Analysis

The Planetlemans LMS 2008 preview (prototypes)

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos // Peugeot at the Nürburgring 1000 km in 2007

“Coming of age” could be a very suitable title for the upcoming 2008 season of the Le Mans Series. Very relevant additions, teams moving up a notch and others looking at the LMS as the right platform to launch their Le Mans 24 Hours bid are just part of the ingredients that the European series will have this year in its championship.

Any analysis should start at the LMP1 class and definitely having the announced entry of Audi as its main feature. Conditioned by proper TV coverage as expressed by Ingolstadt’s top man Dr. Ullrich during the December Motor Show at Essen, the reappearance of Audi in the European endurance scene after 2 years will be a very welcome addition. In practice run by the very experienced team of Reinhold Joest, the R10 TDis will be the perfect challengers for crown-holders Peugeot, the French squad coming back to the LMS this year to properly prepare their Le Mans assault.

The one-race-only “Battle of the Diesels” will be therefore extended to a whole season plus the “big one”, Audi disembarking with 2 cars confirmed in the LMS. Audi will use top drivers (Capello-Mc Nish and Premat-Rockenfeller) and the focus will be on beating their French “diesel-nemesis”.

© Planetlemans -Gabriel Portos // Audi only raced at Le Mans in Europe in 2007

Clearly these two teams will be fighting for the top spot, 2007 showing that Peugeot’s pace was a few steps head of the rest, even if their reliability was sometimes at stake. Audi had a better track record in mechanical reliability during their ALMS campaign last year but Le Mans showed that other mistakes can also take you out in a long race. Peugeot has worked very hard in improving reliability isolating key components that had given them grief and are now revised and ready to help them challenge Audi to the full extent of the season.

Behind these two, the petrol-engined prototypes will have a hard time, even when some of them might get pretty close to the diesel performance with the reviewed ACO rules granting them a 3% more power. Pescarolo will be back with an evolution of their Judd-powered prototypes in a new framework after their merge with Saulnier Racing. The same highly experienced drivers as last year and a proven reliable car will still be the weapon for Henri’s team this season, his aim is to align 3 of them in 2008 in LMP1.

Another “merged” competitive team will be Oreca-Courage with a revised LC70 chassis, Judd engine and 2 all-French crew: their seasoned GT1 champions Ortelli-Ayari and the experience-youth combination of Panis-Lapierre. It will be a return to prototypes for the successful Hugues de Chaunac but ll indicates it will also be a transitional year until a brand new tub is developed.

But the main challenger on gasoline appears to be the Charouz Lola-Aston Martin and their superfast Enge-Charouz-Muecke lineup. A GT1 engine, Prodrive support and the first Lola coupe of this generation are the other ingredients of what seems to be an ambitious bet to challenge the diesel hegemony. The Lola Charouz ran in 2007 is also a very probable entry ran by Team Jota but still with unconfirmed lineup.

Creation, Rollcentre and Arena should be back with some changes: the Japanese AIM engine for the former, renewed Pescarolo aero for Martin Short’s team and a still unconfirmed power plant on the Zytek. Another comeback should be the Swiss Spirit Lola-Audi (now managed by Phoenix racing) after a long absence due to legal issues.

The rest of the field is still a big question mark. Lavaggi has not confirmed the acquisition of a new engine, Chamberlain Synergy has been very quiet and Epsilon Euskadi has not released any news lately although Planetlemans can confirm they are negotiating with potential drivers for this season.

A very strong LMP1 field therefore, but it is clear that the presence of Audi will be a huge boost for the interest on the series.

Moving on to the LMP2 class the headlines are made by the amount and quality of newcomers. Finally making its long-awaited appearance in Europe, the Porsche RS Spyder will be used by 3 teams with a clear goal of victories: Horag Racing bringing Dutch veteran Jan Lammers next to their experienced Theys-Lienhard duo, van Merksteijn Motorsport with ex-F1 Jos Verstappen, Jeroen Bleekemolen and team owner Peter van Merksteijn and finally Team Essex with the Danish top duo John Nielsen-Casper Elgaard.

While the Porsches ought to be a big attraction Team Speedy (another newcomer to the class) will run the very first Lola Coupe LMP2 with the experienced Team Sebah supporting them. But these teams won´t have an easy task in a class that has evolved significantly in terms of pace and reliability during 2007. The Zyteks will be back with Barazi-Epsilon in a 2-car effort adding an all-Danish lineup (Kurt Thiim-Torsten Thyrring) to their Barazi-Vergers main effort . Barazi’s ex-driver Karim Ojjeh will be launching another Zytek-based team (Trading Performance) partnered by Claude-Yves Gosselin and young Belgian Julien Schroyen.

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos // Vergers was consistently quick on the Zytek in 2007

All this said, the last championships have been monopolized by open Lola prototypes and they will be back again in 2008 with top teams again. Champions RML with their ultra solid Erdos-Newton pairing will be debuting an MG-branded engine opening a whole new era for the team. Another engine might also be in the back of 2007 title challengers Quifel-ASM with Mazda trying to make its debut in the LMS with the Portuguese team. Miguel Amaral has opted for Frenchman Olivier Pla to partner him instead of his long standing partners Burgueño and De Castro.

The Saulnier-Pescarolo merge also includes LMP2 participation so we should see an LMP2 version of the Pescarolo still with unconfirmed drivers. Oreca-Courage might also launch an LMP2 campaign but this is not 100% confirmed at the moment of writing these lines. Uncertainty also for the Radical teams, the works Bruichladdich team almost certain of returning nd other teams aiming for an entry with the very solid British tub.

What is certain is the full-blown attack that Embassy will launch with their own built Zytek-powered prototype in a 2 car effort. Warren Hughes, Jonny Kane and Joey Foster have been confirmed in what will be a serious challenge to the established order in LMP2. We shouls also see 1 or 2 Lucchinis this year, Racing Box moving up from GT1 with the somehow outdated Italian prototype and Ranieri Randaccio might also do some rounds hopefully having solved their endemic gearbox issues.

© Horag Racing // The RS Spyder will be the main LMP2 attraction in 2008

There might be some other surprises as the year grows older, we know of teams from France, the UK and also Italy looking at the LMP2 class with great interest. At any rate, the class seems healthy despite the fears of a Porsche domination expressed by the organization. Zytek, Embassy and Lola will be very strong platforms indeed as was demonstrated for example at Silverstone by LNT challenging the LMP1 lap times during the whole race. Clearly these teams will have very hard work (both development an race setups) but this is also valid for the Porsche-powered ones who will need to adapt to the car and make it perform from the word “go”. Close competition is guaranteed, even when we might not see an LMP2 challenge to the LMP1 cars given the new A.C.O. rules adding weight to the smaller class. This has not been a factor in the LMS up to now since there has been enough close racing per class and we expect this to be the case this year as well. As the definitive list is released next month and the last blanks are filled we can prepare ourselves for a brilliant prototype season in Europe, that is a certainty.