The greatest race on earth is approaching rapidly, so we thought we'd help you navigate your way through the classes with this guide to 2011's teams.
Assemble dribble trays and click forth. And remember to check out our blog live from Le Mans, which we'll be updating live from here.
LMP1
AUDI SPORT
Audi came third behind arch-rivals Peugeot when the chequered flag fell at the previous race of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season - Spa-Francorchamps 1000km.
But it's at Le Mans where Audi will want to make a statement with its diesel R18s. The team won last year and it won't be handing over the title without a fight. The favourites.
Drivers:
No. 1: Timo BERNHARD/ Romain DUMAS/ Mike ROCKENFELLER
No. 2: Marcel FÄSSLER/André LOTTERER/Benoit TRELUYER
No. 3: Tom KRISTENSEN/ Rinaldo CAPELLO/ Allan McNISH
LMP1
PEUGEOT SPORT TOTALAs Anthony Davidson told TopGear.com at the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup's previous round in Spa, "The car that doesn't break down wins". And at last year's 24-hour race, Peugeot was on the sharp end of that mantra - all three cars dropped out due to technical difficulties.
This year the team will want to show that its new diesel 908s have got the pace and durability for this epic race. It's between Peugeot and Audi this year...
Drivers:
No. 7: Anthony DAVIDSON/Marc GENE/Alex WURZ
No. 8: Stéphane SARRAZIN/ Franck MONTAGNY/Nicolas MINASSIAN
No. 9: Sébastien BOURDAIS/Simon PAGENAUD/Pedro LAMY
LMP1
HOPE RACING After dropping out of ILMC's previous race in Spa after difficulties with its KERS system, Hope Racing's open Oreca Swiss HY Tech-Hybrid car's getting all-new flywheel tech for the 24-hour race.
Drivers:
No. 5: Steve ZACCHIA/Jan LAMMERS/Casper ELGAARD
LMP1
REBELLION RACINGRR's two closed-cabin Toyota-powered Lolas are amongst the most competitive petrol-powered cars in the race, posting 7th and 9th place at the previous round of the ILMC.
Drivers:
No. 12: Nicolas PROST/Neel JANI/Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN
No. 13: Andrea BELICCHI/J.Christophe BOULLION/Guy SMITH
LMP1
TEAM ORECA MATMUTNow in its fifth consecutive year at Le Mans, Team Oreca Matmut's using a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP in the LMP1 class and an ORECA 03 in LMP2.
Drivers:
No. 10: Nicolas LAPIERRE/ Loic DUVAL/ Olivier PANIS
No. 48: Alexandre PREMAT/David HALLYDAY/Dominick KRAIHAMER
LMP1
OAK RACINGRunning a pair of OAK-Pescarolo cars in LMP1, and an OAK-Pescarolo LMP2 in the ILMC, the team's brought along an extra LMP2 car for Le Mans.
Drivers:
No. 15: Guillaume MOREAU/ Pierre RAGUES/ Tiago MONTEIRO
No. 24: Richard HEIN/Jacques NICOLET/Jean-François YVON
No. 35: Andrea BARLESI/Frédéric DA ROCHA/Patrice LAFARGUE
No. 49: Shinji NAKANO/Nicolas DE CREM/Jan CHAROUZ
LMP1
QUIFEL - ASM TEAMThe Portuguese team's got a solid lineup of drivers and a well developed - albeit relatively slow - car in its Zytek 09 SC.
Drivers:
No. 20: Miguel AMARAL/Olivier PLA/Warren HUGHES
LMP1
PESCAROLO TEAMTraditionally, Pescarolo challenged the works cars. These days it's not quite up to Peugeot and Audi standards but it does put up a good fight in the LMP1 class. The Pescarolo 01 Judd car's pretty much as they left it in 2010.
Drivers:
No. 16: Emmanuel COLLARD/Christophe TINSEAU/Julien JOUSSE
LMP1
KRONOS RACINGThe all-Belgium team was invited from the reserves this year after Team Highcroft departed. Its drivers are consistent, but not spectacular.
Drivers:
No. 22: Vanina ICKX/Maxime MARTIN/Bas LEINDERS
LMP1
ASTON MARTIN RACINGAM's engine's suffered reliability issues thus far - the team had to pull out of the last race at Spa. We hope the two AMR-One cars that are coming along finish the race. We're also loving its first car's number...
