2013 24 Hours LeMans

[roadracer7]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/le-mans-24-hour-signatech-bring-alpine-back-041007899.html

Le Mans 24 Hour - Signatech bring Alpine back to Le Mans


Alpine is set to make a return to the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2013 with a partnership between the Renault brand and Signatech LMP2 in the pipeline.



An official announcement about the link-up is expected on Friday but it is thought Alpine will replace the Nissan badges on the V8 engine in the team's ORECA 03 chassis.
Caterham boss Tony Fernandes, who claimed a 50 per cent stake in Alpine in November 2012, had hinted a deal was in the offing.
"There are lot of plans for other motorsport projects and things we can do together," he said. "We are working on plans that are good business and that showcase our companies."
Alpine will make a return to the event 35 years after securing a race victory with Renault.
Signatech has one entry for Le Mans and will also race the European Le Mans Series.
The team's partnership with Nissan dates back to 2011-12 when it received backing from the Japanese make, which placed winners of the PlayStation GT Academy with the team.





Another famous name back at Le Mans, that can only be good news

[roadracer7]

http://www.lemanslive.com/News/Teams-provide-driver-line-up-details




Teams provide driver line-up details

2013 WEC Le Mans 24 Hours Following last Friday’s ACO press conference in Paris, a number of endurance racing teams have provided details of their driver line-ups for the 2013 WEC and Le Mans 24 Hours.

In LMP1, Strakka Racing confirmed its usual three Britons for 2013, namely Nick Leventis, Danny Watts and Jonny Kane who will share its HPD-ARX03c in the FIA World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans, which it will contest for the sixth year running.

Following the withdrawal from LMP1 of JRM Racing, Pescarolo Team and OAK Racing, Rebellion Racing will be Strakka’s only direct rival this year. The Swiss operation announced its drivers back in January (Andrea Belicchi, Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost, Mathias Beche, Nick Heidfeld and Cong Fu Cheng).

Audi has confirmed the drivers who will be tasked with defending its world title: Marcel Fassler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer (N°1 Audi e-tron quattro), plus Allan McNish/Tom Kristensen/Loïc Duval in its other hybrid prototype. At Le Mans and Spa, a third Audi R18 e-tron quattro/Michelin will be in the hands of the team’s new trio, Lucas di Grassi, Marc Gené and Oliver Jarvis.

There are no surprises at Toyota which has carried over the same six drivers from 2012, i.e. Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre/Kazuki Nakajima in the N°7 TS030 Hybrid, and Stéphane Sarrazin/Anthony Davidson/Sébastien Buemi in the N°8 car. Toyota will run two prototypes in the WEC and at Le Mans.

In LMP2, Pecom Racing will continue with an Oreca03-Nissan shared by Perez-Companc, Pierre Kaffer and Nicolas Minassian, while Lotus has confirmed Kevin Weeda/Vitantonio Liuzzi/James Rossiter for the N°31 TS128. Oak Racing has named Olivier Pla/Jacques Nicolet/David Heinemeier-Hansson.

The other teams have only named their ‘number one’ drivers: Franck Montagny at Sébastien Loeb Racing, John Martin at Delta-ADR (plus Shinji Nakano in the second car which has a reserve entry), Pierre Ragues and Franck Mailleux for Signatech’s two cars and Tom Kimber-Smith at Greaves Motorsport.

There is plenty of talent in LMGTE Pro, too. Porsche AG Team Manthey has recruited Marc Lieb/Romain Dumas/Richard Lietz for the N°91 991 GT3 RSR and Jorg Bergmeister/Patrick Pilet/Timo Bernhard for the N°92 car for Le Mans and the entire WEC.

At Le Mans, Corvette Racing will continue with Garcia/Taylor/Magnussen and Gavin/Westbrook/Milner in the factory C6.Rs.

