Club Arnage

The ACO have now put on the first 38 cars which will take place in this years Le Mans. I have listed them below, the list inculudes the 16 which where confirmed a few weeks back.

PROTOTYPE "LM" P1
* PESCAROLO SPORT FRA LM P1 PESCAROLO JUDD 4997A
* PESCAROLO SPORT FRA LM P1 PESCAROLO JUDD 4997A
* ZYTEK ENGINEERING GBR LM P1 ZYTEK 3997A
LISTER STORM RACING GBR LM P1 LISTER STORM 5993A

PROTOTYPE "LM" P2
BINNIE MOTORSPORTS USA LM P2 LOLA ZYTEK 3397A
* MIRACLE MOTORSPORTS USA LM P2 COURAGE - AER 1995T
CHAMBERLAIN - SYNERGY MOTORSPORT GBR LM P2 LOLA AER 1995T
* INTERSPORT RACING USA LM P2 LOLA AER 1995T
* RML GBR LM P2 LOLA AER 1995T
* PAUL BELMONDO RACING FRA LM P2 COURAGE FORD 1995T
PAUL BELMONDO RACING FRA LM P2 COURAGE FORD 1995T
G-FORCE RACING BEL LM P2 COURAGE JUDD 3397A
BARAZI EPSILON FRA LM P2 COURAGE AER 1995T
BRUNEAU PIERRE FRA LM P2 PILBEAM JUDD 3397A
WELTER GERARD FRA LM P2 WR-PEUGEOT 1999T

GRAND TOURISME ("LM" GT1)
LUC ALPHAND AVENTURES FRA LM GT1 CORVETTE C5-R 6997A
* CORVETTE RACING USA LM GT1 CORVETTE C6-R 6993A
* CORVETTE RACING USA LM GT1 CORVETTE C6-R 6993A
CONVERS MENX TEAM RUS LM GT1 FERRARI 550 MARANELLO 5983A
* ASTON MARTIN RACING GBR LM GT1 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 5993A
ASTON MARTIN RACING GBR LM GT1 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 5993A
* ACEMCO MOTORSPORTS USA LM GT1 SALEEN S7R 6999A
* BMS SCUDERIA ITALIA ITA LM GT1 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 5993A
RUSSIAN AGE RACING RUS LM GT1 FERRARI 550 MARANELLO 5853A
RUSSIAN AGE RACING RUS LM GT1 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 5993A
JLOC ISAO NORITAKE JPN LM GT1 LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO 5990A
LARBRE COMPETITION TEAM FRA LM GT1 FERRARI 550 5853A

GRAND TOURISME ("LM" GT2)
* SCUDERIA ECOSSE GBR LM GT2 FERRARI 430 GT 3998A
* SEBAH AUTOMOTIVE LTD GBR LM GT2 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RSR 3598A
* WHITE LIGHTNING RACING USA LM GT2 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RSR 3598A
MULTIMATIC MOTORSPORT CND LM GT2 PANOZ ESPERANTE 4990A
TEAM TAISAN ADVAN JPN LM GT2 PORSCHE 911 GT3-RS 3598A
GORDON RACING TEAM BEL LM GT2 PORSCHE 911 GT3-RS 3795A
SPYKER SQUADRON b.v. NLD LM GT2 SPYKER C8 SPYDER 3782A
SPYKER SQUADRON b.v. NLD LM GT2 SPYKER C8 SPYDER 3782A
FLYING LIZARD USA LM GT2 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RSR 3598A
TEAM LNT GBR LM GT2 PANOZ ESPERANTE 4998A
IMSA MATMUT FRA LM GT2 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RSR 3795A

* automatically selected competitors

Ok first up why are Chamberlain- Synergy Motorsport still in LMP2, I thought they had got an LMP1 Lola, no Audis but they will be added after Sebring, but apart from that LMP1 is looking a bit thin on the ground. A bit suprised to see Mircle Motorsport back, good to see the Lambo in and who the hell are Gordon Racing Team?