Drivers:
No. 007: Stefan MUCKE/Darren TURNER/Christian KLIEN
No. 009: Harold PRIMAT/Adrian FERNANDEZ/Andy MEYRICK
LMP2
SIGNATECH NISSANOne of the team's drivers, Lucas Ordonez, won his place in the car playing Gran Turismo on the Playstation via Nissan's GT Academy scheme. Let's see how that thumb work translates in the real world inside that Oreca 03-Nissan.
Drivers:
No. 26: Franck MAILLEUX/Lucas ORDONEZ/Soheil AYARI
LMP2
LEVEL 5 MOTORSPORTSRacing its Honda-engined Lola, the L5M team had rotten luck in the Spa round of the ILMC - the car was pushed into the gravel trap by another racer, destroying its rear deck. After being repaired, it suffered mechanical problems and crashed later in the race. Better luck this time.
Drivers:
No. 33: Scott TUCKER/Christophe BOUCHUT/Joao BARBOSA
LMP2
RML
Forced to withdraw from the last round after a serious accident during Free Practice, the team's had just five weeks to prepare its battered Honda Performance Development HPD ARX-01 car for Le Mans. One driver's name may be familiar...
Drivers:
No. 36: Mike NEWTON/Tommy ERDOS/Ben COLLINS
LMP2
PECOM RACING
The team's Argentinean drivers are superb GT helmsmen, so hopefully they'll bring us some great racing in the Judd-BMW engined Lola B1140.
Drivers
No. 39: Luis PEREZ-COMPANC/Matias RUSSO/ Pierre KAFFER
LMP2
RACE PERFORMANCE
The Swiss team's using an ORECA 03 with the new Judd HK engine in this year's race. It finished 18th place overall and 6th in the LMP2 last year with a different car.
Drivers:
No. 40: Michel FREY/Ralph MEICHTRY/Marc ROSTAN
LMP2
GREAVES MOTORSPORT
The team's built up a lot of experience with its Zytek 075 Nissan, but as is always the case in LMP2, reliability's going to be a concern during the 24 hours.
Drivers:
No. 41: Karim OJJEH/Thomas KIMBER-SMITH/Olivier LOMBARD
LMP2
STRAKKA RACING
The team's not the fastest, but its Honda Performance Development ARX 01 D is fuel-efficient.
Drivers:
No. 42: Nick LEVENTIS/Danny WATTS/Jonny KANE
LMP2
EXTREME LIMITE AM PARIS
De Fournoux's the only driver with a great amount of racing experience, and the car - a Norma M200P with JUDD BMW power - is an unknown quantity. Should be interesting...
Drivers:
No.44: Fabien ROSIER/Philippe HAEZEBROUCK/Jean-René de FOURNOUX
LM GTE Pro
AF CORSE SRL
The Ferrari 458 Italia used by the team is fast, but it's not yet competed in a 24-hour race. AF's also racing a Ferrari 430 in the LM GTE Am series.
Drivers:
No. 51: Giancarlo FISICHELLA/Gianmaria BRUNI/Toni VILANDER
LM GTE Pro
BMW MOTORSPORT
Now in its third year of competition, the M3's have had several major kinks ironed out and the car looks good for the 24 Hours. The Ferrari's are hot on their heels, though.
Drivers:
No. 55: Augusto FARFUS/ Jörg MULLER./ Dirk WERNER
No. 56: Andy PRIAULX/Dirk MÜLLER/Joey HAND
LM GTE Pro
LUXURY RACING
Despite being a new team, LR's got the right car - a Ferrari 458 - and some experienced drivers.
Drivers:
No. 58: Anthony BELTOISE/Pierre THIRIET/François JAKUBOWSKI
No. 59; Stéphane ORTELLI/Frédéric MAKOWIECKI/Jaime MELO
LM GTE Pro
LOTUS JETALLIANCE RACING
Lotus is back at Le Mans with Austrian team, JetAlliance. The team's drivers aren't the most experienced, so a finish will be good news.
Drivers:
No. 64: Oskar SLINGERLAND/Martin RICH/John HARTSHORNE
No. 65: Jonathan HIRSCHI/James ROSSITER/Johnny MOWLEM
LM GTE Pro
JMW MOTORSPORT
At Spa 1000km, JMW's Ferrari 458 Italia battled it out with AF Corse's 458 - expect more of the same at Le Mans.
