Communiqué N° 1 - 12/13 june 2000

Scrutineering and administrative checks

Scrutineering began on Pentecost Monday in blazing sunshine amid a huge crowd. All  48 cars taking part in the 68th Le Mans 24 Hour race were present. The scrutineers noted only a few minor points and praised the very high level of preparation of all the teams. The lightest car was the No. 36 WR (694 kgs) and the heaviest the No. 71 Porsche (1228 kgs).
The youngest driver was Gunnar Jeannette (18) and the oldest Mario Andretti (60).
Neither, however, beat any records as in 1952 André Morel was 64 and in 1959 Ricardo Rodriguez was only 17 (the previous year he was not allowed to start!).
 

The number 1 CADILLAC prototype in the hands of Andy Wallace, Butch Leitzinger and Franck Lagorce was the first to undergo the various checks. It was soon followed by its sister car driven by Max Angelelli, Wayne Taylor and Eric Van de Poele. Both cars are fitted with the X-Trac gearbox used in preliminary testing in May and not the Emco initially foreseen. The former was tested along with new rear suspension on the Monza circuit after the Le Mans session. This measure has reduced the twitchiness of the rear end and helped reduce tyre wear. The Cadillacs also have an infra-red camera in the right-hand light cluster used for night vision linked to a mini­screen on the steering wheel !.
The other two Cadillacs are entered by the DAMS team but only one, the Emmanuel Collard, Eric Bernard and Franck Montagny car, has the new gearbox and rear end. It was tested at Spa (in the wet) and at Silverstone.
The American cars are shod by Pirelli which is not the case for Audi, Panoz and Chrysler. All are fitted with the latest engine which is reputed to put out around 590 bhp.
 

AUDI : After their rostrum finish in 1999 the Ingolstadt cars are favourites for the Year 2000 race. After three days testing last week on the Magny-Cours circuit in which all nine drivers took part, the cars all had slightly different set-ups which may be tried out in Wednesday's practise.
When doing his jogging Stéphane Ortelli noticed that the Ford chicane seemed a little narrower thus he thinks it will be difficult to beat the times recorded in April. His team-mate, Alain McNish is a bit more optimistic and reckons that pole will be set with a time of 3 mn 30 or 31 secs but reckons that it could be by a make other than Audi : "The Panozes and Lola-Judds are pretty quick as I've discovered in the ALMS Series". Overall, the drivers are very happy with the Audis' handling but feel that they lack a little bit of speed on the straight. Two years ago McNish, Ortelli and Aiello won the event in a Porsche and they will be going all out for another victory this year. Indeed, Ortelli declared that the Audi is the best car he has ever driven at Le Mans.
 

PANOZ : The American constructor carried out testing at Spa and Silverstone to overcome the road-holding problems met during preliminary practice. This has led to the car's aerodynamics being considerably modified around the rear wing and spoiler in order to reduce the loading on the front end and achieve a better overall balance. David Price, the Panoz Competitions Team Manager, is looking after the two works cars as well as keeping an eye on the 2 TV Asahi entries and the Ben Bla Avis spider. The Danish-entered Panoz is easily recognisable thanks to its two humps on the bonnet and huge rollbar, both obligatory in the SRWC. "The A.CO. wouldn't allow us to modify the car between preliminary practice and the race which means a big weight handicap", explained John Nielsen.
All the Panozes are powered by Elan Power Products engines and fitted with Hitco carbon discs. The works and TV Asahi entries are on Michelin tyres while the Danish LMP Spider is on Pirellis.
Driverwise, the leading crew is in No.11 led by David Brabham teamed up with Jan Magnussen and of course, Mario Andretti. After missing the 1999 race Pierre-Henri Raphanel is back in the second works Panoz which he shares with Johnny O'Connell and Hiroki Kato from Japan. "It's the icing on the cake for me as I love the event and it's great to be able to do it as well as my programme in Japan", said the Frenchman who has come close to victory several times in the Sarthe.
 

BMW : This is the third year running that this ex-works car has been entered for the 24 Hour event. In 1999, it was looked after by David Price but this year it is in the hands of Michael Cane who ran McLarens from 1995 to 1998. "I think that Audi will win but we should be able to finish between third and fifth place as the rules penalise the BMW on the straight less than the other prototypes," stated an optimistic Thomas Bscher.
 

