Larov Desing

2010-10-27T10:39:00.000+02:00

AMR Confirms Long-Term Prototype Plans

2009-09-18T09:59:00.001+02:00

Just days after claiming the Le Mans Series LMP1 championship, Aston Martin Racing has revealed work is already underway for the manufacturer’s first self-built prototype, aimed for 2011 debut.
Aston Martin Chairman David Richards confirmed last weekend that AMR had pushed the button on the much talked about project. Work started in earnest during the summer on a successor to this year’s reworked Lola coupe, which competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the LMS.
Aston Martin will develop its own engine to replace the six-litre V12 that powered its coupes this season. With 2011 LMP1 rules calling for smaller engines, similar to what's seen in LMP2 today, AMR’s most logical choice would be based around 3.4-liter normally aspirated V8, gasoline-powered engine.
Richards is also in the process of putting a three-year plan together for AMR’s motorsports activities. And with financing already in place thanks to sponsorship agreements, the British manufacturer appears to laying a solid foundation for the future.
AMR had looked at building its own car for next season, but with only minor changes to the engine regulations, the organization found it better to focus on 2011, when gasoline and diesel-powered engines are expected to be on a more even playing ground.
AMR’s 2010 plans are up in the air at the moment, but Richards said the best case scenario would be to sell its fleet of Lola-Aston Martins to customers and fully focus on development of the all-new car. Its No. 008 chassis, which ran at Le Mans and the LMS Nurburgring and Silverstone rounds, is already up for sale, listed at $1.2 million Euros ($1.75 million USD) on various automotive classified Web sites.

“We would like to see them in private hands, which would allow us to get on with developing our own 2011 car,” Richards said. “There is a lot of interest from people wanting to race our cars.”
SpeedTv.com

Oreca´s 2010 Starts this year at Petit Le Mans

2009-09-18T09:54:00.003+02:00

Team ORECA’s 2010 gets under way this weekend with two days of testing in advance of next week’s Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6. Team boss Hugues de Chaunac, who knows a thing or two when it comes to winning races in the American Le Mans Series, is sending an AIM-powered ORECA 01 prototype to contest the 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic at Road Atlanta. The outing serves as the first step in ORECA’s program for next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
During its two years running the factory Viper program, ORECA set up shop at Road Atlanta, and a number of the team members from those days remain with de Chaunac for ORECA’s long-awaited return stateside.
Past Petit Le Mans race-winner and three-time LMP2 champion Romain Dumas will join ORECA regulars Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre – the latter two coming off a victory in the final Le Mans Series race last weekend at England’s Silverstone 1,000K. The competition at Road Atlanta will undoubtedly be more challenging with entries from Acura, Audi and Peugeot, among others.
ALMS.com

Flying Lizard team and drivers lead into last two ALMS races

2009-09-17T09:55:00.002+02:00

It’s come down to just two remaining races in the 2009 American Le Mans Series: flagship Petit Le Mans next week at Road Atlanta, and the Monterey Sports Car Championships October 10 at Laguna Seca. Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long of the No. 45 Porsche lead the ALMS GT2 drivers’ championships, 31 points ahead of Risi Competizione drivers Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer, and Flying Lizard leads the team championship.

Petit Le Mans will get the green flag on Saturday, September 26 at 11:15 AM ET and will run 1000 miles or 10 hours, whichever comes first. For Petit, Marc Lieb will join Joerg Bergmeister and Long in the No. 45 Porsche, reprising the team’s Sebring lineup. The drivers for the No. 44 Porsche will be Darren Law, Seth Neiman, and Johannes van Overbeek.
More Planetlemans

Petit LeMans Preview

2009-09-15T10:18:00.003+02:00

LMS: Michelin Green X Challenge

2009-09-15T10:02:00.004+02:00

With another victory in the Michelin Green X Challenge at Silverstone, Speedy Racing Team Sebah wins the trophy in 2009 and is therefore given an invitation to board the 24 Heures du Mans 2010. Decidedly, the Lola Judd No. 33 of Pompidou / Kane / Leuenberger will be able to combine speed and consumption since the five Le Mans Series races, the Swiss team has finished 2nd in Barcelona, 4th at Spa, 2nd in Portimao, 1st to Nürburgring and Silverstone. In the final standings, Speedy Racing Team Sebah ahead of Aston Martin Racing (007) 36 points and Ferrari F430 Team Modena of 42 lengths. After JMW Motorsport and Signature Plus. Note that the first GT1 only 14th (Corvette C6.R Luc Alphand Aventures). The ranking is here.

Petit LeMans Update

2009-09-14T10:11:00.000+02:00

Photos Silverston in Crash.net

2009-09-14T10:02:00.005+02:00

Crahs.net

LMS: Champion Result

2009-09-13T22:21:00.007+02:00

PDF Result.

In LMP1 Aston Martin wins the LMS championship with 39 points, 13 points more than Pescarolo Sport. Oreca Matmut third with 23.

In LMP2 Quifel ASM Team is made with the victory thanks to his victories in the Algarve and the Nurburgring. Lola Speedy Racing Second and Third Lola Racing Box # 29.

In LMGT1 Luc Alphand Aventure´s team wins the championship despite the last two races ...
The French team has maintained its distance from Larbre Competition, second. IPB Spartak third, having run only the first two races.

In the category LMGT2 Felbermayr clinched the victory by a single point of distance from JMW, after dominating almost every race ... Team Modena third with Antonio Garcia at the wheel.

Silverton Race Result

2009-09-13T20:21:00.011+02:00

LMP1:

LMP2:

GT1:

GT2:

The race has been tough and exciting till the end, but there was no dramatic reversal of the standings in the final round this year, whatever the classes, as all the favorites clinched the title.

Team ORECA-Matmut-AIM took the checkered flag in first place in the LMP1 class, whereas Speedy Racing Team Sebah won for the first time of the season in the LMP2 class. Gigawave Motorsport took the victory in the GT1 class and JMW Motorsport ruled the GT2 class..... More in LMS.com
Speed Tv
Sportmotores

Silverston Live Race in Live Sport

2009-09-13T13:45:00.003+02:00

Race: Start 11:35... End 17:30.

Live Race: 16:45 - 16:30

Silverston Qualifying

2009-09-12T16:20:00.004+02:00

PlanetLemans:
Nicolas Lapierre secured pole position for Team Oreca Matmut AIM in this afternoon’s qualifying session for the Autosport 1000 KM of Silverstone. In a rather messy LMP session the French driver set a 1:32.798, almost a full second ahead of the second placed car. Thirty-nine cars took part in the qualifying session.
The first ten minutes of LMP qualifying were an all-LMP2 affair with none of the LMP1 cars going out on the track. When the LMP1 cars finally went out, together with the #40 Quifel ASM Team Zytek, it was the RML Lola of Tommy Erdos on provisional pole, with the WR of Tristan Gommendy in second place and the #35 OAK Racing Pescarolo of Karim Ajlani in third.
Olivier Pla had a scare on his first flying lap when the Audi R10 TDI of Christijan Albers spun in front of him, but the Dutchman missed the French driver and at the end of the lap Pla still managed to take first place.
Pla’s time was soon improved by several LMP1 cars, with Meyrick setting the fastest time as his team mate Christijan Albers went off again in the Kolles Audi and ended up in the gravel trap. As Nicolas Lapierre in the Oreca 01 AIM moved into first place 1:32.798 the Lola Aston Martins tried to close in.
Championship contender Jean-Christophe Boullion then lost control of his Pescarolo Judd and came to a halt against the tyre wall, ending all hopes of a pole position. With no serious lap time set the Pescarolo will instead start from the back of the grid.
Stefan Mücke tried to close the gap to the Oreca, but the yellow flag that was still waved on the track prevented any fast lap and the gap between first and second remained at almost a second. As the checkered flag came out it was Lapierre still light-years ahead of the rest of the field. Stefan Mücke’s #007 was at 0.916s, with the #009 of Darren Turner in third place at 1.820s.
Jonny Kane managed to bring the Speedy Racing Team Sebah into second place, a second behind the Quifel Zytek. RML took a welcome third place.Strangely enough the Strakka Racing Zytek did not take part in the qualifying session.
In the GT2 qualifying only half the field went out in the first half of the session. Tom Coronel in the Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R was quickest, but only moments after he had gone back in his fastest time was bettered by Montanari in the #91 FBR Ferrari. After that the Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche of Richard Lietz blasted around the track setting a 1:48.638.
Eventually none of the other drivers managed to beat the Austrian’s time, which resulted in the Felbermayr-Proton team taking the point for pole position. As a result the #77 will only need to score one point more than its rivals to claim the Le Mans Series GT2 title.
In GT1 Peter Kox was the first out on the track, but despite lapping the track quite fast his time was eventually beaten by Laurent Groppi in the Saleen S7R. The gap between first and second was only 0.08s. Yann Clairay took third in the Alphand Corvette.

