championship, Lorenzo Colombo will test the winning GTE Pro car, while Doriane Pin and Finn Gehrsitz will get a chance in LMP2 and GTE Am machinery respectively.
Alpine hasn’t announced any drivers for the rookie test so far, apart from its obligation to run Wadoux if it wins the title, while Toyota will have Mike Conway, Sebastien Buemi and Jose Maria Lopez from its full-season crew on duty.
Bahrain WEC rookie test line-up so far:
|
Team |
Car |
Driver 1 |
Driver 2 |
Driver 3 |
Driver 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Hypercar |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOYOTA |
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid |
Mike Conway (GBR) |
Jose Maria Lopez (ARG) |
Sebastien Buemi (CHE) |
- |
|
TOYOTA |
Toyota GR010 - Hybrid |
Sebastien Buemi (CHE) |
Lilou Wadoux (FRA)* |
- |
- |
|
ALPINE |
Alpine A480 - Gibson |
Matthieu Vaxiviere (FRA) |
Lilou Wadoux (FRA)* |
TBA |
- |
|
PEUGEOT |
Peugeot 9X8 |
Mikkel Jensen (DNK) |
Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL) |
- |
- |
|
PEUGEOT |
Peugeot 9X8 |
Nico Müller (CHE) |
Yann Ehrlacher (FRA) |
Maximilian Günther (DEU) |
Malthe Jakobsen (DNK) |
|
LMP2 |
|||||
|
RICHARD MILLE |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
TBA |
TBA |
TBA |
- |
|
PREMA |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
Juan Manuel Correa (USA) |
Tijmen van der Helm (NLD) |
- |
- |
|
VECTOR SPORT |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
Ryan Cullen (GBR) |
Frederick Lubin (GBR)° |
- |
- |
|
UNITED AUTOSPORTS |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
Daniel Schneider (BRA) |
Nelson Piquet (BRA) |
Andy Meyrick (GBR) |
- |
|
UNITED AUTOSPORTS |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
Yasser Shahin (AUS) |
Garnet Patterson (AUS) |
- |
- |
|
JOTA |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
TBA |
TBA |
TBA |
- |
|
WRT |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
TBA |
TBA |
TBA |
|
|
JOTA |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
Doriane Pin (FRA)* |
TBA |
TBA |
- |
|
ARC BRATISLAVA |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
Miroslav Konopka (SVK) |
Matej Konopka (SVK)° |
- |
- |
|
ALGARVE PRO RACING |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
Filip Ugran (ROM) |
Mahaver Raghunathan (IND) |
Kyffin Simpson (USA) |
Fred Poordad (USA) |
|
AF CORSE |
Oreca 07 - Gibson |
Antonio Fuoco (ITA) |
Timur Boguslavskiy (RAF) |
- |
- |
|
LMGTE Pro |
|||||
|
AF CORSE |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO |
Lorenzo Colombo (ITA)* |
TBA |
- |
- |
|
CORVETTE RACING |
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R |
Ben Keating (USA) |
Nicolas Varrone (ARG) |
Axcil Jefferies (ZWE) |
Nick Tandy (GBR) |
|
PORSCHE GT TEAM |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 |
Lorenzo Colombo (ITA)* |
TBA |
- |
- |
|
LMGTE Am |
|||||
|
TF SPORT |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR |
Finn Gehrsitz (DEU)°/* |
Ryan Hardwick (USA) |
- |
- |
|
TEAM PROJECT 1 |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 |
Maxime Oosten (NLD) |
TBA |
- |
- |
|
NORTHWEST AMR |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR |
Jonathan Hoggard (GBR) |
Patrick Gallagher (USA) |
Indy Dontje (NLD) |
Lorcan Hanafin (GBR) |
