Club Arnage

Any thoughts out there in club arnage land about next years entrants?  The prototypes are impressive but it is being totally dominated by one manufacturer.  Personally i would like to see more in the GTS class, the fight between Corvette and Ferrari has been good over the passed few years.  Prodrive will be running cars for Aston Martin next year, Maserati is developing its "Enzo" but does not meet the ACO spec.

The Spyker may be back next year but maybe they've given up on the Pagani Zonda.

RLM said the C6 Corvette would be ready for next year.  The current Viper is only sold as a roadster version, but it would be good to see this reappear as a coupe at LM.

Will the Saleens be allowed back into GTS?

Lamborgini Murcielago's are expecting to race in the GT races next year so I expect to see them at LM.

what about the revamped GT 40 in Gulf colours that would be really interesting particularly against an Aston.

I am hoping to see the MG SV and maybe the new TVR - Segonis, which is a more extreme version of the Tuscan

Agreed - the TVR Sagaris - Definately

MG SV - Awesome road car - not sure how it would convert though......

How about some more GTP cars though - I know LMP1 is nice - but I would really like to see people like Porsche, BMW, Bentley, Jaguar, Mazda et all - doing battle all in the same year........in cars built specifically for Le-Mans and sportscar racing

Now theres a thought - another Wankel engined car blatting around le mans (that was WankEL)  

Would also like to see people trying new things - Diesel - fair enough - Bio Ethanol, the same,  but how about a REALLY fast electric race car?  or a blatting great LPG Car.....or even a car that runs on bannana skins like the back to the future delorean!!
Le-Mans should be about pushing the boundaries....I think theyve gone about as far as they can in terms of speed now lets see what happens when you push technology.

More british cars too.......

And a ban on Audis......

I would also like to see them put the price of champagne down in the shampoo bar  ;)

Champagne was cheaper ;D

Bought it at the Carrefor and guessed that it was going to be MUMM and then (Thanks Again Liverpool Boys) put it in a freezer for two hours. BARGAIN at £12!!

I did the same - but only bought one bottle...... :P

/me blondes it up

bring me bentleys!! I totally failed to grasp why they were absent this time, and I'm sure with some clever sleuthing (or at least searching this board) I could find out why, but that aside, I need them for 2005. Or Else.

 ;D

Loads of inane drivel here http://www.clubarnage.com/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=909;start=0 (http://www.clubarnage.com/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=909;start=0)  ;D

cheerstathankyoumercibeaucoup, like.  ;D

Ningún problema. Es toda la parte del servicio. Ése será 10 Pesos pour favour.

Steve, Gibberish is MY job.  Even if I can't speak Spanish.

Clever dick  ;D


Oh, BTW did anyone else hear the comment on the tannoy that Bentley were going to come back.  Oh dream of dreams.

Didn't hear about Bentley and impossible I would say under the new regs. Certainly heard about the Murcielagos on radio LM though. To be run by Dick Barbour so should be a really serious effort. Dick Barbour was interviewed live and said they would be at next years' event - can't wait.

I am a little busy at the moment and havent really searched, but

what about the Joest Team, behind the FACTORY Audi's and then Bentley last year, but where, what, a new project ?

Development of an LMP1 program is horror-story expensive. I can't see a new player in prototype in the short-term. Looking back at the demise of the Porsche 917, P4, Matra, 936/956/962, Jaguar XJR, Peugeot 906 programs before the current Audi R8 domination, the void was always filled by GT derivatives (Porsche 935K3, McLaren F1 etc.)
Unless another heavily cash-rich manufacturer steps up to the plate in LMP1, once the R8 is obscelete or ruled inadmissible through reg changes - we could see a bit of a renaissance in GTS/GT, which would probably attract more manufacturer interest, due to the relative cost effectiveness of those more lowly racing classes.
A good thing, in my view - until the ACO sticks it's bloody oar in, of course. How they could rule-out the technically super advanced Porsche 961/959 - which turned into a genuine (if rather exclusive) production model - but accept the Dauer 962 as a road derivative is total French logic (apologies, Gilles - but you're all mad as cheese).    

Now I'm sure I read somewhere (probably last week's Autosport) about the return of audi with a replacement for the R8........ ???

I've heard (?) talk of an R9 - and possibly (dare I say the word) a diesel engine??



from http://www.motor-sport.uk.com/news.php?news_id=338 (http://www.motor-sport.uk.com/news.php?news_id=338)

"......Audi Sport has confirmed that it will build a successor to the all-conquering Audi R8 sports-racer and has not ruled out operating the R9 on the return of the works Audi Team to Le Mans with a diesel race engine....."

Any views of getting the 350Z into the Gt class?  Could see a Japenese manufacturer back again?

A Mazda return would be interesting although the RX8 in any form wouldn't be up to it.

If audi do return with an LMP "R9", I do hope that another manufacturer joins the fray and is competitive - the last foure years have been a bit predictable at the front of the field - one of the nice things about this year's race was watching a race to the finish with no team orders.....

After this year's Team Goh victory in LM there's bound to be even more interest from Japanese manufacturers. Tom Kristensen really wasn't joking when he said that LM means a lot to Japanese fans.
I don't know about Mazda but I think Nissan 350Z is almost a sure thing in LM next year. Nissan is currently on a quest of 350Z promotion and that's also why they replaced Skyline R34 with 350Z in JGTC series. During their press conference right after the 350Z race car presentation they even mentioned that they intend to race it in LM in 2004 (which was obviously way too optimistic). If not 2004 then 2005 for sure. I hope it's not just a press talk...

I hope that Audi are working on a new R9 model to the new regs, surely new prototypes will have to start appearing

Maybe Joest will run R9's & the R8's will be customer run again??

More GTS & GT cars though please, the British GT has quite a few different cars that I'm sure could be modded to run at Le Mans.

Looking forward to the return of Aston Martin next year though, see how they fare up against Lamborghini??

A 350Z would be nice to see in GT, especially if I do end up buying one, imagining driving it down there next year....mmmm!!

Chris, can you get a weekend loaner out of nissan for the classic, give it a proper tryout before commiting and ordering for next year.