Le Mans 24 Hours, Race Preview - Part One The LMP1s #1 M Audi Sport Team Joest - André Lotterer/ Marcel Fässler/ Benoit Treluyer - Audi R18 e-tron Quattro
#2 M Audi Sport Team Joest - Allan McNish/ Dindo Capello/ Tom Kristensen - Audi R18 e-tron Quattro
#3 M Audi Sport Team Joest - Marc Gene/ Romain Dumas/ Loic Duval - Audi R18 ultra
#4 M Audi Sport North America - Oliver Jarvis/ Marco Bonanomi/ Mike Rockenfeller - Audi R18 ultra
#7 M Toyota Racing - Alexander Wurz/ Nicolas Lapierre/ Kazuki Nakajima - Toyota TS 030 Hybrid
#8 M Toyota Racing - Anthony Davidson/ Sébastien Buemi/ Stephane Sarrazin - Toyota TS 030 Hybrid
#12 M Rebellion Racing - Nicolas Prost/ Neel Jani/ Nick Heidfeld - Lola B12/60 Coupé Toyota
#13 M Rebellion Racing - Andrea Belicchi/ Harold Primat/ Jeroen Bleekemolen - Lola B12/60 Coupé Toyota
#15 D OAK Racing - TBA/ Bertrand Baguette/ Dominik Kraihamer - OAK Pescarolo Judd
#16 M Pescarolo Team - Emmanuel Collard/ Jean-Christophe Boullion/ Stuart Hall - Pescarolo 03 Judd
#17 M Pescarolo Team - Nicolas Minassian/ Seiji Ara/ Sébastien Bourdais - Dome S102.5 Judd
#21 M Strakka Racing - Nick Leventis/ Danny Watts/ Jonny Kane - HPD ARX-03a Honda
#22 M JRM - David Brabham/ Karun Chandhok/ Peter Dumbreck - HPD ARX-03a Honda The 2012 crop sees 13 LMP1s do battle at Le Mans and it’s a very different looking grid from last year. The biggest two differences surround a pair of factory entries – one of which isn’t there (Peugeot) and the other which is (Toyota). We’ll miss the French coupes, they’ve given us drama, raw speed, unpredictability and controversy throughout the life of the 908 programme. Through the whole of the Audi/ Peugeot diesel era the racing has been nip and tuck, spirited and, at times, hard. Those days are gone, courtesy of Peugeot’s cash flow woes, with Toyota the new factory opposition to the Audi steamroller, As it turns out though it means one factory hybrid programme replacing another. Audi though haven’t stood still – They bring no fewer than four cars to the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2012, and that quartet features a pair of brand new versions of the 2011 race winning R18 prototype. The R18 Ultra is the diesel only variant, the watchword is ultra-lightweight and the car has to be ballasted to get to the minimum weight for LMP1. That means that the extra weight can be placed where the team chooses to help the car’s overall balance. That, coupled with the proven reliability of the diesel powertrain could prove very important – In dry conditions there was precious little between the two R18 variants at the Test Day – In changeable weather it seems the hybrid has the edge - The long range forces says hot, steamy and possibly stormy – It could go either way! On the driver front the ultras have a mix of endurance racing youth and experience. The #3 car should have seen the return to the cockpit after a very nasty Sebring testing shunt for 2010 race winner Timo Bernhard – The decision has been taken though to give Timo rather longer to fully recover from his injuries – Marc Gene steps up as reserve driver and will hope to put his name in the history books as the first man to win at Le Mans for both Peugeot and Audi. Bernhard’s 2010 co-champion, and fellow Porsche factory man Romain Dumas will certainly be aboard the #3 car and is as fast as ever too, he’ll be looking to cement his reputation as a top LMP1 talent ahead of the Porsche decision on their own LMP driver line up with test and development presumed to commence at some point in 2013 ahead of a Le Mans attack in 2014. The final man in the #3 car is a new addition for 2012 to the Audi fold, Loic Duval proved to be stunningly fast in the Oreca Peugeot and he’s an intelligent signing for Ingolstadt, One of a trio of ex Peugeot men now also having Audi diesel experience, it seems that Audi prefer to turn to the endurance world rather than F1 for their new talent. The sister #4 R18 ultra has another 2010 overall race winner, Mike Rockenfeller, Rocky back for just a single endurance outing this season as he focuses on DTM in 2012. He had us worried last year after his enormous overnight shunt but he’s a fighter in the truest sense of the word and will be amongst the very fastest out there. He’s joined by a pair of new additions to the Audi endurance racing fold as 2011 reserve driver Marco Bonanomi steps up together with Oliver Jarvis – Jarvis has the advantage of a previous Le mans run aboard a Kolles run Audi R10 to fall back on but this pair has plenty to prove about not only their speed but also their ability to gel as a team, they did fine at Spa but Le Mans is a unique challenge – Could this squad though be one that we might see for quite a while into the future at Le Mans?
