2007 Le Mans Entry List

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GTP_Royalton
Brief commentary

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/alms/35656/

Full list

http://www.lemans.org/mailing/2007/02_27_invites/datas/jt2007_liste_invites.pdf

Highlights

- 55 cars will start, up from 50 last year
- 16 LMP1 cars (12 last year)
- 3 Audi R10s (2 last year)
- 3 Pescarolo Judds
- 2 Peugeot 908s
- 6 Aston Martin DBR9s (4 last year)
- 4 Corvettes (3 last year)
- 2 Saleens (1 last year), a Ferrari 550 and Lamborghini in GT1

This is shaping up to be the best Le Mans race since 1999

Only thing missing is Porsche/Acura/Honda in LMP2 to give the class some more weight. I wonder how long before one of those 3 manufactures run Le Mans?
 
It is a real shame the Hondas and Porsches are not competing in LMP2. I thought that now Porsche are supplying customer Spyders we might see one at LeMans too.

I think that the 2007 24hours is shaping up to become a hell of a race 👍
 
TheCracker
The ACO won't let the MC12 to compete at Le Mans because it's longer and wider than the regulations allow.
Click to expand...

Yet they were invited to race by ACO. I read a while back that Vitaphone Racing Team was hoping that they could use the Maseratis. Would´ve been a nice addition, that´s for sure.
And even if that particular car is banned, Vitaphone could´ve entered something else, I believe. Obviously they didn´t.

The LMP2 Porsches are a dissapointment though. I had pretty high hopes for LMP2, with the Porsches and possibly Acura engined cars going up against the Radical SR9 and the rest.

Edit: Found this on the official Le Mans site:

Entrants who have not confirmed their participation are:

- Penske Racing, despite the two official entries allocated to the Porsche RS Spyders in the American Le Mans Series,
- Vitaphone Racing Team, with one place awarded following the Maserati MC 12’s victory in the 2006 FIA GT Championship.
 
Team666
Yet they were invited to race by ACO. I read a while back that Vitaphone Racing Team was hoping that they could use the Maseratis. Would´ve been a nice addition, that´s for sure.
And even if that particular car is banned, Vitaphone could´ve entered something else, I believe. Obviously they didn´t.

The LMP2 Porsches are a dissapointment though. I had pretty high hopes for LMP2, with the Porsches and possibly Acura engined cars going up against the Radical SR9 and the rest.

Edit: Found this on the official Le Mans site:

Entrants who have not confirmed their participation are:

- Penske Racing, despite the two official entries allocated to the Porsche RS Spyders in the American Le Mans Series,
- Vitaphone Racing Team, with one place awarded following the Maserati MC 12’s victory in the 2006 FIA GT Championship.
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed for both Penske & Vitaphone then 👍
 
I'm confused as to why Roger (Penske) would take up the challenge of the American Le Mans series as Porsche's go-to-guy if he didn't want to do Le Mans. Of course, Roger generally does things his way. Also, did you guys hear that the great Ron Fellows will only run the endurance events for Corvette in the 3 car this year. Jan "the bad---" Magnussen will be taking Ron's full time seat alongside the great Johnny O'Connel. The four car IMO has the stongest line-up of drivers with the two Olivers (Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta) as well as Max Papis for the enduros. I see another Le Mans win, and another ALMS championship for the four team. Although Johnny and Jan (the two Johns or does Jan translate to something else?) aren't going down without a fight. How much of a fight will Corvette allow? ALSO Champ Car Atlantic standout David Martinez will get a ride in the Lowes-Fernandez Acura at Sebring (at least). Seeing everyone's disappointment on the list so far, 2006 and 2007 have been, and will be preludes to a colossal battle next year.

m.piedgros
 
Team666
Yet they were invited to race by ACO. I read a while back that Vitaphone Racing Team was hoping that they could use the Maseratis. Would´ve been a nice addition, that´s for sure.
And even if that particular car is banned, Vitaphone could´ve entered something else, I believe. Obviously they didn´t.

The LMP2 Porsches are a dissapointment though. I had pretty high hopes for LMP2, with the Porsches and possibly Acura engined cars going up against the Radical SR9 and the rest.

Edit: Found this on the official Le Mans site:

Entrants who have not confirmed their participation are:

- Penske Racing, despite the two official entries allocated to the Porsche RS Spyders in the American Le Mans Series,
- Vitaphone Racing Team, with one place awarded following the Maserati MC 12’s victory in the 2006 FIA GT Championship.
Click to expand...

Vitaphone Racing Team has an invitation, but they can't enter their Maserati MC12.
 
Roger Penske is 100% for going to Le Mans IF the cars are ready. He has a new chassis to work with this year, and is unsure of its durability. Le Mans is expensive for American based teams, and with Road America being our only truly high-speed road course the cars are not optimized for a track like the Circuit de la Sarthe.

It's much the same reason why Dyson wouldn't take the Lola B01/60's: Too expensive to fly the team out to Le Mans from their shops in America, only to break in less than 4 hours on track.

As of right now, the Spyders are practically an ALMS exclusive. Porsche very specifically wants the Spyder to take the same role as the 956/962 did during the GTP era; a widely-used competitive customer car. Porsche really has no interest in a factory program in LMP2. Just an interest in selling cars.

Acura doesn't have any standing for an invitation since this is their first year of competition. They haven't earned it.

