Le
Mans Series 2008
Season Preview and Paul Ricard Test
Issued February 29th 2008
RML
AD Group Le Mans Season Preview
Paul Ricard Test - Sunday 2nd - Monday 3rd March 2008
This
weekend sees the 2008 Le Mans season kicking off in a big
way in France, where the year’s first official ACO-sanctioned
test will be taking place at the Paul Ricard circuit at
Le Castellet, near Marseille.
Teams
running more than thirty of the world’s top GT and
sportscars have announced their intention to take part in
what is always a keenly anticipated event. RML AD Group
will be there with the MG Lola EX265 - Mike Newton, Thomas
Erdos and Andy Wallace having taken part in a series of
very successful preparatory shakedowns in the UK during
the past four weeks. All three will be in action again during
the course of the two-day Paul Ricard test, with RML confirmed
as participating on both days, and also into the night.
RML
traditionally views the test as an opportunity to hone their
Le Mans skills, and to work on set-up and preparation for
the twenty-four hour marathon in June. This year will be
no exception, so the new EX265 will be fettled and tuned
to suit the full Le Mans circuit of La Sarthe, and not necessarily
the track at Le Castellet. Even so, the occasion will still
be the first opportunity for all those teams competing at
Le Mans this year to weigh one another up under genuine
race conditions, and for those also tackling the Le Mans
Series in 2008, it may offer a few pointers to the opening
round at Barcelona in April.
It
may not be a faithful comparison, since some teams will
be going all-out to impress; using qualifying tyres, light
fuel loads, and trimming their cars for Paul Ricard’s
twistier curves, but that won’t stop the speculation.
There’s no denying that the competition is stronger
than ever before this year, with the success of the Le Mans
Series having attracted a whole raft of new cars, drivers
and teams to the championship. Much interest will be concentrated
on the performance of the Porsche RS Spyder LMP2. Following
two highly impressive seasons in the American Le Mans Series,
2008 will be the first time that the German-built cars will
have raced in Europe. Of the eight LMP2 entrants booked
to run at Paul Ricard, two will be using the Porsche; Team
Essex from Denmark and the new Dutch outfit Van Merksteijn
Motorsport.
Also
fresh to all tracks – not just the European ones –
will be the exciting new Lola Coupé. Not only will
Charouz Racing be debuting their Aston Martin powered LMP1
coupé, but Speedy Racing Team Sebah, an Anglo-Swiss
team, will be showing off their LMP2 version. The full list
of participating teams at Paul Ricard for LMP2 is as follows:
#25
RML AD Group MG Lola EX265 (GB)
#26 Team Bruichladdiuch Radical SR9 (GB)
#30 Racing Box Lucchini – Judd (Italy)
#31 Team Essex Porsche RS-Spider (Denmark)
#33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola B08/80 Coupé (Anglo-Swiss)
#34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS-Spider (Holland)
#40 Quifel ASM Team Lola B05/40 (Portugal)
#41 Trading Performance Zytek 07S (Swiss)
Peugeot
won’t be there in LMP1, but a dozen other top-flight
prototypes will be. These include two Audi R10s, the factory
having confirmed that it’s works team will be contesting
the Le Mans Series this season, as well as the aforementioned
Charouz Lola Coupé, three Pescarolos, two Courage
LC70s, two open-topped Lolas, a Creation CA07 and the new
Epsilon Euskadi LMP1 coupé. Seven GT1 entrants are
booked to attend, including two Astons, two Saleens, two
Corvettes and a Lamborghini Murcielago, while GT2 has attracted
five Porsches, two Ferraris, a Spyker and another Aston.
A total of eleven cars, including RML’s MG, will take
part in the night-time running, but only three are expected
to attempt the full twenty-four hour test.
Several
significant cars are absent, including the all-new Embassy
WF01 Zytek (left). Embassy was a strong competitor
in LMP2 last year with their black-liveried Radical SR9,
but the team has gone out on a brave limb in 2008 by developing
its own chassis, in conjunction with Zytek, and entered
two cars. Former RML racer Warren Hughes will headline one
of the pair, but with the second unlikely to be ready in
time for the Paul Ricard test, team boss Jonathan France
has elected to concentrate on getting both cars finished
in good time for Barcelona. Factory time is simply too valuable
at this stage in the season! Another absentee is Kruse Motorsport,
which plans to return to the Le Mans Series this season
with the ex-Fernandez racing Lola from the ALMS. The swap
from Acura (Honda) power to Mazda AER will not be completed
in time, so they plan an independent test ahead of Round
1 in April.