The other pair of Audis are, of course, the hybridised version of the R18, the e-tron Quattro featuring a Williams Engineering designed flywheel alongside the turbo diesel main power unit. The hybrid system delivers power through the front wheels giving the car, effectively, part time 4 wheel drive. The car’s debut at Spa saw the quattros dominate proceedings in free practice on a wet and greasy surface but when the track dried during the race proper the hybrids couldn’t live with the pace of the diesel only ultra. Audi played a very straight bat and let them race, but surely if a hybrid is anywhere close to a winning position at Le Mans that would be a headline too big to miss? And who could blame them? The two crews all have Le Mans wins already in the bag with the #1 crew formed of the full 2011 race winning squad of Benoit Treluyer, Marcel Fassler and Andre Lotterer, the trio showed a stunning combination of pace, aggression and mechanical sympathy to take one of the all time best race wins at La Sarthe last year. They’ve forgotten nothing of that racecraft and if the conditions turn out to be anything other than fully dry the e-tron looks set to have a performance edge. The #2 crew meanwhile is surely sportscar racing’s version of the Rat Pack, just without the drinking, womanising and alleged Mafia links. What they do have in common with Messr’s Sinatra, Davis Jr and Martin is staying power, and success, the combined trophy cabinet of Messrs McNish, Capello and Kristensen would leave IKEA in need of a priority reorder of shelving – There is nothing worth winning that they haven’t won, either individually and/ or as a crew. Their 2011 run was ended in dramatic fashion as McNish tagged Anthony Beltoise’s Ferrari – The impact which followed proved that Audi builds cars that look after their drivers, the incident itself proved that the visibility from the 2011 R18 was truly awful – The 2012 cars are a very marginal improvement in that area and the old masters will be looking to prove that they’ve lost nothing in pace, staying power and consistency – They’ll feature at the sharp end for sure, as they did at the test Day, McNish topping the times before pushing perhaps just a little too hard and ending the session at Tertre Rouge with a rather bent R18. With Peugeot gone it fell to Toyota to provide the factory opposition, and to prop up the FIA WEC (and lest we forget this is a double points scoring round of the new for 2012 World Championship). The Toyota attack comes at least a year earlier than planned and thus far it shows – A late withdrawal from their planned debut with the new TS030 at Spa after a testing accident damaged their then sole tub leaves them not so much on the back foot as completely out of step. Two cars were promised for Le Mans though and the second, #8 car was set to shakedown at the Test day. There will be NO spare tubs at Le Mans. That’s very, very late for any race – for the Le Mans 24 Hours it’s simply too late – Factory engineering standards are high but an unproven package, coupled with as yet unproven (in endurance racing) supercapacitor technology and a 4 car juggernaut to face up to is not a scene designed to have anyone flocking to the bookies to put any substantial amount on the Toyota squad. That said the team are setting realistic targets, and talking a remarkably good fight – They recognise that Audi are the white hot favourites but say that they believe the TS030 can run ahead of the Audis, and that they plan to do so for as long as they can. Certainly the team took the opportunity to pretty comprehensively revamp the original car before the latest version started to test last month! That sounds like code for a. The TS030 is fast and b. The TS030 is unlikely to finish without at least substantial delay. That’s not to say that Toyota aren’t putting in the effort – There has been substantial testing and both the technical team (from TMG in Cologne with race and logistical support from Oreca) and the driver squad – are top notch. The team’s lead #7 car features double race winner Alex Wurz, the Austrian as fast and intelligent a test and race driver as any team could hope for. Nicolas Lapierre was surely heading for a place in the full Peugeot factory team after impressing mightily at Oreca – He’s quick and controlled too, Kazuki Nakajima is a relatively unknown quantity in endurance racing though he has had some very solid runs in Super GT in the past few years (oddly including a top 5 finish in Round One this year alongside new Audi signing Loic Duval!) – He’ll have speed but he’ll need to reel in any excesses if the very new car is to be nursed home. The #8 car has a line up that is no less impressive. Anthony Davidson needs little introduction here – Arguably the fastest of all of the Peugeot drivers he’s probably unlucky to only have, at least at present, a