2009 Euro Le Mans Series

[MOTV8]

Gonna do this euro- LMS series as one thread instead of individual posts for each race. Luc Alphand has his ex-ALMS C6.R running in this series, which does offer some competition.

Le Mans Series opener at Barcelona

Racing series LMS

Date 2009-04-05

Aston Martin Racing secured the first win of the season in the European Le Mans Series in Barcelona, Spain, after a tense and dramatic race. The Factory AMR Lola completed the 209 laps in just over six hours clocking up some 621 miles in the first race of the season, the 1000km de Catalunya.

"This momentous victory is a fantastic reward for the many weeks and months of hard work put in by every member of the team. Endurance racing is above all a team sport, and I think that we have proved this once again today," said David Richards, Chairman of Aston Martin.

The LMP1 #007 Aston in the hands of Stefan Mucke, Jan Charouz and Tomas Enge was in second place chasing the lead #16 Pescarolo-Judd driven by Christophe Tinseau and Jean-Christophe Boullion but in the last round of pitstops the Pescarolo-Judd failed to pull away and required the engine to be restarted.

"It's been a really impressive debut, and I've had a very good feeling with the car throughout the weekend. I'd like to thank everybody for doing a fantastic job, I think this sets us up really well for a successful continuation to the season. I had no problems at all during my stints, and most importantly we have learnt a lot for the future," said Charouz.

Fellow driver Enge added, "This is the perfect way for us to start our season, and the car has been very good from the beginning. The only problem I've experienced is a lack of rearend grip sometimes, which is what caused my spin. But luckily no harm was done and we did not lose much time. During my stint I tried to keep up with the leading Pescarolo but it was very tricky. In the end though it was a great result for everyone."

The Aston in the striking orange and blue livery with Mucke at the wheel seized the opportunity and was able to close right up on Tinseau in the Pescarolo. A safety car period in the closing stages allowed Mucke to get right on to the tail pipe of the Pescarolo and he overtook just six laps later. Tinseau tried to fight back but ended up some 14 seconds adrift of the leader by the end of the race.

"I'm absolutely delighted with this result, but it was a very close call at the finish. It was so tight at the end that I really did not know which way everything would go," commented Mucke. "Eventually we were able to take advantage of the safety car to close up, and then we found a gap in the traffic to pass the leader. He went to the inside, we went to the outside and thankfully it worked. Once we were through, I think we proved that we had the pace to win."

Third place looked to be in the bag for the second AMR car until Miguel Ramos went off the track in the closing stages and was unable to get going again. The #2 AIM-powered Courage ORECA, with Bruno Senna and Stephane Ortelli came past to claim the position and the final step of the podium.

The Signature Racing Judd Courage ORECA with Pierre Ragues and Frank Mailleux picked up fourth place one minute and ten seconds behind the third position Courage ORECA.

The polesitter Strakka Racing Ginetta-Zytek, driven by the all British line up of Danny Watts, Peter Hardman and Nick Leventis lost out at the start and dropped to 4th place before the first corner, they were to eventually finish fifth. The suspicion of a jump start by some of the competitors which dropped the Strakka Racing car so far back was claimed to be for safety reasons and no drive through penalties were awarded

In LMP2 the Italian Racing Box team took the class win in a Lola-Judd coupe in the hands of Thomas Biagi, Matteo Bobbi and Andrea Piccinni. The next closest car was ASM Team Ginetta Zytek driven by Olivier Pla and Miguel Amaral some 46-second adrift.

The Reiter IPB Spartak Lamborghini Murcielago took the LMGT1 victory in a class that contained just four cars. The Italian car driven by Peter Kox and Romain Rusinov was the fastest car in class but only assumed the lead when team owner Luc Alphand spun his Chevrolet Corvette C6.R in the third hour. The Luc Alphand Adventures Chevrolet Corvette C6.R was looking good for the class win but spun out and lost the place. [/iDIOT]

Porsche scored victory in GT2. The factory drivers Richard Lietz and Marc Lieb took the LMGT2 class win in the Felbermayr Proton Porsche 911 GT3-RSR with Rob Bell and Gianmaria Bruni in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari second.