Silverston Qualifying Live Timing

2009-09-12T12:00:00.000+02:00

Qualifying: Start 13:45... End 14:30.

Live Timing Free Practice 3

2009-09-12T11:03:00.001+02:00

Free Practice 3: Start 10:00... End 11:00.

Successful Shakedown Run for Drayson Racing Lola

2009-09-12T10:51:00.003+02:00

12 days ago a bare, carbon fibre tub rolled into a small workspace at the back of the Lola Cars facilities in Huntingdon. On 10 September a complete, fully liveried and fully functional Lola B09/60 Coupe, powered by Judd’s GV5 V10, completed a trouble-free, four hour shakedown run at the Stowe Course here at the Silverstone Circuit. It is difficult to overstate the complexity and remarkable nature of this accomplishment.
Few outside the tight-knit team thought the project would see a race in 2009, let-alone reaching the team’s self-inflicted deadline of the 10 hour/1000 mile Petit Le Mans on 26 September. However, at approximately 10:30 (GMT) Jamie Campbell-Walter (London) completed the first lap of the shakedown run. Over the course of the next several hours both Paul Drayson (London/Gloucestershire, UK) and two-time British GT Champion Jonny Cocker (Guisborough, Yorks, UK) had turned laps in the car...
More PlanetLemans

Result Free Practice

2009-09-11T15:43:00.003+02:00

Pescarolo Sport 2 seconds faster than Aston Martin #007...

JMW slightly faster than Felbermayr...

Live Timing Silverston

2009-09-11T10:23:00.003+02:00

Free Practice 1: Start 13:15... End 14:15.

Photos Silverston Padock and Drayson Racing

2009-09-11T10:16:00.004+02:00

Enduranceinfo

The fight for the championship

2009-09-10T16:41:00.004+02:00

LMP1:
VS
Aston Martin Racing #007 (33 points) Vs Pescarolo Sport #16 (26 p.)

LMGT2:
VS
Felbermayr #77 (33 p.) Vs JMW #92 (25 p.)

Entry List Silverston

2009-09-10T16:23:00.005+02:00

New entry...
P2: Team WFR
Embassy WF-01 Zytek:

GT1: Gigawave Motorsport
Aston Martin DBR9 (Web)

Priaulx, J. Mueller on board for BMW at Road Atlanta

2009-09-10T10:36:00.002+02:00

World Touring Car veterans moving back to M3 for Petit Le Mans...
A pair of familiar faces to BMW fans worldwide will join the lineup for BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team for Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6. BMW Motorsport drivers Jörg Müller and Andy Priaulx will join BMW of North America Motorsport drivers Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller to campaign two BMW M3 coupes in the 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic on September 26 at Road Atlanta.
More ALMS.com

RSR Jaguar XKR To Debut At Petit Le Mans

2009-09-10T10:31:00.002+02:00

John Dagys for Speedtv.com
After months of speculation and delay, Rocketsports Racing announced Tuesday that it will debut its Jaguar XKR GT2 at the Petit Le Mans later this month. The East Lansing, Mich.-based team plans to use the final two American Le Mans Series races of the year for testing and development, in the run up to a full-season assault on the 2010 GT championship.

Drivers, tire partners and further details will be revealed in a press conference on Sept. 24 at Road Atlanta, although it’s believed team owner Paul Gentilozzi will pilot the car alongside two other professionals with extensive sportscar backgrounds.

Rocketsports announced its program at Long Beach in April, with plans
to debut mid-season, but manufacturing and production delays have kept the team from fulfilling its initial goals. The car is now undergoing extensive systems tests prior to a performance evaluation and shakedown before hitting the track at Road Atlanta for the week of activities starting Sept. 23.
RSR will face a flurry of competition in GT2 from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Corvette and others. Fourteen GT2 machines are currently entered for the 1,000-mile/10-hour road race classic.

Racing Box not in Silverton

2009-09-10T10:29:00.000+02:00

The Italian team confirmed that not there will be in England to run the last race of the LMS, for lack of funds.
Hence ASM has every chance to win the title in P2 ...

Lola Drayson Racing

2009-09-10T10:16:00.003+02:00

Lord Drayson has left a short but interesting post on his Twitter. The British Minister has indeed published a picture that gives us a first glimpse of the Lola B09/60 that his team will align at Petit Le Mans. A car that, as expected, will sport a livery predominantly green-English ", with the flag of Great Britain on the central part. The skipper of Drayson Racing completes tweet stating that the shakedown of the fireball will be done this Thursday at Silverstone!
The team, with help from Lola and Judd has indeed worked all day Wednesday to finalize the assembly of the B09/60. Meanwhile, Tommy Erdos, Nicolas Prost, Rob Bell and Dale White visited the workshops of Lola for a media operation. As for Lord Drayson, he participated in an exhibition devoted to vehicles with low emissions of CO2, "Low Carbon Vehicle event. Besides, it has tested a car rally called hybrid-electric Oaktec.
Before the 1000km of Silverstone, where he will drive for the last time the Aston Martin Vantage GT2, Paul Drayson has not be bored!

Drayson Twitter

Silverston TimeTable

2009-09-10T10:08:00.002+02:00

Asian Le Mans Series.... Entry List

2009-09-07T12:10:00.012+02:00

LMP1:
Aston Martin Racing
Lola Aston Martin

Team ORECA Matmut
Courage-Oreca LC70 AIM

Tokai University - YGK Power
Courage-Oreca LC70 YGK

Kolles
Audi R10 TDI

Sora Racing
Pescarolo Judd

Drayson Racing
Lola B09/69 Judd

LMP2:
NAVI Team Goh
Porsche RS Spyder

OAK Racing
Pescarolo Mazda

Ibanez Racing Service
Courage LC75 AER

GT1:
Larbre Competition
Saleen S7R

Team Nova
Aston Martin DBR9

JLOC
Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT

GT2:
Robertson Racing
Ford GT-R

Team Daishin
Ferrari 430 GT2

Team Felbermayr Proton
Porsche 997 GT3 RSR

Hankook-Team Farnbacher
Ferrari 430 GT2

BMW Rahal Letterman Racing
BMW E92 M3 GTR

Team Hong Kong Racing
Aston Martin Vantage GT2

Hankook-KTR
Porsche 997 GT3 RSR

On Board Camera in Road America, Dyson Racing

2009-09-07T11:13:00.000+02:00

Power of Audi and Peugeot vs. cornering of Acura

2009-09-07T11:05:00.004+02:00

The question all of sports car racing wants to know is three weeks from having an answer. Just how will Acura’s two LMP1 entries fare in a rematch with Audi and Peugeot at Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6? The first and only time the three marques competed in the same class came at Sebring in March, an epic duel between Audi and Peugeot – the sport’s two diesel powers. Acura, which debuted its ARX-02a, saw both Patrón Highcroft Racing and de Ferran Motorsports retire three-quarters through the race.

That was then, this is now. The two fully sorted Acuras have spent the entire season contesting the American Le Mans Series while Audi and Peugeot have focused on testing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which the latter won on its home ground.

So now we come to Road Atlanta and what in recent years has turned into a 1,000-mile sprint race, this year’s coming on Saturday, September 26. Acura is banking that superior handling – thanks to a radical design that features the same size tire on all four corners – will offset the advantage the diesels will have in terms of straightline speed.

More in ALMS.com

Le Mans Series 1000KM of Silverstone Preview

2009-09-07T11:01:00.003+02:00

PlanetLemans.com
The Le Mans Series will be in action at Silverstone again next weekend, for the fifth time in its six years of running. It also indicates the end of the season already, five race weekends having flown by in what only seems a blink of an eye.

A seven points lead over Pescarolo Sport means the Aston Martin Racing team can clinch the 2009 titles on home soil, but everyone remembers last year’s battle between Audi and Peugeot. It is not over before the flag is shown. Aston Martin Racing will however do whatever possible, bringing three cars to Silverstone again to maximize their chances of winning all the titles.

Returning after skipping the Nurburgring round is the Team Oreca Matmut AIM squad, however the French team will only bring one car to the United Kingdom, the other one being prepared for the US trip later this month.

In LMP2 we will witness the return of the WF01-Zytek, being run by Team WFR. Team WFR will have many familiar faces as they are in fact the reborn Embassy Racing squad. Warren Hughes and Darren Manning will be joined by the team’s former team manager, Jody Firth, who has so far raced in Ginetta’s this season and will now step up to the prototype ranks. Another British squad, RML, hopes to end the season on a high, after suffering engine failures all season long.

The final Le Mans Series round of 2009 will – most likely - also see the final battle between Corvette, Saleen and Aston Martin in an international series on European soil. The Aston Martin DBR9 of Gigawave Motorsport, driven by none other than Peter Kox and Ryan Sharp, will face the Larbre Competition Saleen and the Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette (although the presence of the team is not yet certain after one of their cars was destroyed in a fire earlier this week).