LOLA : The BK/10s have been modified aerodynamically (shortened spoiler, flatter wing and front wing extensions) to meet the requirements of the Sarthe circuit. The Rafanelli entry is powered by an endurance version of the V10 Judd while that of Konrad is relying on a Yates/Konrad Ford V8. Rafanelli's Lola was the quickest of the privateers during preliminary practice and outright victory is their aim as Didier De Radigues says : "We're here to win. Although we've only got a small budget we have nothing to envy the works teams and we've had no engine problems. Our team is well­balanced and we'll drive an intelligent race while giving it 100% effort. No driver should exhaust himself as he is the most important factor."
In the Konrad camp Jan Lammers too is confident: "We haven't been able to do as much testing as we would have liked but we've had more time to prepare the car and we're in better shape than last year."
 

COURAGE : While there are no works Courages this year the Le Mans constructor is represented by two cars. The first is a C52 entered by Henri Pescarolo and powered by a V6 twin turbo Peugeot engine prepared by Sodemo with the blessing of the company. Although the car suffered a blown engine due to a broken oil pump belt Henri is confident as the C52 has covered almost 5000 kms in testing allied to many hours on the test bed. The belt drive has been modified following the incident. The aim of the crew made up of Emmanuel Clérico, Olivier Grouillard and F3000 driver Stéphane Bourdais is to see the chequered flag on Sunday afternoon in the first five. "To finish is our main objective," admitted Henri Pescarolo. It is the first participation of the team set up by the Frenchman in the Technopole beside the circuit and is the fulfilment of a dream. "It's the fruit of a lot of effort and I hope that it'll put us on the right road to announcing a project-maybe as soon as 2001-that will result in a Le Mans victory."

Philippe Gache and his SRH crew are getting to know the V10 Judd-powered C60. After taking part in the Silverstone race the car underwent testing on the Bugatti circuit and used new dogs and sprockets in the Emco gearbox. On paper anyway, the very slippery C60 looks competitive : "Courage integrated the Judd very early on in the design and its advantage is that it takes up very little space," said Gache. The team has managed to respect a very tight schedule since receiving the Courage in March but their knowledge of it is still limited so they don't know what problems to expect Gache is backed up by Didier Cottaz and Gary Formato.
 

REYNARD : Since May Oreca has tested at Jerez, Monza and Valencia. The suspension geometry has been modified, the engine mounting on the tub strengthened and the gearbox cooling and lubrication improved. For reliability reasons the power steering is not being used and the cars are powered by the V8 Mopar engine whose output has not been communicated.
The Johansson-Mathews entry's engine is a V10 Judd.
 

DEBORA : The Debora is the only car shod with Avons and has a 3.2 litre BMW engine prepared by Heini Mader (Radlinger last year). Patrick Lemarié, the BAR F1 test driver is making his Le Mans debut as is Yann Goudy from F3. Team leader is local boy Jean-François Yvon coming back to Le Mans after a five-year absence. "I know the Debora as I drove it in the SRWC last year," said Yvon. Lemarié is also happy with the car. "I find it well-balanced and l've always wanted to do this mythic race," commented the Frenchman.
 

LOLA : This B2/K40 is different from those used by Rafanelli and Konrad. It has been specially designed for the Junior categories (SR2 or LMP 675) and has a honeycomb chassis. It is powered by a 3 litre Nissan engine prepared by AER (Advanced Engine Research) in England. This develops around 400 bhp and is fitted with Pectel electronic injection. The driver team hails from Canada and the car was prepared in Ontario.
 

REYNARD-VW : After preliminary testing ROC continued setting up their cars at Monza and on the Lucy-Lévis circuit. Since the beginning of the programme some 5000 kms have been covered. The VW engine prepared in Germany by Hans Lehmann puts out 485 bhp at 8500 rpm maximum. The technical director of the team is Hugh Lardy (ex-Spice and Courage) and he has concentrated his efforts mainly in the areas of weight and reliability. Like the Audis the Reynard-VWs are equipped with Brembo carbon discs.
 