Aston Martin Racing has only named Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke for the N°97 and N°99 Vantages, and SRT Motorsport has announced Marc Goossens and Dominik Farnbacher for the N°93 and N°94 Vipers. Ferrari-AF Corse has only confirmed Gimmi Bruni, Fiancarlo Fisichella and Olivier Beretta for the moment.


In LMGTE Am, Larbre Compétition will be represented by Patrick Bornhauser/Julien Canal/Fernando Rees in the WEC (N°50 Corvette), and by Pedro Lamy in its N°70 car at Le Mans. Imsa-Performance-Matmut’s N°76 Porsche will be shared by Raymond Narac/Jean-Karl Vernay/Christophe Bourret, but only Nicolas Gibon has been nominated for the N°67 car. Dempsey Racing’s N°77 Porsche will be in the hands of Patrick Dempsey/Joe Foster/Michael Avenatti, while the N°88 Porsche (Proton Compétition) will be raced by Christian Ried/Gianluca Roda/Paolo Ruberti.

[roadracer7]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105366



Viper returns to Le Mans 24 Hours as 2013


Entry list is revealed






The return of the Chrysler Viper to the Le Mans 24 Hours was confirmed in Paris on Friday when race organisers unveiled the entry list for this year's race.

Two GTE Pro class Viper GTS-Rs have been entered under by the Riley Technologies-run SRT Motorsports team, which is masterminding the US muscle car's return to racing.

The cars will be badged as SRTs after after Chrysler's Street & Racing Tuning brand.

Marc Goossens and Dominik Farnbacher, who were both part of SRT's partial campaign in the American Le Mans Series in 2012, have been slated as the drivers of the car.

SRT director Beth Paretta, whose remit covers motorsport, said: "Our goal in our first year was to be invited. We are so excited to be returning to Le Mans; we couldn't be more excited about being back on the world stage."

The two Vipers bolster an impressive GTE Pro class that includes two factory AstonMartin Vantage GTEs and two 991-shaped Porsche 911 GT3-RSRs, to be fielded by a Manthey-run works team.

ACO sporting director Vincent Beaumesnil said: "I don't think I have seen so many great GT cars on the grid. We have five manufacturers with two cars each, who are all are going to be battling it out at Le Mans."

There are only eight LMP1 prototypes on the entry for Le Mans, including three Audis and two Toyotas.

This follows the late withdrawal of the British JRM squad, which has opted to withdraw for financial reasons, and OAK Racing's decision to focus its P1 programme on the development of its all-new 2014 car.

2013 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list:

LMP1
1. Audi Sport Team Joest Audi Andre Lotterer
2. Audi Sport Team Joest Audi Tom Kristensen
3. Audi Sport Team Joest Audi Marc Gene
7. Toyota Racing Toyota Alex Wurz
8. Toyota Racing Toyota Anthony Davidson
12. Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota Nicolas Prost
13. Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota Neel Jani
21. Strakka Racing HPD-Honda Nick Leventis

LMP2
24. OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan Jacques Nicolet
25. Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan John Martin
26. G-Drive Racing ORECA-Nissan Roman Rusinov
27. Sebastien Loeb Racing ORECA-Nissan Franck Montagny
28. Gulf Racing Middle East Lola-Nissan Fabien Giroix
29. Gulf Racing Middle East Lola-Nissan Frederic Fatien
30. HVM Status GP Lola-Judd Jonathan Kennard
31. Lotus Lotus Kevin Weeda
32. Lotus Lotus Thomas Holzer
33. Level 5 Motorsports HPD-Honda Scott Tucker
35. OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan Olivier Pla
36. Signatech ORECA-NIssan Franck Maillieux
38. Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan Simon Dolan
40. Boutsen Ginion Racing ORECA-Nissan Koen Wauters
41. Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan Christian Zugel
42. Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan Tom Kimber-Smith
44. Starworks Motorsport HPD-Honda Alex Popow
45. OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan David Heinemeier Hansson
46. Thiriet by TDS ORECA-Nissan Piere Thiriet
47. KCMG Morgan-Nissan Alexandre Imperatori
48. Murphy Prototypes ORECA-Nissan Brendon Hartley

