Le Mans 24 hours 2009

[vyselegend]

Le Mans 24 hours 2009 Entry List




WOW, 5 Audis (two of them R10 from Colin Kolles team), 4 Peugeots (one of them run by Pescarolo), 4 Aston Martins! (one of them being the Lola B06/60 ex Charouz).
That makes for an impressive manufacturer's effort in LMP1!

Porsche are still there with the RS Spyder, and the rest of the P2 class looks good too, with the Mazda engines growing in a few chassis.

GT1 isn't dead yet, thanks to Corvette, Aston & Lamborghini. Note that Team Modena have switched to GT2, where they're among the 9(!) Ferraris F430 which are overwelming the class.

It's a Pity Acura won't come & try, especially in P1, I hope they do it next year.
Also, 9 diesels are too much, 6 silent cars last year was enough...

[dumrick]

Another fantastic edition in perspective, indeed!
Technically speaking, I'm eager to see if the R15 is that competitive at Le Mans, their radical approach on the aerodinamical side may be a little too draggy for this kind of circuit, no?

[RacingManiac]

Consider R15 will ONLY run Sebring and Le Mans....one would think they know the aero need for that track....

[dumrick]

Consider R15 will ONLY run Sebring and Le Mans....one would think they know the aero need for that track....

Sure they would
I'm basing myself only on "looks" here...

Oh, my biggest disappointment in this entry list is the absence a Dome S102... Eco Speed has placed the entry request too late and were refused. Shame, what a promising debut they had last year... also, is hard too see for the 2nd year in a row no WR in the entry list, although they've filed the request...

[RacingManiac]

lack of Dome is surprising.....I see it as either an bad sign for lack of money on their part, or a good sign for a manufacturer have picked up on them(ie Toyota) and going to do more R&D on it for next year....

I fear for the former, and rejoice for the latter.....

[modbaraban]

Is this list final?

Where's the E92 M3 GTR?

Btw, Corvette Racing announced this race to be their last in GT1.

Is there a misprint with the 997 RSR engine capacity? It's identical to the F430 but AFAIK the RSR's about 3.8L.

[Saribro]

Not a single Acura in either LMP1 or LMP2? I didn't expect that :/.
Porsche not as prevalent as they used to be, either.
All in all, still a nice list though.

[RacingManiac]

Neither M3 or the Acura are racing anywhere else but ALMS....

[ClioSport197]

So prodrive are concentrating on the LMP1 title this year?

[ubrben]

The BMW is racing in the ALMS this year only.

Porsche introduced the 4L engine during the LMS last year.

Ben

[vyselegend]

Indeed, some big names are missing, like Dome, Acura, and the brand new BMWs too... But at least the last two will be full time in the ALMS. The Dome is the real loss there, though everyone guided by hope prefers to read a good sign of Toyota's return in their abscence this year. But the truth is that Dome & Eco Speed divorced over serious financial problems (i.e unpaid bills, it looks like the Super Aguri VS Samantha Kingz affair).
Also, there is only one Spyker down the GT2 list, plus only one Vantage V8. I fear GT2 will once again be a Porsche VS Ferrari fight, with Ferrari at big advantage this time.

Everyone is laughing right now at the word fight between Aston Martin and Lola. It's a shame David Richards acted so immaturely in the begining, now the only things you read in the press about the Lola Aston Martin is about their dispute. There are other ways to start a new P1 program...

[czt]

Shame the Dome isn't coming out to play - It seemed a very promising car last year.

[RacingManiac]

Official unveiling of the R15:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... s-the-r15/

also pics of the Lola Aston Martin....which btw one crashed out of the LMS test at Paul Ricard, apparently the tub was a write off...

http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newsmarch09.html

[vyselegend]

Thanks RacingManiac!

And yes, one of the Aston was badly crashed at Signes (300 km/h + crash) sunday afternoon. Tomas Enge is OK but as you say the tub is dead...



For those who are interested, I've posted a video clip of the test on the usual endurance thread

[RacingManiac]

more R15 pics...
http://www.motorsport.com/photos/select ... udio_shoot