24 Hours of Le Mans

The Planetlemans 24 Hours of Le Mans preview – LMP1

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

The top class for the Le Mans 24 Hours appears once more as “The Battle of the Diesels”. Both Audi and Peugeot have shown to be ahead of the petrol cars, even if the speed of the Lola-Aston Martin during the opening LMS rounds has insinuated it could be a contender. However, 6 diesel cars are simply too many to even think some other team can get in contention for the win, even if Sebring showed earlier this year that not all is rosy in terms of reliability for both big works teams.

On the petrol department there is a big mix of chassis and engines and quite a few question marks on new cars that range from a totally untried Dome to some well-known cars that have already put quite some mileage at La Sarthe. Let’s analyze team by team:

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

1,2,3-Audi Sport North America and Audi Sport Team Joest- The 2006 and 2007 winners come back with 3 R10s as in 2007: same team, same drivers. Even when two of their cars were eliminated by accidents last year, the remaining one made it home in the lead extending the Audi record to 7 overall victories since 2000 at Le Mans. The line-ups could not be stronger and both super experienced, super successful crews (Tom Kristensen-Allan McNish-Dindo Capello, Frank Biela-Emanuele Pirro-Marco Werner) are joined again by young guns Lucas Luhr-Mike Rockenfeller-Alexandre Prémat who have performed very well on both sides of the Atlantic. Audi has not had the best of seasons up to now in 2008 but more remarkable than losing races, the legendary reliability seems to be suffering and all European races unveiled some weakness from the Ingolstadt prototypes. With a new aerodynamic solution tried at Spa, their extreme fuel economy (which can neutralize Peugeot’s pace advantage) and their unmatched experience at La Sarthe, Audi will be once more looking at another win as their only goal.

4-Saulnier Racing- The new 2008 partners of Henri Pescarolo have not been able to show acceptable performance until now in this class. Even with the privilege of a proven, solid car, the team has been clearly below par in terms of speed even compared to the LMP2 class. Their latest incident at Spa, almost taking out the GT2 leader has not helped their popularity either. Finish the race not too far behind should be already an achievement.

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

5,6-Team Oreca- The traditional “De Chaunac magic” has brought considerable improvement to the Courage chassis substantially increasing the speed and reliability of the cars. Having shown they are able to run among the petrol-powered leaders, the Spa podium a clear proof of their current competitiveness. With the unfortunate absence of Stéphane Ortelli after his Monza accident, Soheil Ayari will be joined by Loic Duval and Laurent Groppi while LMS regulars Nicolas Lapierre and Olivier Panis will be joined by new-ALMS star Simon Pagenaud in what appears to be the team’s lead car for the 24 Hours. A podium is an achievable objective for the Mondriaan-style decorated open prototypes.

7,8,9-Team Peugeot Total and Peugeot Sport Total- Also with three cars at Le Mans, the French Lion will have the pressure to deliver on the 2007 promise and clinch the win. A constellation of ex-Formula 1 stars and a car with an unmatched pace should be the ingredients to get to that objective in 2008. While reliability is improved from last year, both Sebring and the LMS races have shown that there are still glitches here and there that need attention. Two cars destroyed in the last few weeks are adding to the tension at Vélizy, even when preparation has been careful and intense. An amazing 3:22 lap by Stéphane Sarrazin during test day has also shown that the 908 is the quickest car around and Audi will get a serious run for their money. The LMS usual line-ups of Nicolas Minassian-Marc Gené and Stéphane Sarrazin-Pedro Lamy will be joined respectively by Jacques Villeneuve and Alexander Wurz while the third car will be driven by Christian Klien-Ricardo Zonta and Franck Montagny. Any of them can win it and that’s exactly what Peugeot is aiming for.

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

10,12-Charouz Racing System- Two cars, two very different stories. The Lola-Aston Martin had a stellar debut at Barcelona and raised quite some eyebrows with its combination of speed and looks. A line-up of some of the fastest drivers around (Jan Charouz-Stefan Mücke-Tomas Enge) and the Aston Martin involvement still make this as the top candidate to “best of the rest” behind the diesels. Unfortunately the series of minor problems experienced during the season have not allowed the car to shine properly and get significant results. Le Mans is cruel in these cases and won’t be merciful if small issues start piling up during the long race. It will all depend on reliability improvements, the speed is there for sure.
The second Charouz labelled car is in fact their last year strong performing Lola-Judd run by the well known Cytosport team from ALMS. Team Jota will not be there like last year as Cytosport has decided to use their US crew for the race, even if they have not had any track time this year yet. Experienced drivers Greg Pickett and Klaus Graf will be joined by Le Mans specialist Jan Lammers, they should be aiming at a top 10 finish.