GTE Pro
51. AF Corse Ferrari Gianmaria Bruni
66. JMW Motorsport Ferrari Tim Sugden
71. AF Corse Ferrari Olivier Beretta
73. Corvette Racing Corvette Antonio Garcia
74. Corvette Racing Corvette Oliver Gavin
91. Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche Marc Lieb
92. Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche Jorg Bergmeister
93. SRT Motorsports Viper Marco Goossens
94. SRT Motorsports Viper Dominik Farnbacher
97. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Darren Turner
99. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Stefan Mucke

GTE Am
50. Larbre Competition Corvette Patrick Bornhauser
54. AF Corse Ferrari Yannick Mallegol
55. AF Corse Ferrari Piergiuseppe Perazzini
57. Krohn Racing Ferrari Tracy Krohn
61. AF Corse Ferrari Jack Gerber
67. Imsa Performance Porsche Pascal Gibon
70. Larbre Competition Corvette Pedro Lamy
76. Imsa Performance Porsche Raymond Narac
77. Dempsey Proton Porsche Patrick Dempsey
80. Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari Scott Sharp
81. 8Star Motorsports Ferrari Enzo Potolicchio
88. Proton Competition Porsche Christian Ried
95. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Allan Simonsen
96. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Roald Goethe

Garage 56**
56. Green GT Green GT Christian Pescatori

Reserves (in order of priority)
LMP2
34. Race Performance ORECA-Judd Michel Frey
43. Morand Racing Morgan-Judd Natacha Gachnang
39. DKR Engineering Lola-Judd Olivier Porta
37. Signatech ORECA-Nissan Pierre Ragues
23. Delta-ADR ORECA-Nissan Shinji Nakano
20. HVM Status GP Lola-Judd Warren Hughes

GTE
98. Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Stuart Hall (Am)
75. ProSpeed Competition Porsche Abdulaziz Al Faisal (Am)
52. Ram Racing Ferrari Johnny Mowlem (Pro)
90. TRG AMR North America Aston Martin Kevin Buckler (Am)

*Drivers named for administrative purposes only and are subject to change.
** Will run outside general classification.

[roadracer7]

http://ms.toyota.co.jp/en/wec/top.html

http://ms.toyota.co.jp/en/wec/hv.html

[plex]

The Toyota(s) were 5sec slower than Audis in Le Mans test session weekend gone....If Toyota does not find the missing gaps we could see Audis running away at start.....

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107993

[plex]

Toyota unsure it can beat Audi in the Le Mans 24 Hours

Toyota admits it is unsure it can topple Audi in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours, despite being far "better prepared" than in 2012, when it led a portion of the race.

The Japanese marque made its World Endurance debut at the La Sarthe track last year, and briefly managed to forge ahead of Audi and into the overall lead.

It subsequently went on to claim three victories in the final four races of the 2012 WEC championship.

Despite the benefit of such experience, and the added preparation time, Toyota admits Audi's superlative start to 2013 has tempered expectations.

"We are facing a very tough opponent in Audi so it is hard to be confident," team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita said.

"Last year's Le Mans was our first race with the TS030 HYBRID so we expected to face some difficulties; this year we are better prepared and we expect to demonstrate that.

"We know we have done everything in our power to be ready and we will give 100 per cent effort to succeed. It is a very long week and many things can happen so we must be ready for the challenges to come."

Factory driver Alex Wurz, a two-time winner of the endurance classic, said it was clear Audi has made substantial gains over the winter.

In the wake of Audi's domination at Silverstone and Spa, Toyota was handed a rules break ahead of Le Mans.

"Last year it was really difficult for us as it was our first race," Wurz said. "We did as much as we could to be ready but it was not possible to truly fight for the whole race, even if we did take the lead.

"This time we had an intense programme over the winter, but we saw our competitor also improved a lot so I'm enjoying this challenge."