Pos Cl Drivers Car Laps

1. LMP1 Charouz/Enge/Mucke Lola Aston Martin 209

2. LMP1 Boullion/Tinseau Pescarolo Judd 209

3. LMP1 Ortelli/Senna Oreca AIM 206

4. LMP1 Ragues/Mailleux Oreca Judd 206

5. LMP1 Watts/Leventis/Hardman Ginetta Zytek 205

6. LMP1 Jouanny/Barbosa Pescarolo Judd 203

7. LMP2 Biagi/Bobbi/Piccini Lola Judd 201

8. LMP2 Amaral/Pla Ginetta Zytek 201

9. LMP2 Ceccato/Francioni/Piccini Lola Judd 195

10. LMP2 Bruneau/Moseley/Greensall Radical AER 193

11. LMP2 Lahaye/Ajlani Pescarolo Mazda 190

12. LMP2 Nicolet/Hein Pescarolo Mazda 190

13. GT1 Rusinov/Kox Lamborghini 189

14. GT2 Lieb/Lietz Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 187

15. GT1 Alphand/Goueslard/Clairay Corvette C6.R 187

16. GT2 Bell/Bruni Ferrari F430 GT 186

17. GT2 Simonsen/Montanari Ferrari F430 GT 185

18. GT2 Ehret/Beltoise Ferrari F430 GT 185

19. GT2 Garcia/Mansell Ferrari F430 GT 185

20. LMP2 Kane/Pompidou Lola Judd 184

21. GT2 Hartshorne/Scheier/Iannetta Ferrari F430 GT 184

22. GT1 Berville/Dumez/Zacchia Saleen S7R 184

23. GT2 Ried/Felbermayr/Martins Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 182

24. LMP1 Primat/Ramos/Turner Lola Aston Martin 181

25. GT2 Cocker/Drayson Aston Martin Vantage 181

26. GT2 McInerney/McInerney/Vergers Ferrari F430 GT 181

27. LMP1 Belicchi/Fassler/Prost Lola Aston Martin 180

28. LMP1 Krumm/Meyrick/Zwolsman Audi R10 TDI 179

29. LMP2 Ojjeh/Gosselin/Peter Ginetta Zytek 179

30. GT2 Tenchini/Basso/Plati Ferrari F430 GT 175

31. LMP2 Salini/Salini/Gommendy WR Zytek 163

32. LMP1 Albers/Bakkerud Audi R10 TDI 153

33. GT1 Konopka/Edwards/Daniels Saleen S7R 139

34. LMP2 Noda/Sini/Marsh Lola Mazda 133

35. LMP2 Schell/Thirion Courage AER 118

36. LMP2 Ibanez/Rocha/Cavailhes Courage AER 116

37. GT2 Pilet/Narac Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 115

38. LMP1 Panis/Lapierre Oreca AIM 108

39. GT2 Rosa/Montermini/Petrobelli Ferrari F430 GT 106

40. LMP2 Moncada/Cortes/Armetta Lucchini Judd 98

41. LMP2 Erdos/Newton Lola Mazda 82

42. LMP2 Randaccio/Giammaria Lucchini McLaren 17

43. GT2 Coronel/Leuenberger Spyker C8 Laviolette 6

[Desertdawg]

spun out and lost the place. [/iDIOT]

I went to the results first and thought you did a typo... How did the lambo win???

Thanks for the laugh with the /idiot

[MOTV8]

LMS Spa 1000KM - The Grand Touring classes at Spa

What would the Le Mans Series be without its GT classes. At Spa three GT1 cars and 16 GT2 cars will be in action. Three manufacturers in GT1, five in GT2 will entertain the fans around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Let’s see who will be racing where and who will have the best chance to win.

GT1: And then there were three…

Only three cars are entered for the Spa-Francorchamps round of the Le Mans Series. ARC Bratislava-Kaneko had planned to enter one of the Full Speed Racing Saleens while their own car is not ready, but the deal which included Lemeret and Muytjens did not materialize. Larbre will also skip Spa. Perhaps the team is still somewhat afraid after the previous run here (Spa 24 Hours 2008), but more likely due to the fact that two cars are entered for the FFSA GT round at Dijon.

Luc Alphand Aventures, IPB Spartak Racing and Jetalliance Racing will be there though, making it a three-way battle nevertheless.

Luc Alphand’s Corvette C6.R was en route to a victory at Barcelona a month ago when the French owner/driver put his car in the gravel trap, handing over the lead to the Lamborghini. In Spa the team is back with the same line-up and hoping to repeat last year’s victory.

One advantage for the Alphand team could be a new line-up for the IPB Spartak Racing Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT. Rather than the familiar Kox-Rusinov line-up the Dutch ace will be joined by young Czech drivers Erik Janis and Filip Salaquarda. With the two Czechs new to the Le Mans Series much will depend on the qualities of Peter Kox.

The third and final GT1 car is the Aston Martin DBR9 of Jetalliance Racing. Not used in FIA GT the team has decided to run its DBR9 once before heading to Le Mans. Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Thomas Gruber and Alex Müller will do whatever they can to fight the two other GT1s in an attempt to take their first win in the Le Mans Series and perhaps the final win of their GT1 Aston. (Perhaps, perhaps. Could be a DNF too mofo. )

GT2: Interesting field of sixteen GT2 cars at Spa.

Sixteen cars have been entered for this weekend’s race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. With cars from Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Spyker, Lamborghini there is a lot to compare in this class.

Reiter Engineering will debut their new Lamborghini Gallard LP560, with Christophe Bouchut and Albert von Thurn und Taxis behind the wheel. Despite being shown at Paul Ricard during pre-season testing and some private tests the second round of the LMS will actually be first race of the car. Let’s see what it can do against the other entries.

Another new entry is the Advanced Engineering Ferrari F430 GT2 for Griffin-Bamford. This Ferrari is expected to be used as the Team Seattle entry for next months Le Mans 24 Hours. A similar rebranding of a car is happening at ProSpeed Competition. The Belgian team, which won the opening round of the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone only last weekend, will enter the Paul Daniels owned Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. Paul Daniels will be joined by Markus Palttala. Unfortunately the car is a 2007-built 997 with 2008 updates and it seems unlikely that it will be able to fight for the top places.

So who can fight for the top spot in GT2?

Two Porsches are certainly in it for winning. Barcelona’s winner, the #77 Team Felbermayr-Proton, will be back at Spa with Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz again. On the entrylist Horst Felbermayr Sr is also shown as the third driver, but we know from the ‘senior’ driver that he is smart enough to stay out of the car when he thinks the car can win. And why risk losing a championship?

The second Porsche that could win is the IMSA Performance Matmut entry. The team’s duo (Raymond Narac and Patrick Pilet) are a force to be reckoned with and if the car keeps on the track and out of trouble this team should be considered as a threat to the #77 Porsche.