Drivers:
No. 66: Rob BELL/Tim SUGDEN/Xavier MAASSEN
LM GTE Pro
PROSPEED COMPETITION
Using a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR and drivers with plenty of experience, the team looks competitive for its class.
Drivers:
No. 75: Marc GOOSSENS/Marco HOLZER/Jaap Van LAGEN
LM GTE Pro
CORVETTE RACING
Using a pair of Chevrolet Corvette ZR1s and with an excellent driver lineup, this team's going to be near the front of the LM GTE Pro class.
Drivers:
No. 73: Olivier BERETTA/Tommy MILNER/Antonio GARCIA
No. 74: Oliver GAVIN/Jan MAGNUSSEN/Richard WESTBROOK
LM GTE Pro
IMSA PERFORMANCE
Driving a 997 GT3 RSR, the team will be looking for another class victory after its success in 2007.
Drivers:
No. 76: Raymond NARAC/Patrick PILET/Nicolas ARMINDO
LM GTE Pro
TEAM FELBERMAYR-PROTON
Nope, they're not in Protons - this German team's using a pair of race-proven 997 GT3 RSRs.
Drivers:
No. 77: Marc LIEB/Richard LIETZ/Wolf HENZLER
No. 88: Nick TANDY/Abdulaziz AL FAISAL/Bryce MILLER
LM GTE Pro
JOTA
The team's Aston Martin V8 Vantage has suffered reliability issues so far, so it'll be looking for a solid - if not breathtaking - finish.
Drivers:
No. 79: Sam HANCOCK/Simon DOLAN/Chris BUNCOMBE
LM GTE Pro/LM GTE Am
FLYING LIZARD MOTORSPORT
Running a lineup of seasoned drivers, FLM's using a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR in the LM GTE Pro class. It's racing a Porsche 997 RSR in LM GTE Am, too.
Drivers:
No. 80: Jörg BERGMEISTER/Patrick LONG/Lucas LUHR
No. 81: Seth NEIMAN/Darren LAW/Spencer PUMPELLY
LM GTE Pro
HANKOOK TEAM FARNBACHER
Last year, HTF took second place at Le Mans - the team will be looking for a similar result in its Ferrari 458 Italia.
Drivers:
No. 89: Dominik FARNBACHER/Allan SIMONSEN/Leh KEEN
LM GTE Am
LARBRE COMPETITION
This team won last year, and it's looking for more of the same at the 2011 event. The team's switched to a Corvette ZR1 for car 50 and a 997 911 for car 81.
Drivers:
No. 50: Patrick BORNHAUSER/Julien CANAL/Gabriele GARDEL
No. 81: Christophe BOURRET/Pascal GIBON/Jean-Philippe BELLOC
LM GTE Am
GULF AMR MIDDLE EAST
The new Vantage this team's using hasn't proved resilient so far, so a finish will be a great result for this team.
Drivers:
No. 60: Fabien GIROIX/Michael WAINWRIGHT/Roald GOETHE
LM GTE Am
CRS RACING
Racing a Ferrari 430 GT2, the CRS team's got some experienced drivers - a finish looks likely, which is an achievement itself at Le Mans.
Drivers:
No. 62: Pierre EHRET/Roger WILLS/Shaun LYNN
LM GTE Am
PROTON COMPETITION
Using a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR that's had a lot of experience, Proton's Am team looks competitive in its class.
Drivers:
No. 63: Horst FELBERMAYR Jr//Horst FELBERMAYR Sen/Christian RIED
LM GTE Am
ROBERTSON RACING
Winner of TopGear.com's non-existent Legendary Motorsport Mentalists Award, this team's entering an entirely self-built Ford GT. We dearly hope it finishes.
Drivers:
No. 68: David ROBERTSON/Andrea ROBERTSON/David MURRY
LM GTE Am
JMB RACING
There are a lot of experienced drivers at JMB, and its 430 GT2 looks good so far in the ILMC. The pic shows last year's livery.
Drivers:
No. 83: Manuel RODRIGUES/Jean-Marc MENAHEM/Nicolas MARROC
No comments:
Post a Comment