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

11-Dome Racing Team- Arguably one of the most beautiful prototypes out there, the new S102 comes with little mileage and not one race on its history. While speculation is increasing on whether this is the spearhead effort of some Japanese works team for the future, the car impressed at Spa with some very quick times which is the only real reference we have given the weather conditions at test day and the need to qualify their drivers. A finish would be nice, the car’s endurance at this early stage is a big question mark.

14-Creation Autosportif- A year with ups and downs for the Blue Rocket: almost at the podium at Monza, low performance at Spa and test day. A strong line-up with Stuart Hall-Johnny Mowlem-Marc Goossens will help their Le Mans effort but their level of performance is still uncertain, even when their potential to fight for the top of the “petrol class” is undeniable. The absence of Jamie Campbell-Walter after his unfortunate accident during qualifying at Monza will also be a factor: while their three drivers are very strong, Jamie is undoubtedly the lead driver of the team. They probably won’t be happy with anything but a top 5 finish.

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

16,17- Pescarolo- While they are not at the level of their overall winning chances from a couple of years ago, Henri’s blue prototypes are still very competitive and their reliability has always been very strong. Both cars have had good performances at the LMS and their test day was also very strong being mixed with the diesels at times and topping the bill on the “petrol ecosystem”. Both crews are the same as last year (JC Boullion-Emmanuel Collard-Romain Dumas on the 16, Harold Primat-Christophe Tinseau-Benoit Treluyer on the 17) and are a guarantee of neat and quick driving. Bringing one of the cars home on the podium is certainly a realistic goal.

18-Rollcentre- Martin Short’s team has also had ups and downs this year and has not found their top form from other seasons yet. While Martin has stepped out of his driver role to be 100% focussed on the team management, Vanina Ickx has joined the team to partner Portuguese star Joao Barbosa. Both will be joined by ex-Indycar driver Stephane Gregoire at Le Mans forming a strong package which could deliver a good result like the 4th overall from last year. The team knows how to get the best out of the Pescarolo and if Gregoire adapts to the Le Mans rhythm they could indeed get in the top 5.

19- Chamberlain Synergy- Having participated at only one LMS race this year and with an ageing car things don’t look that promising for the unmistakable yellow British Lola. Without enough track time and development, the team does not seem to have enough pace but might see the chequered flag which in itself would be a rewarding experience.

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

20-Epsilon Euskadi- Another beautiful prototype, the Spanish black beauty will be showing itself for the first time at La Sarthe. A lot of development has gone into the car and the second chassis (which will be the one utilized at La Sarthe) is an improved version which might provide them with some extra performance to mix within the petrol pack. Their reliability has been pretty solid so far and the all-Spanish line-up of Miguel Ángel de Castro-Ángel Burgueño-Adrián Vallés has speed and experience aplenty to bring the car home. A top 10 finish would be an excellent reward but I’m sure Mr. Villadelprat and Mr. Rinland have higher expectations than that.

22-Tokai University- Probably a too idealistic effort, their showdown at test day was pretty weak and worrying to say the least. Having University students instead of professional mechanics is not a good recipe for success at the most gruelling race in the world and Professor Hayashi will find that out pretty quick unless things change dramatically in the next few days. Even a strong line-up seems too little to compensate for the teething problems of what seems to be a candidate to race way behind the rest of the class.

23-Autocon Motorsports- An oil-thirsty Judd engine ruined their test day last weekend but the track record of Autocon in the ALMS is far from stellar in the last few years. However, and in all fairness, the team has a good record of arrivals making it a candidate for a finisher at Le Mans, even if they won’t be able to put a significant challenge in terms of speed. The key aspect will be fixing that engine on time.

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

24-Terramos- A Courage-Mugen from times past to get Yojiro Terada his 29th participation on the 24 Hours. The car did a good job on test day but is certainly not a challenge for the top petrol runners, a top 10 finish would be a good achievement, even when the Mugen engine does not have a good record on the reliability department if we remember Courage’s 2006 season.

Nothing leads to believe a diesel should not be on top at 15.00 on Sunday, however both works teams have put each other under enormous pressure and their reliability is suffering. It would be therefore be remarkable if all 6 diesels would cross the finish line but it would be more remarkable even if any of the petrol entries would be ahead all of the diesels at the finish line. Peugeot might have the advantage on speed but Audi might catch up and even get ahead if the R10s can do (as expected) one more lap on each tank of diesel. It will be a race very difficult to predict until the very end…and even then the gruelling monster called Le Mans might be awaiting for a final reversal of fortune. A fantastic race, probably the best of the last few years, which will almost certainly go down to the wire. And this is just one of the four classes!!