Team Felbermayr-Proton’s #88 is the fourth Porsche in the field, but its line-up and results so far make it possible to say that this car needs more than just some luck to get a top result.

Finally Ferrari…next to the Advanced Engineering F430 GT2 there are no less than eight F430 GT2s on the grid: JMW, Hankook, two FBRs, Team Modena, Virgo, Easyrace and JMB Stradale Racing.

Several of the Ferrari’s have top line-ups, with JMW Motorsport having one of the best (Bell-Bruni). The #92 Ferrari was the best of the rest at Barcelona and hopes to beat all Porsche teams at Spa this weekend. But with Simonsen and Kaffer in the Hankook-Farnbacher Racing car, Jaime Melo joining Antonio Garcia and Leo Mansell at Team Modena they will also face some opposition from their own ranks.

Easycall, JMB (with Julien Rodrigues this time and at Le Mans), the two FBR cars as well as the Virgo Motorsport cars are unlikely to fight for a podium finish in the GT2 class, unless the top teams and/or drivers hit trouble.

Spyker Squadron will be there with its Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R again. At Barcelona things started really well with fast lap times, but come race day Jarek Janis was replaced by Benjamin Leuenberger due to an injury and three laps into the race it was already over. The problems have been solved and with Janis unfit to race at Spa the Dutch team has drafted in Peter Dumbreck. The combination of Tom Coronel and Peter Dumbreck is one of the strongest in the class; let’s just hope the car’s reliability will be as good. A decent result is something this team needs before heading to Le Mans.

We end our GT2 preview with Drayson Racing. The British team used the Le Mans Series test at the Bugatti circuit to get more miles in preparation for the Le Mans 24 Hours. Marino Franchitti tested for the team, but won’t be racing at Spa. The team has got more Aston Martin Racing support and the team is placed next to its big brothers in LMP1. Cocker and Drayson will be hoping to beat even more cars than at Spa and go to Le Mans with a positive feeling.

Okay, so ....1000 kilometers around this huge joint, and we'll see who's still standing. I'm betting the Aston doesn't go the distance, leaving second to the Lambo of course.

[Desertdawg]

I just wish they would get some drivers with last names I can pronounce, Smith, Jones, Marco!!!

[MOTV8]

Uh...here's some more names from the other classes, and one fast Lambo.

LMS Spa 1000KM - Friday Free Practice Report

The Le Mans Series weekend at Spa-Francorchamps kicked off at Friday afternoon 16.30 local time. Grey skies welcomed the drivers as they prepared for their first laps in Belgium in 2009. Red flags interrupted the 90 minutes long session twice and when it started to rain as well it was sure that times of this session could not be compared properly.

Early on in the session the #009 Lola Aston Martin lost its right rear wheel on the track and the car came to a halt on the track. A flatbed transporter was sent out to recover Darren Turner and his Gulf-liveried car.

Almost into the second half of the session the red flag came out for the second time when the Ibanez Racing Service Courage LC75 (#28) went off. The damage on the car and the position the car was in meant that the flatbed transporter was sent out once more.

As the first red flag came out the rain that had been expected all day started to fall as well in brief showers. Starting at the back of the circuit it soon rained in the paddock area as well and the track got wet and slippery quite quickly and teams used intermediates to run on the track.

Towards the end of the session and with the rain gone again a dry line started to form and lap times dropped again to pre-rain levels.

In LMP1 the battle between Peugeot and Oreca was really on. Nicolas Lapierre and Marc Gené posted identical times on the 7 kilometers long circuit, sharing the fastest time of the session (2:06.740). The second Team Oreca Matmut AIM Oreca 01 was only a tenth of a second behind. The second Peugeot and the #16 Pescarolo were also within a second of the fastest two cars. The Kolles Audi were not yet able to get close to the top times.

Zytek was quick in LMP2 for most of the session, with the Barazi-Epsilon Zytek 07S was fastest, at some point even between several LMP1s. In the final minutes of the session, with the track started to dry, several drivers improved their lap times. Tommy Erdos in the #25 RML Lola kept improving his lap times and eventually beat the time set by the Barazi Zytek. At the end the Brazilian had posted a 2:11.920, 1.724s quicker than the Zytek and good enough for ninth overall. Third fastest was the Quifel ASM Team Zytek 09S, which was almost 2 seconds slower than the RML Lola

In GT1 the IPB Spartak Racing Lamborgini Murciélago R-GT was by far the quickest car in the session. The #55 Lamborghini was almost three seconds quicker than the Alphand Corvette C6.R and over fourteen seconds ahead of the Jetalliance Racing Aston Martin DBR9.

FBR posted the fastest time in GT2. The whole session turned out to be a Ferrari show with the F430 GT2s taking positions 12-3-4-5-6. The #91 of Rosa-Montermini-Petrobelli was quickest in 2:24.488. The Hankook-Farnbacher car was second fastest, one second away from the FBR car while JMW Motorsport was third fastest at two seconds. The sixth placed Virgo Motorsport Ferrari went off right at the end of the session with Sean McInerney hitting the barrier with the rear end of his car, damaging the left rear off the car as well as the left exhaust. Best of the rest was the SNORAS Spyker Squadron #85, ahead of all four Porsches.

At least the Aston was eleven seconds slower than Luc. Luuuc, the force is with you....

