Petit Le Mans 2008 Rumors / Entries Thread

[mattcat]

As the rumors an innuendo surrounding Petit this year become more abundant and more interesting, I felt it was time for a related thread. We already know that Peugeot will bring two cars (which is awesome), B-K will have a new coupe for the event (also awesome), and Scott Dixon will be teaming with DeFerran and Pagenaud in the Acura (likewise, awesome).

Has anyone heard any other interesting tidbits? I keep hearing whispers about the Charouz Lola-Aston coming over. Any truth to that?

This is shaping up to be another fantastic event!

[The Badger]

Creation are planning on being there , but Im not sure if its 1 or 2 cars .

[monaro_gto]

Rahal mentioned in Feb when they announced their 2 car entry for 2009 that one car will debut at PLM. Anyone heard anything regarding if this is still the case? It would be good to see how well the BMW performs.

[HORNDAWG]

Speculative
2008 PLM Field

LMP1
1 Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI ( Pirro, Fässler )
2 Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI (Werner, Luhr)
07 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP V-12 diesel ( Minassian, Gené, Klien)PLM
08 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP V-12 diesel ( Lamy, Sarrazin, Wurz)PLM
10 ECO Racing Radical R10 AER/ECO ( Collins, Toivonen, Wright) PLM/Laguna
12 Autocon Motorsports Creation CA06/H Judd (Lewis, McMurray, Willman)
14 Creation-AIM Creation CA07 AIM ( Simpson, Halliday )PLM/Laguna
19 Chamberlain-Synergy Lola B06/10 AER ( Berridge, Evans)
30 Intersport Racing Lola B06/10 AER (R,Lewis, J.Faulkner)
37 Intersport Racing Lola B06/10 AER (J. Field, C. Field, Berry)
48 Corsa Motorsport Zytek 07S Zytek (Jeanette, Mowlem)
88 Creation-AIM Creation CA07 AIM ( Campbell-Walter, Ortiz)PLM/Laguna
10? Charouz Racing System Lola B08/60 Aston Martin ( Charouz, Mücke)
XX LNT/Zytek Zytek 07S Zytek (Kimber-Smith, Watts)

LMP2
6 Penske Motorsports Porsche RS Spyder (Maassen, Long)
7 Penske Motorsports Porsche RS Spyder (Dumas, Bernhard)
8 Mazdaspeed/B-K Motorsports Lola B08/86 MZR-R (Devlin, Bonilla)
9 Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX- 01b V8 ( Brabham, Sharp, Johansson)
15 Lowe's Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b V8 (Fernandez, Diaz, Jordain)
16 Dyson Racing Team Porsche RS Spyder (Dyson, Smith)
19 van der Stuer Racing Radical SR9 AER P07-E (van der Stuer, Pecorari)
20 Dyson Racing Team Porsche RS Spyder (Leitzinger, M. Franchitti)
24 Binnie Motorsports B05/40 Zytek (Binnie, Timpany)
26 Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX- 01b V8 (Montagny, Rossiter)
66 de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-01b V-8 ( de Ferran, Pagenaud, Dixon)

LMGT1
3 Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R E-85 (O'Connell, Magnussen, Fellows)
4 Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R E-85 (Gavin, Beretta, Papis)
008 Bell Motorsports/FUX Aston Martin DBR9 (Borcheller,Ducot)
59 Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 (Enge, Garcia)

LMGT2
5 Vici Racing Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (F. Pastorelli, TBA)
007 Barwell Motorsports AM Vantage GT-2 (E-85) (Drayson, Co.cker, Sugden)
11 Primetime Race Group Viper Comp. Coupe (Feinberg, Hall )
18 Vici Racing Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (N. Pastorelli, Basseng)
21 Panoz Team PTG Panoz Esperante GTLM (Milner, Sutherland)
22 Panoz Team PTG Panoz Esperante GTLM (Hand, Auberlen)
28 LGM/Pro Long Tube Headers Riley/Corvette C6 ( Gigliotti, Curran, Peterson )
40 Robertson Racing K/D Mk.VII Ford GT (D. Robertson, A. Robertson, D.Murry)
44 Flying Lizard Motorsports-44 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (Neiman, Law)
45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (Henzler, J. Bergmeister)
46 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3 RSR (van Overbeek, Pilet)
54 Black Swan Racing K/D Mk.VII Ford GT (E-85?) (Pappas, Lazzaro)
61 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT (Friesacher, Brix)
62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT (Salo, Melo)
71 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GT (Farnbacher, Müller)
73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GT (Tafel, Figge)
85 Farnbacher Loles Porsche 997 GT3 RSR ( TBA, TBA)
87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche 997 GT3 RSR ( Werner, Westbrook, Miller)
99 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT (Aucott, Daoudi, Ferté) PLM/Laguna


L.P.

[cmk]

Speculative LMP2 addition - Speedy/Sebah Lola

GT2 comments:

Two Panoz? Possible, I suppose.
Two Farnbacher Porsches? I have not seen anything like that mentioned, and is it really clear whether they will persist with a GT2 program next year? If not, it's an odd time to add a 2nd car unless someone has one they're paying them to run.
The second Risi car will likely be for Krohn et. al., no?
I agree with the absence of the BMW though. I expect that if we see it in '08, it will be at Laguna, and only 1 chassis.

