Le Mans Series, Estoril - Race Preview

Part 2 - The LMPs
 
Estoril this weekend will see one of the weakest LMS fields in several years for the multiple title deciding Series finale.
 
That’s not to decry the efforts and the quality of those 28 cars that will line up in Portugal, but rather to continue the debate about the future prospects for the Le Mans Series as a new look Championship looms for 2012 in the shadow of the World Endurance Championship.
 
LMP1
 
12 REBELLION RACING M Lola B10/60 Coupé - Toyota Nicolas Prost/ Neel Jani
13 REBELLION RACING M Lola B10/60 Coupé - Toyota Andrea Belicchi/ JeanChristophe Boullion
16 PESCAROLO TEAM M Pescarolo - Judd Emmanuel Collard/ Christophe Tinseau/ Julien Jousse
 
One of the biggest changes for 2012 will be the lack of an LMP1 class, this the disappointing but not unexpected result of Patrick Peter’s machinations over a sustainable formula going forward.
 
Just three of the premier class prototypes have travelled to Portugal – Quifel ASM’s withdrawal, GV Racing’s rebuild and the unfortunately named Guess Racing’s continued inability to put the car on a truck has left us with Henri Pescarolo’s solo Pesca and a pair of Rebellion Lola Toyotas.

The Lola Toyotas secured the Manufacturers title at Silverstone but there is still plenty to fight for in terms of silverware with the Teams standings showing Rebellion leading by just two points.  The Drivers standing, by contrast have Messrs Tinseau, Collard and Jousse leading by a single point from the #13 Rebellion crew of Andrea Belicchi and Jean Christophe Bouillon!   Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost are 11 points adrift after their Silverstone dnf.  
 
Silverstone saw all three battling hard together, and with the ILMC Oak Pescarolos in the mix too it was a great race within a race.
 
All three are capable of real pace – We’d love to see this one go right down to the wire rather than being decided in a pit garage.  Bonne Chance to all involved
 
LMP1 Points before Estoril
 
Teams
1 Rebellion Racing 37
2 Pescarolo Team 35
 
Drivers
1 Christophe Tinseau 35
1 Emmanuel Collard 35
1 Julien Jousse 35
2 Andrea Belicchi 34
2 Jean Christophe Boullion 34
3 Neel Jani 25
3 Nicolas Prost 25
 
Manufacturers
1 Lola - Toyota 59 CHAMPIONS
2 Pescarolo - Judd 35
3 Zytek 11

LMP2
 
39 PECOM RACING M Lola B11/40-Judd Luis Perez Companc/ Matias Russo/ Pierre Kaffer
40 RACE PERFORMANCE D Oreca 03 - Judd Michel Frey/ Ralph Meichtry/ Marc Rostan
41 GREAVES MOTORSPORT D Zytek Z11SN - Nissan Karim Ojjeh/ Tom Kimber-Smith/  Olivier Lombard
42 STRAKKA RACING M HPD ARX -01d Nick Leventis/ Danny Watts/ Jonny Kane
43 RLR MSPORT D MG Lola EX265 - Judd Barry Gates/ Warren Hughes/ Rob Garofall
44 EXTREME LIMITE AM PARIS D Norma M200P - Judd TBA TBA -
45 BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING D Oreca 03 - Nissan Dominik Kraihamer/ Thor-Christian Ebbesvik
46 TDS RACING M Oreca 03 - Nissan Mathias Beche/ Pierre Thiriet/ Jody Firth
 
Eight of the nine Series regulars will complete the season at Estoril with the Extreme Limite AM Paris Norma Judd looking set to return after missing Silverstone (albeit with an unconfirmed driver line-up) but the RML Ad Group HPD opting to miss the final round after a difficult year citing issues with an uncompetitive performance break for their HPD and disatis faction with a lack of live TV coverage for the Portugese race..
 
In LMP2 the Team and Drivers title battles were effectively sealed at Silverstone, Greaves Motorsport need just a single point to put the title out of reach of the jointly second placed Strakka Racing and Boutsen Energy teams.

Karim Ojjeh and Tom Kimber Smith were both clearly frustrated that Strakka's Silverstone pole put the title just out or reach last time out leaving them to grab either pole position or a finish to secure their drivers title (Olivier Lombard having joined the team mid-season) but they'll need steady hands and a sensible pace to bring it home.

The titles would mark the end of an extraordinary season from the #40 Zytek Nissan squad which has so far yielded 3 LMS class wins from 4 starts plus the Le Mans 24 Hours class win too!

That they have done so in a package that does not seem to have been the outright quickest speaks volumes for the quality of the whole team, now further bolstered with the addition of Race Engineer Alan Mugglestone.  A year of few problems and even fewer mistakes has left the apparently faster but far more troubled Oreca 03s breathless in their wake.

That gulf is evidenced by the points tally of the TDS Racing Oreca Nissan, amongst the fastest of all in class all season the team are languishing down at 6th in the points standings after niggles at every race kept eating away at their finishing order.  

The contrasting fortunes of the two HPD teams bears examination too -

After a frustrating Paul Ricard which saw the 01ds well off the ultimate pace courtesy of a rather unbalanced performance balancing package there was the disaster of Spa for RML which cost them their chassis, and damn nearly cost them Mike Newton too!

In truth, despite a massive recovery effort on the chassis front they seemed unable to raise their game thereafter, and they were certainly not where you might expect them to be in relation to the apparently identical Strakka car.

