Porsche Driving LeMans Race Coverage Article 4

6/14

5:34 am PST

"Team by Team Analysis"

1997 LE MANS TEAM-BY-TEAM ANALYSIS

Submitted by Pete Albrecht

The Rules

Le Mans gets so many entrants that the organizers have to eliminate a good number of them during two days of prequalification. This year, the ACO -- The Automobile Club de l'Ouest -- received 86 applications. Seventy-six were retained (the remaining were rejected due to incomplete forms and similar technicalities). Six entries were exempt from prequalification based on performance last year. These included the first of the Porsche works GT1s (first in GT1 and second overall last year), the highest-finishing Gulf Team McLaren (fourth in GT1), one of the Roock Racing GT2 911s (last year's GT2 winner), and the 911 GT2 of Larbre Competition. Also exempt were the Welter Racing WR LM 97 (like all of its classmates in the "small" 650 kg prototype class, a non-finisher last year) and, of course, last year's winner: the Joest Porsche, again running in the "big" 875 kg prototype class. Not all of the listed entrants showed up for the May 3-4 prequalifying weekend. Of those that did, only 46 were selected (based on fastest lap times in their classes). A total of 52 cars were therefore eligible to take part in qualifying on June 11 and 12. Four of the 52 were bumped, leaving 48 cars to take the green flag at 4 PM Central European Time on Saturday, June 14th (10 AM Eastern time, 7 AM Pacific time).

TEAM OVERVIEWS

PORSCHE, of course.
Last year's winner, Joest Racing, has entered only a single car. This is always risky at Le Mans, where attrition and just plain racing luck during 24 hours of competition whittles down the field. It helps to have a backup; last year Joest came with two cars, one the winner, one a non-finisher. But Reinhold Joest is an experienced Porsche hand, having raced here as a driver eight times (from 1969 to 1981) and won the race three and a half times -- 1984 and 1985 with the "New Man" 962, and last year with the Joest-Porsche WSC prototype. The half win? Well, the 1994 Dauer-Porsche had a lot of behind-the-scenes development and support from the Joest team.

Then we have the 911 GT1 Porsches. Lots of GT1 Porsches. In 1996, works Porsches returned to Le Mans for the first time since 1987, and if both cars hadn't lost precious minutes in the pits after minor incidents, the factory might have won outright. The pit logs tell the whole story: Joest spent just under 51 minutes in the pits, while the #25 GT1 spent 54.5 minutes and #26 lost an hour and 25 minutes. At the end, Joest's margin of victory was only one lap over #25 -- just under four minutes.

Last year's race marked the GT1's debut, a car that promises to be as important in racing history as the long-serving 956/962 which dominated endurance racing in the 1980s. This year, in addition to the two works cars, we have no less than six privately entered Porsche GT1s, from BMS Scuderia Italia, Franz Konrad Racing, JB Racing, Kremer Racing, Roock Racing, and Schubel Racing.

Shades of the late 1970s, when any number of 935s could play!

The GT1s are contenders for overall victory. In Wednesday timed practice/quali fying before the race, the two works cars headed the list, with times of 3:44.234 and 3:45.490 for #25 and #26 respectively, on race tires. On Thursday, just to be sure of a good starting position, the team put on qualification tires, bringing the #25 car's best time down to 3:43.363, just .2 seconds off the pace set by Brundle's Nissan in May prequalifying. Still, it was only good enough for second on the grid; last year's winner, the Joest Porsche, is on the pole this year as well, with a time of 3:41.521.

Bringing up the rear, but no less important, is the GT2 class. These cars are closer to stock appearance. For 1997, GT2 is developing into a classic duel between the rear-engined Porsche 911s and everything else with big American V8 power up front -- Vipers, Mustangs, Marcos (Marcosi?), and a Callaway Corvette. Of the 26 cars vying for slots in the GT2 qualifying lineup, exactly half were Porsche 911s. Four GT2 Porsches failed to prequalify, but eight others (including the exempt entries from last year's class winner, Roock Racing, and the Larbre Competition car) made it.

