The 24 Hours of Le Mans is divided into four classes, and as many races within a race. Introducing the LM P2 class.

It's like an expensive video game: first you have to select the chassis (€ 362,100) and then the engine (€ 78,750 or maybe more according to the specifications). These prices are the same for everybody. The final choice is crucial because no changes are allowed during the season, except for the adoption of a "low drag" body kit specially for Le Mans (10 000 €). The skill is to find the best combination selected from a ‘palette’ of six chassis’ and three engines , so there are eighteen options in theory.

CHASSIS	MOTEUR
• Morgan LM P2 • Oreca 03 • Alpine A450 • Lola coupé (fermée) • Lola spider (ouverte) • Lotus T128 • HPD ARX-03b • Zytek Z11SN	• Nissan V8 4,5 litres (VK45DE) • Judd V8 4,5 litres (HK) • HPD V8 2,8 litres double-turbo (HR28TT)

 

☛ Entry list of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2013

 

ORECA : CONCENTRATING ON EXPERIENCE

n°25 - Delta-ADR - Graves-Nakano-Hamilton
n°26 - G-Drive Racing - Rusinov-Martin-Conway
n°34 - Race Performance - Frey-Niederhauser-Bleekemolen
n°40 - Boutsen Ginion Racing - Downs-Dagoneau-Younessi
n°46 - Thiriet by TDS Racing - Thiriet-Badey-Martin
n°48 - Murphy Prototypes - Hartley-Patterson-Chandhok
n°49 - Pecom Racing - Perez-Companc-Kaffer-Minassian

After victories in the first two rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship FIA, the Oreca cars are the big favourites in this class. Since the start of the 2011 season, Oreca - with more than 15 entries in the 24 Hours of Le Mans – have put all their experience into the development of their LM P2 chassis. The LMP2 Oreca 03 benefits from all the knowledge they acquired in LM P1, a class which puts great emphasis on performance and reliability. Oreca also build the Formula Le Mans cars that have a great reputation for offering an excellent quality / price ratio. Customers are numerous so there will seven Oreca LMP2 cars at the start. Some of them are being run by major teams such as Delta-ADR, G-Drive, Murphy Prototypes and TDS Racing. With a list of customers like this, de Chaunac has loaded the odds in his favour and could be set for his first win as a constructor.
 

Photo : ACO	Photo : ACO

 

ALPINE : THE RETURN

n°36 - Alpine - Panciatici-Ragues-Gommendy

Even by the second lap on the test day, the Alpine entry showed that they would be serious contenders for a podium place. It is important to realise that the A440 is not really a new car,it is actually a ‘rebadged’ Oreca 03. So thirty-five years after the victory of Pironi-Jaussaud, the French manufacturer will be relying on three fast and experienced drivers to bring them a famous victory. Entrusted to The Signatech Team who have been present at Le Mans since 2009), the blue prototype is truly one of the contenders for victory. It will also be one of the darlings of the French public!

Photo : ACO	Photo : ACO

 

MORGAN : THE QUESTION OF RELIABILITY

n°24 - Oak Racing - Pla-Heinemeir Hansson-Brundle
n°35 - Oak Racing - Baguette-Gonzales-Plowman
n°43 - Morand Racing - Gachnang-Mailleux-Lombard
n°45 - Oak Racing - Nicolat-Merlin-Mondolot
n°47 - KCMG - Imperatori-Tung-Howson

On Test Day it was Olivier Pla, who was fastest in LM P2 behind the wheel of the LM P2 Morgan Nissan. So with the three factory cars of Oak Racing, they should be one of the big favourites for a podium finish. But this is a relatively new team, based in the Technopark at Le Mans, and they may be punching above their weight. Determined as he is Jacques Nicolet faces other rather more experienced prototype constructors . Also there question mark over the reliability of the Morgan due to their lack of experience, and the change from the V8 Judd to the V8 Nissan during last season hasn’t proved anything yet. There is also a potential problem with different vibration frequencies of some components which may also cause reliability problems. Following the work done this winter, will the Anglo-French Team be able to run continuously for 24 hours while maintaining its formidable pace? Surely the choice of the all Chinese KCMG Team and The Swiss Morand Team is a good one.
 The Morgan will certainly be a car to beat !

Photo : ACO	Photo : ACO

 

LOLA : THE FINAL ASSAULT ?

n°28 - Gulf Racing Middle East - Giroix-Haezebrouck-Ihara

n°30 - HVM Status GP - Mowlem-Burgess-Hirschi

n°39 - DKR Engineering - Porta-Raffin-Brandela

The transfer of Lola’s manufacturing business October certainly disrupted their prospective customers . However the involvement of Multimatic Motorsports has enabled three teams to start the season. Despite the economic problems that faced the parent company this is not a season aimed simply at survival, on the contrary Lola are still formidable racing machines and still able to win! The big question is whether the drivers that have been selected will be able to take the British cars to the podium.

Photo : ACO	Photo : ACO

 

LOTUS : THE GREAT UNKNOWN !

n°31 - Lotus - Weeda-Rossiter-Bouchut
n°32 - Lotus - Holzer-Kraihamer-Charouz

The development of the monocoque chassis goes back several years, however the new Lotus has some fresh thinking behind it. The car has been built to meet the new 2014 regulations. It was developed in Germany and benefits from the experience gained by several of the designers who worked with on the Peugeot 908. Colin Kolles (ex-HRT) is therefore expecting to run a particularly effective weapon ... But the car and team are still young. On the evening of the test day the black prototypes were more than ten seconds off the pace of the leading LMP2 cars and most importantly, the No. 32 was very badly damaged when Dominik Kraihamer went off in a big way in The Porsche Curves. Can a car that only put in its first laps at the end of March have any chance of winning The 24hrs of Le Mans in June? This is one of the great unknowns of the 90th anniversary edition!

Photo : ACO	Photo : ACO

 

HPD (HONDA) : TITLE HOLDERS .

n°33 - Level 5 Motorsports - Tucker-Franchitti-Briscoe

HPD LMP2 Honda: In 2012, the Wirth Research UK designed LMP2 chassis won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship with Starworks Motorsport. Since then the gentleman driver Enzo Potolicchio left the team to start his own operation ,8Star Motorsport , who are involved in GTE Am. Following his departure, the Venezuelan team was unable to take up the offer of racing at Le Mans this year. This leaves only one Level 5 Motorsports car to defend the colours of Honda. With Ryan Briscoe (seven wins in IndyCar) and Marino Franchitti (ALMS 2012), Scott Tucker (owner-driver) this is a strong crew . This American team will be competing in the 24 hours for the third consecutive year, making No. 33 a serious contender to win.

Photo : ACO	Photo : ACO

 

ZYTEK : RETURN TO FORM.

n°38 - Jota Sport - Dolan-Turvey-Luhr
n°41 - Caterham Racing - Kimber-Smith-Lux-Rossi
n°42 - Greaves Motorsport - Mardenborough-Ordoner-Krumm

After an exceptional 2011 season, Greaves Motorsport didn’t fare so well in 2012 despite the financial support of Nissan. However, the team has set about strengthening both its human resourcses and materials. This time it is Caterham who are assisting Tim and Jacob Greaves. In addition to the green and yellow livery, the LMP2 Zytec Nissan No. 41 receives the backing of Alexander Rossi who is Caterham’s F1 test driver and regular GP2 Caterham competitor. They are also working with both Greaves and Jota, this gives Zytek a very high calibre trio of teams to work with: here are three teams that can each count on the incredible reliability of Nissan Z11SN engines to keep them at the front of the field.

Photo : ACO	Photo : ACO

Julien HERGAULT / ACO

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