As
LMP2 title-holders, Mike Newton, Thomas Erdos and the EX265
will be under intense pressure, and the Brazilian knows
it. “It will be interesting to see where we fit in,”
he said. “There are some very fast cars there, and
we know we’ve got a challenge ahead of us this season.
The Porsches are going to be quick, we know that, but so
too the Zytek, the Lola Coupé, and our old rivals
ASM. The Embassy cars won’t be at Paul Ricard, but
I’m sure they’ll be strong right from the start.
Yes, it’s going to be tough!”
Joining
Mike and Tommy for the Paul Ricard test will be Le Mans
veteran Andy Wallace. Although 2008 will be Andy’s
third Le Mans 24 Hours with RML AD Group, in previous years
commitments in America have always prevented his joining
the two Le Mans Series regulars for their pre-season tests.
This time he can devote his full attention on the MG programme.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” he
said. “RML is a wonderful team to work with, and I
thoroughly enjoy racing with Mike and Tommy, but this season
I feel that I’m a fully integrated member of the team.”
He has already tested the EX265 this year, but will now
also take part in both the Paul Ricard test and the pre-Le
Mans weekend at the end of May. “Having Andy so much
more involved this year is excellent news for us,”
said Erdos. “It not only ensures that we can make
the best possible preparations for the 24 Hours in June,
but it’s also so good to have a driver of his calibre
to bounce ideas off. He’s a huge asset to the team,
and a great guy to work with.”
While
the two-day Paul Ricard test is officially an opportunity
for teams to make early preparations for the Le Mans 24
Hours, there’s no getting away from the fact that
most will also be contemplating the imminent start to the
Le Mans Series. Barcelona hosts the opening round this year,
with the calendar confirmed as:
Calendar
2008
Date |
Venue |
Country |
March
2-3 |
Paul
Ricard Test |
(France) |
April
6 |
Barcelona |
(Spain) |
April
27 |
Monza |
(Italy) |
May
11 |
Spa-Francorchamps
|
(Belgium) |
May
31 |
Le
Mans Test |
(France) |
June
14-15 |
Le
Mans 24 Hours |
(France) |
August
17 |
Nürburgring |
(Germany) |
September
14 |
Silverstone |
(Great
Britain) |
November
2 |
Shanghai |
(China) |
The
Shanghai race, only announced earlier this month, will be
a non-championship event, but with incentives provided by
the ACO, could prove to be an attractive pull for many teams,
not only in the Le Mans Series, but also from America and
across Asia. Having recently taken over responsibility for
the Japan Le Mans Challenge, the ACO is seen to be attempting
a revival of interest in the Far East for sportscar racing,
and perhaps this event in China will be the precursor to
a full-blown Asian Le Mans Series.
Centred
upon Europe, the Le Mans Series itself goes from strength
to strength, and fifty entries have now been confirmed for
the 2008 season. Sixteen LMP1 prototypes will be joined
by fifteen from LMP2, five GT1 entries and fourteen in GT2.