BMW-McLAREN
Porsche defeated the factory-backed BMW McLarens last year, and they're out for revenge. Seven McLarens started in 1996; six finished, but the best they could do against the works Porsche 911 GT1s was fourth overall and third in class. This year, seven were entered, and five made the first cut. Those not making the list were the Team Lark McLaren and the BBA Competition McLaren. All of the Gulf Team Davidoff and Team BMW Motorsport cars prequalified.

Both the Gulf and factory BMW-McLarens spent a good part of qualifying in the search for more speed (at the cost of downforce) on the straights. This seems to have made them less stable in braking from high speed; shock settings were tweaked in an effort to compensate.

In Thursday timed practice/qualifying, Gulf McLaren #40 was heavily damaged after it began dumping oil just past the second Mulsanne chicane. Driver Chris Goodwin only noticed some squirreliness during upshifts, soon to be followed by an oil light in the cockpit and an even brighter one from the oil fire out back. The car was withdrawn as the damage was too extensive to be repaired in time for the race.

FERRARI
They sure are fast...while they're still running. Last year saw two Ferrari 333 SPs entered in the prototype class. One of them, the Racing for Belgium car of Van de Poele /Goossens/Bachelart, not only set fastest prequalifying time but also broke the race lap record six times (fastest lap 3:46.958). Unfortunately, the car retired at 7 AM after an accident. Despite being fast, it was never a contender for the lead and lost time having the front bodywork, transmission and front discs changed before it eventually dropped out. The other Ferrari became the first official retirement, running out of fuel just two and a half hours into the race.

This year, we again have two Ferrari 333 SPs, for Moretti Racing and the Michel Ferte team. Didier Theys in the Moretti car clocked up the second fastest prototype prequalifying time at 3:46.005, just over two seconds behind Michele Alboreto at 3:43.799 in the Joest Porsche. The Ferraris are a long shot, but anything can happen in 24 hours...

NISSAN
The dark horse in this year's race just might be Nissan. Tom Walkinshaw has prepared three Nissan R390 GT1s for the factory team. In prequalifying, Martin Brundle set fastest time of the weekend at 3:43.152, nearly four seconds faster than last year's fastest race lap and 5 seconds below the best 1996 prequalifying time (both set by Van de Poele in a Ferrari).

In pre-race qualifying, Van de Poele, now a Nissan driver, put the #22 car into third place on the grid with a 3:45.324 behind the Joest and the lead factory GT1.

One change in the lineup at Nissan: just before the qualifying sessions, American driver Wayne Taylor replaced Mauro Martini, who had been injured in a mountain biking accident, in the #21 car, which he shares with Brundle and Mueller.

BRM
There is another Nissan engine in the running -- powering the Pacific Racing Ltd. BRM Nissan P301 in the "big" prototype class. The team just squeaked in; misplaced suspension bits had to be flown in from England at the last minute. A new rear suspension upright was installed barely in time to go out and turn seven laps to prequalify.

In timed practice, the BRM was second slowest -- but on the grid. The slowest car, the second of the Kremer K8s, didn't make it.

COURAGE
Powered by the venerable but now dated Porsche 962 engine, four cars in two teams were entered in the "big" prototype category: C36s for the La Filiere team Courage Competition, and a single C41 for Courage Competition. These cars are capable of finishing well, although despite many attempts they have never won Le Mans. Last year, the Pescarolo-Lagorce-Collard car finished seventh, and the Andretti-Lammers-Warwick effort came home in thirteenth. A third Courage did not finish. In prequalifying, Emmanuel Clerico set fastest time on Saturday at 3:50.349, and Didier Cottaz in the C41 was third fastest prototype on Sunday at 3:47.361.

In a press conference during practice and qualifying, Mario Andretti seemed enthusiastic about the team's prospects for victory, feeling that the C36, while not as fast as the newer C41, might be more capable of sticking it out for the finish. The Courage team has to scramble to find Porsche engines and parts, as the factory is concentrating on its GT1 (and to a lesser extent, GT2) efforts, no longer supporting the "old" engines.

