Le Mans 2004 Preview

Making Lemonade from Lemons

In a nutshell, the entry for the 2004 edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours is good, not great. It is certainly not a classic year of cutthroat inter-factory competition, nor will it be a desultory affair among makeweights. There are plenty of questions and items of interests within each class to pique the fancy of even the most jaded sports car racing fan.

Previewing and predicting endurance racing is a business fraught with paradox. There is a huge element of chance involved in conducting a 24-hour marathon. The best-laid plans can fall short. Just ask Frank Biela and the Audi Sport UK team about that split second decision to make one last lapping maneuver before refueling.

On the other hand the old adage of forging one’s own luck does prevail more often than not. Success is all about preparation. Careful observation of everything during the pre-race week from wing settings to catering quality reveals much about a team’s chances. Le Mans is unique in offering several sneak previews such as the pre-qualifying test day and the close links with the Sebring 12 Hours and the new LMES.

It’s long been said that twice around the clock on the smooth roads of western France is equivalent to once around the clock on the bumpy concrete of central Florida. This was well proven in recent years with the 1999 example. BMW was not touted by many as the favorite for Le Mans, but their exemplary performance at Sebring that year should have been a clue.

One’s heart may be elsewhere, but one’s head has to point towards another Audi victory overall. It should be a keen battle between the various R8 entrants. Audi Sport UK comes in as clear favorite, with victories at Sebring and Monza, plus McNish’s stellar run at the test day giving them a head start. However, don’t expect Champion and Team Goh to go quietly with their tail stuck between their legs. The American squad has steadily shrugged off their reputation of being victims of some Greek tragedy, coming close but never quite getting the prize. Their new chassis should ensure a better shot at success. The Japanese group is eager to move one step further. Last year they were the most impressive true privateers and then added to their laurels with commanding victories in Belgium and back at the Bugatti circuit—albeit against limited opposition. But any opponent stands little stead in the face of the likes of Tom Kristensen behind the wheel of no. 5. Will the number “6” be shouted out on Sunday afternoon? Unlike the Joest run teams of old, the British Audis are far from fallible and the two other teams are ready to take advantage.

The hopes of the non-Audi LMP 1 contingent are decidedly mixed, and we’ll attempt to list them roughly in order of likely success. Jan Lammers is still beaming with joy at getting both of his Domes into the show. Will this finally be the year when the very well built chassis and the highly reliable V10s cut through the Audi gauntlet? If so, Racing for Holland will ironically accomplish it with little Dutch driving effort. The team owner represents his country in no. 15 and the now veteran Tom Coronel in no. 16. Chris Dyson and Kasutomo Kaneishi represent bright young, but maturing talents in the former car, while Britons Justin Wilson and Ralph Firman have a similar role in no. 16.

The Zytek matched expectations at Monza, quick and competitive out of the box. It may be the only all-new car at the 24 Hours, but it starts a hopefully long life as a threat for a podium spot. One cannot settle for less with the like of Andy Wallace and David Brabham leading the charge, aided by the bright find of 2003, Hayanori Shimoda.

Considerable attention has been given to Henri Pescarolo’s renaming of the Courage-born chassis to “Pescarolo.” While the great French veteran would never disguise their heritage, there is little left original on the C60, least of all in the engine bay. His long relationship with Peugeot and Sodemo has ended in favor of the increasingly ubiquitous Judd. It is a good move and with the likes of Collard, Bourdais, and Ayari among the drivers, reliability and speed should be available in equal measure.

Martin Short’s Rollcentre Racing has made a steady rise in sports car racing over the past several seasons, systematically competing in increasingly more complex events and series. When they appeared with the Dallara at Sebring there were questions as to whether the team was ready for Prototype racing at that level. The answer was a resounding yes, even if mistakes and problems intervened. They have spent the past three months beavering ahead and, as at Sebring, could be the present surprise of the event. Now if only they could keep Joao Barbosa at the wheel for 20 odd hours.

The thundering V8 powered Lister has shown great potential at each appearance, but each has been far too brief, none more so than their dramatic exit from practice a year ago when Jamie Campbell-Walter vaulted the rails. There success will be measure more by the hours completed than by the position in the standings.

Respectability will be the target for Intersport, Team Nasamax, Taurus Sport, and Kondo Racing. Jon Field’s American team is truly playing with the big boys. His maturation as a driver and the team’s overall evolution are coinciding nicely, and they could be ones to watch. The re-badged Reynard has switched to a conventional motor after their disastrous attempt with a bio-ethanol powered engine a year ago. Ian Dawson’s team has gone the other route with a diesel power plant in no. 10. Both of the Taurus Lolas had done quite poorly at the earlier rounds this year, thus even a troubled finish would be welcome. The Dome-Mugen was quite impressive at the test day and may be another to show promise during the race. The Del Bello Reynard is rather outclassed in LMP1 while the Panoz GTR is edging toward the historic grid.