Discuss...

I see Luc Alphand has got further into GT-1, this time with an old C5R 'Vette.

Also, there's a couple of customer DBR9s as well as the two 'factory' cars.  Oh, and a Saleen  :)

Again, GT1 should provide the most interest.

And where's the Porsche Spider in LMP2.

I hope they fill LMP1 and the Porsche in LMP2 before padding out the field with a dozen 911 GT3's in GT2

BAM are still missing from GT2 (another 911 GT3 but theyw on GT2 last year)

I believe the Dyson Lolas from the ALMS are planing to do Le Mans this year as well.

Alan McNish has been confirmed as the first of the Audi R10 Drivers for this years LM. The paper said that the R10 is the very first Diesel Racing Car to run at Le Mans in it's history. I emailed them to remind them of Taurus Motorsport and that Team Nasamax have been running Bio Ethanol cars for several years.

Line up looks good again, should be interesting to see if the new Audi is all it is cut out to be. but as steve puts it, GT looks to be the best.

The Murcielago should provide some other interest too.

Rick, it sounds like the paper your report is from is good only for cod and chips!

First diesel car at LM my arse  ::)

Metro LONDON (need i say more)

Exactly!
Well at least there are no Audi R8s, and there's nothing wrong with the Metro.  At least they report on motorsport, even though its named after one of the worse cars ever made (6R4 excepted)

don't wanna sound too pessimistic, but it would be a surprise to see both Spykers on the grid...

and yes, the Lambo is interesting, in a way a shame the Maserati ain't there now :-\

Oh god, whats happened to RFH.  Has Jan Lammers retired to pensioners F1 or whatever they call it

Nothing Lorry, I've already been to the RFH-factory this year and saw their rather exiting new layout for '06 ;)
Besides that, Audi ain't in the LMP1-list yet either ::)

It's just that Spyker has a bit of a tradition of having Dutch drivers in their team, and with the other 24 going on as well, they might run short of 'decent' Dutch Endurance drivers :-\

Happy to see that one on the list anyway - for some reason i rather like the look of it...  :)

Can one of you car geeks tell me why Lister aren't entering the GT class as well? The Storm GT looks wicked (to look at only - I have no idea how it runs!). Is it because, being a pikey British outfit, they can only afford to run one car?

And why is one of the Astons *automatically selected and not the other?

Mark your answers "For the Car Retard's Benefit"  :-[

Rob, I'm guessing that one Aston gets an automatic entry as it won it's class at Sebring last year (the other one hasn't).

As to your comment on the Lister entry - probably.

Jan Lammers wil probably join the list soon enough. I am also hopefull he is going to compete in the LMES series for the whole season.

Gordon racing team, to answer the topic opener, is a Belgian endurance team, they are running a Porsche! Do not expect miracles from that car either. Saw it compete in last years 24 hours of Spa.

I thought that Caterpillar ran a Diesel powered car two years back?? Audi might be the first Diesel powered engine car to win the thing!! I hope not!!!

That was within the Taurus team, as noted above.

Here's a pic of the Gordon Porker from last years Silverstone 1000km. It was raining don't you know?

(http://i1.tinypic.com/oa3wo8.jpg)

Gordon are a Belgian Brewery firm with a nice line in Scotch Ales.

You will have to wait until 2007 for that. They will only do ALMS with that car in 2006.

At Sebring  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D

That's because of the 2005 results in the ALMS, LMES and LM. Or something like that.
Those rules seem so complicated that they don't seem to understand themselves.
One rule still applies: all French enter automaticly

;D

Anybody any idea what Creation are up to?
Expected to see their name on the list somewhere.

So we're Drinking for Belgium too.

