Motorsport News

During the upcoming build up to Le Mans, Mark Atkins has been taking us through the runners and riders continuing now onto the GTE PRO field. Corvette Racing (#64) Corvette C7 A surprising quickest GT car at the test was the Chevy Corvette, the IMSA squad making their annual trip across the Atlantic for Le Mans. This year, Audi’s Marcel Fässler returns to the team for the first time since God was a boy, I can’t recall him driving anything other than an Audi to be honest! I

In a word ' average ' is how Clearwater Racing's Matt Griffin described last nights qualifying session. The team spoke about who would start the car in relation to where they qualified. "W e spoke about different scenarios before qualifying, if we qualify in the top six I’m (Matt) going to start the race, if we qualify outside of the top 6 Weng is going to start the race… I think some sort of divine forces were in action that decided that Weng should start the race! " said

We sat down with Clearwater Racing’s Matt Griffin after Quali 1 to chat about the first 2 sessions of the week and his hopes for the final qualifying sessions, and of course the race! During practice there were struggles with over steer and a general lack of pace which had been carried through from test day, this may have been in part due to the engine: “ When we reviewed the data we saw the previous engine was quite high on mileage, when turbo engines get high on mileage

LMP2 – Formula ORECA Oh dear. If the ACO’s idea of the new cost-capped P2 formula was to balance the field and increase competitiveness then this has backfired massively. At the test day, the ORECA/Alpine chassis filled the first thirteen places, leaving the Dallara/Ligier/Riley contingent in a variety of moods from head-scratching to outright anger. As these cars are homologated up to 2020, then there is no way that any change can be made to even up the field. Therefore,

It’s June so it must be time for the annual pilgrimage to La Sarthe, the highpoint of the season for any endurance racing fan (apart from me who left it too late, again! Next year, though… Let’s take a look at the runners & riders who will be competing in the 85th Grand Prix d’Endurance: LMP1 – is 3 better than 2? The smallest category, with only 6 cars only one of which is not a hybrid. However, it’s from this class that the overall winner is likely to emerge, barring so

The week of Le Mans kicks off on Sunday 11th and Monday 12th of June with scrutineering and administrative checks or "Pesage" in the traditional location of the Place de la République in the town centre of Le Mans. All 60 cars and 180 drivers must attend to be able to race and this gives the fans and passers by a great opportunity to see them up close. Image, ACO So what goes on? There are 3 "posts" which are basically big white tents through which the cars pass through o

The festivities for the 24 Hours of Le Mans begin this Sunday with the traditional scrutineering ceremonies at the Place de la République in the town center of Le Mans. There's always a big crowd on hand, as it provides fans an opportunity to get up close to the cars and drivers in a relaxed setting. The weather looks good for scrutineering this year. Sunday will have warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine, with highs in the upper 80s F and around 31 C. A cold front is exp

So with 8 hours of running completed we are starting to get an idea of how the teams may perform in 10 days time. Topping the timing sheets were the 3 Toyotas with Kamui Kobayashi with an 03:18.132, over a second quicker than last years pole time of the Porsche of Neel Yani. Next were the Toyotas of Davidson and Lapierre, the Porsche of Bernhard was next up in 4th with a 3:21.512. The LMP2 class was in short a revelation, drivers prior to the test had said how fast these

With the test day for the 85th Le Mans 24 hour race, the paddock has come alive with the teams setting home for the next 2 weeks, meeting old friends - making new ones. During today the teams have been working with the safety crews and allowing them to get to know their cars, how to extract drivers, lift them out of gravel and so on. There have also been the start of the technical checks for both drivers and cars. Join us tomorrow for the latest updates form the test v

So, first time at Le Mans? Want to know what not to miss? Well check out our handy guide. The “Grand prix d'endurance” as it is often referred to will be run for the 85th time over the 17th and 18th of June 2017. It is the oldest, active motor race and covers approximately the same distance as 18 Formula One races or 6 times the distance of the Indy 500 – some 3,300 miles in total. The distance covered is of course dependant on the conditions and if there are any off tra

Two chassis set for 2018 FIAWEC and Le Mans 24 Hours British motorsports engineering company PERRINN has announced that it has received the first order for a brace of its new LMP1 car to race the 2018 FIA World Endurance Championship. With the design work already completed alongside preliminary digital and crash test simulations, the as yet unnamed car is expected to be revealed in late November before testing starts in December. With the programme already at such an adva

Following their 3rd place finish Clearwater are now sitting in 2nd place for the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE AM teams, 5 points behind Aston Martin Racing; Clearwater Racing continue on their inaugural season in the FIA World Endurance Championship and next up is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is not their first trip to the Circuit de la Sarthe in central France, in 2016 they became the first Singaporean to compete in the 24 hour race, this short film from Motul documents

If the inaugural round of the FIA World Endurance Championship 6hrs of Silverstone showed us, it could well be! On their debut race at the former WWII airfield, Clearwater Racing in the Ferrari 488 GTE showed they meant business when their three drivers of Malaysia’s Weng Sun Mok, Japan’s Keita Sawa and Ireland’s own ‘Lucky Charms’ Matt Griffin (a name given to him by Team Managing Director Arj) found themselves on the top step of the podium in a dramatic finish! Prescott

With only 70 days to go until the 85th running of the Grand Prix d'endurance we launch our dedicated Le Mans page where you will find all the latest updates relating to the race! You can find the page by clicking here

The 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship kicks off at Silverstone on Easter Sunday in what is seen as a transitional year in the big class. The news over the winter was all about the withdrawal of Audi after 18 successful seasons, including five in the WEC proper. This leaves just six P1 cars on the grid at Le Mans, less than half of the 2015 count. On the face of it this can been seen as a major blow as we lose not only a very successful manufacturer, but also their mark

The eagle eyed fan may have noticed a change in livery on the 97 Aston Martin GT car between day 1 and 2 during last weekends FIA WEC Prologue. This took the for of a full body panel change from the distinctive Valero blue and yellow to the Aston Martin Green. As yet we are not sure why, sponsorship, setup change ro just because...?! Before During After Images from Darren Turner

Mark Atkins takes a look at the new LMP2 cars for 2017, pictures from the FIA WEC/Adrenal Media Introduction The new-look LMP2 season kicks off in both the World and European championship formats at Silverstone over the Easter weekend. The FIA WEC will run its 6-hour race on the Sunday, with the ELMS holding the 4-hour version on Saturday. Both races mark the dawn of a new era in the LMP2 class, as you will see for the first time the new generation of cars racing for the

The Le Mans prototype, that delivers a system output of around 900 PS (662 kW), was comprehensively reworked. Porsche aims for a hat-trick with it: Target is to win the Le Mans 24-hours race (June 17/18) as well as the FIA World Endurance Championship titles for Manufacturers and Drivers respectively for the third consecutive time after 2015 and 2016. Fritz Enzinger, Vice President LMP, faces the season with a great deal of respect: “Each and every one of the nine endurance

BMW replaces Audi, which held a longstanding partnership with the Le Mans, as well as the FIA World Endurance Championship. According to Automobile Club de l’Ouest, BMW has become the new official vehicle supplier for Circuit de la Sarthe, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The German manufacturer will supply up to 26 vehicles, ranging from medical and extraction vehicles to safety cars, for the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic, with five set to be used for year-ro

Every year, work is carried out around the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the goal of improving safety. This year is no exception with the construction of an additional means of access at the paddock for emergency vehicles. In order to allow faster access to firefighting vehicles, a new paddock access way located at the back of the first pits is being built and will be operational before the 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Until now, there have been two gates sufficientl