[Guest 06yumavette]

just for your info i just paid for our tickets for the american le mans series at laguna seca in oct! i get to park with the rest of the vettes and on sunday a parade lap!!!!!

[Desertdawg]

How cool is that... Can I ride along Tom? I think I can fit in the back!!!

You know we are going to want some ACE T-Shirt pictures

[P51tj]

just for your info i just paid for our tickets for the american le mans series at laguna seca in oct! i get to park with the rest of the vettes and on sunday a parade lap!!!!!

Right on!!!

[MOTV8]

just for your info i just paid for our tickets for the american le mans series at laguna seca in oct! i get to park with the rest of the vettes and on sunday a parade lap!!!!!

That's awesome Tom, I'm jealous! Get some pix from the "Corvette Corral" as they call it!

[Guest 06yumavette]

i will take alot of pics... and of course with the ACE t shirt on!! it really wasnt that expensive for the tickets...

[MOTV8]

Peugeot on front row for Spa 1000km

Racing series LMS

Date 2009-05-09 (Francorchamps, Belgium)

By Gareth Fair - Motorsport.com

The top two grid slots for tomorrows Le Mans Series 1000km at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps were collected by both of the LMP1 Team Peugeot Total 908 Hdi-FAP cars. In an eventful 20 minute qualifying session where the red flag was brought out twice caused by cars spinning, the No. 7 car will start on pole with driver lineup of Nicolas Minassian, Simon Pagenauld and Christian Klien.

The pole position being earned thanks to a lap time of 2:01.056 produced by Pagenauld. Second slot will go the sister 908 Hdi-FAP, the No. 9 car of Marc Gene, Alexander Wurz and David Brabham car posted a time of 2:01.082 with Wurz at the wheel. Brabham a two times GT1 class winner at the Le Mans 24 hours is having his first race for the Peugeot team this weekend in preparation for his assault on the La Sarthe circuit in June with an aim to add an outright win to his tally.

With dry track conditions the Peugeots never really looked threatened by their rivals scoring both eventual best lap times early in the session. The two diesel 908's having produced similar times maintained a gap of nearly one and a half seconds back to the nearest challenger.

The Aston Martin Racing of Harold Primat, Migel Ramos taking the third position grid slot and Darren Turner with Turner posting the best time of 2:02.488 in the team's Lola Aston Martin.

The fourth grid position was taken by Stephanne Ortelli and Bruno Senna for Team Oreca Matmut AIM with the young Brazilian, Senna producing the best time of 2:02.570.

The first of the Pescarolo Sport prototypes posted the fifth fastest time of 2:02.674, the time set by Jean Christophe Boullion in the Pescarolo Judd. The top six being rounded off by The Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola Aston Martin with Marcel Fassler on board.

The Fastest of the LMP2 cars was Casper Elgaard, Emmanuel Collard, and Kristian Poulsen in the Team Essex Porsche RS Spider which set a time of 2:07.918 with Elgaard setting the time, which puts the Porsche in 12th position overall for the start of tomorrow's race.

The LMP2 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola Judd was about half a second slower but ended up just behind in 13th spot while the LMP2 Racing Box Lola Judd gained the time of 2:08.600 putting it 3rd fastest in class and 14th on the grid, lining up just behind the Speedy racing car.

In LMGT1 the Jetalliance team put their Aston Martin DBR9 at the front of the LMGT1 field with a time of 2:17.344. The IPB Spartak Racing Lamborghini produced the second fastest class time of 2:18.242 with the Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R the 3rd fastest of the LMGT1 field.

In LMGT2 The Felbermayr Proton team put their Porsche 997 GT3 RSR in 30th place on the grid with a time of 2:21.870, the fastest time of the LMGT2 class cars. The Imsa Matmut Porsche 997 GT3 RSR will line up 31st and the Team Modena Ferrari F430 GT lines up 32nd.

The 1000km race will start at 12:50 local time tomorrow (10th May 2009).

[P51tj]

Gotta have someone to pass!

[MOTV8]

Sandbagging...

[Desertdawg]

Or worse, the Aston Martini was sandbagging during Fridays practice...

Hope the vette boys bring home another win!

[MOTV8]

LMS Spa 1000KM - 90 minutes update

The first 90 minutes of the 1000KM of Spa went by quite chaotic. With several cars starting from pit lane, others ending up on the side of the road before the green flag had actually been shown only one expected thing did happen…Peugeot leading.

Whilst en route to the grid the #24 OAK Racing Pescarolo and #3 Lavaggi came to a halt on the side of the track. The Lavaggi was towed back to the pit. On the warm up lap it was the #12 Signature-Plus Courage-Oreca spinning his car, while Andrea Piccini spun his Racing Box Lola #30 exiting the La Source hairpin

Strangely enough the race director decided to start the race. Going into La Source the #16 Pescarolo and the #009 Aston Martin came together, sending the Pescarolo into a spin. While the Pescarolo tried to work its way back into traffic race control deployed the safety car…a perfect opportunity for the cars that started from the pit lane to get back to the field.

Unfortunately for the spectators almost immediately after the field had been released again the two Peugeots pulled off and left the rest of the field behind. Bruno Senna in his Oreca 01 tried to keep up but soon he had to let go of the two 908s and got into a fight with Fässler in the Speedy Lola Aston. Heading towards Eau Rouge the two cars were side by side, but Fässler got to the corner ahead of Senna. Moments later Senna suddenly slowed with what looked like a puncture.