Whoa! I've just had a cold sweat-flashback.
Is it Gordon that are responsible for "Scotch Gordon"? If so, then I wouldn't have thought 'endurance' is in their vocabulary...
H

The very same. They have a lovely golden beer at a measly 10% abv. Their Scotch Ales are even lower. Maybe 7 or 8%. Best drunk in a reclining position so you don't have so far to fall.

Not exactly Tesco Biere d'Alsace stuff.  ;)

A few interesting entries in there, looks like its yet to really fill out though.  The Porsche LMP is a no-go until it gets in privateer hands in 07, and IF Porsche allows teams to take it to Le Mans.  The Lambo is a nice entry, wonder if its one of the ex-Barbour Racing cars.  That was a huge disappointment when the plug was pulled on that program, saw the cars at Mid-Ohio and Road Atlanta, they looked and sounded terrific but apparently Lamborghini didn't want to take it seriously enough.
With a bit of R&D it could have given Corvette and Aston a hard time.  Very interesting that Scuderia Italia went with a British car.  As for Dyson, I think its unlikely unless sponsors Thetford and Norcold want to stump up some serious dosh to do it.
Fax

I knew I'd heard it somewhere!!!!!

I guess it depends on how good Chris24's source is!

http://www.clubarnage.com/forum/index.php?topic=3393.msg39295#msg39295

And an article you posted yourself John

http://www.clubarnage.com/forum/index.php?topic=4336.msg51822#msg51822

Just that I'm finding the lack further news from the team regarding a LM entry discouraging.  I would think that they would be on that entry list if they were planning on being there.  I'd love to see them go to the Sarthe, but I've heard that they've been planning on doing LM for several years now and still hasn't happened.  It's all down to money.  Kevin Doran once told me that it would cost over a half million dollars to bring one car, spares and crew over for one week.  For many of the teams entered for Le Mans, the 24 Hours is their primary ambition for the season, if they can do any other racing before & after, its icing on the cake.  For the many of the ALMS & LMES teams, they're fighting for a season long championship, Le Mans is secondary.
Fax

Maybe Chris24 can get an update from his source?

Could be that they are simply waiting to see how things go at Sebring.  Its a brand new car and if they run into a bunch of new car gremlins I think LM will be off the cards, but who knows, if it goes like a bat outta hell and runs trouble free...Sarthe here we come!
Fax

It woudl be great to see them at Le Mans. An LMP1 race between different Marques would eb great to see.  think the Zytec might rattle a few cages and the Pescarolas were certainly quick last year.

LMP1 certainly needs a bit of interest and variety injected into it following the same old same old of the Audi (Bentley) years.

Maybe we could see if Volvo are interested in running an LMP1 ;D

As for the Lambo, JLOC stands for Japanese Lambo Owners Club. Mr. Noritake is the club representative. It seems that this is a joint effort with the Austrian team B-Racing RS. The car seems to belong to B-Racing too. Reiter Engineering is involved as well as they were running the car at the 1000 KMs at Monza last year. Further, it looks like the car will be driven by Philipp Peter und Norbert Walchhofer and Koji Yamanishi (guess).

I just googled a bit and have this from different sources:
1) http://www.jloc-net.com/en_news/en_news040517.html
2) http://www.motorline.cc/article.asp?section=motorsport&article=131144

jp,
  BAM wont be there this year as they are no longer a team.  BAM also diddnt win as it was an Alex Job entry (but no entry from them either yet).
No free pit passes this year - doh.  Might have to spend more time watching cars and drinking beer.
Jon

What ? No direct support from you guys ?

Are you switching back to DFH then guys???

No plans for any team supporting this year yet.  It's early days though, we'll see what happens nearer to June.

John any of you guys making it along for the Track Day??

Sorry for being crap -which track day?

Just spotted the post up top,  I,ll have a look and let you know

I think Dyson had an auto entry that was knocked back to the ACO, if thats the case then I think we are safe in saying they won't be there.

The problem with this time of year is that teams are promising alot but cannot back it up, some are awaiting on cars to be built, like rollcentre's radical's or some money to come forward.

