On the LMS broadcast today, Hindy mentioned something about Penske running a 3rd RS Spyder for Petit (presumably to bolster the #7 car's championship lead which has fallen from 24 points to just 4 going into Petit).
They own 4 chassis, so it's not really a big deal at all. He'll just use the crew from one of the Indy Cars or something, and it should be a relatively easy operation to add.
Here's a few more bits of Petit news: The Andretti-Green Acura will be driven by Franck Montagny, Marco Andretti, and Tony Kanaan at Petit Le MAans. Intersport Racing has now officially purchased the ex-Charouz LMP1 Lola B07/17 Judd to replace the Lola they destroyed at Mosport and will have it in time for Petit. Intersport now has one of the fastest petrol powered LMP1s in the world. If only they could get Michelins...
The entry list should be coming out later today, or early next week, and here's more or less what we can likely expect: LMP1 1 - Audi Sport North America Audi R10 - TBA/TBA 2 - Audi Sport North America Audi R10 - Luhr/Werner 07 - Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 HDI *** - Gene/Minassian/Klein 08 - Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 HDI *** - Lamy/Sarrazin/Wurz 10 - Eco Racing Radical SR10 AER - Collins/Wright/Toivonen 12 - Autocon Motorsports Lola B06/10 AER - McMurray/Willman/Burgess 30 - Intersport Racing Lola B06/10 AER - Lewis/TBA/TBA 37 - Intersport Racing Lola B07/17 Judd - Field/Field/Berry 48 - Corsa Motorsports Zytek 07S - Jeanette/Mowlem/Biela XX - Creation/AIM Creation CA07 Judd - Campbell-Walter/Ortiz/Hall XX - Creation/AIM Creation CA07 Judd - Halliday/Simpson XX - Zytek Engineering Zytek 07S - TBA/TBA/TBA (possibly run by Cytosport) LMP2 X - Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder - TBA/TBA/TBA (May infact be the Van Merksteijn Porsche from Europe) 6 - Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Long/Maassen/TBA 7 - Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Berhard/Dumas/TBA 8 - BK Motorsports Lola B08/80 Mazda - Bonilla/Devlin/Matos 9 - Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01B - Brabham/Sharp/Johansson 15 - Lowes Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01B - Diaz/Fernandez/Jourdain Jr. 16 - Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Dyson/Smith 20 - Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Leitzinger/Franchitti/TBA 26 - Andretti-Green Racing Acura ARX-01B - Montagny/TBA/TBA 32 - Barazi Epsilon Zytek 07S/2 - Barazi/Vergers/Rees 33 - Team Sebah Speedy Racing Lola B08/80 Judd - Pompidou/Zacchia/Belicchi 44 - Kruse-Schiller Motorsport Lola B07/46 Mazda - Pourteles/Noda/TBA 66 - de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-01B - de Ferran/Pagenaud/Dixon GT1 3 - Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R - O'Connell/Magnussen/Fellows 4 - Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R - Beretta/Gavin/Papis 008 - Bell Motorsports Aston Martin DBR9 - Borcheller/Ducote/TBA GT2 5 - VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - TBA/TBA/TBA 11 - Primetime Race Group Dodge Viper Competition Coupe - Feinberg/Hall/TBA 18 - VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - TBA/TBA/TBA 21 - Panoz Team PTG Panoz Esperante GTLM - Milner/Sutherland/TBA 28 - LG Motorsports/Riley Engineering Corvette C6 - Giglotti/TBA/TBA 40 - Robertson Racing Doran Ford GT-R - Robertson/Robertson/Murray 44 - Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Law/Nieman/Pechnik 45 - Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Bergmeister/Henzler/TBA 46 - Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - van Overbeek/Pilet/TBA 54 - Black Swan Racing Doran Ford GT-R - Pappas/Lazarro/TBA 61 - Risi Competizione Ferrari 430 GT - Krohn/Jonsson/TBA 62 - Risi Competizione Ferrrai 430 GT - Melo/Salo 71 - Tafel Racing Ferrari 430 GT - Farnbacher/Mueller 73 - Tafel Racing Ferrari 430 GT - Tafel/Figge/TBA 87 - Farnbacher-Loles Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Werner/Westbrook/Miller 99 - JMB Racing Ferrari 430 GT - Aucott/Ferte/Daoudi 007 - Drayson-Barwell Motorsports Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 - Cocker/Drayson/Turner ____________________________ LMP1: 12 LMP2: 13 GT1: 3 GT2: 17 Total: 45
Penske Racing announced today that it will enter a 3rd RS Spyder in this year's Petit Le Mans to attempt to hold off the surging Patron Highcroft Acura. The cars will be broken up like so: #5 - Ryan Briscoe/Helio Castroneves #6 - Pat Long/Sascha Maassen #7 - Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas And Emanuelle Collard will be entered to drive for all 3 cars if he's needed.
