Photo : Arnaud CORNILLEAU / ACO

 

"We are thrilled to return with the C7.R. We have been sidelined for a year, and it created a real void, for us, of course, our partners, the fans, but also the manufacturer with which we work, General Motors," explained Jack Leconte during the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans press conference. Indeed, at the end of the 2013 season, Leconte was unable to enter Detroit's new weapon in the LM GTE Am class, its approval having been too last-minute to be accepted. "After having represented Corvette well with the C6.R, I felt there was going to be an issue. It was not adequately anticipated, and so the manufacturer realized too late and the organizers could only lament the yellow car's absence."

Without another car in GT as a solution, Larbre Compétition turned to the LM P2 class (The No. 50 Morgan-Judd of Pierre Ragues-Ricky Taylor-Keiko Ihara was not classified). It was also in GT Tour and the Porsche Carrera Cup France that the French team found success in 2014. To enter a Corvette in Le Mans and in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) remained nonetheless a goal in the back of Leconte's mind. "To return to the World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans is wonderful, and we are anxioux to rejoin the entire world endurance family once again," expresses the team's boss. It is with the C7.R that Larbre Compétition will look to shake things up in LM GTE Am. "I went to Daytona to finalize our agreements and was able to witness the great shape the C7.R is in, and to assist in the class victory (in GTLM, editor's note). We must now be patient until we get the car after the 12 Hours of Sebring." The American cars will also be entered in the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, via the official outfit Pratt & Miller, and in the FIA WEC with Larbre Compétition. "Pratt & Miller's teams are currently engaged in a race against the clock to help us be ready as of April, with the car and the lot of replacement parts necessary for the 6 Hours of Silverstone. It takes organization to manage two championships on different contintents."

A fourth chassis is being built to compensate for any failure in one or the other championship, and a full kit has been prepared for installation in Larbre Compétition's C7. It will be one of the chassis that rolled in the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona back in January. "The team will spend 15 days in the U.S. conducting tests with the car, the tyres…The car is optimized across the board but still remains thoroughly American. Direct injection, for example, has just recently come into play," says Leconte. For now, Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti are the first two drivers confirmed for the program.

Geoffroy Barre / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
 

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, THURSDAY JUNE 12 2014, QUALIFYING. Jack Leconte, Larbre Compétition outfit boss, will enter an LM P2 Morgan at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time.