Le Mans 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours

Galahad

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The entry list for the 79th Grand Prix d'Endurance has been announced.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110209/ALMS/110209879

No big surprises in LMP1, with Audi, Peugeot and Aston Martin bringing their new factory cars. Good to see Henri Pescarolo's team back running his car.

A high likelihood of a British winner in LMP2, with Strakka Racing bringing back their victorious HPD (nee Acura) chassis from last year, while BTCC and WTCC champion team RML are likely to provide the main opposition in a similar car.

The GT class will all run to the GT2 rulebook this year, but separated into Pro and Am sub-classes (the Am cars must be at least a year old, and two of the three drivers classified as "amateur"). Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette, BMW and Lotus will all be represented by factory or semi-works teams in the Pro class, an absolutely mouthwatering prospect.
 
I'm going to make an effort to watch more of it this year.

I only managed to catch a few snippets here and there last year.

Are you going over to watch it again G?
 
With the changes to the classes at LeMans for this year's 24(especially the division of the GT category into GTE-Pro & GTE-Am.............:givemestrength::givemestrength:..........), sometimes it's good to take a look back, so I've been bouncing around the YouTube a bit and found a few interesting clips, especially Group C when the "Iron Beasts" ruled la Sarthe..............

1990 24 Hours Review Intro

Tribute to Group C at LeMans

 
2011 24 Hours of LeMans Driver List
........driver list subject to change

LMP 1 Entries
1: Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18(Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, Mike Rockenfeller)
2: Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18(Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treuyler
3: Audi Sport North America Audi R18(Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello, Allan McNish)
5: Hope Racing Oreca 01 Hybrid(Steve Zacchia, Olivier Lombard)
7: Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908(Anthony Davidson, Marc Gene, Alexander Wurz)
8: Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908(Stephane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny, Nicolas Minassian)
9: Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908(Sebastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy, Simon Pagenaud)
10: Team Oreca-Matmut Peugeot 908 HDi FAP(Nicolas Lapierre, Loic Duval)
12: Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60 Toyota(Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani, Jeroen Bleekemolen)
13: Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60 Toyota(Andrea Bellechi, Jean-Christophe Bouillion, Guy Smith)
15: Oak Racing Oak Pescarolo Judd(Matthieu Lahaye, Guilliame Moreau, Pierre Ragues)
16: Pescarolo Team Pescarolo 01 Judd(Emmanuel Collard, Christophe Triseau, Julien Jousse)
19: Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-01e(David Brabham)
20: Quifel ASM Team Zytek 09SC(Miguel Amaral, Olivier Pla)
24: Oak Racing Pescarolo 01(Richard Hein, Jacques Nicolet, Jean-Francois Yven)
007: Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin AMR ONE(Stefan Mucke, Darren Turner)
009: Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin AMR ONE(Harold Primat)

LMP2 Entries
27: SignaTech-Nissan Oreca 03 Nissan(Franck Mailleau)
28: SignaTech-Nissan Oreca 03 Nissan(Tiago Montiero)
33: Level 5 Motorsports Lola HPD(Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut, Luis Diaz)
35: Oak Racing Oak Pescarolo Judd BMW(Frederic LaRoche, Patrice Lafargue)
36: RML HPD ARX-01d(Mike Newton, Tommy Erdos, Ben Collins)
39: Pecom Racing Lola B11/40 Judd BMW(Luis Perez Companc, Matias Ruffo, Pierre Kaffer)
40: Race Performance Oreca 03 Judd BMW(Michel Frey, Ralph Meichtry)
41: Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11 Nissan(Karim Ojieh, Gary Chalandon, Thor-Christian Ebbesvik)
42: Strakka Racing HPD ARX-01d(Nick Leventis, Jonny Kane, Danny Watts)
48: Team Oreca Matmut Oreca 03 Nissan(Soheil Ayari)
49: Oak Racing Oak Pescarolo Judd(Andrea Barlesi)

GTE-Pro Entries
51: AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia(Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni)
55: BMW Motorsport BMW M3(Augusto Farfus)
56: BMW Motorsport BMW M3(Andy Priaulx)
58: Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 Italia(Anthony Beltoise, Francois Jakubowski)
59: Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 Italia(Stephane Ortelli, Frederic Makowiecki)
64: Lotus Jetalliance Lotus Evora(Vitus Eckert)
65: Lotus Jetalliance Lotus Evora(Lukas Lichner-Hoyer)
66: JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia(Rob Bell)
71: AF Corse Ferrari 458((Robert Kauffman, Michael Waltrip)
73: Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R ZR-1(Olivier Beretta, Tommy Milner, Antonio Garcia)
74: Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R ZR-1(Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Richard Westbrook)
75: ProSpeed Competition Porsche 997 RSR(Marc Goosens, Marco Holzer)
76: IMSA Performance-Matmut Porsche 997 RSR(Raymond Narac, Patrick Pilet)
77: Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 RSR(Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz)
79: Jota Sport Aston Martin Vantage(Sam Hancock)
80: Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche 997 RSR(Jorg Bergmeister)
88: Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 RSR(Lucas Luhr)
89: Hankook-Team Farnbacher Ferrari 458 Italia(Allan Simonsen, Domonic Farnbacher)