LMP1 1 - Audi Sport North America Audi R10 - TBA/TBA 2 - Audi Sport North America Audi R10 - Luhr/Werner 10 - Eco Racing Radical SR10 AER - Collins/Wright/Toivonen 12 - Autocon Motorsports Lola B06/10 AER - McMurray/Willman/Burgess 30 - Intersport Racing Lola B06/10 AER - Lewis/TBA/TBA 37 - Intersport Racing Lola B07/17 Judd - Field/Field/Berry 48 - Corsa Motorsports Zytek 07S - Jeanette/Mowlem/Biela 50 - Team LNT Zytek 07S - Watts/TBA/TBA 88 - Creation/AIM Creation CA07 Judd - Campbell-Walter/TBA/TBA 07 - Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 HDI *** - Gene/Minassian/Klein 08 - Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 HDI *** - Lamy/Sarrazin/Wurz 888 - Creation/AIM Creation CA07 Judd - Halliday/Simpson/TBA LMP2 5 - Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Briscoe/Castroneves/Collard 6 - Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Long/Maassen/Collard 7 - Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Berhard/Dumas/Collard 8 - BK Motorsports Lola B08/80 Mazda - Bonilla/Devlin/Matos 9 - Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01B - Brabham/Sharp/Johansson 15 - Lowes Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01B - Diaz/Fernandez/Jourdain Jr. 16 - Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Dyson/Smith 20 - Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Leitzinger/Franchitti/Lally 26 - Andretti-Green Racing Acura ARX-01B - Montagny/Andretti/Kanaan 32 - Barazi Epsilon Zytek 07S/2 - Barazi/Vergers/Rees 33 - Team Sebah Speedy Racing Lola B08/80 Judd - Pompidou/Zacchia/Belicchi 44 - Kruse-Schiller Motorsport Lola B07/46 Mazda - Pourteles/Noda/TBA 66 - de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-01B - de Ferran/Pagenaud/Dixon GT1 3 - Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R - O'Connell/Magnussen/Fellows 4 - Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R - Beretta/Gavin/Papis 008 - Bell Motorsports Aston Martin DBR9 - Borcheller/Ducote/TBA GT2 11 - Primetime Race Group Dodge Viper Competition Coupe - Feinberg/Hall/TBA 17 - VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - TBA/TBA/TBA 18 - VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - N. Pastorelli/F. Pastorelli/Basseng 21 - Panoz Team PTG Panoz Esperante GTLM - Milner/Sutherland/Hand 28 - LG Motorsports/Riley Engineering Corvette C6 - Giglotti/TBA/TBA 40 - Robertson Racing Doran Ford GT-R - Robertson/Robertson/Murray 44 - Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Law/Nieman/Pechnik 45 - Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Bergmeister/Henzler/TBA 46 - Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - van Overbeek/Pilet/TBA 54 - Black Swan Racing Doran Ford GT-R - Pappas/Lazarro/TBA 61 - Risi Competizione Ferrari 430 GT - Krohn/Jonsson/Van de Poele 62 - Risi Competizione Ferrrai 430 GT - Melo/Salo 71 - Tafel Racing Ferrari 430 GT - Farnbacher/Mueller 73 - Tafel Racing Ferrari 430 GT - Tafel/Figge/TBA 87 - Farnbacher-Loles Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Werner/Westbrook/Miller 99 - JMB Racing Ferrari 430 GT - Aucott/Ferte/Daoudi 007 - Drayson-Barwell Motorsports Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 - Cocker/Drayson/Turner
Multiple versions of the official entry list came out today and while it's by far the best entry of the year, I'm left yearning for more. Due to a big crash in the final LMS race, Peugeot may end up bringing just 1 car over (which is a BIG mistake if you ask me. This will by far be the hardest, most competitive sports car race of the year, moreso than Le Mans or Sebring, so coming with just 1 car against 2 Audis, 5 Porsches, and 4 Acuras will make victory that much more challenging). It may just be a typo on the list though... I've also been told the KSM Lola Mazda and Speedy Lola Judd will not be entering. The Barazi Epsilion Zytek is still expected to be added though. So figure 40-42 cars for Petit http://www.americanlemans.com/Events/PetitLeManspoweredbytheTotallynewMAZDAi6i/2008/Entry.pdf LMP1 1 - Audi Sport North America Audi R10 - TBA/TBA 2 - Audi Sport North America Audi R10 - Luhr/Werner 10 - Eco Racing Radical SR10 AER - Collins/Wright/Toivonen 12 - Autocon Motorsports Lola B06/10 AER - McMurray/Willman/Burgess 