After a strong performance was finally rewarded at the Nurburgring the SNORAS Spyker Squadron team is hoping for another great weekend at Silverstone, but with fourteen cars taking part in the GT2 class it will not be an easy task. Team Modena, JMW Motorsport as well the Felbermayr-Proton and Farnbacher Racing entered GT2 cars will all be chasing podium positions.

Shortly after the Silverstone race has come to an end several teams will be packing up quickly to get back to their work shops and prepare their cars and equipment for either the final American Le Mans Series rounds or even a trip to Japan for the Asian Le Mans Series at Okayama.

But first…off to Silverstone for the Autosport 1000 KM of Silverstone and a cracking end of the current Le Mans Series season.

Calendar Reminder

2009-08-31T16:02:00.002+02:00

O'Connell risks in each overtaking

2009-08-31T12:07:00.004+02:00

Mosport Photos in Crahs.net

2009-08-31T11:17:00.005+02:00

Crahs.net

Mosport Videos

2009-08-31T10:25:00.000+02:00

Mosport Race Result

2009-08-31T10:09:00.005+02:00

Overall:
Brabham/Sharp

de Ferran/Pagenaud

Fernandez/Diaz

J.Field/C.Field

Leitzinger/Franchitti

Magnussen/O'Connell

Melo/Kaffer

Beretta/Gavin

Henzler/Werner

Bergmeister/Long

Farnbacher/James

Law/van Overbeek

Feinberg/Hall

Hand/Auberlen

Murry/D.Robertson/A.Robertson

Mueller/Milner

Burgess/McMurry

Dyson/Smith

van der Steur/Pecorari

P1 manufacturer title and P2 drivers crown for Fernandez/Diaz (ALMS.com)

The fastest venue in the American Le Mans Series produced another historic result Sunday. David Brabham and Scott Sharp drove their Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-02a to an overall victory at Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport and clinched the LMP1 manufacturer championship for Acura, the marque’s first in the American Le Mans Series. Luis Diaz and Adrian Fernandez won in LMP2 for the seventh time in eight races to wrap up the class’ drivers title in their Acura ARX-01b.

And Corvette Racing’s Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen won the team’s first race in GT2 with their three-race-old Corvette C6.R in O’Connell’s 100th Series start.
Yes, it was quite a day north of the border.
Brabham and Sharp drove a trouble-free race to beat the de Ferran Motorsports Acura of team boss Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud by two laps. The de Ferran XM Acura led the first half-hour before losing gearbox oil, an issue that plagued the Pagenaud-de Ferran duo throughout.

Brabham and Sharp won for the second straight year at Mosport; they were LMP2 victors last season.
The sixth 1-2 finish for Acura in P1 was more than enough to wrap up the chassis and engine crowns. But there is more at stake for the two Acura teams. Brabham and Sharp extended their driver’s championship lead to 17 points with 55 points remaining over the next two events.
The Patrón Highcroft Acura also was the prototype winner of the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge, an award for overall race performance and energy efficiency.

Intersport Racing’s Jon Field, who battled for the overall lead early with Gil de Ferran, and Clint Field placed third in P1 and fourth overall in their Lola B06/10-AER.
Fernandez and Diaz grabbed the class driver championship after a fantastic battle with Dyson Racing’s Marino Franchitti and Butch Leitzinger. The Dyson Lola B09/86-Mazda coupe led by less than a second with 12 minutes left before the engine let go and forced Leitzinger to pull the car off track and to a stop at Turn 2.

Franchitti had led the race overall early in his stint. The Lola-Mazda and the Acura went back and forth in the last hour, battling through slower - and faster - traffic. The victory (and championship) appeared in doubt after Fernandez was penalized for speeding in pit lane at the 2:10 running mark.

Both the Dyson cars led in class during the opening stint. Chris Dyson pitted from the lead at the 48-minute mark but crashed hard at Turn 1 a couple laps later. That put the focus on the remaining Dyson coupe and the Acura.

Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen scored a historic victory for Corvette Racing
with the team’s first in GT2. Magnussen crossed the finish line in his Corvette C6.R 0.331 seconds ahead of Risi Competizione’s Pierre Kaffer, who teamed with Jaime Melo but began the race from the rear of the grid after the car missed qualifying Saturday.

The win at Mosport was the third straight for the O’Connell-Magnussen pairing and fourth in their careers. O’Connell won for the seventh time at the circuit, the most of any driver at any venue in the American Le Mans Series. He made his 100th start Sunday.

The GT2 battle was the most hotly contested on the day. BMW, Corvette and Ferrari each led with the top four cars circling the track in a line for the better part of 20 minutes. Corvette’s quick final pit stop with slightly less than 30 minutes to go allowed Magnussen to re-enter the track just in front of Kaffer, who had pitted four minutes earlier. The two cars were side-by-side for one-third of the lap and even touched going through the Turn 5 hairpin before Magnussen pulled ahead for good.

The new Corvette GT2 car won in just its third race start, having debuted earlier this month at Mid-Ohio.

The second Corvette C6.R of Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin placed third in class. The entry did win the GT trophy for the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge.

Live timing Mosport

2009-08-30T15:50:00.008+02:00

Drayson Racing’s new Lola B09/60 Coupe is making progress

2009-08-30T15:45:00.002+02:00

Drayson Racing’s new Lola B09/60 Coupe is making progress at Lola’s Huntingdon, UK facility. Both Lola technicians and Drayson Racing team members are working on the build together. The team is targeting the week of 7 September for the car’s first shakedown run at the hands of Paul Drayson, Jonny Cocker and Rob Bell.
Official web

Henzler and Werner, Farnbacher Loles excluded...

2009-08-30T11:19:00.005+02:00

Car 87 (Farnbacher Loles) excluded - 3.4.4.a.5 of the 2009 ACO Technical Regulations (rear wing height)...
They had the third best time (1:17.788)
PDF Start Grid

Car 44 (flying Lizard) moved to the back of the grid - 9.3.2 of the 2009 ALMS SSR (driver failed to achieve minimum qualifying laptime..

P1, P2 & GT2 Qualifying Video

2009-08-30T11:10:00.001+02:00

Mosport Qualifying

2009-08-29T17:15:00.008+02:00

P1:
Brabham/Sharp

de Ferran/Pagenaud

J.Field/C.Field

Burgess/McMurry

P2:
Leitzinger/Franchitti

Dyson/Smith

Fernandez/Diaz

van der Steur/Pecorari

GT2:
Mueller/Milner

Hand/Auberlen

Henzler/Werner

Beretta/Gavin

Magnussen/O'Connell

Bergmeister/Long

Farnbacher/James

Murry/D.Robertson/A.Robertson

Law/van Overbeek

Feinberg/Hall

Melo/Kaffer

N/Q:

Risi’s Mosport qualifying bid thwarted by crash
Risi Competizione is facing a fight against time to repair its Ferrari F430 GT for sunday’s Grand Prix of Mosport after a heavy crash in saturday afternoon’s practice session. It was not able to take part in qualifying and will start the race from the back of the grid.
Patrón Highcroft storm to pole position at Mosport
Patrón Highcroft Racing stormed to pole position at Mosport International Raceway after David Brabham recorded his 12th American Le Mans Series pole - this one by only .074 of a second. The result was nearly identically reversed from the recent Mid-Ohio round when the Tequila Patrón-sponsored squad missed the top spot by .069 of a second.
Lowe’s Fernandez Racing lines up sixth at Mosport
Lowe’s Fernandez Racing will start third in class and sixth overall in the Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport. Luis Diaz handled qualifying duties after a wet morning practice session in which he turned only a handful of laps. Final practice was held under dry but windy and cool conditions and despite consistent gains with the setup of the #15 Lowe’s Acura, Diaz was unable to match the pace of the Dyson Mazda squad on the high-speed circuit. His best lap was just over five-tenths of a second off the LMP2 pole winning time of Marino Franchitti in the #20 car

IMSA Live Timing Mosport

2009-08-29T11:17:00.005+02:00

Available during all on-track sessions

Mosport Circuit

2009-08-29T10:54:00.006+02:00

Canada's biggest sports car race of the year returns August 27-30, when the prestigious American Le Mans Series makes its only stop north of the border for the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport. The action-packed weekend also has features races from six other championships including the Cooper Tires presents the Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda, Star Mazda, Formula BMW, the VW Jetta TDI Cup, the Patron GT3 Challenge and IMSA Lites. Off track, driver autograph sessions and the spectator Open Grid Walk prior to the start of the American Le Mans Series race highlights a full complement of attractions that also includes the Mosport Motorsport Expo and Marketplace.
Mosport International Raceway is Canada's largest motorsports complex. This 750 acre, multi-track facility is located within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), north of Bowmanville, Ontario, less than an hour east of the Don Valley Parkway/Hwy 404 & Hwy 401. Mosport features a 4-km road course; a half-mile, paved oval (Mosport Speedway) ; a 2.4-km advanced driver and race driver training facility with a ¼ mile skid pad (Mosport Driver Development Centre) and a 1.4-km kart track (Mosport Kart Complex).
Official Web
For GTR2:
Mosport
MOSPORT camera update

M3 Racing Inside

2009-08-29T10:47:00.003+02:00

P. Kaffer and Werner Return to Mosport...

2009-08-29T10:33:00.005+02:00

News ALMS.com
Kaffer and Jaime Melo will try to give Risi and Ferrari its third consecutive class victory at Mosport. Melo and Mika Salo ironically beat Kaffer and Dirk Werner in the Farnbacher Loles Porsche last year.“Since we arrived, we (the Risi team) have started from the base of last year,” Kaffer said. “We know that the lines are the same. The track is the same. What will make the difference is the weather. If it is dry, we will drive one line. If it is wet, we will drive another. Right now we will have to see what we drive, but we won here at Mosport last year and we hope to make this year better with another win.”It’s off to a good start so far. Melo went quickest in Friday’s test session at 1:18.004.