Remember a time when the LMP 2 (then LMP 675) category was touted as the class of the future—when it would compete for the overall victory? Apart from the fine Dyson Lola-MGs (sorely missed at Le Mans), this hasn’t happened. Then were treated to past editions of Le Mans and the ALMS where the top step of the class podium often went to the last man standing. Now it gets worse as a plague of problems with JPX motors has led withdrawals and last minute engine swaps—not a good omen. What’s next—the transporter breaking down between Place des Jacobins and Pontlieu?

LMP 2 should feature a good tight Lola vs. Courage fight. Keep your fingers crossed that it lasts through the night. The experienced RML team has the advantages of the very fast Thomas Erdos. Paul Belmondo has an equally well-proven team, as shown by their success at Monza. Both will feature the AER turbo motor, seemingly the path to follow in the troubled class. Intersport’s Judd engined Lola is the older B2K/40 chassis, perhaps provides some disadvantage.

A few weeks ago most would have probably said the class would be a battleground for the (then) four JPX powered Courages. Then the French built V6s had trouble retaining their oil and now one car each from the works team and from Michel Lecomte’s Espsilon Sport are gone. The late change to AER and IES power brings with perhaps too much of a challenge in such a short time. Espsilon has the advantage in that the IES is effectively a different iteration of the engine with similar power curve characteristics.

We will now have two WRs to entertain us. They will run a fast lap or two and then spend inordinate time in the pits. After that the crew will retire to a fine French dinner, accompanied by ample bottles of the region’s finest.

A review of GTS during 2003 in both Europe and America shows that the season started with the Corvettes seemingly invincible and ended with the Prodrive Ferraris dominant. GM was not about to take this, raised the bar with a strong off-season development program, capped by a dramatic change from Goodyear to Michelin. Then Prodrive left the scene and Corvette had no one to play with at Sebring. The Michelins did work wonders on their lap times and they probably would have beaten Prodrive anyway.

Flash forward two and three months, and the Corvettes were again dominant at the Test Day in what has become a quite slimly populated class. This time the Prodrive team is back, making a late decision to reenter Le Mans. The Ferrari may not be tool little but it may too late. Many eyes will certainly be on the beautiful 550 Maranellos. They’ll be watching the dramatic style of Tomas Enge in no. 66 and the racing debut of rally champion Colin McRae in no. 64. I hope he remembers that the object is to stay off the gravel. The best of the Ferrari contingent should be new Larbre entry. It may be their first foray with Ferrari, but their ample experience with large GTs should help. The two-car Barron Conner entry has gotten past their Sebring teething problems but is still not on the pace of the other Ferraris.

The GT class is huge. It has quite a few non-Porsches, but none are likely to make to the podium. Let’s first consider those in Stuttgart’s path. Of the two Ferraris, the JMB team and especially driver Stephane Daoudi come in with most experience. Rob Schirle showed late last year that his Cirtek team could make the transition from Porsche to Ferrari. The driver crew in the no. 92 car is not quite that of the JMB squad, but the two Modenas should engage in a good scrap. The TVRs look set to make a respectable showing with no. 89 likely to run quicker than no. 96. It’s not inconceivable that one or the other could finish within distant sight of the class podium. The Morgan should probe faster than before, but it remains early days for the project.

Two teams loom large among the Porsches, the no. 85 Freisinger entry and the American based Petersen Motorsports. Both have the benefit of a superior pair of drivers; Ortelli / Dumas in the former and Bergmeister / Maassen in the latter. Freisinger comes in that much more experienced thanks to their success at Spa last year, augmented by the FIA N-GT title. They would have had Timo Bernhard as well, but he was snatched away to Nürburgring in the ultimate faux pas of 2004—scheduling two 24-hour races on the same weekend.

Orbit Racing has the benefit of the star youngster these days—Mike Rockenfeller. He stunned the competition at Atlanta and Daytona. He will likely do the same at the Sarthe. It’s difficult to place the Racer’s Group entry among the middle level GT runners, but this is a lower-key effort than the team has launched in the past. The car was actually ly entered initially by its owner, Lars Nielsen.

Both the two-car Seikel entry and the lone PK Sport Porsche should do well with relatively outdated versions of the 996. Choro-Q is too new of a team to handicap well, but they did put on a good debut performance during the opening hours of the recent Italian 1000 Kms. French skier Luc Alphand is back for annual visit, another to show the local colors.

The Le Mans 24 Hours is of course the Christmas and New Year’s on the calendar of sports car racing. The year begins and ends here. Whatever perceived or real shortcomings there may be in a given year, the mystery, adventure, pageantry, and sheer drama outweighs it all. Stay tuned!