inpitlane.com | Tag Archive

PEUGEOT POWERS BACK IN PORTUGAL

Sunday, July 18, 2010

After playing second fiddle to the Peugeot factory team for most of 2010, the Oreca Peugeot team of Stephane Sarrazin, Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre have won the Algarve 1000 kms in Portugal, the third round of the 2010 Le Mans Series. It was a dominant performance by the works assisted team, winning the race by five laps after starting from pole. "It's good to win!." said Sarrazin after the race. "The team did a super job. We were under a little pressure but we did what we had to. The refuelling stops were excellent and we dove the right kind of race - a good pace and no mistakes. It's also worth underling the way the team's matured since the Le Castellet 8 Hours. I'm delighted to taste the joys of victory again." Second place went to the Rebellion Racing Lola of Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani, It was a great performance by the team who drove their way through the field after starting the race in last place. Aston Martin was third today with Team Signature coming back strong after the retirement at Le Mans. The third place was also a great result for Vanina Ickx who shared the drive with Pierre Ragues and Franck Mailleux.

NEW RULES FOR A CLEANER, GREENER LE MANS FUTURE

Thursday, June 10, 2010

0 Comments

NEW RULES FOR A CLEANER, GREENER LE MANS FUTURE

Cleaner, Greener, More Quiet. Welcome to motorsport in the 21st century. The Automobile Club de la Ouest (ACO) have unveiled the regulations for the 2011 Le Mans 24 hour race and associated series. According to the ACO the new rules have been drawn up in the context of sustainable development and respect for the environment. The ACO and the motor industry have concentrated on two aspects that are crucially important from their point of view: • An endurance race like the Le Mans 24 Hours must enable entrants to test new technologies. • The focus of the Le Mans 24 Hours must be aimed even more strongly towards both the reduction of CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. The most noticeable change will be new rules to both control and encourage energy recovery systems. Under the new rules the recovery and release of energy will be restricted to two wheels only (front or rear axle). Energy from the system may be stored using either electrical or mechanical systems. This will no doubt please Porsche whose flywheel based William F1 designed system has already been tested and proven in last months Nurburgring 24 hour race.

PEUGEOT ON TOP ON DAY ONE AT LE MANS

Thursday, June 10, 2010

0 Comments

Peugeot dominated the time sheets after the first day of on-track action at Le Mans. The three works cars led by Sebastian Bourdais and the semi-works ORECA car set the fastest four times in qualifying with the first Audi R15+ the Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller car back in fifth place. Despite efforts by race organisers the ACO to level the playing field, diesel cars dominated with the first seven positions. Aston Martin led home the unofficial "petrol" division with the car of Mucke/Fernandez/Primat on top of the team's second car with the team of Turner/Hancock/Barazi. A surprise in P2 with the Staker HPD ARX of Watts/Kane/Leventis coming out on top of the Highcroft team HPD led by last years outright winner David Brabham.

WATCH ALMS LAGUNA SECA LIVE (& Free!)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

0 Comments

This weekend as Matthew Brabham races to try and maintain his Victorian Formula Ford Championship lead at Sandown, his Le Mans winning Uncle David, will be looking to strengthen his lead in the American Le Mans Series, at the Six hour of Monterey at Laguna Seca. The Six Hour Race at the famous circuit will be streamed live via the Internet but to receive it you will need to pre-register. Viewing is limited and spots are running out fast. To register go to www.americanlemans.com/live In Pit Lane is in no way affiliated with either the American Le Mans Series or they're streaming provider read all their conditions of service carefully. Mmm Laguna Seca overnight and Sandown all weekend, no wonder I'm so tired.

IT’S FAST, BUT IS IT ART ?

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

0 Comments

BMW have announced that the the latest addition to their famous Art Car project will race at this year’s Le Mans 24 hour race. The car, created by acclaimed modern artist Jeff Koons, is the 17th car in the project which has featured works by such artists as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and even Australia’s Ken [...]

GT1 WORLD TITLE’S GOLD COAST DISAPPOINTMENT

Monday, March 8, 2010

0 Comments

GT1 WORLD TITLE’S GOLD COAST DISAPPOINTMENT

FIA GT1 World Championship promoter Stephane Ratel has expressed his disappointment at not gaining a berth on the Gold Coast Street Race card. Speaking on Tuesday night's edition of the C31 Melbourne television show "In Pit Lane" Mr Ratel said that Australia had always been an important part in his plans for the World Championship and he was disappointed that his proposal to be a part of the Gold Coast event had been refused. " We had a big ambition to launch the Championship on all five continents." he said. "I visited Australia twice in the last couple of years... I had a lot of hopes that something would come together and the last one was to join Surfers Paradise, but as you know... they finally decided to do V8's (V8 Supercars) only." Mr Ratel believes that the new World Championship would have been a considerable asset to the event bringing International glamour, media attention and corporate support to the race. "I personally think that we are an excellent fit for any big event in Australia." he said.