DYSON’S DELIGHT AT MOSPORT: Lime Rock Park is the home track for Dyson Racing, but the team might be considered the home team this weekend. North America’s premier independent sports car team has a history of strong performances at Mosport over the years.
Butch Leitzinger and James Weaver were overall winners for Dyson in 2004 and 2005. The year before, Chris Dyson and Andy Wallace were LMP675 class winners. Dyson cars have captured three pole positions and posted the fastest race lap four times.
This marks the first time the team has brought its two new Mazda-powered Lola B09/86 coupes to the circuit. They stood second and third in P2 after Friday’s test session.

A WELCOMED RETURN FOR WERNER: Sunday will mark Werner’s first American Le Mans Series race since Long Beach in April. Farnbacher Loles Racing’s ace pilot, who will arrive at Mosport on Saturday night from another driving commitment this weekend, will drive with Wolf Henzler in the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
“It is good to be back driving with Dirk in the car,” Henzler said. “He arrives tomorrow night which means that we are going to have to start from the back and find our way through the field. But I know with Dirk he is fast and a strong competitor.”

ALMS: Mosport Race Preview

2009-08-28T10:49:00.004+02:00

John Dagys for SpeedChannel... More

"With only three rounds left to decide the champions, it’s crunch time for American Le Mans Series competitors. Sunday’s Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport marks the final two-hour and 45-minute ‘sprint’ race of the season, at an ever-challenging track..."
"All eyes will be on LMP1, not only for its raw power and speed, but also for the tight points race. With their win at Road America two weeks ago, Patron Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham and Scott Sharp extended their championship lead to 13 points over the fellow Acura pairing of de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud..."
"The same could be said in LMP2, despite the championship nearly being decided. In fact, Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz can clinch the drivers’ title with a win on Sunday. With six victories in the seven races to date, the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Acura duo have been the dominant force all season, despite not having the quickest car at every round..."

Christian Traginer para SportMotores.es

El campeonato American Le Mans Series viaja este fin de semana hasta Ontario, al mítico y también peligroso trazado de Mosport International Speedway, para la disputa de la antepenúltima cita del año, la denominada como 2009 Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport.
La carrera se presupone decisiva para Gil de Ferran y Simon Pagenaud, con uno de los Acura ARX-02a LMP1, ya que después de cuatro victorias consecutivas fueron derrotados en Road America por sus principales rivales, y líderes del campeonato, David Brabham y Scott Sharp. La parrilla de LMP1 la completan los doa Lola B06/10 con motor AER de Intersport Racing, con Jon y Clint Field, y Autocon Motorsports, con Tony Burguess y Chris McMurry.
En LMP2 figuran cuatro vehículos inscritos, siendo el gran favorito el Acura ARX-01b de Fernandez Racing, para Adrián Fernández y Luis Díaz. Ante la ausencia del Porsche RS Spyder de Cytosport, la principal alternativa serán los dos Lola B09/86 Mazda de Dyson Racing, con pilotos muy competitivos como Guy Smith y Chris Dyson. Volverá a la parrilla el Radical SR9 AER de van der Steur Racing ya visto anteriormente.
En GT2 se presenta otra carrera sumamente apasionante, con los Porsche de Flying Lizard Motorsports, éstos con Johannes van Overbeek sustituyendo a Seth Neiman junto a Darren Law, y Farnbacher Loles Racing, el Ferrari 430 GT de Risi Competizione, los BMW E92 M3 de Rahal Letterman Racing que ya ganaron con doblete en Road America y los dos Chevrolet Corvette C6.R de Corvette Racing. El colorido lo aportarán también el Panoz Esperante Ford de Team PTG, el Ford GT Doran de Robertson Racing y el Dodge Viper Coupe de Prime Time Racing.
Quienes no estarán este meeting son los Porsche de la ALMS Challenge.

Los entrenamientos oficiales tendrán lugar el Sábado, mientras la carrera está programada para el Domingo con una duración de 2 horas y 45 minutos.

2009 ALMS Spotter Guides - Grand Prix of Mosport.

2009-08-28T10:41:00.003+02:00

The Spotter Guide for the Canadian round of the American Le Mans Series is now available, produced by Andy Blackmore Design.
Spotter Guides.com

Two R15 TDI in Road Atlanta (ALMS.com)

2009-08-25T18:31:00.004+02:00

Setting up what is arguably the most anticipated North American endurance race in a generation, Audi will return to the American Le Mans Series in September in hopes of retaining its title at the 12th annual Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6 at Road Atlanta. Audi Sport Team Joest confirmed Tuesday the entry of two Audi R15 TDI factory prototypes for the cornerstone event of the American Le Mans Series, a race the famed German marque has never lost since its inaugural appearance in 2000.

The annual 1,000-mile, 10-hour endurance classic is set for September 23-26 at the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Ga. Audi joins fellow diesel power and reigning 24 Hours of Le Mans champion Peugeot as well as ORECA as recently announcing their entries to Petit Le Mans.

“Audi’s confirmation of a two-car attack in defense of its titles at Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6 sets up what will be one of the most anticipated sports car racing events ever in North America - and rightfully so,” he continued. “Remaining unbeaten at Road Atlanta will be a herculean task for Audi with the likes of regular American Le Mans Series competitors Patrón Highcroft Racing and de Ferran Motorsports with Acura, Intersport Racing and Corsa Motorsports among others whom will contend. Adding entries from Peugeot, ORECA and potentially additional high-profile teams and manufacturers from Europe makes the job that much tougher.
More ALMS.com

LMS: García frustrado por la victoria perdida (Sportmotores)

2009-08-24T18:52:00.003+02:00

Christian Traginer para SportMotores.es

Antonio García no tuvo un fin de semana sencillo en los 1.000 kilómetros de Nürburgring este pasado fin de semana, donde a pesar de tener muy cerca la victoria al final por un accidente terminaron octavos de la categoría GT2.

García, que compartía en esta ocasión el Ferrari 430 GT de Team Modena con Toni Vilander y Leo Mansell, ya estuvo entre los mejores desde los primeros entrenamientos libres del Viernes. García explicaba que: " No usamos gomas nuevas durante los libres y por ello no éramos especialmente rápidos, pero el coche iba perfecto y no teníamos que dudar que realizaríamos un buena clasificación. Al final, se nos escapó la primera posición, pero por poco y las prerspectivas para la carrera son buenas", comentaba tras ser segundo en la sesión de calificación por detrás del alemán Pierre Kaffer, con uno de los Ferrari 430 GT de Farnbacher Racing.

En carrera, el piloto madrileño, ganador en Daytona, Sebring y Le Mans este año, se pusó segundo en su categoría desde las primeras vueltas, pues aunque adelantó a Kaffer, él así mismo perdía la posición con Gianmaria Bruni, el italiano de JMW Motorsport con otro Ferrari 430 GT.

La razón eran los neumáticos Dunlop, mejores en la primera parte que los Michelin que monta Team Modena. "Los Dunlop van como tiros, no es posible seguir su ritmo y respecto de los demás vamos igualados hasta mitad del relevo, a partir de ahi somos claramente superiores de modo que vamos a hacer sesiones de 70 minutos entre Vilander y yo dejando a Mansell que finalice la prueba. Creo que podemos estar arriba".

Los problemas mecánicos de Bruni y Robert Bell dieron sin embargo la primera posición a Team Modena, lo que llevó al equipo de Graham Schultz a subir antes de lo previsto a Mansell. Desgraciadamente una maniobra de Franck Mailleux, con el Oreca-Courage de Signature-Plus, echaba fuera de pista a Mansell, y aunque podía regresar lo hacía ya con varias vueltas perdidas respecto al líder en ese momento, el Porsche 911 GT3 RSR de Felbermayr-Proton pilotado por Marc Lieb y Richard Lietz.

" La salida de Mansell a sido una lástima, estaba a punto de concluir su relevo y quedaban aún dos horas de carrera, con unos treinta segundos de desventaja sobre el líder. La victoria era más que posible visto nuestro ritmo, sobre todo, en la segunda mitad de los relevos en donde éramos muy superiores. He tratado me recuperar hasta llegar al menos a los puntos, pero me ha faltado tiempo. Con tan solo 15 minuto mas de carrera lo hubiera conseguido", terminaba diciendo como colofón el piloto español de Team Modena.

