The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) has announced today that 2010 will be the first year for a new competition called the International Cup that will be comprised of three races from the various Le Mans series across the world. The first year will see three races act as the cup decider with three more being added in 2011. Thus far, Silverstone, Petit Le Mans, and a TBD race from the Asian Le Mans series are on tap. What makes this news even better is the news that Audi has…
Read MoreCategory: Sports Cars
Updates on sports car racing in European Le Mans Series, World Endurance Championship, American Le Mans Series, and United SportsCar Championship
Le Mans – Highcroft and Acura 2010
While we await formal news about Acura’s factory involvement with the American Le Mans series, the Patron Highcroft team has announced they will stay with the Acura. The car they chose is the surprising part. The team has chosen to run the ARX-01C which took Fernandez racing to championship glory in 2009. The article on Autosport states the team will continue to work with Honda Performance Development, however Acura has been relatively quiet since the season ended. Highcroft racing believes that given the performance of LMP2 car at Laguna Seca,…
Read MoreLe Mans – Acura LMP2 and Europe
The Acura ARX-01b LMP2 challenger is set to make its European debut next year in the hands of the JAS Motorsports team. JAS has been a partner with Honda for the last decade and have won both touring car titles as well as rally titles under the Japanese manufacturer’s banner. The team will take the LMP2 machine into the European Le Mans series and have listed the 24 Hours of Le Mans race as an ultimate goal as well. At this time the Milan based squad will field one car…
Read MoreFeature – Germany Nations Champs!
This morning marked the start of celebrations at China’s Bird’s Nest Stadium for the annual Race of Champions event. Teams from all over the world were there in an attempt to unseat the German team comprised of seven time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher and this year’s F1 runner up Sebastian Vettel. All when home disappointed as Germany strikes again. The early stages seen the German’s in the toughest group with the likes of host nation China, Finland, Australia. The awesome duo took six of the first six races, easily…
Read MoreLe Mans – Sharp Leaves Highcroft
It was announced just a couple weeks ago that Scott Sharp would be forming his own GT2 Ferrari team to compete in the American Le Mans series; however at the time he stated he would still drive the Patron Highcroft Acura in LMP1. Funny how quickly things change. Scott announced today that he will not defend his LMP1 crown and will instead race for his private entry team known as Extreme Speed Racing. The tea is further going to expand into a two car effort with Sharp and Patron CEO…
Read MoreLe Mans – Nissan & Maserati Return
As the economic crisis continues to hurt the different Le Mans series across the globe, there is now news that the rules may change slightly to allow some GT1 cars into the field for the annual 24 hour race. Nissan and Maserati have had a long and impressive history in the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race, and they are now set to make a return under new guidance that looks to help the GT1 class and the field overall. The Autombile Club de l’Ouest will now allow…
Read MoreLe Mans – Sharp GT2 Owner
Scott Sharp has raced in Trans-Am, IndyCar, and in Le Mans competition. However, yesterday Scott announced his intentions on running a GT2 team in the American Le Mans Series. The team will be named Extreme Speed and will run the Ferrari 430 according to AUTOSPORT. This will add yet another car to the already full and highly competitive GT2 class. As far as a driver lineup you ask? Scott has already announced that Ed Brown will run in the car next year. Brown has currently been running in the GT3…
Read MoreLe Mans – Why Red Flag?
As we stated on Episode 10, the Petit Le Mans was a little more Petit than usual. There have been a number of people who have asked questions regarding the decision making process for the red flag. Like why did it take so long to end the race? They have rain tires, why did they not just keep going? Well the good folks have done what the FIA wishes it could do and has released a press statement giving some insight into why things happened the way they did last…
Read MoreLe Mans – Petit Red Flag Wrap-up
This weekend’s Petit Le Mans was to be the best race of the year for endurance racing aside from the 24 Hour event itself. The 1,000 mile/10 hour event would highlight the best teams from all over the world at Road Atlanta, but Mother Nature had other ideas. After about 4 hours of racing the heavens opened up and cut loose. Torrential rains saw the event cancelled at about the half way point with Peugeot taking a 1-2. However, don’t be fooled. The Peugeot was clearly not the best car…
Read MoreLe Mans – Peugeot Take Front Row
Qualifications for the Petit Le Mans took place this afternoon with all the focus on the Audi/Peugeot battle. The two teams did not fail in delivering a great session which acted as a sneak peek into this weekend’s epic battle. The focus was all on the P1 class and Peugeot took the first round of the fight to Audi and secured the front row out right. The Peugeot piloted by Nicolas Minassian took pole position in the 07. Franck Montagny’s #08 qualified just 0.223s behind the 07 and is ahead…
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