24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans 2006, The Centenary and other major events

A meeting in the capital for a capital year took place in Paris in the reception rooms of the Automobile Club de France on Place de la Concorde ! “The choice of the setting is obviously not without a certain premeditation”, said Mr. Jean-Claude Plassart, the President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. “In 1906, the A.C.F wanted to create what would become the first grand prix in the history of motor sport and put out bids, which were answered by the pioneers who founded the Automobile Club de la Sarthe. Whether it was through luck or competence or a bit of both the Automobile Club de la Sarthe’s candidature was retained initiating a formidable human adventure, which is only 100 years young !”

2006: a year of celebration but also a sporting year whose calendars were announced in the presence of Emanuele Pirro, triple winner of the “24 Heures du Mans”, 2005 ALMS Champion and guest of honour at the conference.

The 2006 American Le Mans Series calendar consists of ten events with two new circuits in an urban environment : Houston (Texas 12th May) and Salt Lake City (Utah 15th July). “The ten races will cover the whole of the United Sates. I’m sure that our friends at General Motors and Ford will be very happy,” stated Mr. Plassart. For Europe one should no longer say “Le Mans Endurance Series? but “Le Mans Series.” The calendar has five events of 1000 Kms or 6 hours and in 2006 the English round will take place on the Donington circuit and not at Silverstone. President Plassart also saluted the official launch in Japan of the Japan Le Mans Series, which, in its first year, will consist of three races.

Le Mans, la Sarthe !
Motorcycles: The French “Open de Vitesse? Championship, the “24 Heures Moto? race, the French Grand Prix and the Promosport Cups will be the biggest motorcycle events in 2006. Confirmation : the Le Mans “24 Heures Moto? and the Bol d?Or will count for the Endurance World Championship. “This doesn’t mean that the Master of Endurance has been put on the back burner,+ said Mr. Jean-Marc Desnues, the ACO events director saying that from now on it will be “a trophy common to both events.”

24 Heures du Mans: the schedule started in 2005 with the test day two weeks before the race will continue in 2006 announced Daniel Poissenot, the ACO Sports Director and Clerk of the Course. Please note that the test day will be on 4th June and the race on 17th/18th June.

Cars: The DTM will race on French territory for the first time after several seasons? wait. The event will be on 15th October. The initials DTM stands for a very high level German Touring Car Championship and will be the theatre of a spectacular battle between Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

Among the other major events for the motor car in 2006 are : the “Le Mans Classic?, a Retro meeting covering the period 1923-1979, the World Series by Renault, and the “24 Heures Camions? Race. Fabrice Bourrigaud, the commercial director reminded everybody that work on the renovation of the circuit village had begun: “The new park will have a resolutely modern face in keeping with the international renown of our events while respecting the environment and its conviviality which are all essential Le Mans values,” he declared.

If 2006 as a whole will be the year of the Le Mans Centenary the weekend of 10th/11th June between the test day and the 74th “24 Heures du Mans? will celebrate this Centenary and that of the A.C.F Grand Prix. “On this occasion we’re going to bring together an exceptional field of 100 vehicles,” stated Hervé Guyomard, the event’s coordinator, “and we’re expecting cars from all over the world? They will use a circuit of 103,180 kms. An historic rendez vous !

2006 schedule:

LMES

” 14 may 2006 1000 km Spa (BEL)
? 16 july 2006 1000 km N¦rburgring (GER)
? 27 august 2006 1000 km Donington (GBR)
? 24 september 2006 1000 km Monza (ITA)
? A fixer 1000 km Istanbul (TUR)

ALMS

” 18 march 2006 Sebring (Floride, USA)
? 12 may 2006 Houston (Texas, USA)
? 21 may 2006 Mid Ohio (Ohio, USA)
? 1 july 2006 Lime Rock (Connecticut, USA)
? 15 july 2006 Salt Lake City (Utah, USA)
? 22 july 2006 Portland (Oregon, USA)
? 20 august 2006 Road America (Wisconsin, USA)
? 3 september 2006 Mosport (Ontario, Canada)
? 30 september 2006 Road Atlanta / Petit Le Mans (Georgie, USA)
? 21 october 2006 Laguna Seca (Californie, USA)

LE MANS

” 4 june 2006 Journée Test “24 HEURES DU MANS”
? 17 - 18 june 2006 “24 HEURES DU MANS”
? 8 - 9 july 2006 “Le Mans Classic”

© 2005 Planetlemans.com.