SENSATIONAL SARRAZIN AS PEUGEOT TAKES LE MANS POLE

Friday, June 12, 2009

0 Comments

Peugeot will start the 2009 Le Mans 24 hour race from pole following a sensational last gasp qualifying lap by Stephane Sarrazin. Audi looked set to take pole after dominating free practice Wednesday evening with Allan McNish setting the fastest time. But as the clock headed to the midnight close of session Sarrazin reeled off a spectacular 3m22.888s just seven tenths quicker than McNish to give the French Automaker it's third straight pole position. The McNish Audi breaks up a Peugeot dominated front grid. The car of Nicolas Minassion. Pedro Lamy and Christian Klein will start from their ahead of the “borrowed” Peugeot of the Pescarollo team led by Jean-Christophe Boullion. Australia's David Brabham will start from fifth place thanks to a fast lap from Marc Gene, they'll start alongside the second Audi led by Marco Werner. The third Audi of Bernhard, Dumas and Premat will start out of position number seven with the Lola/Aston-Martin of Charouz, Enge and Mucke the fastest of the petrol powered cars in eighth place. Aston Martin rounds out the top ten with the Davidson, Turner and Verstappen car just in front of Jarni, Belichi and Prost. Danish driver Casper Elgaard won pole in LM P2 with the Essex Porsche RS Spyder just ahead of the other RS Spyder, of the Japanese Navi team Goh. Third in LM P2 is the Speedy Racing/Team Sebah Lola Judd. As expected Corvette dominated the dwindling GT1 field with Jan Magnussen leading the category at the wheel of the #63 Corvette. The two GM works cars easily lead the class, outpacing the #66 Jet Alliance Aston Martin by over two seconds. Porsche won the first battle with Ferrari in GT2 as the American based Flying Lizard team took their first pole at Le Mans. The famous red and silver Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Jorg Bergmeister won pole with a best lap at 4.03.202. The 2008 champions the Risi Competizione Ferrari team is third, after being overtaken by another Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, the #77 car of the Felbermayr Proton racing team. Australian based Danish driver Alan Simonsen will start out of position number 47 in his Ferrari 430 GT2. The Le Mans 24 begins Saturday at 3.00 p.m. local time, Australian viewers can watch the start live on ONE HD from 10.30 p.m. Radio Le Mans is broadcasting live at www.radiolemans.com . Macintosh users having trouble accessing this feed should install VLC player and go direct to mms://mercury.radica.com/radioshowltd or mms://venus.radica.com/radioshowltd .

ASIAN LE MANS SERIES CONFIRMED

Sunday, May 10, 2009

0 Comments

Great news for fans of sports prototype & GT racing with the news that the innaugural Asian Le Mans Series scheduled for later this year will go ahead. Speaking at the Spa 100KMs race the ACO announced an official entry list of 31 cars for the events which will take place at Okayama Japan and the Shanghai International circuit in China. Among the 8 LMP1s, a 6-sided battle looks on the cards between the Sora-Racing Pescarolo Sport Peugeot HDi FAP 908, the 2 Courage Oreca AIMs entered by the Team ORECA Matmut AIM, the 2 Sora Racing Pescarolo Judds, the Speedy Racing Team Sebah’s Lola Aston Martin without forgetting the Signature Plus Courage Judd and the Tokai University Courage Oreca YGH Power, which will seize any opportunity that comes their way. The attraction for many of the smaller teams is the prize of automatic selection for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours for the winners of the LM P1, LM P2, LM GT1 and LM GT2 categories.

ACURA ON POLE IN SEBRING THRILLER

Friday, March 20, 2009

0 Comments

New Zealand driver Scott Dixon gave Acura/Honda a dream LMP1 debut with a stunning final-lap dash to take pole position for Saturday’s 57th annual 12 Hours of Sebring. Dixon, the defending Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion, made his first Sebring race appearance quite notable by driving the all-new No. 66 de Ferran XM Radio Acura ARX-02a prototype sports car to the top position in Saturday’s grid over European challengers Audi and Peugeot. It was a big day for the Japanese manufacturer with veteran Adrian Fernandez taking his Acura to the pole in the LMP2 class. It is the first time since 2005 that a manufacturer has captured both the LMP1 and LMP2 pole positions in the same event. This weekend marks Acura’s debut in the LMP1 class in the American Le Mans Series, after two years of competition in the LMP2 category. Acura won the LMP2 division in its initial Sebring event in 2007. Audi's new diesel powered challenger the R15 also made an impressive debut with multiple 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen in the No. 2 Audi taking second place on the grid to edge out arch rival Peugeot. Nicolas Minnasian was the fastest of the Peugeot coupes just ahead of Mike Rockenfeller's Audi and David Brabham in another of the new Acuras.

WE WILL RACE AT LE MANS: CORVETTE

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

0 Comments

Corvette have denied an Autosport magazine story that claimed the team would not be running at next the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Steve Wesoloski, Road Racing Group Manager for the General said that the current plan was that the cars would be at the classic race in next June 2009. “I can confirm that we will be in Sebring, Long Beach and Le Mans with the C6 R in GT1” he said. The program as announced at Detroit last September will include the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Long Beach ALMS round and finally the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mr Wesoloski did say however that “for several reasons, primarily to preserve our budget, we will not be present at the Winter Test of the ALMS” The ALMS Corvette program in GT2 is also at this stage still on track. “Project GT2 is in hand, with the objective of beginning in Mid-Ohio” he said. Of course all of this could be dependent on their still being a General Motors come 2009. With Audi, Porsche, Acura and now Chevrolet all cutting back their ALMS programmes, the 2009 season will be a very different landscape from the one we saw in 2008.