Race Nürburgring Photos (endurance-info)

2009-08-24T18:35:00.008+02:00

Enduranceinfo Gallery

1000Km Nurburgring Start Race

2009-08-24T11:55:00.002+02:00

Le Mans Series - 1000 Km of The Nurburgring - start - 2008
por webmasterlms

News of Nurburgring Race

2009-08-24T11:29:00.008+02:00

PlanetLemans:
Aston Martin 1-2-3 at the Nürburgring 1000km... More
Team Kolles narrowly misses podium finish...More

Endurance-info:
Aston Martin victorious at Nürburgring 1000km...More

Lemans-series.com:
Aston Martin Racing: the Lord of the Ring!...More

Sportmotores.es:
LMS: Triplete de Aston Martin en Nürburgring...More

SpeedNews:
Aston Martin Racing scored an historic 1-2-3 sweep of the overall podium...
Quifel-ASM Team dominated LMP2 for the second consecutive race...
GT1 came down to a battle of survival...
Team Felbermayr Proton’s Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz retook the lead in the GT2 championship...
More

De Ferran Motorsports & Patron Highcroft by Gatsby

2009-08-23T18:54:00.003+02:00

ALMS2009 Patron Highcroft Racing ARX02a (ARX01b based)
by Gatsby!!
Donwload
ALMS2009 de Ferran Motorsports ARX02a (ARX01b based)
by Gatsby!!
Donwload

Aston Martin... Perfect Race...

2009-08-23T17:41:00.010+02:00

PDF Result
Photos of Race (endurance-info)

Three Astons on the podium!
1, 2, 3! They did it, they trust the podium! The three Aston Martins entered for this race are side by side on the podium!

LMP1:
Aston Martin

Aston Martin

AMR Aston Martin

LMP2:
Quifel ASM

Racing Box

Oak Racing

LMGT1:
Larbre Competicion

Luc Alphand

LMGT2:
Felbermayr-Proton

Spyker Snoras

FBR

Pescarolo Broken... complicated championship
ASM Quifel more Leader... perfect race of portuguese team...
Racing Box with Lola coupe judd very good race...
Felbermayr ran well and hopefully because JMW broken when ran first and quickly
Team Hache (spanish- Sportmotores.es)
El infortunio arruina una gran actuación de Hache Team
La rotura de un elemento de la dirección ha impedido al equipo vallisoletano Q8 Oils Hache Team terminar los 1.000 Kilómetros de Nurburgring cuando se llevaban disputadas tres horas de carrera.
Tras una magnífica salida de Máximo Cortés, en la que llegó a remontar cinco puestos y ocupar la sexta posición en LMP2, el piloto toledano completó dos repostajes y marcó un gran ritmo que daba esperanzas al equipo de lograr su mejor actuación de la temporada. La avería mecánica llegaba en el momento en que pilotaba Fonsi Nieto. El madrileño estaba marcando tiempos similares a los de su compañero de equipo, mostrando una gran evolución respecto a su debut en Portugal. Tras la rotura, Fonsi Nieto conseguía llevar el coche a boxes en un esfuerzo inútil, ya que no se pudo reincorporar a la carrera al no haber opciones de reparación.

Race live Timming (lemans-series.com)

2009-08-23T11:41:00.003+02:00

Photos Nurburgring... enduranceinfo.com

2009-08-23T10:47:00.000+02:00

More Photos

Nurburgring Qualifying

2009-08-22T18:38:00.016+02:00

Aston Martin Racing masters the Nürburgring (lemans-series.com)
"Three Lolas-Aston Martin will start from the first and second row tomorrow! The goal is clear for Aston Martin Racing this weekend: the Britons aim to secure as many points as possible in their championship chase. The team is currently second in both Drivers and Team standings, four points behind Pescarolo Sport. Had they not changed the engine after the qualifying session at Spa, the squad would only be short by two points, as the drivers of the # 007 Lola-Aston Martin climbed on the podium three times in a row, but only once on the first step."
"Lola-Aston Martin fully ruled the qualifying session as Marcel Fässler set the third time at the wheel of the Speedy Racing Team Sebah's car. The Swiss team already showed a strong performance in the first free practice session dealing with a very tricky track because of heavy rain and would like to get rid of the bad luck that descends upon it from the beginning of the season."

"Olivier Pla chalked up the best time in the LMP2 class very early in the session. Quifel-ASM Team ruled most of the free practice sessions like at Portimao. The Portuguese team is currently leading the class after its clear victory for its home race and will try to repeat its success and defend its standing. From second place, four cars are within four tenths of a second. G.A.C. Racing would like to continue to forge ahead after its first podium of the year in Portugal, and Speedy Racing Team Sebah still can clinch the title at the end of the season and needs a good result to keep its chances alive. With so many teams able to win, the race should be very tough tomorrow."

"In the GT1 class, Laurent Groppi, for his very first race in Le Mans Series, surprisingly posted the best time with the Larbre Compétition Saleen, in front of the Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette as there are only two cars on the entry list."

"Today is a great day for Hankook! The Korean tire manufacturer took its first pole ever in the GT2 class thanks to Pierre Kaffer. The German driver picks the Nordschleife as his favorite track and chalked up the best time with his Hankook Team Farnbacher Ferrari on the Grand Prix circuit. The team will undoubtedly celebrate the pole but will have a hard time tomorrow to contain Team Modena. Indeed, Antonio Garcia demonstrated again how fast he can be and will try to repeat, and even improve, the second place obtained at Spa. Team Felbermayr-Proton will start from the second row of the grid tomorrow, but this time, Marc Lieb set the time. Hopefully the team will have a flawless race, without any crashes unlike Portugal where the German team lost its chances of victory as early as the first lap and finished far behind the winner, losing the lead of the series."

LMP1:

LMP2:

LMGT1:

LMGT2:

Live Timing Qualifications (lemans-series.com)

2009-08-22T12:08:00.001+02:00

Free Practice Nurburgring

2009-08-22T11:17:00.008+02:00

Pescarolo Sport breaks the dominance of Aston Martin in the free training, with a time of 1:43.063 followed Strakka Racing and Primat´s Aston Martin...With Speedy in the same Second...

In LMP2 Quifel ASM Remains very strong with 1:44:8, one second fast that RML Lola... and two second fast that Speedy Team Sebah...

In GT1 Luc Alphan´s Corvette was surprised by Larbre Competition in the last training, with the same time (1:54.538-1:54.652)

In GT2 JMW (1:57.289) overpass Felbermayr(1:58.082), who had dominated all training...
More surprising is the second post of Farnbacher Racing-Hankook(1:57.679)...
Note the good behavior of the Coronel´s Spyker

Official Result

LMS: Reacciones de los españoles en Nürburgring(Redacción Spoirtmotores.es con A.I.)
Brillante evolución de los pilotos de Hache.
En la jornada de hoy han dado comienzo los 1.000 Kilómetros de Nurburgring con la disputa de las dos primeras sesiones de entrenamientos libres. Como en Portimao hace unas semanas, el equipo castellanoleonés volvía a presentarse a la cuarta cita de las Le Mans Series con la tripleta formada por Máximo Cortés, Carmen Jordá y Fonsi Nieto.

En la primera sesión de entrenamientos, a media mañana, Máximo Cortés, con el asfalto mojado por la lluvia caída antes del inicio de la misma, volaba en la pista, metiendo el Lucchini Judd del equipo entre los mejores prototipos de la categoría LMP2, a tan solo dos segundos del mejor crono. Desafortunadamente, a mitad de tanda, un problema en la caja de cambios le obligaba a detenerse no pudiendo continuar con su brillante actuación.

En la segunda sesión, celebrada por la tarde, Carmen Jordá era la primera en salir a pista con el doble objetivo de proseguir con su adaptación al coche y conocer la pista alemana, totalmente nueva para ella. Fonsi Nieto tomaría el relevo de la valenciana conduciendo durante la segunda mitad de la sesión, y marcando, desde su primera vuelta, cronos muy competitivos, con un 1:55:624 como mejor, demostrando que puede tener un brillante futuro en el automovilismo una vez supere el lógico proceso de adaptación de las dos, a las cuatro ruedas.

Result Free Practice

2009-08-21T19:27:00.005+02:00

Live Timing Nurburgring (lemans-series.com)

2009-08-21T17:45:00.002+02:00

ScreenShoot Selection

2009-08-21T13:13:00.007+02:00

Mid-Ohio by Iantheracer

2008 Sebring by kakk112

2007 Petit LeMans by Merlin75

2008 LMS Barcelona by Giaserg

"wip2" de Ferran Motorsports ARX02a by gatsby

2009-08-21T13:07:00.001+02:00

jeje... Gastby...the Best

"Update" Patron Highcroft Racing ARX02a by gatsby

2009-08-21T11:23:00.002+02:00

LMS: Penúltima carrera de la temporada- Previo

2009-08-21T10:51:00.005+02:00

Christian Traginer para SportMotores.es
El campeonato Le Mans Series se desplaza este próximo fin de semana al siempre atractivo circuito de Nürburgring en Eifel. Uno de los nombres míticos de la resistencia y una de las pruebas más esperadas del año.