Le
Mans Series 2008 Entry List for LMP2
No. |
Team
& Nationality |
Type |
Drivers |
#25 |
RML
AD Group (GB) |
MG
Lola EX265 |
Thomas
Erdos (BRA) Mike Newton (GB) |
#26 |
Team
Bruichladdich (GB) |
Radical
SR9 |
Stuart
Moseley (GB) Jacob Greaves (GB) |
#27 |
Horag
Racing (SUI) |
Porsche
RS-Spider |
Fredy
Lienhard (SUI) Didier Theys (BEL)
Jan Lammers (HOL) |
#30 |
Racing
Box (ITA) |
Lucchini-Judd |
Marco
Didaio (ITA) Filippo Francioni
(ITA) |
#31 |
Team
Essex (DEN) |
Porsche
RS-Spider |
John
Nielsen (DEN) Casper Elgaard (DEN) |
#32
|
Barazi
Epsilon (DEN) |
Zytek
07S |
Juan Barazi (DEN) Michael Vergers
(HOL) |
#33 |
Speedy
Racing Team Sebah (SUI) |
Lola B08/80 Coupé |
Andrea
Belicchi (ITA) Steve Zacchia (SUI)
Xavier Pompidou (FRA) |
#34 |
Van
Merksteijn Motorsport (HOL) |
Porsche
RS-Spider |
Peter
Van Merksteijn (HOL) Jos Verstappen
(HOL) Jeroen Bleekemolen (HOL) |
#35 |
Saulnier
Racing (FRA) |
Pescarolo
06 |
Pierre
Ragues (FRA) TBA |
#37 |
WR/Salini
(FRA) |
WR-Zytek |
Stéphane
Salini (FRA) Philippe Salini (FRA)
Patrice Roussel (FRA) |
#40 |
Quifel
ASM (POR) |
Lola
B05/40 |
Miguel
Amaral (POR) Olivier Pla (FRA) |
#41 |
Trading
Performance (SUI) |
Zytek
07S |
Karim
Ojjeh (KSA) Claude-Yves Gosselin
(FRA) Julien Schroyen (BEL) |
#44 |
Kruse
Schiller Motorsport (GER) |
Lola-Mazda |
Jean
de Pourtales (FRA) Alex Müller
(GER) Hideki Noda (JPN) |
#45 |
Embassy
Racing (GB) |
WF01-Zytek |
Jonny
Kane (GBR) Warren Hughes (GBR) |
#46 |
Embassy
Racing (GB) |
WF01-Zytek |
Mario
Haberfield (BRA) Joey Foster (GBR) |
“There
are just so many good cars among that list – and so
many exceptional drivers!” was Tommy’s immediate
reaction. “There are world champions, former F1 drivers,
guys like Jan Lammers, John Nielsen and Jos Verstappen,
there’s Warren and Jonny Kane in one car together,
Michael Vergers . . . . the list just goes on and on. It’s
quite daunting to think that we have to face all that lot
every weekend!” From a personal perspective, he recognises
the challenge, and he’s gearing up to face it. “This
year, perhaps more than ever before, I’ve been working
hard on my own preparation. I’ve focused hugely on
my fitness, and have taken on my own personal trainer. We’ve
been working together for several months now, trying to
make sure that I’m at peak fitness for Barcelona.
I’m feeling strong, back on track, and quietly confident.”
Looking
beyond Paul Ricard, he knows that the first and only true
test of where the team stands for 2008 will come at Barcelona.
“It’s not until we get there that we’ll
know for certain where we stand. Before Barcelona, Paul
Ricard can only be an indication, nothing more. People play
games at Paul Ricard – running cars specifically set
up for the track, trying with qualifying tyres and so on.
Things like that make the outcome of the test somewhat inaccurate.
We’re running Paul Ricard as a test for Le Mans, pure
and simple, but Barcelona will be something else entirely.”
A
report from Paul Ricard will follow next week.
.
Television
2008
Media coverage of the Le Mans Series this year will be even
more generous than it was in 2007, with Motors TV once again
broadcasting each event live in its entirety, while Eurosport
will provide additional exposure by screening the opening
half-hour of each race, also live. In June, coverage of
the Le Mans 24 Hours is reputed to have been awarded to
Eurosport this time around, after Motors TV followed every
day of the 2007 pre-race build-up, as well as the whole
of the twenty-four hours. The extent of Eurosport’s
time allocation is expected to be somewhat less, at around
30 hours in total.
Paul
Ricard Schedule
The track schedule for the Paul Ricard circuit has been
confirmed, and teams will be able to take advantage of extended
running throughout the two-day test. The circuit will open
at nine on Sunday morning for the first three-hour period,
followed by a short break for lunch, before the lights turn
green again at one o’clock. That will be the signal
for those teams planning a full Le Mans simulation to begin
their twenty-four hour run, while the remaining cars can
use the track through until six, and then again after dinner
and until midnight. Those doing the 24 Hour test will press
on though the night, and will hopefully still be circulating
when everyone else heads back out again from nine on Monday
morning. The track will close at one o’clock for everyone,
bringing to a close the designated twenty-four hour run.
The final period will be between two and five, before everyone
packs up and goes home.
More
information about the Le Mans Series from www.lemans-series.com
More information on RML is available at www.rmlmallock.co.uk.