1000km Monza Preview

The arrival of Peugeot Sport will not prevent us to follow Pescarolo Sport’s fights with great interest – with two Le Mans Series titles in the pocket the team will do anything in their power to prolong their success.

Other loyal teams, newcomers or regular contenders, will be participants in a first class show. The highly motivated privateer teams are not impressed by its factory-backed rivals and will certainly take up the challenge to compete for victory.

As 2006 was the end of the ‘hybrid prototypes’, 2007 will be the year of new prototypes. Eight new cars can be found in "LM"P1 and four new cars in "LM"P2 – all meeting the new ACO regulations. Once again, let's quote Henri Pescarolo, who has reached a turning point by becoming a manufacturer. Actually, four Pescarolos will take part in the season: two on Henri's team side, another one under Rollcentre's banner, and the last one, in "LM"P2, with Kruse Motorsport.

In the prototype class the battle will be fierce – the Peugeot 908 has shown its ability to be fast. But will it be reliable? Will the Peugeot team be able to complete the 6 hour race or will they fight against the clock?

Pescarolo is keen to beat his own record with a third title, whereas the three Lola’s will certainly fight each other. Actually, the three Lola’s are all equipped with a different engine – the AER fitted Lola showed good results at Paul Ricard, whereas the Judd powered Lola amazed everyone. And finally, the Audi powered Swiss Spirit Lola’s, will certainly show their performance on the track.

In the "LM"P2 category, with no less than 6 different chassis, it is all about variety. Many "LM"P2 teams seem to have preferred to further improve their cars during the winter, as 6 of the cars competed in the Le Mans Series last year can be seen back on the 2007 grids. In this category, where the teams continuously improve the performance of their cars, it is hard to appoint one or two favourite teams in the dawn of the season.

Among the "LM"GT1 competitors, 3 teams will certainly fight tooth and nail for victory. Larbre Competition, Oreca and Luc Alphand Aventures are all possible candidates to claim victory at the end of this season. Jack Leconte's team is determined to claim their eighth consecutive title, whereas Luc Alphand will want to similar results as victory in Le Mans last year.

Oreca, with their Saleen S7-R, can be confident also after successfully completing a 24-hour test run at Paul Ricard last weekend. It should be noted that the only lady competing in this seasons the Le Mans Series will be behind the wheel of the "LM"GT1 Team Modena Aston Martin. Liz Halliday, an American Le Mans Series' regular, who already drove the DBR9 at Sebring, will be on the starting grid at Monza.

The "LM"GT2 field has both increased in quantity and quality. With 16 cars and 5 different models, this category is likely to surprise the spectators. Porsche and Ferrari will of course fight each other but under control from both Panoz and Spyker.

To be noted: Team Felbermayr Proton has again brought together the victorious 2005 crew Marc Lieb and Xavier Pompidou. The pressure will be enormous at Monza.

Actually the three last "LM"GT2 cars, entering for the full season, will not be qualified to enter the Spanish round as only 46 cars can be accepted on the racetrack. This will be the guarantee of an interesting fight, especially with Spyker Squadron eagerly aiming to win its first endurance race.

Each of the Le Mans Series appointments, from April to November, from Monza to Interlagos will without doubt add new pages to the endurance motor racing history book.

-Marine Allainguillaume -