[Aslak Vind]

Team Essex Invest is pondering to race their Porsche RS Spyder in the last two races in the ALMS, so the Petit Le Mans is possible. But no answer from the team so far, if they will race or not.

[HORNDAWG]

Panoz: GARRA done, so I was thinking Bill and Joey in a completely updated 2nd car , to push it to its limits as they have been making good headway of late, along with it being the home race.

F-L: I thought maybe Pierre would be over but was not sure about the 430 or if he still has a 997. As to what next year?? Spyder? Anything?

Risi/Krohn: Probably. Was hesitant, with all the ProtoAuto commitment this year and if he would still do ALMS.


L.P.

[mattcat]

#10 Eco - I hope so, I've been looking forward to seeing this car race since Sebring, but have as of yet been disappointed.
#10? Lola/Aston - I really hope that pans out. I have enjoyed watching it all year in LMS and hope to hear it for myself at PLM.
#59 Aston - Maybe someone will finally put up a bit of a fight against the 'vettes?
#28 'vette - Would be nice to see Lou back. Would be even nicer to see Lou back with a competitive car.
#54 Ford - I'll have to remember to bring my sunglasses.
#85 Porsche - I like Farnbacher, hope to see a two car assault.
#07/#08 Peugeot -

[fieldodreams79]

it would be nice to see two of my beloved cars from Jackson County, especially if it will be their last.

*RUBBING HANDS TOGETHER VIGORIOUSLY*
is it October yet?

i thought the Mansels were in the Chamberlin Lola?
P1 - 14
P2 - 11
GT1 - 4
GT2 - 19
total - 48
pure speculation, but those are good numbers. thanks, HD.

[cmk]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Panoz: GARRA done, so I was thinking Bill and Joey in a completely updated 2nd car , to push it to its limits as they have been making good headway of late, along with it being the home race.

F-L: I thought maybe Pierre would be over but was not sure about the 430 or if he still has a 997. As to what next year?? Spyder? Anything?

Risi/Krohn: Probably. Was hesitant, with all the ProtoAuto commitment this year and if he would still do ALMS.


L.P.

I agree on the Panoz logic except that there seems to be a lot of work and precious little backing, so I worry about the funding for 2 cars being available. Furthermore, are there even 2 of the new-shape chassis?

F-L: Pierre has a 430 now, which is the Farnbacher LMS car. Furthermore, he's run twice this year in the Tafel #73 430 (Sebring and Road America) so if he appears this year at PLM, I would guess it would be in that car again.

Krohn is a question-mark, but the original plan as I understood it was Sebring/Houston/LM/PLM/Laguna, as last year. Given that 2/5 of that has occurred and 1/5 did not happen due to force majeure, I would not be surprised to see the last 2/5 of the agreement honoured. As you point out, GARRA being done points to that as well.

[cmk]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

it would be nice to see two of my beloved cars from Jackson County, especially if it will be their last.

*RUBBING HANDS TOGETHER VIGORIOUSLY*
is it October yet?

i thought the Mansels were in the Chamberlin Lola?
P1 - 14
P2 - 11
GT1 - 4
GT2 - 19
total - 48
pure speculation, but those are good numbers. thanks, HD.

Nigel has said that he wants to do PLM but that it is dependent on external funding sources, he won't pay for it out of pocket. Whether that is with Chamberlain or not, there has been no statement as of yet that said funding is in place.

[fieldodreams79]

What about the Rahal M3?

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

What about the Rahal M3?

I highly doubt it, so much so I did not list it.


L.P.

[cmk]

That was buried at the end of my first post: "I expect that if we see [the M3] in '08, it will be at Laguna, and only 1 chassis."

I'm not in the loop though, so this might be a question for TWK or Fogelhund.

[Dauer 962]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

What about the Rahal M3?

Not before Sebring. Programm postponed to 2009.

[Hugewally]

Postponed? 2009 has always been the main plan.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Hugewally

Postponed? 2009 has always been the main plan.

That's what I thought too, but I have seen in a few places (months ago) that they might be in for the end of the year. Now that has been put to sleep from what I gather.

[Cuttlefish]

What about the Horag spyder? They've come over in the past.

[HORNDAWG]

Will not be coming this year.


L.P.

[andy_b]

BMW this year was only ever a rumour, nothing else.

Boy, I'm going to have lots of work to do, prior to PLM (which fingers crossed, I might end up going to!)

[pach233]

I think it is not unreasonable to see 42-44 of the cars from that list actually coming to fruition. Probably the best field assembled for PLM. Gonn try and do everything I can to make it.

[Dauer 962]

Originally Posted by Hugewally

Postponed? 2009 has always been the main plan.

Initially they intent to run Laguna with one car as a test and of course, announced 2 cars full season in 2009

[fish88]

Awesome if the #59 Aston would come over. Even though I don't think they will contend with Corvette, just look at the speed difference at Le Mans between them.

[KA]

Originally Posted by cmk

Nigel has said that he wants to do PLM but that it is dependent on external funding sources, he won't pay for it out of pocket. Whether that is with Chamberlain or not, there has been no statement as of yet that said funding is in place.

There were some comments from Nigel in Autosport last week- as I recall, he suggested they had possible sponsors interested, but time was tight to do a deal- chances of it coming together in time were about 50/50...

[mattcat]

Any word on Charouz?