Le Mans Series, 6 Hours of Le Castellet - Preview

Part 3 - GTE Pro and GTE Am

GTE Pro

51 AF CORSE M Ferrari F458 Italia Giancarlo Fisichella Gianmaria Bruni
66 JMW MOTORSPORT D Ferrari F458 Italia Rob Bell James Walker
71 AF CORSE  M Ferrari F458 Italia Jaime Melo Toni Vilander
75 PROSPEED COMPETITION M Porsche 911 RSR (997) Marco Holzer Marc Goossens
76 IMSA PERFORMANCE MATMUT M Porsche 911 RSR (997) Patrick Pilet Wolf Henzler
77 TEAM FELBERMAYR-PROTON M Porsche 911 RSR (997) Marc Lieb Richard Lietz
78 GRUPPEM-ETERNITI RACING D Porsche 911 RSR (997) Tim Sugden Stephen Jelley TBA Withdrawn
79 JOTA D Aston Martin Vantage Sam Hancock Simon Dolan
86 YOUNG DRIVER AMR M Aston Martin Vantage Tomas Enge Alex Müller TBA
89 HANKOOK TEAM FARNBACHER H Ferrari F458 Italia Dominik Farnbacher Allan Simonsen

GT1 has been removed from the 2011 mix, ‘replaced’ by a split GT2 class, henceforth redubbed GTE with the classes divide by the quality of driver squad and the age/ spec of the cars.

GTE Pro does exactly what it says on the tin and the Le Mans Series has managed to retain a high quality 10 car line up despite the draw to the factories of the ILMC.  Only nine of the cars listed though are expected this weekend.

Three marques are represented, no Spyker this year as the Anglo Dutch concern regroup and develop their new Aileron road car.

Alphabetically first up are Aston Martin and whilst JMW have reverted to a Ferrari in 2011 two other squads have ponied up for a new spec Vantage GT2 apiece, one on Michelin rubber, the other Dunlop.

Young Driver are not, so far, a full season entrant, the team are awaiting the fall out (if any) from the Le Mans entry list to see whether their current reserve list status improves. They will though be at the first race though look set to miss Spa.  Thomas Enge, Alex Muller and Christoffer Nygaard are listed and Jonathan Kennard tested.

Jota are a welcome addition to the GTE pack.  Sam Hancock and Simon Dolan have built up steadily to this effort via small prototypes and a GT4 Vantage.  Dolan finding the GT2 car much more to his liking.  This is a big step for the team and for the Vantage programme, albeit something of a waypoint before the team’s customer AMR One arrives late this year.  There will be interest in seeing how Hancock’s pace matches the best elsewhere, and how close Dolan can get consistently to that mark.

Ferrari’s new 458 looks like a smash hit commercial success already and with deliveries now well underway we should see four Italias on the grid this weekend.

AF Corse had the first of their cars at the pre season test, albeit one that hadn’t even been shaken down prior to delivery to them at the track.  That the car was as close as it was ‘out of the box’ to the ultimate pace was impressive, and worrying for the opposition.  It’s not all about pace though and, as we saw at Sebring, there were niggles aplenty for the teams running the new cars there.

AF Corse field a pair of cars with mightily impressive line-ups.  The #51 car is likely to get the major mainstream media attention with ex F1 men Fisichella and Bruni aboard – Bruni is certainly one of THE most impressive GT racers anywhere at the moment but Fisi impressed mightily in his debut year in the discipline last season. If the car is reliable this pair will feature.

The team’s #71 car though will be tough to beat too – Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander may not have the cachet of F1 glamour but they do both have massive GT racing pedigree, fast and mechanically sympathetic both.  There are fewer more talented driver pairings in GTE anywhere just now.  

Hankook Team Farnbacher were the class of the pre season test, that though was with their old 430 and we believe that aside from a brief shakedown there will have been little time to dial in their new weapon before the race meeting this weekend – There’s potential for niggles then and the team’s Hankook rubber is highly weather sensitive – If conditions are changeable expect Farnbacher and Simonsen to be right up there – If not then perhaps not!

Finally there’s the return of JMW to the Ferrari fold that they occupied so successfully just a couple of short seasons back, the team’s 430 still a prized possession of Team Principal Jim McWhirter.

JMW’s new 458 is another car with little testing under its wheels so again this may be too early to expect faultless running. JMW though have traditionally squeezed astounding development progress from relatively (compared to AF Corse for instance) small resources.  Steve ‘Doc’ Bunkhall’s direction and tactics is a key factor here, as has been the pace and consistency of the ever faithful Rob Bell and the support of Dunlop.

Bell is joined this season by a GT racing newcomer.  James Walker has impressive    single seater pedigree so the pace should be there for all to see.  We know precious little as yet though about his preparation for the new task ahead though JMW’s usual approach suggests that he’s unlikely to be anything other than a very good fit.   From three LMS returnees and a newcomer (sort of!)

Matched against the quartet of Ferraris are a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR foursome

Felbermayer Proton are a class act and their #77 car with the returning talent of Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz are an awesome proposition for anyone else to challenge in this class.