As Senna arrived back at the pit lane the safety car was deployed once again, but it did not

pick up the leader. The Racing Box Lola #30 got back into the pit after its disastrous start of the race. Only a small part of the rear bodywork was still on the car and therefore the car was stopped by an official after completing its pit stop. The car was pushed backwards into the box, resulting in quite a lot of angry mechanics. When asked if there is no spare bodywork for the Racing Box car the only comment from one of the Lola people at the box is “no comment.”

Out on the track the safety car eventually picked up the leader and on lap 10 the race was restarted again. Only to be followed by an incindent involving several cars. Jouanny’s Pescarolo, a Ferrari and a Felbermayr-Proton Porsche spin off at La Source, with Kolles’ Meyrick and the Quifel ASM Zytek were also involved in it it seemed as both lost time or in the case of Quifel even returned to the box.

Towards the front Lapierre and Mücke went for it and started a fight for position. Senna, trying to make up some lost ground, spun his car at the Bus Stop chicane, but quickly recovered.

Just before the one hour mark the first scheduled pit stops took place, with the Speedy Racing Team Sebah LMP1 Lola opening the line.

After most teams had completed their first stop it was Nicolas Minassian leading Bouillon by a couple of seconds. Bouillon however was one of the few cars that had not made their first stop yet and when the Pescarolo did get in the pressure on the Peugeot was gone.

The KSM Lola then had to get in for stop & go penalty. More bad luck hits the #88 Porsche as its heads down into a gravel trap without anyone near…his example is followed by Stefan Mücke in the #007 Aston Martin Racing Lola Aston.

LMS Spa 1000KM - 180 minutes update

Compared to the opening minutes of the race the first half an hour of the second part was more or less ‘normal’. Several teams came in for their second scheduled pit stop of the day, but the Peugeot team was still out of reach for most.

After two hours of racing the Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #7 of Simon Pagenaud was leading the LMP1 and overall standings, with the Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo-Judd some twenty seconds behind in second place. Christijan Albers had moved his Kolles Audi R10 TDI into third.

In LMP2 the G.A.C. Racing Team Zytek 97S was in the lead after an earlier pit stop of the Team Essex Porsche, which was second and only some four seconds behind. Speedy Racing’s Lola B08/80 was in third place.

In the GT classes Luc Alphand Aventures and Team Felbermayr-Proton were leading. GT1 pole-sitter Aston had been off the track on several occasions.

Just after the two hour mark the two LMP Courage LC75s hit each other leaving the #28 Ibanez Racing Service car with some damage.

At the Peugeot pit box David Brabham came in to have his car checked. One lap after going out the Australian returns to the pit where the car is rolled back into the garage.

But then the safety car came out for the third time when Bruce Jouanny slammed his Pescarolo into the wall at Eau Rouge. With the car bouncing back towards the track and debris scattered all the way to the top of Eau Rouge it is deemed to unsafe to race at full speed. One big part of the car that is still on the track is collected by what looks like a prototype.

The Aston Martin Racing team suffered some problems after a pit stops with the lights on both cars not working properly. The cars had to come back to get it fixed. The #13 Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola also returned to the box where the engine cover went off. As it came out of the pit it spun at the bus stop.

After the completion of 69 laps the race was restarted with Simon Pagenaud pulling away immediately. Behind him the GT2 Porsche of Marc Lieb suffered a puncture, handing over the lead to the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT2.

After three hours of racing the #7 Peugeot was still leading ahead of the #16 Pescarolo and #11 Oreca. Team Essex was back at the front in LMP2, with the Lamborghini leading GT1 and JMW Motorsport in GT2.

LMS Spa 1000KM - 270 minutes update

Things seemed to settle as the race went into its second half. The #7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP was still lightyears ahead and had so far not been involved in any problems.

In the GT1 class it was Luc Alphand taking the lead from the IPB Spartak Racing Lamborghini right at the start of the fourth hour. In GT2 Lieb took back some time after his puncture problem, but the gap to the leading Ferrari was still quite big.

At the long Kemmel Straight the Zytek of Karim Ojjeh suffered a left rear tyre problem and Ojjeh was forced to slow down to return to the pit and have his car checked. Unfortunately for him the car suffered suspension problems and never got back out on the track again.

Pagenaud keeps pulling away from the second placed #11 Oreca car…until the fourth safety car period of this race was confirmed. At Fagnes the Easyrace Ferrari F430 #81 spun and was unable to get away, the car was retired on the grass and parked against the barrier.

With the safety car still out several teams went in to the pit for their stops. Wurz got onboard the #9 Peugeot, still several laps down on the leaders after the problems earlier in the race. Unfortunately for Wurz he was handed a four minute stop and go not much later.

After four hours of racing the #7 Peugeot with Klien driving was still leading, 19 seconds ahead of Lapierre in the Oreca and Tinseau in the Pescarolo. Team Essex was first in LMP2.

In GT1 the Alphand Corvette was first, while in GT2 three cars were still on the same lap with the JMW Motorsport Ferrari leading.

Thirteen minutes into the fifth hour second placed Lapierre #11 Oreca hit the #15 Kolles Audi as the two cars went into the Bus Stop. Unfortunately for Meyrick in the Audi his left front suffered damage and the Briton had to complete a full lap around the 7 kilometers long circuit with smoke coming from the left front tyre.

After the #15 Kolles Audi gets back to the pit it is Mondini who takes over the car. Behind him the #10 Oreca makes a long pit stop and is moved into the box.