KREMER
The Kremer team entered a pair of its antiquated K8 Spyders in the prototype class, with Porsche power. One Kremer was the slowest prototype to survive prequalifying, not counting the Mazda-Kudzu. During qualifying, though, Giovanni Lavaggi (driving #6, the faster of the two Kremers) hit the Armco and seriously damaged the car. In view of its eventual classification as the slowest prototype, it seems like this car will be a non-starter. That leaves the #5 Kremer, which barely prequalified back in May.

MAZDA
First they were out. Then they were in again. The Mazda was bumped in prequalifying by the BRM, and its prequalifying session ended ignominiously when the new four-rotor engine broke in a last-gasp attempt to climb back into the field. When the Rachel Welter team withdrew its entry after the death of driver Sabastien Enjolras, the Kudzu-Mazda found itself unbumped.

In qualifying, the Mazda fared considerably better, coming in ninth in class, good enough to ensure a starting position.

LOTUS
Five Loti were entered for three teams in GT1. Only two made the cut: the GTI Lotus Racing cars, #50 driven by Fabien Giroix and the #49 sister car of Jan Lammers. GTI Team Lotus Franck Muller (#51) crashed out in the hands of Ratankul Prutirat, and the other two didn't show.

In qualifying, the #50 car, without the benefit of qualification tires, finished dead last in class, so it will be a non-starter on Saturday. That leaves just Lammers, Hezemans and Grau in #49 to carry the flag.

LISTER
Continuing our coverage of English specials is the Lister. Powered by front-mounted Chevy engines, both Newcastle United Racing Lister Storms made the list for GT1. These are favorites among the many British fans at the track.

MARCOS
Another English "specialist builder" is Marcos, also Chevy powered. Two Marcos Mantara LM600s made the GT2 prequal list. The #71 Marcos of Chappell/Migault/Maunoir scattered its gearbox and finished dead last in GT2 qualifying. It will be a non-starter on Saturday.

PANOZ
Four Panoz GT1 cars tried, and all four of the Ford-powered coupes made the short list. In qualifying, the David Price team had its hands full getting #55, driven by David Brabham/Perry McCarthy/Doc Bundy up high enough to make the cut, finally making it third from the bottom...good enough to start on Saturday. The #52 car of the DAMS team qualified higher up, midfield of the GT1 starters.

DODGE VIPER
The Vipers, with their huge, deep-throated pushrod engines, were crowd pleasers last year in GT1. Three were classed as finishers, with the best (Price Cobb-Mark Dismore-Shawn Hendricks) finishing seventh in class behind the works Porsche GT1s and a string of four McLarens. This year, they're in GT2. Three cars were sent by the French-based Viper Team Oreca, and two by Chamberlain Engineering; all but one of the Chamberlain cars made the cut.

Two of the Oreca cars took the top slots in qualifying, with the third team car in sixth -- a strong showing from a team that's going to be hard to beat.

CALLAWAY CORVETTE
Italian-based Agusta Racing Team Ltd. put their Callaway Corvette LM GT2 solidly into the GT2 class with a 4:08.948. Welcome news for Callaway fans; last year, the Callaway C7Rs were unable to make the GT1 field due to teething troubles.

MUSTANG
American fans have yet another team to cheer. Two Saleen/Allen Speedlab Mustangs made the GT2 list. Price Cobb did the honors in one car.

The Cobb/Saleen/Palau Mustang then duly finished third in class, behind two Vipers, in qualifying...a surprising result indeed for this first-time effort and putting American cars solidly at the head of the GT2 pack.

