Our 'Must-See' Motorsport Event Arrives in September

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Category: Home Page Editorials

Saturday, 20 August 2011

The Series

You'll probably be aware of the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Organised by the Automobile Club l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923, it is the highlight of many a petrolhead's summer, when a quarter of a million like-minded race fans make an annual pilgrimage to mid-France. Here, the Davids and the Goliaths of world motorsport battle it out across 24 solid hours of gruelling racing around an extended circuit comprising the top half of the Le Mans Bugatti circuit, a large portion of the N138 and a number of technical perimeter roads which surround the circuit and science park.

Back in 1998, an American businessman by the name of Don Panoz licenced the name from the ACO to create a race in the US, dubbed Petit Le Mans. This formed part of an existing race series, but for the following year, the whole shebang was renamed as the American Le Mans Series, adopting the ACO's rules entirely.

Back in Europe, the ACO saw the success of the ALMS and with the failure of the FIA Sportscar Championship, decided it would do its own thing for Europe, where a lot of the manufacturer teams were based, with fewer rounds than the FIA SCC to keep costs down, and the added incentive of automatic Le Mans 24 hour entries for the winners. After a preview event in 2003, the Le Mans Endurance Series kicked off in 2004 with four 1000km races at Silverstone, Spa, Monza and the Nürburgring, expanding to five rounds from 2005.

Last year, the success of the series lead to the spin-off creation of the Intecontinental Le Mans Cup, a world championship which included a round each from ALMS and LMS, plus an additional round at Zhuhai in China. The 2011 ILMC has expanded to take in two ALMS events at Sebring and Road Atlanta, three LMS events at Spa, Imola and Silverstone, plus Zhuhai and the 24hrs of Le Mans itself.

The Cars

The 1000km LMS races, like the 24hrs, are open to cars in two GT classes and two Prototype classes.

LM P1 is the top class, intended for manufacturer teams aiming for outright wins. Prototypes are pure-bred racing cars designed to the limits of the series rulebook and, as the name suggests, do not need to be based on any road-going version. There is a minimum weight limit of 900kg and naturally aspirated engines up to 3.4 litres or forced induction engines up to 2 litres. Diesel engines up to 3.7 litres are also eligible and have been the runaway success story of recent times at Le Mans with Audi and Peugeot factory teams dominating proceedings.

LM P2, intended for privateer teams, offers a slightly lower budget entry as engines must be production-based. The 900kg limit remains and petrol engines up to 5 litres (N/A) or 3.2 litres (FI) with a maximum of 8 cylinders are allowed.

Both LMP categories allow either open or closed cockpits and, due to rules still in place from earlier Le Mans regulations, most be designed for two people, preventing single centre-seat configurations.

LM GTE is divided into two classes - Pro and Am - based on driver classification. The cars are based on road-going supercars, with the series currently dominated by Ferrari 458 and Porsche 997 RSRs. Previously, there were GT1 and GT2 classes, but the ACO has focused entirely on GT2 cars in all of its series from 2011-2013, while the FIA GT series now serves only the GT1s. The LM GTE Pro class is the domain of the professional teams with no restrictions placed on drivers, while GTE Am teams must enter cars which are at least one year old - Ferrari 430s instead of 458s here - and may have only one Platinum or Gold rated driver in their lineup. This class structure effectively creates a market for 'used' GT cars, making the series furthermore financially viable for teams.

1000km Silverstone

As the only opportunity to see the latest prototypes racing on UK soil, the event at Silverstone is one of the 'must-see' events of the motorsport season. Audi and Peugeot will be fighting for overall honours, and Aston Martin will be back in the mix with its LMP1 after a disappointing outing at Le Mans in June.

The circuit is opening up its camp sites and hoping to create an atmosphere to rival the magic of the famous 24 hours as the cars battle it out on the recently extended Arena GP circuit. And quite a battle it should be - this years Le Mans 24 hours was, in every class, one of the closest ever. That there are points up for grabs in both LMS and ILMC, and that incentive of a 24hrs entry for the top two teams in each class should spur everyone on for more of the same.

If that's not enough, support races include the F3 EuroSeries, Speed EuroSeries and a huge entry of magnificent 60s and 70s machinery in the Classic Endurance Series which is sure to impress.

Tickets can be booked directly from the Silverstone website at www.silverstone.co.uk and we think the £29 for a weekend ticket will be money very well spent indeed.

View images from last year's Le Mans Series 1000km race at Silverstone.