As the first race for the LMEs is after the full line up is anounced, the ACO's has no way of knowing how good a new car is going to be if its not at Sebring.

No mention of the Oreca Saleens, either.  ???

I think at the end of the day Dyson's just not that concerned with going to Le Mans.  They've had opportunties before and passed on them. They're a North American based team that concerns itself with racing in North America. They've got a very busy year ahead developing a new car & engine combination while campaigning two cars in the full ALMS schedule, which is a demanding one.  Like I said Le Mans just doesn't seem like a high priority to them.  It would be a huge expense of time and money and the team has been around for a long time by not being stupid with cash.
Fax

It's a shame, Dyson is the best US team.

But it needs a car it is sure can last otherwise its a waste of money and the old Lola was not noted for making the end of many races.

Hopefully both Dyson and Penske will be there in 07!

Hi Jon. Long time no hear!!

I know it was a combined Alex Job/BAM entry last year. Real shame they aren't going to run this year. Entry to the pits on race night was certainly a bonus!!  ;D

Are you doing Spa for the LMES? Otherwise I'll see you in front of the tribunes for the start!

Umm -  ??? - i hardly dare ask.... !!?

Nürburgring 24H is at the same weekend ;)

Agreed Nordic, they are not only the best US sportscar team but one of the best in motor racing period.  But as you said the old Lola while being fast as hell and a match for the Audi's on outright speed was always a bit fragile for long distance races, and it would be pointless for Rob to bring the new cars over unless they were confident they could run for 24 hours and run to win.  They're not a team interested in being there just to make up the numbers.
Fax

Are you doing Spa for the LMES? Otherwise I'll see you in front of the tribunes for the start!

Just doing Le Mans in June this year - no testing just the race.  Not got much time this year due to interesting stuff like family and work commitments

With that fancy retracting metal roof ??? ::) :o
 Canada Phil

As one of the people joining DfH this year has connections with this team, we're expected to do so I guess. If they drop off a few barrels I have no problem with drinking them for Belgium. ;D

Look at this GT1 lineup so far.  This should be a heck-ov-a race and probably the most exciting of any class.  It will be interesting to see the Audi's and Pesky's have a go but the slam bam all out racing should be right here.   There is such a concentration of great cars that probable luck will determine who wins.  As they say, "It's better to be lucky than good." 

6997AGRAND TOURISME ("LM" GT1)
*LUC ALPHAND AVENTURES FRA LM GT1 CORVETTE C5-R
* CORVETTE RACING USA LM GT1 CORVETTE C6-R 6993A
* CORVETTE RACING USA LM GT1 CORVETTE C6-R 6993A
CONVERS MENX TEAM RUS LM GT1 FERRARI 550 MARANELLO 5983A
* ASTON MARTIN RACING GBR LM GT1 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 5993A
ASTON MARTIN RACING GBR LM GT1 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 5993A
* ACEMCO MOTORSPORTS USA LM GT1 SALEEN S7R 6999A
* BMS SCUDERIA ITALIA ITA LM GT1 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 5993A
RUSSIAN AGE RACING RUS LM GT1 FERRARI 550 MARANELLO 5853A
RUSSIAN AGE RACING RUS LM GT1 ASTON MARTIN DBR9 5993A
JLOC ISAO NORITAKE JPN LM GT1 LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO 5990A
LARBRE COMPETITION TEAM FRA LM GT1 FERRARI 550 5853A

I recognize Alphand, Labre, ACEMCO, etc.
But who or what the f**ck is Russian Age Racing and Convers Menx?
Ya comrade! Vee trade you Vodka for toilet paper and tires.
Fax

Russian Age Racing

http://www.rargt.com/

They have Christophe Bouchet driving for them.

Yep, took me a few minutes to figure out that its the old Cirtek squad (haven't followed the FIA GT's much in recent years).  The 550's a bit of a old nail by now, but they've got their mits on a DBR9.
Fax