one off deal for Le Mans. Sebastien Buemi brings single seater pedigree but precious little endurance running to the task in hand – He’ll be quick, probably very, very quick though. Finally there’s the late addition of Stephane Sarrazin to the squad – A man who, if there were a fantasy endurance racing league, would surely be on most people’s wish list – Fast, and mechanically sympathetic and savvy – he’s a ideal signing for TMG. Our guess is that the #8 car might be the hare, the TS030 sent off to try to break an Audi or two whilst #’7 takes a more conservative approach. We’d love to see both in contention throughout the race, but the likelihood is that they will struggle to bring either to the finish. The Test Day showed though that this effort is pretty close on pace at the moment to the Audis, that bodes well going forward – It showed too that the background chatter about the relative potential performance of a factory petrol fuelled effort would prove that the equivalency formula was not as unbalanced as many have claimed – That looks true too! And so to the privateers Rebellion Racing have flown the Toyota flag for the past couple of seasons with the customer engines in their Lola coupes and the UK based, Swiss owned team seem set to be in the vanguard of the petrol powered fight this time out. First things first, the current woes at Lola shouldn’t have any impact on Rebellion’s attack, the team apparently have multiple spares for more or less everything on their now fully 2012 spec Lola Coupes. They’ll be up for the fight too with a pretty able supporting cast of privateer LMP1s this year they won’t be in a hurry to give up their status as one of the teams most likely to pick up the pieces if the factory attack implodes. The cars were always in or around the top privateer places at the Test Day and both ran with no real problems at all. The new Lola is fast, the customer Toyota V8 strong and reliable and the driver line up is capable of exploiting the opportunities. The #12 squad of Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani and Nick Heidfeld is the hare of the pair, Jani is a man that really should have had a shot at Formula One – Heidfeld of course has been there and done that whilst Prost is far, far better than those who opine that he is a son in the shadow of his father give him credit for. They’ll need to be mistake free but if they, and the Rebellion pit crew, can deliver that there might just be a very, very good result available. The #13 squad meanwhile feature the speed of Andrea Belicchi, the experience and speed of Jeroen Bleekemolen and the budget, experience and speed of Harold Primat. Belicchi will be as quick as anyone in a petrol powered LMP1, Bleekemolen is likely to be quick too – he seems capable of pedalling anything he turns his hand too remarkably ably, whilst Primat is capable of very good performances too, as evidenced by his performances at the end of last season aboard the factory Lola Aston Martin. The other two car privateer LMP1 squad is a real crowd favourite – Pescarolo Team though have parked the evergreen, or rather ever bleu Judd powered 01. Instead the team fields a pair of interesting machines – First up the latest car that bears Henri’s name is the 03, powered by a 3.4 litre Judd after initial aspirations to field HPD power fell to budgetary constraints. The car is famously based on the hugely unsuccessful AMR One tub (complete with uprights and suspension, but with bespoke aero) and was initially meant to be funded via a partnership with Luxury Racing – That plan ended very badly indeed but the project was bailed out by the owner of the tub, Roald Goethe. It’s late, very, very late. But if any team can get this package to the finish it’s Henri’s band of loyal troubadours, The Goethe link has had an impact on the driver squad too as season signings Emmanuel Collard and Jean Christophe Bouillon are joined by Stuart Hall. That led to some legal shenanigans as a disappointed Julien Jousse arranged, briefly, for the car to be impounded last Friday. Putting all of that unfortunate ness aside though Hall returns to Le Mans for a fourth time after runs with Rollcentre (for whom he finished 4th in a Pescarolo), Creation and Aston Martin Racing. He’s hungry for another shot at the big one and whilst going one better than his previous best finish is a very long shot he’ll surely give it a go! Collard and Bouillon are both old school Pescarolo – They’ll keep to the game plan and run the pace dictated by the boss – Both are still quick but both have got to find more of their previous form if the effort is to come up with the goods this time out. The car was far from the fastest out there at the Test, no surprise for such a new package, there will be some testing at Le Mans on the Bugatti Circuit this week but this is very, very early days for