We'll see what happens in 2008, but for 2007 we have standard operating procedure. I don't have high hopes for the Peugeot 908's (seem a little behind the development curve with far too little testing miles) and it's already been proven that the R10 cannot be beaten with conventional privateer means. The closest to a factory effort we have in LMP2 is the Bruichladdich Radical, and really the front runners are RML and Binnie's proven Lolas in that class. Corvette versus Aston Martin. Yawn. Seen it. GT2 is really the only shakeup with Ferrari's new dominance.

Quite honestly, the individual series - LMS and ALMS - are much more interesting to me than the 24 Hours this year.

And here's a good one, anyone care to explain why JLOC is the only JLMC team to receive an invite? Way to back your series, ACO pricks.
 
Really surprised they would release the full list now. I was expecting a partial list, but this is really a surprise.

LMP1: The LMS entry list with three Audis added. Pleasantly surprised the Zytek got in even though it's still being built. The ACO don't normally do that for non-French teams. ;) Interesting to see how the Swiss Spirit Lola-Audi stacks up against the rest, putting the diesel vs. petrol comparison at center stage.

LMP2: All the main LMS players, minus Horag. I doubt there will be a second Barazi Zytek. I think that was one of the biggest surprises, but I just don't think that will ever show up. But if it does, with that classic Gulf livery, it will be one of the best-looking cars out there. Also, I wonder if that Rollcentre Radical entry will be a DAMAX entry, as they have recently purchased the SR9.

GT1: Factory Corvettes against factory Aston Martins, with a lot of really good field-filler. Can't wait to see how ORECA stacks up against them. The Lambo is just a no-hoper. A beautiful looking and sounding no-hoper. Surprised to see this class have so many entries, considering ALMS and LMS are hurting for GT1 cars.
Also, call me anal retentive, but I really don't like the 00x numbers on the Aston Martins. Sure, it was cute the first time they did it, but it's really getting annoying now. Yes, James Bond drove an Aston. We get it. Get over yourselves.

GT2: I don't understand the ACO. They increase the size of the field, but they reduce the number of GT2 cars, the class that has WAAAAY more entries than any other and some of the best racing. I will say this, they do have a lot of diversity. Two Panozes (Panii?), two Spykers, only four Porsche 997s (?) and five Ferraris. Good to see Flying Lizard, White Lightning and Risi in there. However, one of the Risi cars at Sebring has Tracy Krohn in it, so I wonder if the same will happen at Le Mans.

I'm trying to find out which cars didn't make the cut, which for me is almost as interesting as the ones who did make it. They chose 63 cars (55 plus 8 reserves) out of 76 applicants, so that means 13 didn't make it. So far I have:
- Tafel Racing Porsche GT2
- James Watt Automotive Porsche GT2
- Petersen/White Lightning Ferrari GT2
- ProSport Porsche GT2 (also rejected for LMS entry list)
- second Saulnier Racing Courage-AER LMP2
- Horag Lola LMP2? - did they apply?
- Lavaggi LMP1? - did they apply?
Anyone know of any others?
 
Vitaphone got an automatic entry for winning the FIA GT1 class last year. Since, as others have said, their Maserati was illegal for ACO racing, they could have switched to another car for Le Mans and there were rumors of everything from a Pescarolo P1 to a Ferrari GT2. But in the end, they decided not to take up the entry.

Acura weren't planning on going to Le Mans this year. (I think they would have gotten in if they had applied for an entry. Hell, most of the Prototype field haven't turned a wheel yet.) They were talking about maybe going next year, with a P1 project coming in 2009. Can't wait.

Penske have said that Porsche would have to foot the bill for a Le Mans entry, and since Porsche are unhappy with the diesel rules as they stand now, don't look for a Porsche Le Mans entry until it's changed. (With Audi and Peugeot pushing each other this year, the huge disparity between diesel and petrol cars will show itself and the rules will be changed for next year. Bank on it.)

As for the JLMC cars, I can't imagine too many others (in an already small field) that would have applied for an entry. In P1, the Zytek is not eligible and I'm pretty sure M-Tech didn't file an entry for their Courage-Mugen (they would have gotten in). The only other GT1 car is the Hitotsuyama Ferrari and I'm also pretty sure they didn't file an entry. As for the few Porsches in GT2, I don't know if any filed an entry. And the ACO have said the 2008(?) winner gets an entry for the next LM24. Hopefully, with the Acura/Mazda involvement, that series will be able to take off.
 
TheCracker
I think that the 2007 24hours is shaping up to become a hell of a race 👍
Click to expand...

I hope so. I'm going. Good to see Creation there again and hopefully the Peugeot will sound better than the Audis but at least there will be loads of other cars making insane noise just in case.
 
Sportscar_Rob
I have no idea if they did. But an entry for this bucket of bolts would have caused quite a stir I guess. Lets see if they even finish the LMS season with their GT2 challenger :sly:
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I haven't paid much attention to this car, aside from looking at a few launch photos, but how far off the pace are they?
 
dougiemeats
I haven't paid much attention to this car, aside from looking at a few launch photos, but how far off the pace are they?
Click to expand...

Well terribly of the pace really. The first race at Jarama last year was a complete writeoff due to engine problems. They had the same problems at the official LMS test too.

It looks like they would have been better of with a Judd or AER engine. The Ford seems to be way to complex for this rather small team. Add in a new and undeveloped chassis and you have lots of work.
 

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