Le Mans '15: 14 LMP1s, 20 LMP2s, no Viper

"Fred (FreddsterExprs)" (freddsterexprs) 02/05/2015 at 10:47 • Filed to: None

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Le Mans lords ACO today held a presentation regarding the Le Mans starting list. 56 grid spots are handed out each year, and demand was high.

LMP1 had no actual surprises on offer. Nissan, Porsche and Audi each run three cars, Toyota kept it at two. The former Lotus P1 is now called ByKolles and will face two now AER-powered Rebellion R-Ones. Nissan so far only announced four drivers, so another five will get their chance. Oh, and Porsche filled their third car with youngsters, not F1 pilots.

1 - Toyota - Toyota TS040 Hybrid - Buemi/Davidson/Nakajima

2 - Toyota - Toyota TS040 Hybrid - Wurz/Sarrazin/Conway

4 - ByKolles - CLM P1/01 AER - Trummer

7 - Audi - Audi R18 e-tron quattro - Lotterer/Fässler/Treluyer

8 - Audi - Audi R18 e-tron quattro - Duval/di Grassi/Jarvis

9 - Audi - Audi R18 e-tron quattro - Bonanomi/Albuquerque/Rast

12 - Rebellion - Rebellion R-One AER - Prost

13 - Rebellion - Rebellion R-One AER - Beche

17 - Porsche - Porsche 919 Hybrid - Webber/Bernhard/Hartley

18 - Porsche - Porsche 919 Hybrid - Jani/Lieb/Dumas

19 - Porsche - Porsche 919 Hybrid - Hülkenberg/Tandy/Bamber

21 - Nissan - Nissan GT-R LM Nismo - Matsuda

22 - Nissan - Nissan GT-R LM Nismo - Tincknell

23 - Nissan - Nissan GT-R LM Nismo - Pla

LMP2 turned out to be the huge field it was expected to be: 20 cars, all very equal in performance. Winning this is a true accomplishment, it will probably come down the the skills of the paying amateur drivers. Former ALMS and TUSC participants Krohn and ESM are part of the show, too.

26 - G-Drive - Ligier-Nissan - Russinow

27 - SMP - BR01-Nissan - Aljoschin

28 - G-Drive - Ligier- Nissan - Yacaman

29 - Pegasus - Morgan-Nissan - Roussel

30 - ESM - HPD-Honda - Sharp

31 - ESM - HPD-Honda - Brown

34 - Oak - Ligier-Nissan - Tung

35 - Oak - Ligier-Nissan - Nicolet

36 - Signatech-Alipe - Alpine-Nissan - Panciatici

37 - SMP - BR01-Nissan - Mediani

38 - Jota - Gibson-Nissan - Dolan

39 - SARD-Morand - Morgan-SARD - Klien

40 - Krohn - Ligier-Judd - Krohn

41 - Greaves - Gibson-Nissan - Mowlem

42 - Strakka - Dome-Nissan - Leventis

43 - SARD-Morand - Morgan-SARD - Ragues

45 - Ibanez - Oreca-Nissan - Ibanez

46 - TDS - Oreca-Nissan - Thiriet

47 - KCMG - Oreca-Nissan - Howson

48 - Murphy - Oreca-Nissan - Murphy

GTE-Pro is going to be the tight battle it always is (unless the Astons get crazy BoP waivers again). It's essentially the WEC participants combined with the Corvettes.

51 - AF Corse - Ferrari 458 Italia - Bruni/Vilander

63 - Corvette - Corvette C7.R - Magnussen/Garcia/Briscoe

64 - Corvette - Corvette C7.R - Gavin/Taylor/Milner

71 - AF Corse - Ferrari 458 Italia - Rigon/Calado

91 - Porsche AG - Porsche 911 RSR - Lietz/Christensen/Bergmeister

92 - Porsche AG - Porsche 911 RSR - Pilet/Makowiecki/Henzler

95 - Aston Martin - Aston Martin Vantage - Sörensen/Thiim/Nygaard

97 - Aston Martin - Aston Martin Vantage - Mücke/Turner

99 - Aston Martin - Aston Martin Vantage - Rees

GTE-Am is a paydriver festival. Dempsey is there again, and so are a bunch of 458s that will definitely crash into P1 cars. It's a rule of WEC racing.