WR : The development work done since April has borne fruit as all the drivers have declared themselves very happy with the road-holding. "The car is easy to drive and well-balanced," said Richard Balandras who was already with the team in 1995. "At that time WR was a quick F3!. Now it's a real endurance car and has no trouble with the bumps. Wind tunnel work has enabled us to solve the turbulence problems that affected the drivers by mounting a wind shield on the front of the cockpit." The driver line-up has been modified since 30th April with Stéphane Daoudi joining Pompidou and Bouvet in No. 35.
 

CHRYSLER : Oreca is back again to defend their crown and have again entered three cars. Anthony Bullets, team newcomer, has joined David Donohue and Ni Amorin while Dominique Dupuy is in the lead car with Olivier Beretta and Karl Wendlinger. Porsche Super Cup king, Patrick Huisman (winner for the last three years), is back behind the wheel of a Viper alongside Tony Archer and Marc Duez from Belgium. The Vipers are all in virtually the same set-up as in preliminary practice but new front splitters will be tested.

Among the privateers, Paul Belmondo's car is a Year 2000 model with a Mader prepared engine and like the works cars has carbon brakes. Belmondo and Claude­Yves Gosselin, team owners, have entrusted the Viper to their lead driver, Boris Derichebourg, and their clients Jean-Claude Lagniez and Guy Martinolle.

The car entered by Mr Goh is a Chamberlain MotorSport vehicle equipped with Dunlop tyres and steel brakes with a Caldwell prepared engine. It is driven by Walter Brun from Switzerland whose Le Mans debut goes back to 1971 and his last race was in 1991. The driver line-up is completed by Christian Glasel (in this team last year).

CHEVROLET : Corvette Racing caused a bit of a stir at scrutineering by turning up in cowboy hats. Compared with the series production model the C5-Rs have been fitted with race suspension and a classic 5-speed Hewland gearbox. Indeed, the Corvettes and the WR are the only cars fitted with 5-speed boxes. The engine has been prepared by Katech in Detroit (also responsible for the 1995 Courage Chevrolets and the 1996 Riley & Scott Oldsmobile). The power quoted is 600 bhp at 6400 rpm maximum. The cars are fitted with Goodyear tyres and the team manager is Gary Pratt.

PORSCHE : Little of note on the 911 GT2s which have been around for a long time. The Freisinger Motorsport entry is driven by Wolfgang Kaufmann associated with two gentlemen drivers from Japan, Iketani and Hané.
In the Konrad car are Jurgen Von Gartzen and ex-Trans Am Champion, Tom Kendall together with Charles Slater, former IMSA owner.
 

No fewer than 12 of the new 911 GTS-Rs have been entered by private teams in this exclusively Porsche dominated category. Since preliminary testing they have all had silencers fitted. Most teams have replaced the original Bilstein shock absorbers with Mortons which provide a wider range of settings. Others have opted for Penskes or Sachs. Dick Barbour's car has fitted AP brakes instead of Brembos.
The engines come directly from the factory except those in nos 71 and 75 (Colucci and Manthey) which were prepared by Porsche North America. The valves, sleeves water lines and oil pumps have been modified as they caused many retirements during the Daytona 24 Hour race.
Worthy of note is the fact that Dick Babour is back at Le Mans after a 20 year absence and the presence for the first time since 1984 of an Australian team (Skea).

There have been few driver changes. In No.78 entered by Maury-Laribière, Thierry Depoix has been replaced by Italian Angelo Zadra while Mowlem, Maassen and Murry have been confirmed in the No. 82 Skea entry.
Gunnar Jeannette has been entered by Manthey Racing with Alex Job. Gunnar, son of the team manager Kevin Jeannette is the youngest driver in the event and Le Mans is only his fourth race after Daytona, Sebring and Charlotte. He is still teamed up with the same crew which was joined by Paul Newman at Daytona.

Back again at Le Mans is Max Cohen-Olivar in the No. 76 Seikel Motorsport Porsche with Dunlop tyres and his team-mates are Anthony Burgess from Canada and Michel Neugarten who is supposed to do some 14 hours in the race!.
Finally, in the Perspective Racing Porsche 911 No. 79 (Pirelli tyres) is another old Le Mans regular, Jean-Louis Ricci associated with his son, Romano and Thierry Perrier.
For the start and finish the car will be fitted with tyres whose painted walls change colour with the temperature.