Le Mans: Huge Interest and Expectation

[Plex]

The 2007 Le Mans Series season is shaping up to be a good one. The fourth edition of the championship sees increased manufacturer and huge interest from potential teams.

The big interest will be in the Peugeot machine and how it compares to the previously dominant Pescarolos.

Additionally, the new rules that specify that cars must be symmetric from the centre line (among others) have also come into force. This will see many new teams and has also seen existing teams change their chassis for 2007.

Another new addition to the series is the first race outside of Europe. The Mil Mihas in Brazil represents the first race outside of the traditional sportscar areas and also represents an extension in the calendar, which now consists of six races.

Whether this overseas adventure works or not is up for debate as many of the teams may not be able to afford the trip.

But enough of that, lets get to the classes.

LMP1

Well the big ticket item is, of course Peugeot. A coupe. A diesel. A manufacturer. With the backing of an exciting lineup of professional drivers, what more needs to be said.

But will this entry succeed immediately? It is a new car with a heck of a lot more competition than Audi has in the ALMS. This will be an interesting question.

Particularly as the dominant team in the last two years, Pescarolo is back with an updated car and a two car team. On top of that they have sold cars to Rollcentre and Lister (with the latter only competing part season) which will mean the data acquisition will be hugely beneficial for Pescarolo.

Courage Competition will also want to make up for a lackluster 2006 season. The French manufacture has been working hard in the off-season to fix their gearbox problems.

This squad will be back with two cars and is the lone team to be using the LC70 cars in 2007.

Swiss Spirit, who were using the Courages in 2007 have been sold and are back with an exciting project.

They have gotten themselves a 2007 Lola with an Audi R8 engine in the back. This is the first time the all conquering R8 engine has been in the back of a non-Audi chassis and with at strong lineup of GT/LMP pros, it will be an interesting campaign to watch.

Other Lola runners include the Chamberlin-Synergy who are back to continue their form of punching above their weight and shaming larger rivals.

New for 2007, Charouz Racing Systems are also running a new Lola with Judd power. Other than team owner Jan Charouz, the driver lineup is unclear as Tomas Enge was meant to be driving but major injuries suffered at St Petersburg ALMS race has ruled him out.

This team tested competitively and could be a dark horse.

Another new Le Mans Series team is Arena International running a Zytek O7S. The driver lineup is exciting with Tom Chilton and Stefan Johansson at the wheel. Scheduling conflicts for both drivers may see replacements in the car for various rounds.

Returning for another shot in 2007 are crowd favorites, Racing for Holland. With their updated Dome chassis and switch to Michelin tyres, they could be in for success in 2007. They also have an exciting driver lineup and unlike previous years, they should be round for the entire season.

Lavaggi are back to compete in a full season after a one off race last year. This team is not expected to be competitive after they were unreliable and slow in testing.

Finally, Creation Autosportif is back. Running an updated car, the British squad are (sort of) killing time in 2007 until their 2008 campaign with AIM comes into force. They will however be eager to break their winless streak in the series.

Peugeot and Pescarolo have to be the favorites for the 2007 season.


LMP2

The LMP2 race is wide open. The 2006 champions, Barazi Epsilon are back but have replaced their Courage with a Zytek. Additional support from Gulf will see this team up the front again and could be successful in defending their title.

RML are also back with their MG Lola. Unlucky not to win the 2006 title, they are back with the same strong team and car combination and are up there with the other title favorites.

Other Lola runners include Binnie Motorsports. Back for another season, the American/Scottish squad will prove to be competitive again, if lacking the ultimate pace.

The same could be said for LMS returnees, Horag Racing. Successful in their last entry a few years back, their aging machine could hamper their attempts at the 2007 title.

ASM are also back. Renamed from ASM for Portugal to Quifel ASM Team for 2007, they return with the same driver/car combination that surprised many in 2006.

The usual French competition from the Courage chassis is back for 2007 with Noel Del Bello Racing back after a period away from the series.

Former Swiss Spirit boss and Peugeot chief has his own team, also running the Courage LC75 chassis. These cars should be competitive as this car has been very successful in the past and there is no reason why this should change.

The Pescarolo chassis also makes its first appearance in the LMP2 category with Krause Motorsport. The German team should be strong with the LMP1 qualities of the car transferring to LMP2. Kuhmo tyres could be a question mark for this team.

