24 Hours of Le Mans
Tafel Racing withdraws Le Mans 24 Hours entry
© Rick Dole // No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC on track
The Tafel Racing Ferrari F 430 GT is the first withdrawal among the 55 entries for the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours, and will not take part in the test day on 1st June.
The team’s decision, only 4 days after its victory in the Saint Petersburg round of the American Le Mans Series, comes as a bit of a surprise. However, Jim Tafel, the team’s owner, has resolved to concentrate on the American Championship this year.
In compliance with the ACO regulations the slot left vacant by the Ferrari’s withdrawal goes to the first car on the reserve list, no matter what its category.
Thus, the number of LM P1s goes up from 20 to 21 cars as the no.4 Saulnier Racing Pescarolo-Judd comes in relation to the list published on 31st January 2008.
Seven other cars are on the reserve list, and it should be remembered that after 23rd May 2008 no reserves will be brought in to replace withdrawals.
(Automobile Club de l’Ouest)
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does the team not have enough $$$ for the full season and Le Mans?
It’s a pity because I was looking forward to seeing them and enjoy the American interest in the race but I hope the rest of their season is a success in the US so they can come next year instead.
Question is…will they be accepted in 2009 (if they do not win an automatic entry?).
In 2007 they announced their entry far before the official list was released and were not selected by the ACO, this year they were selected and withdrew their entry.
The statement that it took the ACO by surprise could indicate that the organisers will think twice before accepting the team in 2009…but we will see.
Disappointed but not really, AF Corse will pick up the slack.
I fully expected 4-5 strong F430’s in the race, its down to just about 4 now.
ACO should really see how teams are doing before they accept them anyway.
Hey this team is doing very well, and they’re very well funded. Last year they ran in two different series full time with 2 cars (4 cars in total), Grand Am and ALMS.
What happened is after their win in St Petersburg, they’re now leading the GT2 drivers title. Jim Tafel now really believes they can win the championship and he doesn’t want to disrupt the rhythm. Especially with Ferrari ace Dirk Muller being the equal of Mika Salo or Jaime Melo.
One problem is the team doesn’t know ferraris as well as they know Porsches, that’s why they don’t run 2 cars anymore (I think). At Sebring repairs were taking them longer than expected.
This is a big shame. I really felt that Tafel would be a contender for Le Mans. They are already on the pace in ALMS and would have improved further before Le Mans. As has been mentioned, this may not go down too well with the ACO for the future.
PWL withdrew around this time last year, but due to the St. Pete crash
I’m sure the ACO is not too shaken up with the news. That’s why they know to prepare a reserve list in advance. It’s business as usual for them.
Pity this nice colour scheme will not take part in the 2008 LM event. The rest are all plain red of the 430 cars?…
If they were so well funded, why were they soliciting monies on another chat site?
Kai, the second Risi car with Krohn will be green as last year. The Virgo car should maintain it’s yellow. I sure would like to see another Troy Lee design on the Lizards’ Porsche!