50 - Larbre - Corvette - Roda

55 - AF Corse - Ferrari 458 Italia - Cameron

61 - AF Corse - Ferrari 458 Italia - Mann

62 - Scuderia Corsa - Ferrari 458 Italia - Sweedler

66 - JMW - Ferrari 458 Italia - Richardson

67 - Team AAI - Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Chen

68 - Team AAI - Porsche 911 GT3 RSR - Chen

72 - SMP - Ferrari 458 Italia - Shaitar

77 - Dempsey-Proton - Porsche 911 RSR - Dempsey

83 - AF Corse - Ferrari 458 Italia - Perrodo

88 - Proton - Porsche 911 RSR - Ried

96 - Aston Martin - Aston Martin Vantage - Goethe

98 - Aston Martin - Aston Martin Vantage - Dalla Lana

Usually, some of the entrants drop out for one reason or another: missing finance, crashes that destroy the car, inability to find drivers. As soon as one of the invitations is not taken, the Riley Viper is the first one to take over a spot, either in GTE-Am or GTE-Pro.

daender > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 02/05/2015 at 10:51

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My body is ready for this year's race.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 02/05/2015 at 10:52

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I'm hearing that Nick Tandy has already crashed into someone due to being a fucking idiot.

Can you confirm this?

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 02/05/2015 at 10:53

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Yep. He's not an idiot, he's wild and fast. Think Pastor Maldonado but better.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 02/05/2015 at 10:55

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No factory vipers makes me a sad panda. Can't wait till next year when the new Ford GT enters.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 02/05/2015 at 10:56

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That's the real tragedy: we were so, so close to seeing the big three all enter in the same race, in the same category. So close.

StingrayJake > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 02/05/2015 at 10:58

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Surely the Riley Viper would be in the Am class. It's not (officially) a works team. Then again, GTE regs are more like GTLM than the GTD car they're running in the TUSC.

472CID > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 02/05/2015 at 10:59

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It's pretty cool to see 4 major players in LMP1, I don't think that's happened in a looong time. The GT line up looks strong, but it'd be nice to see a little more variety.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > StingrayJake 02/05/2015 at 11:00

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You can very well be a private team running in the GTE Pro class. It all depends on the mix of drivers. Full professional = Pro, pay drivers + pros = Am. Last year a Porsche Am team had a heavy crash in practice which took their only paydriver out of participation. They were upgraded to Pro and ran there, albeit without any chance.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > 472CID 02/05/2015 at 11:03

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Last time would be 1999 I guess, before everyone vanished to F1. Mercedes, Toyota, BMW, Audi, Nissan.

StingrayJake > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 02/05/2015 at 11:10

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I see

burntartichoke > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 02/05/2015 at 11:54

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I know its not going to finish but I am stoked for the Lotus in P1

And is there no invite for the MSR Ligier?

Wheelerguy > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 02/05/2015 at 12:39

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Super Smash Bros. 4 is indeed very proud with this lineup.

Now the curious numbers...

Who's the Magnussen in the 'Vette-63 lineup? Kevin's brother?

Are you kidding me Hulkenberg got Alonso's seat?! That's cool! Wait, is that Nico Hulkenberg, even?

I'm pretty surprised about the relative evenness of the engine selection in the P2's.

SIX 458's in the Am class. I never thought they'd be the cheaper-to-run cars. I've always thought it's the Porsches.

That signboard illustration at the top left corner. Good job, actually.

At last, Rebellion's got an actual challenge.

And lastly...

I've got like 6 dozens of those hype thrusters, all for just $60,000.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > burntartichoke 02/05/2015 at 12:41

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They haven't won anything and therefore haven't earned an invite.

burntartichoke > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 02/05/2015 at 12:54

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They won the best livery! Did the Wayne Taylor Racing invite go to anyone else?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > burntartichoke 02/05/2015 at 13:07

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Possibly Krohn

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > Wheelerguy 02/05/2015 at 13:47

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1. His daddy who was incredibly talented, but a lazy smoker. Didn't make it in F1.

2. Yep, Nico, the F1 Pilot. Alonso was super close to joining him, but Honda/McLaren prohibited it just before signing. Rumour has it that they didn't want Alonso's only win in 2015 to be behind the wheel of a Porsche.

3. Nissan is the cheapest, most reliable and yet fuel efficient/powerful engine out there. The Judd-BMWs are outdated, Honda a bit of a gamble.

4. Ferrari for some reason has terrible service for customer teams in GT3 but amazing service for GTE paydrivers. That's why they race them, you get the complete package from Kessel or AF Corse.

6. Rebellion will sadly miss the race in Silverstone and possibly even Spa because of the late engine change.

DrScientist > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 02/05/2015 at 14:03

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i'm loving that nissan and porsche got the prime spots on the poster over defending champ audi.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > DrScientist 02/05/2015 at 14:15

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And Toyota, the team with the best 2014 car, has been squeezed out completely.

burntartichoke > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 02/05/2015 at 15:22

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Ah yes, they did petition the ACO for an invite since they plan on running TUSC and ELMS.