Strakka by contrast have plugged away all season, squeezed pace from the package that few thought possible and have consistently scored to the point where they sit in joint second place in the points standings with a mathematical long shot of winning the crown that eluded them in 2010.

Right with them on points are Boutsen Energy, another Oreca 03 Nissan squad that have been quick but frail all year. Nicolas de Crem appears to have paid the price for a troubled Imola race with young Norwegian Thor Christian Ebbesvik reprising his Silverstone role alongside Dominik Kraihamer - They'll be quick again for sure but the odds are against them for a last ditch title win!

Three left to summarise and all have Judd BMW power, the 4 litre V8 seems to be well I to it's stride now and the Race Performance Oreca team are revelling in it, after a start to the season that saw the team suffering reliability issues aplenty they now seem to be knocking on the door of the leading pack at times and are scoring well - Again though, without major attrition elsewhere they are unlikely to challenge in the classes overall standings.

Pecom Racing have had an odd year in their cost capped Lola Judd, they've been sporadically quick but inconsistent, have never really seemed to threaten for overall honours but have hardly been slow either.  They'll surely be looking to end their year on a high.

As will RLRMSport and their grandfathered MG Lola EX265 - The team from Bolton continue to impress with their dogged determination and excellent standards of preparation and presentation - There was massive frustration at Silverstone when multiple engine failures pre-race saw the car start from pit lane with a lap penalty – Thereafter though the fight back was a race highlight – The car came home fifth in class and 14th overall!.

LMP2 Points before Estoril
 
Teams
 
1 Greaves Motorsport 50
2 Boutsen Energy Racing 36
3 Strakka Racing 36
4 Race Performance  26
5 RLR Msport 25
6 TDS Racing 23
7 Pecom Racing 22
8 RML 17
9 Extreme Limite AM Paris 14

Drivers

1 Karim Ojjeh 50
1 Tom Kimber-Smith 50
2 Dominik Kraihamer 36
3 Danny Watts 36
3 Jonny Kane 36
3 Nick Leventis 36
4 Olivier Lombard 30
5 Michel Frey 26
5 Ralph Meichtry 26
6 Nicolas de Crem 25
7 Barry Gates 25
7 Rob Garofall 25
8 Jody Firth  23
8 Mathias Beche 23
8 Pierre Thiriet 23
9 Luis Perez Companc  22
9 Matias Russo  22
9 Pierre Kaffer 22
10 Gary Chalandon 20
11 Marc Rostan 19
12 Thor-Christian Ebbesvik 18
13 Simon Phillips 17
14 Ben Collins 17
14 Mike Newton 17
14 Tommy Erdos 17
15 Fabien Rosier 14
15 Maurice Basso 14
 
Manufacturers
 
1 Oreca - Nissan 59
2 HPD 53
3 Zytek - Nissan 50
4 Oreca - Judd 26
5 MG Lola - Judd 25
6 Lola - Judd 22
7 Norma - Judd 14
 
FLM
 
92 NEIL GARNER MOTORSPORT M FLM - Oreca - 09 John Hartshorne/ Phil Keen
93 GENOA RACING M FLM - Oreca - 09 Aldous Mitchell/ Jordan Grogor/ Bassam Kronfi
95 PEGASUS RACING M FLM - Oreca - 09 Mirco Schultis/ Patrick Simon/ Julien Schell
99 JMB RACING M FLM - Oreca - 09 Peter Kutemann / TBA/TBA
 
We’re down to three for the season finale with Hope Racing having withdrawn for the remainder of the season pre-Silverstone and Genoa hoping for a 2 car entry at Petit Le Mans (Stop Press – It seem the #95 Genoa/ London project car is back on the Estoril entry – the team presumably less than enamoured with the potential prospect of PLM race elimination post qualifying!)
 
The Drivers title battle here was settled at Silverstone in favour of the very solid Pegasus Racing squad – the Schell family owned team have run a reliable car for the Dress for Less sponsored Mirco Schultis and Patrick Simon, Julian Schell shares the drivers title with these two and they’ll now look to turn the knife with another win.  If the London Project car does arrive n Portugal the Teams title could still be alive.

Trying to secure second place in the Teams standings though, taking advantage of the absence of Genoa, will be the JMB Racing team though we await details of their final driver line-up in Portugal.
 
In the Drivers standings it’s the Neil Garner Motorsport team that are the principal challengers for second place – John Hartshorne returns but Steven Keating and Phil Keen step back for this one – Instead 2009 Radical European Masters Champ Alex Kapadia steps up and Tor Graves returns to FLM too.

FLM Points before Estoril
 
Teams
 
1 Pegasus Racing 58
2 Genoa Racing 48
3 JMB Racing 45
4 Neil Garner Motorsport 33
5 Hope Racing 12
 
Drivers
 
1 Julien Schell 58 - CHAMPIONS
1 Mirco Schultis 58 - CHAMPIONS
1 Patrick Simon 58 - CHAMPIONS
2 Christian Zugel 35
2 Elton Julian  35
2 Jens Petersen  35
3 John Hartshorne  33
3 Phil Keen 33
3 Steve Keating 33
4 Chapman Ducote 27
4 Kyle Marcelli  27
5 Luca Moro 23
6 Jean-Marc Menahem 18
7 Nicolas Marroc 17
8 Aldous Mitchell  13
8 Bassam Kronfli  13
8 Jordan Grogor 13
9 Shanqi Zhang 12
10 Tor Graves 11
11 Manuel Rodrigues  9
11 Nicolas Misslin  9