such a new car. The team’s second car is the unique Dome S102.5, again powered by a Judd V8 but again this is an effort that’s had a troubled start – Electrical issues at Spa prevented anything like a competitive run, then there was a major shunt in testing that left the team scrambling. Happily the damage was repairable and the team has now had time to work on the systems issues too so the car, designed for a single purpose (raw speed at Le Mans) should be back on form for the Test Day. As for the driver squad there’s precious little wrong in that regard with ex Peugeot wheelmen Nic Minassian and Sebastian Bourdais joined aboard #17 by 2004 Le Mans winner Seiji Ara. If the car is up to the task then there are a trio of drivers that should be more than capable of unlocking its potential – It will be another fan favourite for sure, and with the Dome factory keen to inflict some racing hurt on Toyota there’s an intriguing dash of ‘needle’ in the mix too! The Test saw the car super fast in a straight line but suffering the odd niggle that left the team chasing track time – It will be a long hard week leading up to the 24 Hours for the little Pescarolo Team. Three left, and all are single car teams in LMP1. Oak Racing have LMP2 cars in the garage but their LMP1 programme is cut back from a pair of cars last year to just one in 2012. The #15 Gulf liveried Pescarolo Judd is a conventional package and that might just be exactly what is required in a season where there is more than just a little innovation and ‘newness’ on the grid. Oak are also the only LMP1 team running anything other than Michelin rubber, they’re a Dunlop development partner that might come good in changeable conditions. Guillaume Moreau, though will play no part in the race after a substantial Test Day shunt left the fast young French driver with a very nasty back injury – We wish him well for a full and speedy recovery. There’s no news quite yet of his replacement for the race but Bertrand Baguette and Dominik Kraihamer are an intriguing duo in support – Both are quick, but are they perhaps too quick for the package – Success here will depend on an error free and tightly controlled race pace – Oak is a team that deserves to get the best out of their investment, total reliability will be required if they’re to get it in 2012. The new HPD 03a looks like a very convincing weapon and both Strakka Racing and JRM are well capable of unlocking its potential. There’s potential for some heady rivalry right there! Strakka return to the scene of their LMP2 triumph in 2010 now in the top class – An unchanged look to the driver squad, and a stable technical team too will stand the team in good stead, pitlane preparation and pace will go a long way to moving any of the petrol powered P1s up the order and into a position where they can take advantage of the trials of others. Strakka’s record suggests that they have strength in depth in all of those areas. After a trying Sebring we saw real signs of progress at Spa and Jonny Kane and Danny Watts are as capable a duo as you’ll find beyond the factory teams here. Nic Leventis isn’t a pro driver, isn’t as quick as either Kane or Watts (few are!) but then again he has had the drive and wherewithal to put together and sustain an outfit that allows his two co-drivers to shine – There will be few who would begrudge him an opportunity to indulge his passion, and to do so in a way that has seen him improve dramatically in pace and consistency in recent years. Strakka have a plan, and that plan involves having as much on track success as possible to continue to bolster their case for future programmes – A good run at Le Mans would be a helpful chapter in that story. JRM were mighty at Sebring but stumbled at Spa – The team though have their eye on the prize – and that prize is all about a future in sportscar racing as well as the here and now. They’re another outfit with good resources and a plan – If that plan is to come to fruition they need to show that their abilities can outshine those of the other team with identical machinery – Should be fun! David Brabham is about as experienced a sportscar driver as you’ll find on this grid – He knows what it takes to win the race overall, and to mount and maintain a race long class battle (which effectively the privateer battle is!). He’s quick, usually entirely mistake free and consistent.
Peter Dumbreck is highly rated by his peers but, aside from being involved rather directly in one of the most viewed pieces of motorsport footage in history, his public profile is surprisingly low. That’s a shame because he’s remarkably fast, certainly giving little away to Brabs. Karun Chandhok meanwhile has been quick, but he’s made mistakes too – He’ll need as much of the former as possible and none of the latter if JRM are to deliver on their readily apparent potential. | 
