Porsche customer teams aim for class victories
The
Porsche customer teams are
well prepared for the highlight of the sports car racing season. They
contest the Le Mans 24 hour race (France) on 14/15 June with a total of
five racing vehicles: two Porsche RS Spyder and three Porsche 911 GT3
RSR. Bringing the pair of RS Spyder to the classic are the teams of Van
Merksteijn Motorsport (Netherlands) and Essex (Denmark), after having
already won the first three rounds of the Le Mans Series (LMS) this
season. The 476 hp Weissach-built sports prototype experiences a double
premiere in Le Mans in front of an anticipated 200,000 spectators. It
is its first race over 24 hours and the first time on this historic
circuit. The objective of both LMP2 customer teams at the world’s most challenging long distance race is class victory. The LMP1 vehicles, delivering over 200 hp more than the LMP2 cars and with a clearly superior power-to-weight ratio, were around 20 seconds faster per lap during testing on the 13.629 kilometre circuit compared to the LMP2 counterparts.
“If we can secure class victory as a young team at our first attempt at Le Mans, then that would be incredible,” says John Nielsen, who is both driver and principal of the Essex team. “For Le Mans we have learned a lot from the mistakes we made at the first LMS rounds. This is a massive challenge for drivers, for the car and the team to work perfectly over the 24 hours. And here lies the fascination of this race.” Nielsen knows what he is talking about: He has contested the Le Mans marathon 18 times, and celebrated a win in 1990. His compatriot and team mate Casper Elgaard has also experienced the enthusiasm of the fans up-close: He tackles the long distance classic on the Sarthe for the sixth time. His best result to date was third last year.
Porsche
works driver Sascha
Maassen (Germany) completes the Danish team. Like his factory driver
colleagues he was released to provide support to the customer teams
contesting Le Mans. “I’m very excited to be able to contest the world’s
greatest race with the RS Spyder,” says Maassen, “particularly because
since 2005 I have assisted with the development of the car and also
because this is its first Le Mans event. Working with the Essex team
during the pre-test has worked superbly.” Normally, Maassen contests
the American Le Mans Series for the factory-supported Penske Racing
team, with whom he won the title in 2006. In Le Mans the specialist
celebrated victory in the GT class in 2004 and 2005. For the LMS Van Merksteijn team as well, the 24 hour race is a premiere – and in three ways for Jos Verstappen (Netherlands): the ex-Formula 1 pilot has never driven in Le Mans, has never driven a 24 hour event – and never at night. Verstappen was impressed with the circuit’s fast corners. “The track is not for the meek. It’s thrilling and very demanding, for a Le Mans rookie the length alone is daunting,” he says. “Because there was hardly a dry moment during testing I wasn’t able to drive at the limit. But I have complete faith in our car and I’m looking forward to this race.” The two other drivers of the Dutch trio, Jereon Bleekemolen and team owner Peter van Merksteijn, already have two Le Mans races to their credit.
In
the GT2 class a total of
three Porsche teams will try to repeat their win of last year.
Competing for the German Felbermayr-Proton team is Porsche works driver
Wolf Henzler (Germany) as well as Alex Davison (Australia) and Horst
Felbermayr sen. (Austria). The Flying Lizard Motorsports team (USA)
competes with Americans Johannes van Overbeek and Seth Neiman as well
as Porsche works driver Joerg Bergmeister (Germany). The trio of the
French IMSA Performance Matmut squad is made up of team owner Raymond
Narac (France) and the Porsche works drivers Patrick Long (USA) and
Richard Lietz (Austria). As an extremely popular kick-off to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the traditional technical scrutineering takes place on Monday and Tuesday (9/10 June) in front of thousands of fans in the Le Mans market square. The two practice sessions take place on Wednesday and Thursday, each from 19.00 to 21.00 hours and from 22.00 to 24.00 hours. On Friday afternoon is the famous driver parade through Le Mans. Excitement is guaranteed when 55 race vehicles take off with a flying start on 14th June at 15.00 hours to tackle the 24 hour distance.
Eurosport broadcasts the entire race alternately with its Pay-TV subsidiary Eurosport 2, with half the viewing free at Eurosport. The practice and warm-up will also be televised. The start of the live broadcast begins on 14th June at 14.30 hours.
Fast Facts: 24 Hours of Le Mans
The
55-strong grid line-up for
the Le Mans 24 hours is made up of two different sports car categories:
Sports prototypes and standard sports cars. The technical regulations
of the European Le Mans Series (LMS), in which three RS Spyder compete
in 2008, correspond largely to those of the long distance classic. The
regulations of the American counterpart, the American Le Mans Series
(ALMS), have been slightly modified. In this series the performance of
the LMP1 and LMP2 vehicles is closer. All race cars take off at the
same time in Le Mans. There is an overall classification and
classifications for each class. The four classes:
LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 750 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms (in the ALMS: 750 hp/925 kg). Power to weight ratio: ca. 1.2 kg/hp.
LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with around 475 hp (with normally aspirated engines) and an 825 kilogram minimum weight (in the ALMS: 475 hp/800 kg). Power to weight ratio: ca. 1.7 kg/hp. The Porsche RS Spyder starts in this class.
GT1 class: Strongly modified standard sports car with up to 650 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 – 1,325 kilograms (in the ALMS: 650 hp/1,125 – 1,325 kgs).
GT2 class: Slightly modified standard sports cars with 450 to 470 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 – 1,325 kilograms (in the ALMS: 450 to 470 hp/1,125 – 1,325 kgs). The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR competes in this class.