El campeonato llega con casi todo por decidir en todas las categorías, a falta de dos pruebas por disputar. La cita alemana tendrá algunas novedades importantes así como otras ausencias destacables.

Entre las novedades hay que destacar, por encima de todas, la presencia de un tercer Lola-Aston Martin inscrito por Aston Martin Racing. A los dos habituales, se suma un tercero bajo el banner de AMR Eastern Europe y que pilotarán Miguel Ramos, Stuart Hall y Chris Buncombe. La razón de que George Howard Chappell y los suyos inscriban un tercer vehículo se debe a que sus mejores pilotos clasificados - segundos en la general-, Stefan Mücke, Tomas Enge y Jan Charouz, deben neutralizar una diferencia de cuatro puntos con respecto a los líderes, los pilotos de Pescarolo Sport.

Pescarolo, por cierto, que tendrá un tercer piloto a sus dos ya habituales Jean-Christophe Boullion y Christophe Tonseau. Se trata, sin lugar a dudas, de un refuerzo de lujo, el francés Emmanuel Collard. Collard, en la actualidad piloto oficial de Porsche Motorsport, es uno de los pilotos que más éxitos ha alcanzado en las filas de Pescarolo, ganando con ellos el Le Mans Series en 2005 y 2006.

El resto de favoritos serán los conocidos habituales de otras carreras, ésto es los dos Audi R10 TDI de Kolles, cuyos progresos son patentes carrera a carrera, el Lola B08/60 Aston Martin de Speedy Racing Team Sebah, el Ginetta-Zytek de Strakka Racing y el Courage-Oreca LC70 Judd de Signature Plus. La gran ausencia será la de los Oreca-AIM de Team Oreca Matmut, ya en camino hacia Petit Le Mans en Estados Unidos. Vuelve al campeonato el Lavaggi LS1-AER diseñado por Giovanni Lavaggi.

En LMP2 el gran favorito volverá a ser el Ginetta-Zytek 09S Zytek de ASM Quifel, pilotado por Miguel Pais do Amaral y Olivier Pla, que tras ganar en el Algarve tienen una ventaja a su favor de diez puntos en la clasificación general. Las dos posiciones siguientes las ocupan los dos Lola B08/80 de Racing Box, que con pilotos como Thomas Biagi, Matteo Bobbi o Andrea Piccini pueden optar a la victoria en su categoría.

Hache Team tendrá por segunda carrera consecutiva al mismo plantel de pilotos, ésto es Maxi Cortés, Fonsi González Nieto y Carmen Jordá, al volante del veterano Lucchini-Judd que posee el equipo. El coche, que ha mostrado algunos progresos en rapidez, sigue teniendo su punto débil en la escasa fiabilidad del conjunto.

Respecto a GT1 habrá tan sólo dos coches, el ya conocido Chevrolet Corvette C6.R de Luc Alphand Aventures, pilotado por Yann Clairay, Julien Jousse y Patrice Goueslard. El Saleen S7R de Larbre Competition, liderado por Laurent Groppi, volverá a ser su rival.

En GT2 los Ferrari 430 GT2 de JMW Motorsport, Team Modena y Farnbacher Racing se volverán a enfrentar a los Porsche 911 GT3 RSR de Felbermayr Proton e IMSA Perfomance Matmut. Los líderes son Robert Bell y Gianmaria Bruni, mientras son segundos Richard Lietz y Marc Lieb, con Antonio García y su compañero Leo Mansell en tercer lugar.

Los entrenamientos libres tendrán lugar mañana viernes, siendo los oficiales el Sábado y la carrera, en horario diurno habitual, el Domingo. Podrán seguir toda la información al respecto en SportMotores.es.
News in English

Best moment Road America

2009-08-20T13:55:00.001+02:00

1000km Nürburgring Photos Paddock

2009-08-20T13:46:00.007+02:00

Enduranceinfo photos

Nürburgring Timetable (lemanseries.com)

2009-08-20T11:23:00.002+02:00

Calendar reminder

2009-08-20T10:59:00.001+02:00

Drayson Racing to launch LMP1 programme at Petit Le Mans

2009-08-20T09:59:00.005+02:00

Planetlemans.com
Paul, Lord Drayson and Elspeth, Lady Drayson proudly announce Drayson Racing’s move to the pinnacle of motorsports; the LMP1 division. Drayson Racing will debut its British built Judd V10-powered Lola B09/60 racing car - commonly known as the “Lola Coupe” - in the 12th Annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, 22-26 September, 2009. The move signifies Drayson Racing’s serious motorsport intentions and focus on using the sport as a catalyst to advance environmental technologies.
More in Planetlemans
More in ALMS.com
in spanish Sportmotores.com

Pescarolo-Sport : Emmanuel Collard is back!

2009-08-19T19:49:00.002+02:00

Lemanseries.com
The 1000 Km of Algarve winners, Jean-Christophe Boullion and Christophe, will receive the support of Manu Collard, a driver who knows the team and the car very well!
Christophe suffers from a broken rieb and Emmanuel will support the team which leads the season classifications and attends the ADAC 1000 Km of the Nürburgring to win!
This come back of the French driver is possible thanks the Porsche permission and will enjoy all the Endurance fans.

Racing 360 Agence Photos Spheriques

2009-08-19T19:02:00.006+02:00

Virtual Imaging 360 ° allows to immerse themselves in an action, an atmosphere. It strengthens the link may have any audience with an event, a place or a legend like the 24 hours of Le Mans. A large part of the circuit being inaccessible to the public, the idea is to invite the viewer to attend virtually, to conduct his visit by taking the time to look around him, listening to sounds, to see the cars , approaching the legend.
Racing 360 Agence Photos Spheriques

Interior Photo of Porsche Endurance Asia team

360º Indianapolis (La Sharte)

Q8 Hache Team Official Web Site (Spanish)

2009-08-19T14:43:00.003+02:00

"La escudería Q8 Oils Hache Team competirá esta temporada 2009 en la Le Mans Series, la competición más relevante y de prestigio en del mundo, dentro del motor internacional de prototipos de resistencia y que culmina con las 24 HORAS DE LE MANS. La escudería vallisoletana participará con un Lucchini Judd en el campeonato de prototipos de Clase 2 (LMP2), donde el año pasado se proclamó campeón un ex Fórmula 1 como el holandés Jos Verstappen. Con su presencia en el próximo certamen, Q8 Oils hache Team se convertirá en la segunda escudería española, junto a Epsilon Euskadi, que participa en la segunda competición de motor más importante del mundo, sólo por detrás de la F1 y, de paso, será el principal referente del motor en España, ya que a la Le Mans Series hay que sumar el ya consolidado proyecto de la escudería vallisoletana en el Campeonato de España de F3, del que fue subcampeón de pilotos en 2008." Official web Site

Lucchini Judd:
FICHA TÉCNICA:
• Marca del chasis: LUCCHINI
• Nº del chasis: 165
• Modelo y tipo: XVLMP2
• Marca del Motor: JUDD

DIMENSIONES Y PESO:
• Longitud: 4555 mm
• Ancho: 1990 mm
• Peso: 825 Kg

MOTOR:
• Nº de cilindros y distribución: 8 Cilindros- V90º
• Material bloque motor: Aluminio
• Carter: Seco
• Nº de válvulas de admisión: 2
• Nº de válvulas de escape: 2

TRANSMISIÓN:
• Localización: Trasera
• Posición: Transversal
• Caja de Cambio: Secuencial 6 velocidades + marcha atrás

Chasis: Carbono + aluminio panel de abeja. Peso: 82kg
Carrocería: Carbono
Frenos: Brembo
Llantas: OZ

Nurburgring Entry List (PlanetLemans)

2009-08-19T14:07:00.003+02:00

Click to large View

Nurburgring Circuit

2009-08-19T11:05:00.006+02:00

In the twelfth century, Count Ulrich would never have dreamed that at the foot of his patriarchal Nürburg there would one day lay the queen of all racetracks that would attract suitors from all the lands. With new ideas and its expansion as a recreational and business destination, even in future, Nürburgring will be running at full speed...

Length of circuit:
Grand Prix circuit: incl. the Mercedes Arena and the NGK chicane: 5148 m
Grand Prix circuit: incl. the Mercedes Arena and the motorbike chicane: 5137 m
Sprint distance of Grand Prix circuit: incl. the Mercedes Arena and the NGK chicane: 3629 m
Sprint distance of Grand Prix circuit: incl. the Mercedes Arena and the motorbike chicane: 3618 m
Müllenbachschleife of the Grand Prix circuit: 1489 m
Width of circuit:
Sprint distance: 10-13 m
Mercedes Arena section: 14-25 m
Müllenbachschleife: 10 m

Official Web Site

For GTR2:
Nurburgring 2001
Nurburgring 2005

A tracklap with...Marc Lieb!