At the front the Peugeot is still far ahead of the rest with Lapierre and Tinseau being the closest two rivals.

Hang on Luc!

[dewey]

Live Scoring and Timing

SPOILER ALERT

Well, I guess I found that too late.

P15-LMGT1-#72-Alphand Adventures, .Chevy Corvette C6.R-...........5:47:00.122, Lap 132, 159.174 km/h, best lap 2:20.202, 179.843 km/h

P17-LMGT1-#55-IPB Spartak Racing, ..Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT-5:47:09.931, Lap 131, 158.574 km/h, best lap 2:17.809, 182.966 km/h

P33-LMGT1-#66-JetAlliance Racing,... .Aston Martin DBR9.................5:47:19.074, Lap 113, 136.725 km/h, best lap 2:20.027, 180.068 km/h

So I guess that slow and steady (best lap times) does win!!!

[MOTV8]

To finish first, you must first finish.

Spa: Series race report

Racing series LMS

Date 2009-05-10

Peugeot roars in the Belgian hills

With its mixture of long straights, fast corners and varying gradients, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit ranks as one of the most technically challenging circuits visited by the Le Mans Series but is a firm favorite with drivers, teams and fans alike.

Team Peugeot Total took up the challenge of this historic track and claimed first place overall, while Team Essex did the same in the LMP2 class. The Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette scored its first victory of the season in the GT1 class and Team Felbermayr-Proton ruled in the GT2 class.

Over 100 drivers and about 30,000 spectators could enjoy a fine, sunny race which was disrupted by five safety-car periods. Indeed, many cars went off or had contact, but, on the whole, professional and gentlemen drivers were able to share the track in good spirit.

Favorites win in LMP classes

The race at Barcelona kicked the season off and the teams are now used to the new regulations, both in the pits and in technical matters. The very demanding Belgian roller-coaster has honoured its reputation and has been merciless to both teams and drivers. The winner had the best technical set-up compromises and spent very little time in the pits.

The # 7 Team Peugeot Total did not miss a beat in its season debut in the Le Mans Series and took the checkered flag in first place. The French team clearly showed to its main rivals that it will be one of the main contenders for victory at Le Mans in June, as Nicolas Minassian explained: "We had a different strategy from our sister-car. We tried many solutions to learn as much as we could. Now we know the good things to do." Nothing today could prevent the 908 HDi FAP from taking another victory but, despite chalking up the best lap time, the team could not achieve a 1-2 victory as the #9 car ran into a number of problems.

Team Pescarolo reached the second step of the podium, as in Barcelona. Team Pescarolo Sport has been a stalwart of the Le Mans Series since it started and has reaped the rewards of its hard work on car set-up on the Bugatti track two weeks ago. After taking the victory at Barcelona one month ago, Aston Martin Racing has reinforced its good result, finishing third, right ahead of Team Oreca Matmut AIM, and positioned itself as one of the favorites for the 2009 title.

The Porsche RS Spyder is back at the top of the LMP2 class. The German prototype won every round in the series last year and despite very few technical changes -- the ones needed to comply with the 2009 regulations -- it is still racing super-competitively. But, as the Spa race might be a one-off for the Danes, Speedy Racing Team Sebah and Racing Box keep their chances alive for the title after respectively second and third place in Belgium.

Moreover, after the Bruichladdich-Bruneau Radical at Barcelona, Team Essex has been the best performer while using the least amount of fuel and won the Michelin Green X Challenge.

A tremendous GT race

Despite only three cars being entered, the GT1 class was interesting throughout the race. The JetAlliance Aston Martin DBR9 started from pole position but it was Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R which took the checkered flag first.

The GT2 class is surely becoming the most competitive in the world. Five marques struggled fiercely throughout although Porsche and Ferarri had the upper hand throughout. In the end, it was Team Felbermayr-Proton's Porsche 997 GT3 RS, driven by Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz which crossed the line first, followed by three Ferraris.

-credit: lms

[Desertdawg]

A tremendous GT race

Despite only three cars being entered, the GT1 class was interesting throughout the race. The JetAlliance Aston Martin DBR9 started from pole position but it was Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R which took the checkered flag first.

If it was such a interesting class then give us more than 35 words about it... Damn reporters!!!

I guess it was interesting all the way to the finish, the Lamborghini was only 1 lap behind the force!

[MOTV8]

This series is still going?

Portimao: Series qualifying report

Racing series LMS

Date 2009-07-31

Before the night...

The brand-new circuit of Algarve was only completed late last year. Blind corner entries and abrupt changes of elevation are key elements of this track so drivers who could adapt quickly were at an advantage early on.

The qualifying session took place in a bright sunshine and despite a late timetable slot, the temperatures were still high, the weather conditions were, however, equal for all.

Obviously, the Oreca-Matmut AIM likes hot weather since Nicolas Lapierre set the world alight and took the pole in LMP1 with a very small gap. This result clearly shows that the race should be very tough and exciting throughout the four classes, not least because of it being run as a night race.

Oreca-Matmut AIM and Quifel ASM Team shine

Unlike Spa, the qualifying result was much harder to predict in the LMP1 class. Nevertheless, it is not so astonishing that Oreca-Matmut AIM made the grade and will start from the front and the second row in the LMP1 class. The French team will try to continue to forge ahead after its fifth place at Le Mans. "I am not really surprised", confirmed Nicolas Lapierre. "We have been competitive till the beginning of the weekend. It was a tough fight, but we are on the pole. Our car is well adapted to the track because of its good mechanical grip. The main job is for tomorrow."

