LMS, Barcelona – Preview

The 2009 Le Mans Series kicks off this weekend in Spain with a healthy grid and the prospect of keen competition through the classes.

43 cars are entered for Sunday’s 1000km event – 11 LMP1, 15 LMP2, 4 GT1 and 13 GT2. This is down on last year’s entry for the corresponding race, but, given the problems facing the motoring world, this is in reality a remarkable entry – all the more so when the sheer quality of the entry is taken into account.

LMP1

There is to be no clash of the titans in 2009, outside of the Le Mans 24 Hours, but the absence of the Audi and Peugeot works team is unlikely to have a detrimental effect on the series. Indeed, the prospects are for closer racing at the sharp end of the grid than was seen last year.

Seven teams will fight it out for the honours this weekend, and all have the potential to record podium finishes.

It is somehow fitting that Audi have chosen a team with the bluntest name in motorsport to field its mighty R10 TDIs. “Kolles” suggests a no-nonsense approach with a no-nonsense car; although it is to be hoped that things are rather warmer in that part of the pitlane than this impression suggests.

Is it a bold move to crew the two diesels with single-seater drivers possessing (mostly) little or no sportscar experience, or an inspired one? Given the certainty of near-works support, there is little chance of the cars failing to last the distance – but it will be interesting to see how the ‘newbies’ – Meyrick, Zwolsman, Bakkerud and Karthikeyan – adapt to the new discipline. If they listen to Albers and, especially, Krumm, and manage to apply their speed and talent without exhausting the spares bin, then this will certainly be a team to reckon with.

Barcelona will provide the first real indication of the effect of the ACO’s new regulations, aimed at reducing speeds, on the LMS runners – not a single example of any of the LMP1 cars in the European series having raced at Sebring last month.

The Paul Ricard test saw the majority of cars still running 2008 aero, but Oreca’s Stephane Ortelli has since tested the new wing on his Courage-Oreca LC70-AIM; “The flap is rather reducing downforce. I did not have any bad surprises, quite the opposite, I was pleased. The flap works well: straight away in the first lap on the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit, I drove through the Signes curves at full speed. This is essential to build up confidence.

“With this new flap, we keep on going in the right direction. It is part of many novelties, and they suit my style of driving just as they seem to fit my team-mates’. All the four of us, we do share the same mindset. We get along well and we are progressing together, just like last year. But the car is even better, so we all wear a broader smile!”

This will be the LC70’s swansong, with a new car being prepared for Spa onwards; but Hugues de Chaunac will not allow that to be used as an excuse this weekend. “Our aim’s clear. We’re going for the rostrum,” said the Oreca boss. “Our slogan is simple: we must be up to the challenge! Before the Le Mans 24 Hours, we’re racing in the equivalent of a couple of qualifying matches. The first one is always difficult. I’ve asked my troops to show great concentration and to knuckle down to the job. We’ve got to leave Barcelona without the slightest regret. In 2009, there’s no longer any room for this kind of sentiment.”

Aston Martin Racing arrives in Spain with a very real grasp on reality, but also with a sense of optimism; “The first race of the new season is in many ways the most exciting one of all, because nobody really knows where they are relative to their rivals,” said George Howard-Chappell.

“From our point of view, we’re as well prepared as we’ll ever be although there’s a lot of work still ahead. With our programme only confirmed quite late in the day, we’ve had to do an awful lot in a very short space of time, so I’d like to thank everybody in the team for their hard work and dedication that has brought us up to this point. I’m sure it’s going to be a very interesting race at Barcelona, and it’s impossible really to predict what might happen.”

There will be a large amount of popular support for AMR’s efforts and a strong showing this weekend will keep the momentum rolling. A chastened Tomas Enge will doubtless be looking to expunge the memory of his HTTT testing error by helping to deliver a strong result.

Speedy Racing Team Sebah will, however, have the Aston works team in its sights as it seeks glory with its Lola B08/60 Coupé-Aston Martin. This car was the fastest of the non-diesels last year and will again be a major challenger. The team has already stated that its first goal is to beat AMR, and adding Marcel Fassler to its driving squad is unlikely to hinder that ambition.

Strakka Racing embarks on its first season in prototypes with a Ginetta-Zytek 09S and the services of the very rapid Danny Watts, who is also effectively the works driver. This is another ambitious team and Nick Leventis and Peter Hardman will be earnest in their efforts to get to grips with the car.