This pair won almost everything in 2010, the LMS title, Le Mans – At points it seemed that they’d have won Crufts if they’d entered!  Lieb’s growing engineering talents are very much on display here too and with the continued presence of the Grand Wizard of Porsche GT racing Norbert Singer too this is going to be a very tough nut to crack. 

The 2011 spec Porsche is a relatively conservative evolution compared to the brand new Ferrari - but there is more power and bigger tyres.  We’d expect nothing short of utter reliability too.  If Ferrari falter early in the season their expected pace will be needed to play catch-up!

IMSA Performance are back with an attack on both GTE classes, their pair of Porsche looking stunning in a new for 2011 tricolour livery. 

The #76 car features a second pair of Porsche factory drivers, Patrick Pilet has been a staple at IMSA Performance of late and the  Frenchman returns in 2011 but paired not with Team Principal Raymond Narac but instead with Wolf Henzler, rated by many as one of the fastest of the lot.  Expect this car to feature heavily throughout/
Prospeed are back too, and again they have a heavyweight pair of pros aboard the #75 car.  Porsche factory man Marco Holzer has been increasingly impressive as he emerges from the Porsche Junior cocoon.  Weissach see him as a star of the future, Rudi Penders will want it more quickly than that!

With Richard Westbrook now driving for Corvette and Nissan his shoes were filled by Marc Goossens, a neat fit for a Belgian team and a first full season in Europe for over a decade for the fast Belgian.  His absence means that we’ve not had enough chances to assess his relative pace – His trademark knowing look and dry humour will ensure that if we’re surprised he’ll be telling us “I told you so!”  We’d expect his to be there or thereabouts from the off.

Finally there’s an almost entirely unknown quantity with elements of familiarity about it!  Confused? So were we!

GruppeM Eterniti Racing are a combination of Kenny Chen (of GruppeM Racing renown) and Stuart Parker (Team Parker Racing) with an attack on the Le Mans Series as a foothold into the endurance racing arena.  Sadly though the team won’t be present at Le Castellet and will instead debut later in the season,

GTE Am

61 AF CORSE M Ferrari F430 Piergiuseppe Perazzini Marco Cioci Stéphane Lemeret
67 IMSA PERFORMANCE MATMUT M Porsche 911 RSR (997) Raymond Narac  Nicolas Armindo
70 KESSEL RACING D Ferrari F430 Michael Broniszewski Philipp Peter
72 AF CORSE M Ferrari F430 Robert Kauffman Rui Aguas TBA
82 CRS RACING M Ferrari F430 Klaas Hummel Adam Christodoulou Phil Quaife
88 TEAM FELBERMAYR-PROTON M Porsche 911 RSR (997) Horst Felbermayr Sr Horst Felbermayr Jr Christian Ried
  
GTE Am has been designed by the ACO to allow Pro-Am teams to compete for an overall class win, a potentially smart move as the factory backed teams increasingly dominate the GT2 racing scene.

The LMS field numbers six for the opening round with four of the impressively quick and reliable Ferrari F430s ranged against a pair of Porsches.  No sign though of the JMB Ferrari that appeared at the test – If they aren’t racing here then we doubt there’s a prospect of anything like a full season entry.

Four of the six cars are fielded by teams also represented in the GTE Pro category

The two that aren’t are both Ferraris, Kessel Racing fielding a 430 for the rapid Philipp Peter and his Polish sidekick Michael Broniszewski, this a toe in the water effort to assess the form before a decision is made on a full season entry.

The other is from 2010 Series returnees CRS Racing with a single car (this the ex Mullen/ Kirkaldy 430 from last season) for 2010 returnee Phil Quaife, fellow pro Adam Christodoulou and affable gentleman Klaas Hummel.  Quaife and Christodoulou will provide plenty of pace here, the newcomer likely to be the faster, Quaife the more consistent, and plenty of support too to Hummel, very much the Am to their Pros.  We’d expect this entry to be a strong contender for class honours.

The remaining 430s are both AF Corse entries, their #61 car fielding Piergiuseppe Perazzini, Marco Cioci and Stéphane Lemeret, and odd sort of Pro, sort of Pro, and Am mix that could gel throughout the season.  The #72 car meanwhile is anchored by the rapid Rui Aguas and will normally feature NASCAR buddies Robert Kauffman and Michael Waltrip – Waltrip though is not currently listed for the season opener.

Finally there’s the pair of Porsches:

Team Felbermayer Proton’s #88 car is fielded as something of a ‘Company Car’ for team owners Horst Felbermayr Sr, Horst Felbermayr Jr and Christian Ried.  A classic gentleman driver squad their Porsche will be beautifully prepped and they’ll rely almost entirely on attrition for any hope of a podium.

IMSA Performance though have taken a different Approach, Raymond Narac joined by Nicolas Armindo in the team’s second car in a full on attack for the inaugural title.

Both are capable of real speed, they’ll be hard to beat if they can keep the Porsche out of the pits.

GG