But Aston Martin Racing is right behind and should put its life on the line tomorrow. After a victory at Barcelona and a third place at Spa, Aston Martin Racing demonstrated again that it is a great pretender to the title at the end of the season and fought hard but failed for the pole.

The result is not really unsettled in the LMP2 class, because the car setting on the front row has been the fastest one since the beginning of the weekend, posting the best lap at each free practice session. Indeed, if Olivier Pla and his Ginetta-Zytek posted the best lap, the race won't be easy because many other teams are waiting in ambush and will take advantage of any mistake from the polesitter.

RML will have at heart to shine after retiring from the first two races and to demonstrate that it still can climb on the podium like in the golden age and G.A.C. Racing Team, the biggest good surprise of the qualifying session, will try to take up the challenge. But at the same Quifel ASM Team is running at home, so it should be a strong competitor.

Corvette and Porsche on the front row

The GT1 class is less provided with only two cars entering the race. The Larbre Competition Saleen will hopefully give a hard time to the polesitter Yann Clairay in his Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette, which is missing its boss, Luc Alphand, recovering from bad back injuries due to a fall in a motorbike race earlier in July.

The GT2 class is still highly competitive with many cars able to win tomorrow. Team Felbermayr-Proton and Richard Lietz took an option on the victory by chalking up the best time, but the race will be long and who knows what might happen in the Portuguese night. The fierce battle between the Italian and German cars will continue waging with English and Dutch cars as the arbitrators.

Many races tomorrow

After a day dedicated to the free practice and qualifying sessions, tomorrow will be the D-Day for most of the support races: from 9:50 am, the spectators will hardly have time to breathe with a continuous stream of races available for their visual and auditory pleasure.

The warm-up is scheduled to start at 10:50 a.m. (local time) tomorrow.

-credit: lms

[MOTV8]

Corvette whups Saleen. Deja Vu.

Pescarolo wins in Portugal

Racing series LMS

Date 2009-08-01

By Gareth Fair - Motorsport.com

Jean-Christophe Boullion and Christophe Tinsau won a closely fought third round of the Le Mans Series in their Pescarolo-Judd.

The No.16 Pescarolo was the only entrant by the French team owner Henri Pescarolo due to budget issues but that one car was all they needed for victory at the Autodromo International du Algarve circuit in Portimao, Portugal. The car came across the line completing the 1000km race distance, some 215 laps in, just 1 minute and 25 seconds ahead of the No. 007 Lola Aston Martin of Jan Charouz, Tomas Enge and Stefan Mucke in a race where the two front runners were never far apart and traded the lead as both pitted at different times.

The No.10 Team Oreca Matmut-AIM took the final podium spot with Tiago Monteiro and Bruno Senna driving just one lap adrift of the lead car.

The Quifel-ASM Ginetta Zytec with drivers Miguel Amaral and Olivier Pla had a great weekend taking the LMP2 win in an overall sixth place after completing 207 laps. The pair finished ahead of the Racing Box Lola B08/80 coupe - Judd of Andrea Ceccato, Filippo Francioni and Giacomo in an overall seventh place. The G.A.C Racing Team Zytek 07S - Zytek of Karim Ojjeh and Philipp Peter took the 3rd in class in an overall eighth position.

The Luc Alphand Adventures Corvette C6.R with Yvan Clairay, Patrice Goueslard and Julien Jousse took the LMGT1 victory after completing 194 laps, finishing 14th overall. This is great news for team owner Luc Alphand who is recuperating at home after breaking his back in and endurance motorcycle event some three weeks ago. The Corvette's only GT1 competition, the Saleen S7R fielded by Larbre Competition finished back in 24th overall with just 172 laps completed.

In LMPGT2 the win went to the JMW Motorsport Ferarri F430 GT driven by Robert Bell and Gianmaria Bruni ahead of the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 GT3 RSR of Raymond Narac and Patrick Pilet as well as the Team Modena Ferrari F430 GT of Antiono Garcia, Leo Mansell and Jamie Melo.

The brand new track with short sharp corners provide a real challenge for drivers with many of the corners being effectively blind due to the large gradient changes around the circuit. The night time driving was bound to be even trickier, with cars from different classes racing on the constantly undulating track, it was always going to be an exciting race and it didn't disappoint.

The action started before the race even started with Danny Watts managing to spin his Striker Racing Ginetta Zytek as he pulled away on the formation lap before the start although he did manage to recover to get back into position before the cars rolled across the start line. All the cars got away well although it was not long before both Team Felbermayer Proton Porsches were back in the pits with the No. 88 car destined to retire after just one lap with a rear damage mainly caused by a flailing rear tyre carcus.

The two Kolles Audi R10's were soon going backwards through the field as the Pescarolo moved up well. By lap 10 things got worse for Team owner Dr Colin Kolles as both his Audi's collided with each other after Andy Meyrick had a gearbox issue which locked up the rear wheels as he entered a corner spinning the car and sending it careering into the side of the sister car with Christian Bakkerud at the wheel. Both cars suffered significant damage and the No 15 and No. 14 cars finished in 21st and 29th respectively.

