24 Hours of Le Mans

Planetlemans analyzes the Le Mans 24 Hours list – LMP1

© Planetlemans – Marcel ten Caat

Once more the ACO managed to bring together a fabulous list of cars for the annual Le Mans 24 Hours. Despite the economic downturn that is felt throughout the world the 2009 edition looks better than ever. The 77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours looks to become a Peugeot vs Audi battle again!

Let’s take a look at the entire list of 55 cars as well as the 10 cars on the reserve list. 21 LMP1 cars are on the main list. 12 LMP2 cars make it a 60 percent prototype field. GT2 outnumbers GT1 this year again, with 14 GT2 cars against 8 GT1s. First…LMP1!

Highlighting the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours will be the battle of the manufacturers in the LMP1 class.
Peugeot is back at La Sarthe for yet another attempt to win the mythical race. In recent years the Audi R10 beat the Peugeot 908 and the French squad will do everything to beat Audi this time, the first time Audi uses its new R15 TDI in Europe. On this attempt Peugeot has added a fourth car, run by the Pescarolo Sport team.
Audi’s battle for another victory with the R15 will be supported by two privateer Audi R10s in the hands of the Kolles team.

With nine diesel-powered cars the petrol engined cars will have a hard time taking a top finish. Nevertheless Aston Martin Racing has taken up the challenge by entering three brand new Lola Aston Martins, as well as the 2008 Lola Aston Martin in the hands of Speedy Racing Team Sebah.

Oreca’s Hugues de Chaunac must be happy to see no fewer than three Courage-Oreca LC70 cars on the grid. Two of them are run by Team Oreca, with a third one to be run by newcomers Signature Plus.

The Zyteks are back as well, with Team LNT and Strakka Racing both entering a Ginetta-Zytek 09S. Like the Courage-Oreca cars these Zyteks should have a real good day to be able to beat the diesel cars. The same can be said about the lonely LMP1 Pescarolo Judd, which needs a brilliant drive to take the ‘best petrol car’ title.

Epsilon-Euskadi is hoping to debut its new Epsilon Euskadi ee2 Judd at Le Mans and has opted to miss the opening rounds of the Le Mans Series. Taking into consideration the progress the Epsilon-Euskadi squad made in the races they did last year it remains to be seen if this is indeed a wise decision.

A rather surprising addition is the Creation Autosportif team. Mike Jankowski decided not to close the doors on the team when several other team managers did and moved the operation to the USA. Despite not lodging an entry for the Le Mans Series nor the American Le Mans Series the squad seems positive for a return to the world’s most important endurance race.

LM P1
1 – Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R15 TDI
2 – Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R15 TDI
3 – Audi Sport Team North America – Audi R15 TDI
4 – Creation Autosportif – Creation CA07 Judd
6 – Team LNT – Ginetta-Zytek 09S
7 – Team Peugeot Total – Peugeot 908 HDI FAP
8 – Team Peugeot Total – Peugeot 908 HDI FAP
9 – Peugeot Sport Total – Peugeot 908 HDI FAP
10 – Team Oreca Matmut-AIM – Courage-Oreca LC70 AIM
11 – Team Oreca Matmut-AIM – Courage-Oreca LC70 AIM
12 – Signature Plus – Courage-Oreca LC70 Judd
13 – Speedy Racing Team Sebah – Lola B08/60 Aston Martin
14 – Kolles – Audi R10 TDI
15 – Kolles – Audi R10 TDI
16 – Pescarolo Sport – Pescarolo Judd
17 – Pescarolo Sport – Peugeot 908 HDI FAP
20 – Epsilon-Euskadi – Epsilon Euskadi ee2 Judd
23 – Strakka Racing – Ginetta-Zytek 09S
007 – Aston Martin Racing – Lola Aston Martin
008 – AMR Eastern Europe – Lola Aston Martin
009 – Aston Martin Racing – Lola Aston Martin

(Sixth Reserve: Epsilon-Euskadi – Epsilon Euskadi ee2 Judd)