30 - Intersport Racing Lola B06/10 AER - Lewis/TBA/TBA 37 - Intersport Racing Lola B07/17 Judd - Field/Field/Berry 48 - Corsa Motorsports Zytek 07S - Jeanette/Mowlem/Biela 50 - Team LNT Zytek 07S - Watts/TBA/TBA 88 - Creation/AIM Creation CA07 Judd - Campbell-Walter/TBA/TBA 07 - Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 HDI *** - Gene/Minassian/Klein 08 - Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 HDI *** - Lamy/Sarrazin/Wurz 888 - Creation/AIM Creation CA07 Judd - Halliday/Simpson/TBA LMP2 5 - Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Briscoe/Castroneves/Collard 6 - Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Long/Maassen/Collard 7 - Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Berhard/Dumas/Collard 8 - BK Motorsports Lola B08/80 Mazda - Bonilla/Devlin/Matos 9 - Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01B - Brabham/Sharp/D. Franchitti 15 - Lowes Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01B - Diaz/Fernandez/Jourdain Jr. 16 - Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Dyson/Smith 20 - Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder - Leitzinger/M. Franchitti/Lally 26 - Andretti-Green Racing Acura ARX-01B - Montagny/Andretti/Kanaan 32 - Barazi Epsilon Zytek 07S/2 - Barazi/Vergers/Rees 66 - de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-01B - de Ferran/Pagenaud/Dixon GT1 3 - Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R - O'Connell/Magnussen/Fellows 4 - Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R - Beretta/Gavin/Papis 008 - Bell Motorsports Aston Martin DBR9 - Borcheller/Ducote/TBA GT2 11 - Primetime Race Group Dodge Viper Competition Coupe - Feinberg/Hall/TBA 18 - VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - N. Pastorelli/F. Pastorelli/Basseng 21 - Panoz Team PTG Panoz Esperante GTLM - Milner/Sutherland/Hand 28 - LG Motorsports/Riley Engineering Corvette C6 - Giglotti/TBA/TBA 40 - Robertson Racing Doran Ford GT-R - Robertson/Robertson/Murray 44 - Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Law/Nieman/Pechnik 45 - Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Bergmeister/Henzler/TBA 46 - Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - van Overbeek/Pilet/TBA 54 - Black Swan Racing Doran Ford GT-R - Pappas/Lazarro/TBA 61 - Risi Competizione Ferrari 430 GT - Krohn/Jonsson/Van de Poele 62 - Risi Competizione Ferrrai 430 GT - Melo/Salo 71 - Tafel Racing Ferrari 430 GT - Farnbacher/Mueller 73 - Tafel Racing Ferrari 430 GT - Tafel/Figge/Ehret 87 - Farnbacher-Loles Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Werner/Miller/Hardt 99 - JMB Racing Ferrari 430 GT - Aucott/Ferte/Daoudi 007 - Drayson-Barwell Motorsports Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 - Cocker/Drayson/Turner
Here's a nice suprise... Dario Franchitti will be the 3rd driver of the Patron Highcroft Acura. Feel kinda bad that Stefan Johansson is out of a drive though.
Yep, only 1 Peugoet since Peugeot is in general just not that prepared to race at this level. They built 5 chassis, destroyed 2, turned one into the hybrid mule, and I think one has just been cannibalized for parts, so they've only got 1 full race car left...
I don't think so. fyi, the drivers for the LG car will be: Lou Gigilotti, Marc Goossens, and Tomy Drissi
Yea, I've already got that updated in the stickied PLM thread. I'm no longer updating this one. Any chance you could let us in on what the "Art-Car" livery will be? I'm assuming it'll be mostly Drissi promoting some movie?
Perhaps another time. These next two weeks are going to be busy. First Mid Ohio for some testing and then we are off to Jersey for a double header race weekend. Monday we start making our way south to Georgia for the Petit. When I get back home I am sleeping for a week.
I have not seen the car, since it's being prepped at LG's shop. From the press release, I sounds like it's still black, with flames, and the movie is The Day the Earth Stood Still. Can't tell you anything more than that, since that's all I know.
Yea, that's what I'm hearing now. I'd originally heard it'd have an "art-car" livery, but I'm happy to have the flames back. If you can find out, try to see if Lou is planning on doing Laguna Seca as well?