Le
Mans Series 2009
Round 1. Catalunya 1000 Kilometres. April 3rd-5th 2009
Weekend Preview
Once
more unto the breach . . .
The
opening round of the 2009 Le Mans Series sees the championship
reconvene at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, also
scene of last year’s first race and the regular home
of the Spanish Grand Prix.
In
2008 RML’s primary concern as it headed into the new
season had been the question of incompatibility between
the MG XP-21 engine and the newly-introduced bio-fuel formulation.
Having blown two engines in the official pre-season test
at Paul Ricard only a few weeks previously there was justifiable
cause for apprehension, especially as the team faced a strong
new challenge in the form of the Porsche RS Spyder. A year
later, and much has changed. The team’s links with
MG have been consigned to the history books, and a fresh
and exciting era with Mazda has begun.
The
opposition has changed too. A dominant year in 2008 for
Porsche also demonstrated that, while an extraordinarily
competitive race-winner, the RS Spyder was somewhat profligate
in terms of running costs. Amid the current climate of economic
cut-backs and constraint the simple expense of running one
of these cars appears to have been a deterrent to their
return, and while some of the LMP2 Porsches are expected
to feature in the Series later in the year, they remain
absent from Round 1.
Although
their departure does level out the playing field to a degree,
the competition within LMP2 is no less intense. Including
the RML Lola Mazda, a total of fourteen cars are entered
for the opening round, and at least half of the teams behind
them, perhaps more, can believe they have a realistic chance
of ending up on the podium.
Having
won the team and drivers’ titles in 2007, and been
runners-up in 2005 and 2006, RML’s Mike Newton and
Thomas Erdos have enjoyed a highly-rated status in the pre-season
speculation, with several of the leading publications and
on-line agencies picking them out as favourites. Not only
do they have the experience, both in the cockpit and in
the garage, but the team’s Lola coupé chassis
now also has the benefit of Mazda power. The underpinning
on the chassis is the culmination of six years of joint
development between RML and manufacturer Lola, and much
of the componentry that made the earlier MG EX265 a Le Mans-winner
has been carried forward into the new car. Reliability and
technical understanding are the lynch pins of success in
endurance racing, and RML has both in spades.
Last
season’s MG XP-21 was a fantastic engine, but after
nearly seven years of concentrated development, the unit
had arrived near the limit of its potential. The extent
of refinement meant that the engine was close to the edge
in every way, and when the issue of fuel incompatibility
was thrown into the mix, reliability was compromised. The
only option had been to de-tune the engine, and RML’s
drivers raced at a disadvantage for the rest of the year.
They begin 2009 knowing that they have a new engine behind
them that offers huge potential. It is youthful in development
terms, and clearly has so much more yet to offer. It is
a reassuring position to be in.
With
the exception of the final round at Silverstone, RML raced
through 2008 with the open-topped EX265 chassis. Revealing
the new coupé before the end of the year gave them
the opportunity to make back-to-back comparisons between
the open and closed configurations. They’d been up
against the Speedy Sebah coupé all season, and recognised
the potential of the car, but being able to transfer the
running gear directly from one chassis to the other gave
the team a unique insight into the inherent advantages of
the coupé.
The
Speedy Racing Team Sebah coupé is back again in 2009,
with the added support of an LMP1 version in the form of
last year’s Charouz Racing Aston Martin powered car.
Also back is Quifel ASM, but after so many years as direct
rivals to RML with a similar Lola chassis, the Portuguese
team has jumped ship and come back with a new Ginetta Zytek
GZ09S. Polished performances in testing suggest they’ll
be vying for the front row come qualifying.
Others
likely to be in with a shout include both the Racing Box
Lola coupés, with strong driver line-ups in each
car, and the GAC Racing Zytek – last season’s
Trading Performance entry under the revised name of the
Gstaad Automobile Club.
Another
team returning under an assumed name is Oak Racing. The
French outfit ran as Saulnier Racing in 2008, with a single
Pescarolo Judd in LMP1 and another in LMP2. For 2009 they
have (perhaps wisely) elected to run both cars in LMP2,
this time powered by the same basic Mazda engine now being
employed by RML. On past form they may not always have been
among the quickest, but reliability gave them several strong
results.
The
full entry for Barcelona is:
Images for the remaining entries will be
added as soon as the new liveries have been seen.
Television
Coverage
Coverage
for the first race of the year is slightly less than we've
come to expect, but still live if you've got access to Eurosport.
The satellite broadcaster will be covering the start of
the race and first half hour as it happens, starting at
11:15 CET and through to 12:00. They will be returning for
a further half-hour between 12:45 and 13:15. However, you'll
have to wait until midnight to see the finish when a mere
26 minutes of "highlights" are promised.
This
meagre offering falls short of the promised coverage, and
it is to be hoped that the extent of these broadcasts improves
in time for Round 2.
The
Circuit
The
Le Mans Series organisers introduced Barcelona to the annual
calendar for the first time in 2008, and it proved to be
very popular with the teams and drivers, although public
attendance was hardly encouraging. With increased local
publicity, including television promotions, there are hopes
for a larger crowd in 2009.
The
circuit was one of the first to be built to what are now
considered "F1 standards", back in 1991. A further
raft of refurbishment and new support structures followed
just a few years ago, and the Circuit de Catalunya
is now exceptionally well equipped. It is also suitably
challenging for the drivers, while offering plenty of good
viewing opportunities for the public.