2009-08-19T10:58:00.002+02:00

Lemansseries.com

Some days before the ADAC 1000 Km of the Nürburgring, Marc Lieb, Porsche works driver and leader of the Felbermayr-Proton team, drives you on the track of the mythical circuit.

“The Grand Prix track of the Nürburgring is a modern racing circuit with a lot of variation of slow and medium speed corners.

After the Start-Finish line you enter turn 1 into the “Mercedes Arena”. It is a very tight right hand hairpin in 1st gear and a critical part at the start. The cars come from top speed down to 55km/h. The following two left corners are also quite slow in 2nd gear with another slow 90-degree right hander exiting the “Mercedes Arena”. The Arena is a tricky place and very technical. It is not my favourite part of the circuit though.

After accelerating to fifth gear...

, you brake in fourth gear to negotiate the sweeping bend. You should not push too much in the corner to take a good line for the following tight right hand “Ford Kurve”, which is taken in 2nd gear. On the exit you accelerate downhill to the “Dunlop Kehre”. You can brake really late for this right hand hairpin. I really like this turn because it has a little banking and it is quite fast for a second gear hairpin.

From now on, you go back up the hill towards the “Michael-Schumacher-S”. This is my favourite part of the track. It is nearly flat in a GT2 car, in 4th gear, and it is the fastest corner of the track. You can use the inside kerbs to get a good exit line onto the next 90-degree left hand corner. It is a medium speed turn in 3rd gear, very bumpy in the braking zone, followed by the “Warsteiner-Kurve”, a similar right-hander, which is one of the most crucial corners on the circuit and takes you onto the back straight. The fast, sweeping “Hatzenbach” has a slight right kink, which is easy flat-out. After that kink you reach the top speed if the wind blows in the right direction, otherwise, you reach the highest speed at the end of the start-finish line.

We fortunately use the quickest version of the “NGK chicane” after the back straight because it is much faster than the Formula 1 chicane. But unfortunately, after the chicane, we do not turn left onto the famous Nordschleife… Instead, we dab the brakes for the final turn. This one is crucial for the front straight, so you can use the whole curb as you exit.”

The fight for 3rd place in Last Lap

2009-08-17T18:52:00.007+02:00

Long and Bergmeister increase Porsche lead over Ferrari

2009-08-17T18:37:00.002+02:00

Planetlemans.com
The #45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR were not able to score their six straight American Le Mans Series GT2 victory at the Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase, but the team achieved its overall goal for the weekend by extending their championship points by finishing ahead of the Ferrari 430.

The Lizard Porsche started third on the grid behind the winning BMWs, and turned competitive lap times during the entire event, but lost a lap to the leaders in the first part of the race when the pace car picked up the BMWs ahead of the overall race leaders, and were given a lap advantage via the controversial pace car regulations. After that, the team had to refocus on their overall goal – winning the championship.

“The crew did phenomenal work in the pits. In a race with so many cautions, strategy and pit work can make a critical difference and we saw that today. When there were situations to take a chance or play it safe, we were able to keep our championship goal in mind,” said Bergmeister.

Patrick Long, who passed the Ferrari on the next-to-last lap to achieve his fourth-place finish (the Ferrari finished fifth), credited the crew for his achievement. “We achieved our objectives today and extended our championship lead. Our chief strategist Thomas Blam made a great call for new tires on the last yellow that helped me get by the Ferrari for position and extend our championship point lead,” said Long.

On the last lap, Patrick got by the O’Connell/Magnussen Corvette to move into third place, but could not hold off the V8 Corvette, finishing four-hundreths of a second from a podium position.

Last Lap Road America

2009-08-17T11:11:00.001+02:00

Road America Recap

2009-08-17T10:58:00.003+02:00

ALMS.com
BRABHAM, SHARP RETURN TO VICTORY CIRCLE
Ends de Ferran victory streak in Road America classic
David Brabham and Scott Sharp ended de Ferran Motorsports’ four-race overall win streak Sunday with a close, tense victory in the Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase at Road America. Patrón Highcroft Racing’s Brabham beat Gil de Ferran to the checkered flag by 0.461 seconds.

Brabham and Sharp drove the Patrón Highcroft Acura ARX-02a to its first victory since St. Petersburg in early April. They gained four points on de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud in the LMP1 championship.

In LMP2, Lowe’s Fernandez Racing’s Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz won for the sixth time in seven races in their Acura ARX-01b with a 6.742-second victory over Dyson Racing’s Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti. The Lowe’s Fernandez crew elected not to change tires on its final pit stop with approximately 30 minutes left.

Fernandez and Diaz extended their championship lead to 55 points with three events – and 75 points –remaining on the season. Fernandez led the race overall late but didn’t have enough muscle to hold off the two P1 Acuras.

BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team scored its first victory in its first year of a partnership that saw Joey Hand and Bill Auberlen lead a 1-2 GT2 finish for the new BMW M3. Auberlen and Hand gained nearly a full lap on the rest of the field on an early-race wave-by when John Baker in one of ORBIT Racing’s Challenge class Porsches went off at Turn 12.

That was all they needed for BMW’s first victory in the American Le Mans Series since Petit Le Mans in 2001.

Dirk Mueller and Tommy Milner placed second in their BMW M3, and the Corvette Racing’s Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen placed third in their Corvette C6.R. The E85-powered car also won the GT portion of the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge for the second straight event.

But the weekend belonged to BMW. The M3s were quickest in all four testing and practice sessions, qualified on pole and posted the fastest GT2 race lap.

Martin and Melanie Snow scored their second straight Challenge class victory and third in four races with their Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry. They beat the Gruppe Orange Porsche of Nick Parker and Donald Pickering by one lap.

The race wasn’t that easy though. Just as it did in other classes, the yellow flag stops and a long opening stint by Pickering put Melanie Snow on the attack throughout her stint.

Road America Race Result

2009-08-17T10:30:00.004+02:00

Overall:

1º: Brabham/Sharp

2º: de Ferran/Pagenaud

3º: Fernandez/Diaz

4º: Leitzinger/Franchitti

5º: Pickett/Graf

6º: J.Field/C.Field

7º: Mowlem/Johansson

8º: Willman/McMurry

9º: Hand/Auberlen

10º: Mueller/Milner

11º: Magnussen/O'Connell

12º: Bergmeister/Long

13º: Melo/Kaffer

14º: Beretta/Gavin

15º: Murry/D.Robertson/A.Robertson

16º: Law/Neiman

17º: Snow/Snow

18ºFeinberg/Hall

19º: Parker/Pickering

20º: Hoaglund/Faieta

21º: Baker/Cosmo

22º: Brown/Sweedler

23º: Henzler/Miller

24º: Farnbacher/James

25º: Dyson/Smith

One Lap With Allan Mcnish

2009-08-16T13:14:00.000+02:00

BMW Rahal Letterman...very fast in road America...

2009-08-16T13:05:00.002+02:00

Joey Hand gave BMW its first American Le Mans Series pole position in eight years as BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team locked out the front row in GT2 with its new BMW M3s. Hand, driving with Bill Auberlen, set a fastest lap of 2:06.950 for a 0.123-second gap to teammate Dirk Mueller.

“I told my wife before I flew out that something just felt good about coming here,” he said. “I was really good in Atlantics and ran well here with Bill in 2006. It comes down to preparation and testing we’ve done. The Dunlop guys have been working really well with us. We’ve rolled out of the truck very fast. I’m personally very excited.”

Hand and Auberlen were GT2 runners-up the last time BMW raced at Road America during the 2006 season. Hand led Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Jörg Bergmeister late before the Porsche pulled away with its power on the long straights. The progression on the M3 motor since then has been significant although the strong point still remains its handling through corners - of which there are 14 at Road America.

“This is a place that has long straightaways but there are corners that lead to those,” Hand said. “If I can be two mph quicker than the competition, then that’s our advantage. We’re strong rolling through the corners and release it through the exit. We’re trying to take advantage of that.”

Bergmeister was the fastest non-BMW and sat third with a lap of 2:07.362. He and Long, winners here in 2005 and 2006, have won five straight races in class and can set a record (six) with a win on Sunday.

Road America Qualifying Result

2009-08-16T13:03:00.004+02:00

Click to Large view

ALMS: Live Streaming Qualifying, Saturday, 4:05 PM ET

2009-08-15T20:37:00.003+02:00

Speed Channel
Live streaming qualifying presented by Michelin returns this weekend from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., as American Le Mans Series teams gear up for Sunday’s Time Warner Road Race Showcase (3:00 PM ET, SPEED).

Sportscar fans last watched live online streaming qualifying from Lime Rock in July, and now the feature returns for the rest of the ALMS season. Catch qualifying Saturday, Aug. 15, at 4:05 PM ET, live on SPEEDtv.com.

