Le Mans Series, Portimão – Race Preview
Part 1 – The Prototypes

31 cars are on the entry list for this weekend’s 1000km encounter at Algarve and, let’s be blunt, that’s a very poor entry by Le Mans Series standards, particularly so when you take into account that seven of them are FLM prototypes.

The last time we saw a worse entry than this was at Interlagos in 2007 and the lessons of that race are in evidence here again.

It’s a race that’s unpopular with many competitors, it’s expensive to travel to and stay at and the event (despite assurances from circuit management and the Series) has not attracted anything like a substantial crowd.  We’ll take some persuading too that the next race on the calendar at the Hungaroring is any better in most of those regards.

The weather forecast is spectacularly good so the race into darkness should provide some blessed relief from soaring temperatures for the crews.  Will a vast crowd of locals and holiday makers be drawn to a race in darkness?  We think not, and whatever the organisers say it didn’t work last time – We’d be very happy indeed to be proved wrong though.
 
So, onto the entry:

LMP1

Sadly this won’t take long!

There’s no factory diesel representation here and no factory AMR cars either.  Oreca’s AIM powered LMP1 stays back at base too, as does the Beechdean Mansell Ginetta Zytek (though that car is promised for a Budapest return!) – The Kolles Audi R10 TDIs look done for the year too.

Just four cars then are set to contest the premier category in Portugal with a trio of Huntingdon’s finest taking on a solo Peugeot.

Up until this point that might have been an uneven struggle for the petrol powered cars but a last minute change might have evened things up a little more.  The ACO regulations appear to have allowed the petrol cars a 4% larger air restrictor for the remainder of the season. 

Will that be enough to prevent a walkover? We’ll find out soon enough!

For now though the favourite has to be the #4 Oreca Matmut Peugeot 908 HDI FAP, all the more so as season long team-mates Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre are joined in Portimao (and for the remainder of the 2010 Le Mans Series) by Stephane Sarrazin.

The Peugeot’s speed is proven and without pressure from the factory Audis the 908 should be very reliable too.  There is though only one Peugeot – precious little room for error!

Up against the diesel coupe are three Lola chassised Coupes.

The #008 Signature Plus Lola Aston Martin underwhelmed for the opening rounds of the 2010 LMS.  Le Mans was the place that the slippery coupe was made for and the team put up a respectably competitive effort for almost all of the 24 Hours before an accident finally put paid to their dreams of a top ten finish.

There’s no Vanina Ickx for Portimao so Pierre Ragues and Franck Mailleux will be looking to see whether what they have learnt thus far about their 2010 weapon, plus the new restrictor break, can be translated into a competitive run.

If the Signature Plus guys are looking for a podium finish then they’ll have to beat the Rebellion Racing boys to get there.

It’s been a trying year so far for the Anglo – Swiss Rebellion squad, the V10 engined Lolas have good speed (and presumably more of that at Portimao) but they’ve had bad luck and niggling poor reliability too.

The team have the drivers to bring home the results, the #12 car with ‘youngsters’ Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost and the #13 car with the wily old(er) foxes, Andrea Belicchi and Jean Christophe Bouillon, and with the restrictor break the usual dry conditions gap should close up too. 

To win though they’ll have to stay out of the pits – If they do we might just have a race on our hands!

LMP2

The LMP2 class is similarly denuded with KSM announcing yesterday that they had joined Racing Box, Pegasus (both that pair bringing neither of their promised entries), Race Performance and WR Salini on the no show list.

That leaves half a dozen contenders with pairs of Pescarolos and Ginetta Zyteks and a pair of HPD engined contenders too.

Our plucky half dozen represent six of the top seven class finishers at Le Mans last month. Strakka Racing arrive in Portugal with well deserved bragging rights, a faultless performance in the 24 Hours bringing home the class win with the #42 HPD ARX 01c almost coming home as the top finishing petrol car overall!

If Strakka can reproduce that sort of form then it’s the LMP1s that will need to worry, the HPD is that good.  Danny Watts and Jonny Kane have proven their class against the rest and Nick Leventis proved the naysayers wrong with an impressively controlled run at Le Mans too.

Also HPD powered, the RML AD Group Lola (astonishingly the only Lola in the class at Portimao) came home third at Le Mans, the team loving the fault-free nature of their new for 2010 motor.  That reliability has seen the team top the points table after two races thus far in the Series.

Team regulars Tommy Erdos and Mike Newton are joined at Portimao by a new team mate – Some say he is the most famous racing driver that few have heard of – Others know already that Ben Collins is a class act.  He’s had precious little LMP mileage of late but he’ll be up to speed quickly.  Can this trio take the fight to the Strakka boys?  They can try!

Oak Racing came home second and fourth at Le Mans, and currently lie second and fourth in the Le Mans Series too.
They’re another team enjoying a new for 2010 (Judd) powerplant.  Iron clad reliability has been the name of the game for the Pescarolo-mounted squad and in the hands of Richard Hein and Guillaume Moreau the #35 car has coupled that with impressive pace too.

The sister #24 car brings team boss Jacques Nicolet (fresh from Le Mans Classic success in a Porsche 936!) and Mathieu Lahaye.  Their modus operandi has been perhaps less speedy, but equal reliability has seen the squad score well too.

Finally there’s a pair of very pretty Ginetta Zyteks.

Quifel ASM’s #40 car struggled at Paul Ricard, powered to a class win at Spa and hit troubles at Le Mans.  So it’s been a topsy turvy season with Olivier Pla expressing frustration where and when appropriate.  If he, and increasingly impressive ‘sportsman’ driving partner Miguel Amaral can unlock the potential of the car then this combo will challenge hard for a podium finish.

Finally, we have the #41 Team Bruichladdich Ginetta Zytek, happily with young Norwegian Thor Christian Ebbesvik due to be back in the saddle after his sizeable accident at Spa.

Ebbesvik’s pace has been impressive, well up to par with the other major class contenders and lifting the efforts of his team-mates, Karim Oijeh thoroughly enjoying his involvement with the team owned by third man Tim Greaves.

The team too are enjoying their association with the car, and it shows.  They might not have the overall pace across the race distance to win, but they are working very hard indeed to try.

FLM

Seven Oreca FLM cars are on the Portimao entry, the same teams as in previous rounds but some interesting changes in driver squads.

DAMS bring their two cars back to the fray, Gary Chalandon (Ebbesvik’s sub in the Bruichladdich car at Le Mans) is back in the #43 car and in the #44 car the Team WFR pair of Warren Hughes and Jody Firth are a very interesting addition to the grid as the team decide on a direction for 2011.  Watch this space!

Boutsen Energy’s Dominik Kraihamer, Nicolas De Crem and Bernard Delhez went well last time out, but can they reproduce that form away from home ground?

Applewood Seven won at Paul Ricard but struggled at Spa.  Damien Toulemonde is back and joined by Mathias Beche who contested Spa in a Matech Ford GT.

Hope Polevision is another two-car squad; both cars have shown ability to compete and lie first and third in the points standing right now.

The #47 car won at Spa last time out but they’ll be without Wolfgang Kaufmann in Portugal, the team opting to take a paying driver, Oliver Lombard instead of the experienced German. 

With Kaufmann having brought his regular gentleman driving partner, Luca Moro, to the team it might have been classier for Hope Polevision to let him know of the change rather than let him read the news on the entry list – just a thought boys!

Finally the resolutely gentlemanly JMB trio will enjoy themselves once again – Messrs Hartshorne, Basso and Kutemann will be looking to finish, anything more will be a bonus.

GG