DUBAI 24 SET TO ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK

All the transport containers have been placed in the paddock of the Dubai Autodrome, all the drivers and team members are flying in from all over the world: this week, the 2012 motor racing season officially gets underway with the seventh running of the Dunlop 24H DUBAI, No less than 20 car brands will be present on the grid for this year?s Dunlop 24H DUBAI, the first international endurance race of the year for GTs, touring cars and 24H specials.

PEUGEOT ON TOP AGAIN IN ZHUHAI LE MANS FINAL

<strong>Peugeot have kept their recent edge on Audi alaive with a one, two in qulifying for tomorrow's 6 hour race at Zuhai in China.</strong> Anthony Davidson set a fast lap of 1:22;038 to edge out team-mate Stephane Sarrazin and the Audi pair of Tom Kristensen and Macel Fassler. Neel Jarni in the rebellion Toyota was the quickest of the petrol cars in fourth place just ahead of the Oak Pescarolo Judd of Neel Jarni. Stefan Mucke had a dissapointing run in the Aston Martin and will start back in seventh place.

AUDI ON POLE AS ALENCON LOCAL WEAVES HIS MAGIC

Audi will start this weekend's Le Mans 24 hour race from pole with local driver Benoit Treluyer setting the quickest time in an exciting final qualifying session. Treluyer, from the town of Alencon, 50 minutes north of the track, took advantage of a relatively clear track to record a time of 3m25.799s to take the coveted pole. "I am very happy. I just really realise now that it is just fantastic for me." he said/ "I was born so close to here and the 24 Hours is such a challenge and I was not even thinking about the pole position and then I did and it is just fantastic." Alongside Treluyer on the front row will be his team mate Romain Dumas who held out the Peugeot of Simon Pagenaud, Sebastien Bourdais and Pedro Lamy. "The car was quick" said Dumas, "but unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a perfect lap. The first row for Audi - that is very nice and shows clearly that we are competitive. We were fast with new tires and old tires and that is a good sign for the race." Pagenaud looked set to challenge for the pole but traffic held him up on for several laps and he was forced to settle for third place. Wednesday's provisional pole winner Stephane Sarrazin was also hampered by traffic and could only manage fourth for and all Peugeot second row. Dindo Cappello, Alan McNish and seven time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen were next in their Audi R18 alongside the Marc Gene, Alex Wurz and Anthony Davidson Peugeot.

LE MANS DAY 1: Peugeot pounce on provisional pole

Just when it looked like Audi was set to dominate practice & qualifying fir the 2011 Le Mans 24 hours, along came Stephane Sarrazin. With half an hour of the first session remaining, Sarrazin grabbed provisional pole position with a lap of 3’27’’033. And with a strong chance of rain for tonight's final session it may well be good enough to give Peugeot the coveted pole position. Earlier in the day Audi dominated the opening practice session with all three R18s at the top of the time sheets. The team, which had set the fastest times in the April test session looked set to continue it's advantage over the Peugeot but that was until Sarrazin's last minute charge.

LISTEN TO LE MANS LIVE

It’s become a Le Mans tradition, Radio Le Mans which started as a small project to give the vast army of British fans something to listen to has since developed into the International voice of Sportscar Racing. Once again John Hindaugh and the team will be on hand at Le Mans all week to give you [...]

ALMS TV DEAL ANGERS FANS

The American Le Mans Series have announced a new, multi-year broadcast and digital agreement that will end live television broadcast coverage of their events. ALMS President/CEO Scott Atherton said that the new deal with ABC/ESPN was “a game changer.” however many fans are angry that live event coverage will only be available on-line and in the United States. The new broadcast and digital package will see only delayed television coverage either on ABC or ESPN2. ABC will feature race telecast coverage on March 20 after the 59th running of the prestigious Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with remaining ABC broadcasts featuring Road America (August), Baltimore (September) and the season-ending Petit Le Mans (October). ESPN2 will feature the American Le Mans Series in delayed two-hour telecasts from Long Beach (April), Lime Rock and Mosport (July), Mid-Ohio (August) and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (September). All four ABC race telecasts will receive an encore airing on ESPN2 as part of the new agreement. In a U.S. motorsports first, all ALMS races will be carried ‘live’ in their entirety and fully produced on ESPN3.com, ESPN’s signature broadband sports network. The network is currently available in more than 65 million households nationwide in the U.S. at no additional cost to users who receive their Internet connection or cable TV video subscription from an affiliated provider. Customers of an affiliated service provider will also be able to watch the Series live via an ESPN3.com pop-off player on americanlemans.com and Xbox LIVE Gold. This restriction means no coverage for many U.S homes and no live International coverage as ESPN3 is only available in the United States.

AUDI STRIKE BACK WITH SILVERSTONE POLE

Audi have struck back as popular Scottish driver Alan McNish takes pole for the Autosport 1000 kms at Silverstone, first round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Both Audi R15+ TDI cars will start into the 1000-kilometre race at Silverstone (Great Britain) from the front row. McNish and his Joest Racing Audi team again showed their tactical superiority over arch rivals Peugeot, timing their run at pole perfectly to take full advantage of the best conditions in Saturday's Qualifying session. “The car had a good balance and the engineers know the track well, except the new part. What can I say? That I am very happy to be on pole!” said McNish. Fellow Audi driver Timo Bernhard will start alongside McNish with the best of the Peugeots, the car of Nicolas Minassian and local hero Anthony Davidson next, over a second of the pole time. "My car was quick through the fast corners, but I lacked a little grip and suffered from understeer through the tighter turns. I span at the start of my first flying lap. My tyres didn't suffer, but then I found myself in traffic. The balance of the car isn't at all bad, though, and I am confident for the race," Minassian said.

PEUGEOT STRIKE BACK AT SILVERSTONE

Audi may have drawn first blood at Silverstone with the fastest time in P1 but at the end of the day it was Peugeot sitting on top of the timing sheets. Nicolas Minassian blasted his Peugeot 908 HDi FAP around the revamped Silverstone circuit to finish Friday's practice more than a second faster than the Oreca team Peugeot in the hands of Nicolas Lapierre. Despite improving on his morning time with a  1:45:78, Alan McNish in the Audi could only manage third place. Dindo Capello in the second of the Audi R15+ cars was next just ahead of the first of the "petrol" fuelled machines the Rebellion Racing Lola of Belicchi/Boullion edging out the Aston Martin of Barazi/Hancock/Mucke in the fight for the unofficial non-diesel class.

SEE & HEAR (or not as the case may be) THE CITROEN SURVOLT

LE MANS CLASSIC LOOKS TO THE ELECTRIC FUTURE

The Le Mans classic is a bi-annual event featuring a stunning collection of classic sportscars from Le Mans legendary past. But this year, the classic will see the on-track debut of what many believe will be the racecar of tomorrow. French manufacturer Citroen will debut the "racing" version of it's Citroen's all-electric concept car, The Survolt. Appropriately the car will be driven by one of the most famous surnames in all Le Mans history.  Vanina Ickx, daughter of multiple Le Mans winner (and one time Bathurst winner) Jacky Ickx will be behind the wheel of the new car when it makes it's international on-track debut.