This year's event will mark Toyota's 15th attempt to winning Le Mans.

Its has finished runner-up three times, the most recent coming in 1999, when it finished one lap down on the winning BMW V12 LMR.

Autosport


If this is so, then its Audi fighting Audi like 2012.

[roadracer7]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/wec-porsches-le-mans-contender-runs-first-time-220046462.html

Le Mans 24 Hours - Porsche contender runs for first time
Porsche's first Le Mans 24 Hours contender in 16 years has had its first run ahead of schedule.


Porsche LMP1 2014

The Porsche LMP1 hybrid was tested on the manufacturer's Weissach track in Germany.
The car is due to be used from 2014, and Porsche have given limited details on the technical side of their latest venture.
Fritz Enzinger, head of LMP1 at Porsche, said: "We are well on schedule. Our newly-formed team has worked with utmost concentration on getting this highly-complex vehicle on the track as soon as possible.
"This allows us a few additional weeks for more testing and further development. From 2014, the regulations are primarily based on efficiency and present us with completely new challenges."

[roadracer7]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/video/le- ... 5365b82609
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/video/le- ... 39508.html

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/video/le- ... 39508.html


http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/video/le- ... 5365b82609

[16 cycles]

Seems toyota was sandbagging in qualies....their speed is on par with audis...lol

[dredman1]

Denmark's Allen Simonsen has died as a result of injuries when his Aston Martin GT car crashed early in race.

http://inagist.com/all/348474135564926977/

[MichaelR]

RIP Allan Simonsen. There is on board video of the crash, looking on from the Corvette driving behind. (Go find it if you want, I wont post it here, would be poor taste). It seems to me though that he exited the right handed corner a bit too wide, the left wheels crossed over the rumble strips and onto a slippery looking blue surface and the car began to oversteer. He began counter-steering but the slippery blue surface ended abruptly and the wheels were back on grippy tarmac so the car found grip and went in the direction of his countersteer. (Which was off the track and into a solid tree)

Seems to me that the inappropiate placement and abrupt ending of that blue coating on the track, which might have been damp from light rain, caught the driver out. They will probably redo that corner exit coating for next year. Hope it doesnt catch anyone else out for the remainder of this race.

[Rory Phoulorie]

. . .It seems to me though that he exited the right handed corner a bit too wide, the left wheels crossed over the rumble strips and onto a slippery looking blue surface and the car began to oversteer. He began counter-steering but the slippery blue surface ended abruptly and the wheels were back on grippy tarmac so the car found grip and went in the direction of his countersteer. (Which was off the track and into a solid tree). . .

Where exactly did he hit a tree? He hit the Armco metal beam guardrail. Road race organisers anywhere would be mad in these days to have a tree in the circuit itself.

[MichaelR]

Where exactly did he hit a tree? He hit the Armco metal beam guardrail. Road race organisers anywhere would be mad in these days to have a tree in the circuit itself.

The guardrail rests against one of those huge trees that line the straight there. Speed tv coverage showed it, the car hit the rail but the tree was the object behind the rail that stood up to the impact. They showed the damage to the tree as well.

[Morpheus]

RIP.

That stretch of guard rail(trees directly behind) is totally ineffective. Actually can be more dangerous as we can see.

[ru$$ell]

Where exactly did he hit a tree? He hit the Armco metal beam guardrail. Road race organisers anywhere would be mad in these days to have a tree in the circuit itself.

The guardrail rests against one of those huge trees that line the straight there. Speed tv coverage showed it, the car hit the rail but the tree was the object behind the rail that stood up to the impact. They showed the damage to the tree as well.

Yes, it was a tree, but that area has alot of them all the way going up, unfortunate incident anyways

[kurpal_v2]

Rip


Toyota really surprised me, expected Audi to walk away more from them.

[16 cycles]

hope they beat the juggernaut that is audi next year....

good run by toyota...

nissan did well in their bracket as well...

RIP to the fallen...