Follow all of the action online Saturday with audio commentary from Radio Show Limited’s John Hindhaugh and live video coverage of the prototype and GT qualifying sessions.

Visit http://stream.speedtv.com/alms to watch the American Le Mans Series cars take to the track for what’s always a highly contested 20-minute GT and Prototype qualifying sessions.

Live Streaming Qualifying and the Heroes of the American Le Mans Series features can also be accessed by visiting SPEEDtv.com and using Keyword: Michelin.

SpotterGuide Road America

2009-08-15T20:20:00.003+02:00

The Spotter Guide for the Road America round of the American Le Mans Series is now available. This year, following a number of requests, we have added crash helmets, showing the basic design to the guides. We are indebted to The American Le Mans Series and almost all of the teams who helped with supplying liveries for the guide, often in advance of their public release. It would not have been possible without their support - Thank You! Sportterguide.com

Corvette C6R GT2 Corvette Racing by 71GTO

2009-08-14T18:18:00.001+02:00

ALMS 2009
These are the new GT2 corvette skins for the ALMS Series...
By 71GTO
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Radical SR9 van der Steur Racing ALMS 2009 by Ghanja

2009-08-14T18:15:00.005+02:00

Livery based on the van der Steur Racing Team from the ALMS 2009 season.
Car #19
Drivers: Gunnar van der Steur, Adam Pecorari
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"Green, Green, Green, Green..." by Jojo16

2009-08-13T10:51:00.004+02:00

Mid-Ohio Pictures in Crahs.net

2009-08-13T10:36:00.012+02:00

Crahs.net mid-ohio

Road America video Recompilation 2008

2009-08-12T13:44:00.002+02:00

Corvette Racing Debut Mid-Ohio

2009-08-12T13:39:00.001+02:00

Entry List Road America

2009-08-12T11:45:00.009+02:00

Click to Large View

Le Mans: Epsilon Euskadi todavía trabajando en Le Mans

2009-08-12T11:26:00.003+02:00

Christian Traginer para SportMotores.es

Epsilon Euskadi llevó a cabo el año pasado una de las mayores hazañas del automovilismo español, y es el desarrollo de un LMP1 desde cero para participar en las 24 horas de Le Mans y en la temporada regular del Le Mans Series.

El ee1-Judd LMP1 mostró una excelente velocidad en su primer año a falta de la lógica fiabilidad que cualquier vehículo nuevo tiene. Desgraciadamente el 2009 y la crisis económica significó que su evolución, el ee2-Judd, no haya podido participar en ninguna carrera teniendo que renunciar incluso a la plaza que tenía asignada en las 24 horas de Le Mans.

Sin embargo y a pesar de todo, Epsilon Euskadi no ha abandonado en absoluto el programa de resistencia como confirmaba a SportMotores.es Jordi Catón. Catón nos explicaba que " El proyecto Le Mans sigue vivo en nuestro pipeline pero pendiente de financiación para reiniciarlo".
Además el programa podría presentar nuevos retos como la introducción del KERS - Kinetic Energy Recovery System- . Este sistema, desarrollado por Epsilon Euskadi junto a algunos estudiantes de la Cranfield University, se adaptaría al potente motor Judd V10 que monta el LMP1. Al respecto comentaba a SportMotores.es que " el estudio del KERS está en relación con este programa y lo seguimos trabajando". Lo cierto es que el KERS tiene sobre el papel mucha más aplicación en la resistencia que en la Formula 1, y de hecho Corsa Motorsports ya lo utiliza con interesantes resultados en su Ginetta-Zytek dentro del American Le Mans Series.

En estos momentos Epsilon Euskadi se encuentra en la carrera por conseguir una plaza en la Formula 1, algo que después de la salida de BMW Sauber F1 es más probable. Pero en el equipo de Vitoria no se valoran los programas de Formula 1 y resistencia como rivales. " El proyecto Le Mans y F1 no son excluyentes sino complementarios", terminaba diciendo el que es junto a Joan Villadelprat uno de los principales responsables de Epsilon Euskadi a SportMotores.es.

News in English

LMS: Un tercer Aston Martin en Nürburgring

2009-08-11T17:46:00.004+02:00

Christian Traginer para SportMotores.es

La próxima cita del Le Mans Series, los 1.000 kilómetros de Nürburgring que se disputan los días 21, 22 y 23 de Agosto, contará con una incrementada presencia de Aston Martin Racing.

El equipo de George Howard Chappell, principal respnsable deportivo de la marca británica, pondrá en pista un tercer Lola-Aston Martin en Nürburgring que se sumará a los dos que comenzaron la temporada en Montmeló. El nuevo vehículo, que se inscribirá bajo el nombre de AMR Eastern Europe, será pilotado por el portugués Miguel Ramos y el británico Stuart Hall. Ramos ha sido un habitual del equipo desde primeros de año, a excepción de las 24 horas de Le Mans, mientras Hall precisamente ya participó con ellos en La Sarthe.

Los otros dos coches tendrán a los pilotos habituales, el 007 para Jan Charouz, Tomas Enge y Stefan Mücke, que se encuentran en segunda posición de la general, y el 009 para Harold Primat y Darren Turner. La ausencia de Oreca en Nürburgring y Silverstone se compensa así con un tercer coche de Aston Martin Racing, cuyo principal objetivo será el bloquear puntos al Pescarolo-Judd pilotado por Jean-Christophe Boullion y Christophe Tinseau, y que es primero en la clasificación general con veintiséis puntos, cuatro más que Charouz, Enge y Mücke.

News in English

Team Barazi-Epsilon by Gatsby

2009-08-11T17:41:00.002+02:00

LMS 2009...
Team Barazi-Epsilon in Acura body...
Car 1000km of Spa Version..
By Gatsby
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Team Pescarolo Sport by Gatsby

2009-08-11T17:36:00.005+02:00

LMS 2009
Team Pescarolo Sport
4 skin, Catalunya and Spa version
By Gatsby...
Thanks
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Porsche RS Spyder Team Cytosport by Gatsby

2009-08-11T10:24:00.003+02:00

ALMS 2009...
Team Cytosport #6 With Pickett and Graf...
Porsche RS Spyder...
By Gatsby.
Thankss
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Road America... One Best American Circuit

2009-08-11T09:56:00.009+02:00

The vision of Road America grew out of the dreams of a man named Clif Tufte. A trained civil engineer, Tufte spent almost a year planning one of the world's finest and most challenging road courses.

Tufte's dream became a reality in April 1955 when the track was carved out of 525 acres of Wisconsin farmland. By September 10, 1955 the track's first SCCA national race weekend was held.

Millions of dollars in improvements have been made throughout the years, but the original 4.048-mile, 14-turn configuration has never been altered.

In 2005, Elkhart Lake's Road America, Inc. celebrated its 50th anniversary. Its history was documented in a book, "Road America: Celebrating 50 Years of Road Racing" by Tom Schultz. The book is available for purchase at our retail store, "The 4-Mile Merchant."

Official Web Site

For GTR2:
Road America
New Cam

Acura en 2010

2009-08-10T11:54:00.004+02:00

Christian Traginer para SportMotores.es

El que ha sido uno de los focos de atención del American Le Mans Series en los últimos meses, la continuidad o no de Acura en el campeonato, ha quedado definitivamente despejada para bien esta tarde.
De Ferran Motorsports, uno de los equipos de Acura en LMP1, ha confirmado en palabras de su fundador, Gil de Ferran, su continuidad en el campeonato del IMSA en 2010 al margen de su proyecto en la Indycar. De Ferran planea inscribir dos coches en la Indycar pero prosiguiendo sus esfuerzos actuales en resistencia con el Acura ARX-02a de LMP1.
El brasileño de origen francés ha anunciado así mismo su retirada a final de temporada del automovilismo como piloto centrándose a partir de ahora en las labores de team manager.

Además del equipo de Gil de Ferran, también proseguirá el segundo equipo de Acura en LMP1: Highcroft Racing. El equipo de Duncan Dayton confirmaba hoy mismo a SportMotores.es su continuidad en resistencia en 2010, a traves de Paul Ryan. Éste, Jefe de Prensa del equipo, decía a nuestra página: " Highcroft Racing tiene contratos firmados con Acura y Patrón para representar a estas dos marcas en el American Le Mans Series en 2010 e incluso más allá de esa temporada. Cualquier proyecto en la Indycar estaría al margen del programa de resistencia".

Con estas noticias quedan totalmente descartados los rumores que desde diversos medios apuntaban al abandono del programa de LMP1 por parte de Acura.

News in English

Mid Ohio Recap by SpeedChannel

2009-08-10T09:55:00.001+02:00

Patron Highcroft Racing by Gatsby

2009-08-09T21:36:00.003+02:00

ALMS 2009
ARX02a (ARX01b based) Patron Highcroft Racing...
by Gatsby
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