Radical are back with two teams in 2007. Bruichladdich Radical will compete in their first full season after a part season in 2006. They will be partnered by Embassy Racing in 2007.

This car is quick but proved fragile, costing their teams wins throughout the season.

It could also be the case that Embassy will race a Pilbeam in 2007. They were scheduled to run this car but a heavy crash in testing halted this plan. They could get it fixed and be back in this car for the second half of the season.

Pierre Bruneau will be back. Sportscar perennials, the French squad proved that Pilbeam can make a decent car and will be back to enforce this notion.

Finally T2M have made the leap from GT2 to LMP2 with a Dome Mader combination. How completive this will be is unknown but it is an exciting project.

Exactly who will come out on top in 2007 is a mystery. Close fought racing is assured. If you had to pick RML and Barazi Epsilon must be favorites.



GT1

Once again the GT1 field is the smallest but that makes it no less exciting. The cars are all very closely matched and teams and drivers very fast and very professional.

Back for another year with their Saleen is the French ORECA squad. Keeping the same drivers as last year this team looks very good on paper.

ORECA have also built a Saleen for the Racing Box team. This Italian squad does not have as strong driving lineup but the undoubted pace of the car will provide them with competitive results.

Back again is the Labre squad, now as the official Aston Martin factory team. Entering two cars, one of very high class drivers and the other being slightly weaker, this team must be a favorite for the title.

Team Modena are back for another year with their Aston Martin. There is much investment in this team with multiple sportscar campaigns running in 2007.

Antonio Garcia will partner Liz Halliday who really made her name with some great drives last year in the ALMS. Probably not as strong as Labre, Modena still know how to win and should be competitive in 2007.

The other full time GT1 entries come from the Luc Alphand Adventures team who will enter a C6R and C5R Corvette. With a new C6R that has proven its pace in America and at Le Mans, this team is carried over from the Luc Alphand Adventures squad from last year and should be a title contender.

The other car is also strong, boasting esteemed sportscar professionals for its drivers, although owing to its relative age, won�t be as competitive as the other car.

This title again is hard to pick but the defending champions, Labre and Luc Alphand Adventures would be the picks of the bunch.



GT2

The GT2 battle will be more open than ever. With Porsche�s new 997 model, upgrades from Spyker and the continued push from Panoz and Ferrari.

Typically there are many Porsches in the GT2 runners with no less than 5 teams running the new 997.

IMSA Performance MATMUT, Felbermayr Proton (x2), Thierry Perrier and Farnbacher make up the Porsche runners.

Of these runners the lead Felbermayr Proton team, driven by Marc Lieb and Xavier Pompidou, and IMSA Performance MATMUT, driven by Raymond Narac and Richard Lietz will be the most competitive entries.

Ferrari will also have five entries for their F430 GT.

Scuderia Villorba Corse, GPC Sport, Virgo Motorsport, Ice Pol Racing Team and JMB Racing make up the Ferrari teams.

JMB could be strong but a double FIA GT campaign could take their eye off the Le Mans Series prize.

Scuderia Villorba Corse driven by Alex Caffi and Denny Zardo combined with GPC Sport driven by Gabrio Rosa, Luca Drudi and Johnny Mowlem are the cars to watch here.

Panoz are back with defending champions LNT. The driver combination remains strong and this team is a title favorite.

Chad Peninsula Panoz are new comers to the Le Mans Series and are also racing a Panoz Esperante GTLM. While not looking as strong as LNT, they should still prove competitive.

Spyker are back with their Spyker C8. One car will be campaigned for the factory squad with Swiss entrant, Speedy Racing campaigning a second car.

This car should prove to be more competitive after the flow on effect after the parent company entered F1.

Finally Markland Racing is entering a Corvette C6Z06. This could be a competitive entry as Corvettes have a huge racing history but we will have to wait for round one before making judgments here.

The title will be fought between the Panoz, leading Porsches and Ferraris here. Another tough one to pick but LNT and Felbermayr looking to be the favorites.

The 2007 season will undoubtedly be an exciting one. Increased interest, huge grids and a sixth round make this one of the most exciting sportscar series for 2007.

Bring on Monza and the 2007 season!

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