Curiously, one of the biggest unknowns going into the season is the likely form of the two Pescarolo-Judds. Very little news has emerged over the winter from Henri’s workshops and the driver line-ups have only recently been finalised. Having said that, it is highly unlikely that that the team will be anything other than competitive; and the Boullion/Tinseau and Jouanny/Barbosa partnerships have real potential.

The one team that is arguably at a disadvantage is Signature Plus; and this is purely down to the relative lack of experience of the crew at this level of racing. They are, however, clearly applying themselves to the task professionally and may well surprise a few people this weekend.

LMP2

Wow – try picking a winner from this lot!
Last year it was oh, so easy. If it wasn’t one Porsche, it was another - but not this time; the Circuit de Catalunya being a Spyder-free zone.  

Lola is the numerically dominant marque, with five of the 15 entrants hailing from Huntingdon, and there is every prospect of this weekend’s winner coming from this bunch.

RML, Racing Box and Speedy Racing Team Sebah all go the enclosed route, with B08/80 Coupés, while KSM’s plans to follow suit have been stymied for this year; leaving the German outfit to race with an updated version of its B07/46.

RML have raced a Lola for several seasons, but still have much to learn about the latest incarnation. That experience, however, combined with Mazda power keeps Erdos and Newton very much in the frame.

Racing Box #30 (Bobbi, Piccini, Biagi) and Speedy Sebah (Kane, Leuenberger, Pompidou) would appear to have the strongest driver line-ups of the Lola runners; but Racing Box has only recently taken possession of its cars, while Sebah have a year’s racing experience with theirs.

Quifel ASM debuts its P2 version of the Ginetta-Zytek 09S; and this again has the potential to take the win in Spain, having recorded the fastest time of the P2 runners at the Paul Ricard test.

Oak Racing’s Pescarolos will be pushed along by Japanese horses, with Jacques Nicolet’s team wishing to prove that it is possible to combine speed with a responsible environmental approach to racing. Of the two, the #35 with the younger duo of Lahaye/Ajlani is more likely to have the pace required to stay near the front.

The Bruichladdich Bruneau Radical returns for another season, with Pierre Bruneau drafting in some rapid English drivers in his quest to get the year off to a positive start. Stuart Mosely is the Radical works driver, while Nigel Greensall has never been slow in anything he’s driven. The car has not previously been renowned for its physical robustness – have things changed in the off-season?

Ibanez Racing Service is an unfamiliar name to followers of the LMS and it is unknown at this point whether its series debut, with a Courage LC75, is a one-off or marks a full-season entry. The team is a graduate of the VdeV series and dsc understands (from a VdeV racer) that they are capable of great speed, but prone to bumping into things as a result.

They join Pegasus Racing in making the step up from VdeV, although it is confirmed as full season for the AER-powered and Avon-shod Strasbourg team. We can’t expect too much in this first race, as the team continues to adapt to its new surroundings, but a background in endurance racing will certainly help them.

The WR Salini and G.A.C Zytek both return for a full season with their existing machinery, with the French team having decided to prove its worth to the ACO on the track after failing to secure an entry to this year’s 24 Hours. The Swiss team, on the other hand, has changed only in name and will doubtless put in another solid, if unspectacular, performance.

Finally, two Lucchini appear on the entry list – one with Nicholson McLaren power for veteran racer Ranieri Randaccio, and a Judd-powered version for Q8 Oils Hache Team. Nothing is known about the latter, but, as Spain’s only team in the race, they will be keen to do well. Neither car, however, is likely to feature prominently in Sunday’s proceedings.

GT1     

It is to be hoped that the four cars in this once-great category can do more than just make up the numbers as the class sees out its final season (in its current guise at least).

Luc Alphand’s Corvette would appear to be the overwhelming favourite for season-honours, but could this be the year that the IPB Lamborghini comes good? The car only failed to finish once last year in the hands of Rusinov/Kox – and it could well be in a position to capitalise, should the C6.R stumbles.

But the Larbre and Arc Bratislava Saleens also have the potential to challenge for results. The French car recorded a second place finish at the Spanish race in 2008, while the Slovaks have drafted in Sean Edwards to help their challenge.

It may yet be worth keeping an eye on what happens in this class.

GT2

Eight Ferrari 430 GTs versus three Porsches, a Spyker and an Aston Martin.

