LMES 2004 kalender en deelnemers

[joost]

Monza LMES May 9
There's nothing official confirmed, but we believe the opening event of the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series will now be at Monza on May 9, rather than in late March, two weeks after Sebring. The original date would have created a conflict for teams aiming to race in both Florida and Italy, but May 9 makes much more sense.

Teams can now contest Sebring, travel to Europe for the April 25 Le Mans Test Day, then race at Monza, which will (also) be good practice for Le Mans. And the weather in May should be much better.

Monza really will be the proper start of something fresh and attractive in Europe....



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[joost]

Full LMES Programme For Luc Alphand

Luc Alphand Aventures will enter its Porsche 911 GT3-RS in all four of the Le Mans Endurance Series races in 2004 with the team principal sharing driving duties with James Ruffier and Olivier Thévenin. Perhaps unsurprisingly the team also hope to race at the Le Mans 24 hours.

Daarenboven heeft ook PSI zijn aanwezigheid bevestigd.

Joost

[Werner333]

PSI wil in 2005 de 24 uur van Le Mans rijden.
Dus de ELMS is ideaal hiervoor.

[TYRI F1]

was er al niet eens een LMES? ELMS! toch? dit is toch een ALMS maar dan in europa. en als dit het zelfde is, waarom gaat het nu dan wel lukken? want ELMS was gestopt ivm populariteit.

zo niet, wat is dan het verschil?

[joost]

het is idd LMES, de organisatie ligt ditmaal ook niet in de handen van ALMS. Bovendien is ook het concept verschillend, namelijk een beperkt aantal 1000-km races waar wildcards te verdienen zijn voor de 24 uren van Le Mans. ELMS was geen succes al waren 2 races een uitzondering, nml. de wedstrijden op de Nurburgring en Silverstone.
Ik hoop van harte dat de oude gloriejaren terugkomen...

[Werner333]

Oeps. Sorry voor de verwarring.

[JFL]

ELMS -> Don Panoz, vgl ALMS
LMES -> FIA, in nauwe samenwerking met ACO, zoiets

Belangrijkste is dat je nu niet langer ELMS + FAISCC hebt met twee verschillende technische reglementen...

[Scapa]

Wim Eyckmans volgend jaar met Courage in LMES

De sterke prestatie van het Courage-trio Eyckmans-Rusinov-Muscioni in de recente 1000 km van Le Mans is niet onopgemerkt gebleven. Het drietal zal nu immers ook in 2004 met een Courage C65 deelnemen aan de nieuwbakken Le Mans Endurance Series, klasse LMP675. Eyckmans zal voor Courage wellicht ook de 24U van Le Mans betwisten.

bron: www.autosport.be

[joost]

Veloqx Audi UK R8
When we were tipped off a week ago, it seemed like the perfect, if unusual, scenario for 2004.



Sam Li and his Veloqx operation (apparently) have the association with a manufacturer that was so keenly sought, while Aud UK has the funds to see at least one R8 running regularly in 2004.



At least that is the story in Autosport today: we're too far removed to confirm the details, or even to guess at the colour scheme, but a Veloqx / Audi UK R8 is the prospect, for the LMES and the Le Mans 24 Hours, we believe. Or is it two?



Here's Sam Li and his FIA N-GT drivers, on the podium at Magny-Cours. At least two of these four to drive an Audi?

[Werner333]

Ik denk dat dat volgend jaar wel eens een leuke serie kan worden.

[joost]

Belmondo 550s For LMES?
That’s the clear message in Auto-Hebdo this week – says David Legangneux.

Wherever we looked during the past two weeks there was a “this team is going to do that story”.

This one has plenty of foundation, we believe, with the French team owner looking at the four LMES races plus Le Mans, with a pair of Prodrive Ferrari 550s.

Boris Derichebourg is expected to stay with the team, and also race a single seater (one of two Belmondo cars) in the Nissan World Series.

More Vipers available next year then?

Last week’s ‘GTS’ rumour was that DAMS was looking at running (hoping to run?) a Murcielago (in FIA GTs?).

Meanwhile, Corvette Racing is organising a US test for European drivers, and the line-up is believed to be different from that originally rumoured last week. No 550 drivers any more, but a testing line-up of Beretta, Collard and AN Other is on the cards.

There are a lot of potential developments for 2004, aren't there?

[joost]

het ziet er beter en beter uit!

DAMS And Larbre Firm Up 2004 Plans



DAMS plans for a return to GT racing look on track.



Auto Hebdo today reports that that the effort will either be two Lamborghini Murcielagos in the FIA-GT championship or two Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranellos in the LMES.



Jean-Paul Driot is quoted as saying: “It will depend on the costs, the development facilities and on the existence of the cars. The final decision will be taken before the end of the year.”



Things also look to be on the up for Larbre Competition, a plan to campaign two Care Racing 550 Maranello in the LMES is well on the way to fruition with Jack Leconte commenting "The budget is almost done."

[Werner333]

Yes yes yes.

[joost]

en nog:


Creation Autosportif Team Manager Ian Bickerton was delighted to confirm the news this morning that the Bicester based team have purchased the ex-John Neilsen DBA4 LMP675 car.



“We didn’t want an Audi and we couldn’t buy a Bentley so this is the next best thing. The car has enormous potential and certainly has the pace to run at the front.”



The Zytek engined car showed enormous potential in 2003 with fast runs at Sebring and Le Mans and race wins in the FIA SCC.



“We’re very serious about this campaign. We’ll contest the whole LMES and probably Sebring too. Of course we’d love to race at Le Mans but if we don’t get an entry in June year we’ll be better prepared for 2005.”



Its early days yet though for announcements over driver lineup but the prospect of four 1000km endurance races in a front-running car will surely mean that the workshop telephone will be busy from now on.



Better news still is that the team will continue to campaign their pair of Lister Storms in the FIA GT Championship. Rumours in the UK motorsport media of a change in engine supplier are somewhat premature:



“We know Laurence (Pearce) is preparing a more powerful version of the V12 and we have high hopes for that engine. In our position though we wouldn’t be smart if we put all of our eggs in one basket so we do have Nicholson Mclaren evaluating the stock engine to find out what they think might be possible too.”



So then another top quality prototype joins the LMES entry list. And it brings with it the mouthwatering prospect of ex-Lister employee Bickerton going head to head with his old boss in both major European series.



“I’m really looking forward to it and I bet he is too.” Said Bickerton.



With the formal announcement today of the Audi UK entry for the LMES too it looks like the British based prototype attack on the LMES is growing fast.

[joost]

A Fourth Audi R8



News reaches us that a fourth Audi R8 looks likely to race in 2004.



The Racing Engineering team reportedly has the funding in place to run the car. The factory however allegedly only has one car available to sell and another current customer team has the first option on that chassis.



Alfonso D'Orleans e Bourbon, team Principal of Racing Engineering is presumably biting his fingernails a little at the moment.



So will it be four Audis at Le Mans and will it be tthree in European racing next season or a pair in the ALMS?