GTE-Am Entries
50: Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C6.R(Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal, Gabriel Gardel)
57: Krohn Racing Ferrari F430 GT2(Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson)
60: Gulf AMR Middle East Aston Martin Vantage(Fabien Giroux, Roald Goethe)
61: AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT2(Piergiuseppe Perazinni, Marco Cioci)
62: CRS Racing Ferrari F430 GT2(Pierre Erhet)
63: Felbermayer Proton Porsche 997 RSR(Horst Felbermayer)
68: Robertson Racing Doran Ford GT(David Robertson, Andrea Robertson)
70: Larbre Competiton Porsche 997 RSR(Christophe Bourret)
81: Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 RSR(Seth Neiman)
83: JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT2(Manuel Rodriguez, Dino Lunardi)
 
1988 LeMans 24 Highlights: Part 1
1988 LeMans 24 Highlights: Part 2
1988 LeMans 24 Highlights: Part 3
1988 LeMans 24 Highlights: Part 4
1988 LeMans 24 Highlights: Part 5

Round 5 of the 1988 World Sportcar Championship is the 56th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This race showcased the titanic Group C battle between the works Rothmans Porsche 962s and the TWR Silk Cut Jaguars.

Class Winners from the 1988 LeMans 24............
--Group C1: #2 Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-9(Tom Walkinshaw Racing w/drivers Jan Lammers, Andy Dumfries & Andy Wallace)
--Group C2: #111 Spice Engineering Spice SE88/Cosworth DFL(Spice Engineering w/drivers Ray Bellm, Gordon Spice & Pierre de Thoyse
--GTP Class: #203 MazdaSpeed Mazda 757(MazdaSpeed w/drivers Dave Kennedy, Yojiro Terada & Pierre Deaudonne)
note...........bold type indicates overall winners
 
Aston Martin Racing have unveiled images of their new car for 2011, the AMR-One:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110301/ALMS/110309984

In contrast to reigning champions Audi, Aston Martin are moving from a closed coupe to an open-topped design. The car will be powered by a two litre, straight-six turbocharged petrol engine.

A planned debut at the Sebring 12 Hours this month has been cancelled, so the car is due to make its first appearance at the Paul Ricard Le Mans Series round on 3rd April.
 
That is very nice indeed.
Personally i think the front looks horrible, reminds me of on old Lola cannot remember which 1 its called? but who cares as along as its fast.

It would be nice if they can take the step up to provide Audi and Pegout a challenge to there stronghold on LeMans.
 
Personally i think the front looks horrible

I'm glad somebody said it...
biggrin.gif
 
Le Mans 24 hours is really a torture

It is a torture; all the great endurance races are: Daytona, Sebring, LeMans, Nurburgring, Spa, Bathurst, Petit Le Mans.........that one of the things that makes them so special. To quote Speed's Bob Varsha from the Rolex 24 thread:
The word trophy comes from the greek "tropion", which means 'not a salute to victory but to commemorate an enemy's defeat. To some that may mean mere semantics, but if you appreciate the challenge of racing flat-out for 24 hours, the difference is as clear as the crystal on the face of the world's finest watch. It is why you come to the Rolex 24. To win, you must conquer an army of rivals, including winners of a museum full of trophies, including some of the sport's biggest races....and its' most prestigious championships. They all know there is one unique trophy they cannot do without......and so they come to the Rolex 24.


But there are other enemies to conquer as well, You must also overcome obstacles such as fatigue.........and darkness........and weather..........and mechanical failure.........and human error. They too are why you come to the Rolex 24. Throughout the race the ticking of the clock for 24 long hours is your most fickle companion. When you are fit, rested and running swiftly, time is your ally. But if you are stuck....or stranded....or broken, time becomes your enemy; it is the most formidable challenge of the Rolex 24.

Now Varsha was referring to the Rolex 24 in the above quote, but he could just have been referring to any of the great endurance races...........
 
Aston Martin scrap plans to appear at Spa ILMC round

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90971

After using the Paul Ricard race as an extended test session, and engine troubles at the Le Mans test day, the new Aston seems to be having a problematic birth. Hopefully they can get their ducks lined up in time for the 24H.

Incidentally, it was Audi topping the timesheets in the official Le Mans test day on Easter Sunday - follow the link for a brief summary and the lap times:

http://www.lemans.org/en/races/24h/update/Audi-reveals-they-have-pace-but-is-there-more•_3502.html
 
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