This may sum up the situation numerically, but does not in any way indicate the scale of the battle we are likely to see in this class in 2009.

Rob Bell returns to defend his title for a second time and is again partnered by the amazing Gimmi Bruni. The team is known as JMW Motorsport this year, but it is the same car and essentially the same team that took the Geordie to the title last year. The question is, how hard will it be for them to defend the crown?

Virgo returns with a new car and new drivers, but Michael and Sean McInerney have chosen this team for a reason and have co-opted Michael Vergers to assist in the glory hunt.

But there is no guarantee that the title will go to either of the UK teams, because there’s a new kid in town…and he’s German (with a bit of Korean, Danish and Italian help).

The Hankook – Team Farnbacher Ferrari showed impressive form at the Paul Ricard test, although they had access to a seemingly unlimited supply of rubber. It will be interesting to see if Allan Simonsen, Christian Montanari and Dominik Schwager (whose place of residence, ironically, is listed as Yokohama) can replicate that speed under race conditions.

Team Modena will also be keen to muscle in on the act, although it is still at the start of its GT2 programme; "It will be a pleasure and an honour to be racing the Ferrari," said Team Principal Graham Schultz, "it is the beginning of our link with one of the biggest names in racing. The car has run well at the last three tests, and everything has gone to plan, we are going to the first race with high hopes."

"The competition is much higher in GT because there are so many more cars in the category," added Team Manager Hans Muehlbauer, "which means we have to have a different race strategy as our car will always be surrounded by cars doing approximately the same speed. Technically, a modern GT2 car is at least as complex as a GT1 car - we can adjust more parameters on our Ferrari than we could on our Aston Martin - it is a proper race car, and we are looking forward to the challenge of racing it."

Antonio Garcia will act as the yardstick for newcomer Leo Mansell, and also as mentor.

The Easyrace, FBR and JMB 430s are unlikely – on paper at least – to feature prominently, but could well provide an interesting mid-field battle.

The Porsche challenge can never be written off, and the Team Felbermayr – Proton pairing of Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz should prove to be a potent one; especially given the 997s weight-break for 2009. The IMSA Performance RSR, in the hands of Raymond Narac and Patrick Pilet, is also unlikely to be anything other than competitive.

The Drayson Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT2 will be attracting a lot of attention on its European race debut, with the team’s testing programme going exactly to plan so far. They also have their recent Sebring experience to call on.

"We've made a great start as a new team at the Paul Ricard test and at Sebring,” said the team owner. “We made a lot of progress in understanding how the car behaves on the new Michelin tyres which is going to be very useful. We are closer to the pace now but we need to work on the car's reliability and I'm hoping that the changes we've made in the run up to Barcelona pay off. With a bit of luck we could have a good result."

Team Manager Dale White added, "We learned a great deal at Sebring. Endurance events have a way of bringing everything to the surface. Between the Paul Ricard test and the American Le Mans Series event at Sebring, we have addressed many critical items that will improve our performance in Barcelona. I feel confident that those areas we have not been able to resolve 100% yet will be improved each race until we have this exactly where Elspeth, Paul and I demand it to be. I think the weekend at Cataluña will move us closer to that and, as a result, move us closer to the front of the grid."

But while attention will be on this newcomer, an older hand will be seeking to grab some of the headlines; "I think you could say that we have never been so well prepared for our first race in the season,” said Peter van Erp, Managing Director Spyker Squadron. “We had a good test at Paul Ricard and will bring some new updates, such as a new rear wing and front splitter, to this first race in Barcelona. Both aero devices have been further optimised and will increase down-force whilst reducing drag at the same time.

"We have also fitted the final version of our new rear-wheel suspension to our Barcelona car; a system that we tested earlier on at our Vallelunga test but not at Paul Ricard earlier this month. The new rear-wheel suspension will result in better and most of all 'easier' steering behaviour. Of course the efficiency level of all these new post-Paul Ricard updates depend on our abilities to maximise the use of the two 90 minute training sessions to correctly set-up and align all updates. If we can manage that, I do not see why we cannot drive top-5 times".

So there is the promise of great racing in all four categories this weekend, but there are also a huge number of variables that will come into play – new regulations, inexperience, and, of course, the new pitstop procedures will all have an influence on the outcome.

The first practice session begins later today, and that will give us our first indication of the likely balance of power.

MH