With both the diesel cars having such a bad race the petrol race raged on initially between the pole sitting No 11 Team Oreca Matmut AIM and the No. 007 Aston Martin but the Oreca soon had problems as the car developed a fuel leak spraying fuel onto driver Lapierre who was forced to pit. The solitary Pascarolo was soon up at the front before the first hour, taking Watts in the Striker Racing Ginetta Zytek and then setting his sights on the lead Aston. The battle raged on all race with the pair swapping positions regularly, neither team were able to relax but it was the Pescarolo that had the better pace and gradually edged into race winning position. Despite a pit stop within the last 5 laps the Pescarolo took the win recapturing some of the glory the team enjoyed in the 2006 season.

With just two rounds remaining the LMS series will be back at the Nurburgring in Germany on the 21st/22nd/23rd of August, leaving the final round at the UK's Silverstone circuit on the 11th/12th/13th September.

[MOTV8]

1000KM Nürburgring - Free Practice 1 & 2

The first day of the Le Mans Series 1000 km of the Nürburgring saw different conditions in both sessions. The first session early in the afternoon started on a damp track with some light rain early in the session. Fortunately the weather improved afterwards.

The Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola Aston Martin was the fastest car in the first session, Andrea Belicchi posting the fastest lap time in 1:44.598. The #16 Pescarolo was second fastest just over three tenths of a second behind the Lola. Third fastest was the first of the works Lola Aston Martin, the #007. Tomas Enge set a 1:45.376.

In the second session, this time in bright sunshine, the #007 improved to first place when Stefan Mücke went out for his first outing of the weekend. The German posted a 1:43.514, a full second quicker than the second fastest car. Danny Watts in the Strakka Racing Ginetta Zytek (1:44.520) was the second fastest driver, with the Kolles Audi R10 of Narain Karthikeyan in third place.

LMP2 saw the Quifel ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek back in first place in the first session and second in the second session. RML took first place in the second session.

The Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola was second fastest in the first session, with the two Racing Box Lola’s in third and fourth.In the second session the G.A.C. Racing Team Zytek completed the top three.

Luc Alphand Aventures and Larbre Competition swapped positions in the two sessions. In the first session the Saleen was just under three tenths of a second quicker, with the Corvette 1.3 seconds quicker in the second session. Eat it Saleen.

Two Ferrari’s, one Porsche and a Spyker formed the top four in the first GT2 session. Rob Bell posted the fastest time (1:59.126) in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari, with the Hankook Team Farnbacher F430 eight tenths of a second behind. The #77 Team Felbermayr Proton was the first of the Porsches, just over a second behind the JMW Ferrari. Tom Coronel finished the session in fourth, just 0.030s behind the Porsche.

In the second session the #77 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR moved up into first place with Marc Lieb posting a 1:58.290. JMW Motorsport was second fastest, with the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche taking third place. Tom Coronel was fourth fastest again in the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R.

The weekend will continue tomorrow with another free practice session as well as the qualifying session.

I'm REALLY hoping Luc's second-hand C6.R takes the GT1 victory at the 'Ring....I think it would be much more significant than the stupidly overhyped timed-lap record nonsense we've been force-fed over the last year. I understand the one-upmanship and the "viral" marketing impact of having a ZR1 crush a GT-R or whatever, but to survive and WIN a 1000 km battle around the "Green Hell" would be the ultmate "eat THAT, sucka!"

[MOTV8]

1000KM Nürburgring - Qualifying

The #007 Aston Martin Racing Lola Aston Martin will start on pole position for tomorrow’s 1000km of the Nürburgring. In the 20-minute LMP qualifying Stefan Mücke lapped the 5.137km long circuit in 1:41.944.

Mücke’s team mate Darren Turner in the #009 car was second fastest, just over a tenth of a second behind the German. Marcel Fässler in the Speedy Racing Team Sebah car completed a Lola Aston Martin top three. The Swiss driver was just over six tenths of a seconds behind Mücke in the works car.

In LMP2 the Quifel ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek continued their strong run and took his second pole position in two races. Olivier Pla was over a second quicker than his nearest rival. The nearest rival was Philipp Peter, driving the G.A.C. Racing Team Zytek. Like in the LMP1 class it was a Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola in third place, Xavier Pompidou just 0.054s slower than the Zytek. Unfortunately for the Speedy Racing Team Sebah Pompidou then lost control of his car and slammed into the barrier severely damaging the right rear corner of his Lola. The Swiss team will have some work to do tonight.

Larbre Competition managed to put their Saleen S7R on pole in the GT1 class. Laurent Groppi secured the pole position posting a 1:55.158. The Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R was eight tenths of a second behind.

Pierre Kaffer was the only GT2 driver to get into the 1:57s. The Hankook Team Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GT2 driver set a 1:57.892, which was just over a tenth of a second quicker than the Team Modena Ferrari driven by Antonio Garcia. Marc Lieb saved the day for Porsche, taking third place in the #77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, another tenth of a second behind. Tom Coronel in the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R was sixth, with Jonny Cocker in the Aston Martin Vantage in eighth.

The 1000 km of the Nürburgring is the fourth round of the 2009 championship and will start on Sunday August 23rd 12:30 p.m. CET. The race will be 195 laps or six hours long.

[FNBADAZ06]

Dean,

Any of this racing televised on US cable or satellite ?

[MOTV8]

Dean,

Any of this racing televised on US cable or satellite ?

Hey Victor, I've only found where you can get the Live Timing & Audio, looks like it is only broadcast on Euro television, something called Motors TV.

[FNBADAZ06]

Dean,

Any of this racing televised on US cable or satellite ?

Hey Victor, I've only found where you can get the Live Timing & Audio, looks like it is only broadcast on Euro television, something called Motors TV.

That sucks, oh well.