6/14	5:34 am PST	"Team by Team Analysis"
1997 LE MANS TEAM-BY-TEAM ANALYSIS Submitted by Pete Albrecht The Rules Le Mans gets so many entrants that the organizers have to eliminate a good number of them during two days of prequalification. This year, the ACO -- The Automobile Club de l'Ouest -- received 86 applications. Seventy-six were retained (the remaining were rejected due to incomplete forms and similar technicalities). Six entries were exempt from prequalification based on performance last year. These included the first of the Porsche works GT1s (first in GT1 and second overall last year), the highest-finishing Gulf Team McLaren (fourth in GT1), one of the Roock Racing GT2 911s (last year's GT2 winner), and the 911 GT2 of Larbre Competition. Also exempt were the Welter Racing WR LM 97 (like all of its classmates in the "small" 650 kg prototype class, a non-finisher last year) and, of course, last year's winner: the Joest Porsche, again running in the "big" 875 kg prototype class. Not all of the listed entrants showed up for the May 3-4 prequalifying weekend. Of those that did, only 46 were selected (based on fastest lap times in their classes). A total of 52 cars were therefore eligible to take part in qualifying on June 11 and 12. Four of the 52 were bumped, leaving 48 cars to take the green flag at 4 PM Central European Time on Saturday, June 14th (10 AM Eastern time, 7 AM Pacific time). TEAM OVERVIEWS PORSCHE, of course. Last year's winner, Joest Racing, has entered only a single car. This is always risky at Le Mans, where attrition and just plain racing luck during 24 hours of competition whittles down the field. It helps to have a backup; last year Joest came with two cars, one the winner, one a non-finisher. But Reinhold Joest is an experienced Porsche hand, having raced here as a driver eight times (from 1969 to 1981) and won the race three and a half times -- 1984 and 1985 with the "New Man" 962, and last year with the Joest-Porsche WSC prototype. The half win? Well, the 1994 Dauer-Porsche had a lot of behind-the-scenes development and support from the Joest team. Then we have the 911 GT1 Porsches. Lots of GT1 Porsches. In 1996, works Porsches returned to Le Mans for the first time since 1987, and if both cars hadn't lost precious minutes in the pits after minor incidents, the factory might have won outright. The pit logs tell the whole story: Joest spent just under 51 minutes in the pits, while the #25 GT1 spent 54.5 minutes and #26 lost an hour and 25 minutes. At the end, Joest's margin of victory was only one lap over #25 -- just under four minutes. Last year's race marked the GT1's debut, a car that promises to be as important in racing history as the long-serving 956/962 which dominated endurance racing in the 1980s. This year, in addition to the two works cars, we have no less than six privately entered Porsche GT1s, from BMS Scuderia Italia, Franz Konrad Racing, JB Racing, Kremer Racing, Roock Racing, and Schubel Racing. Shades of the late 1970s, when any number of 935s could play! The GT1s are contenders for overall victory. In Wednesday timed practice/quali fying before the race, the two works cars headed the list, with times of 3:44.234 and 3:45.490 for #25 and #26 respectively, on race tires. On Thursday, just to be sure of a good starting position, the team put on qualification tires, bringing the #25 car's best time down to 3:43.363, just .2 seconds off the pace set by Brundle's Nissan in May prequalifying. Still, it was only good enough for second on the grid; last year's winner, the Joest Porsche, is on the pole this year as well, with a time of 3:41.521. Bringing up the rear, but no less important, is the GT2 class. These cars are closer to stock appearance. For 1997, GT2 is developing into a classic duel between the rear-engined Porsche 911s and everything else with big American V8 power up front -- Vipers, Mustangs, Marcos (Marcosi?), and a Callaway Corvette. Of the 26 cars vying for slots in the GT2 qualifying lineup, exactly half were Porsche 911s. Four GT2 Porsches failed to prequalify, but eight others (including the exempt entries from last year's class winner, Roock Racing, and the Larbre Competition car) made it. BMW-McLAREN Porsche defeated the factory-backed BMW McLarens last year, and they're out for revenge. Seven McLarens started in 1996; six finished, but the best they could do against the works Porsche 911 GT1s was fourth overall and third in class. This year, seven were entered, and five made the first cut. Those not making the list were the Team Lark McLaren and the BBA Competition McLaren. All of the Gulf Team Davidoff and Team BMW Motorsport cars prequalified. Both the Gulf and factory BMW-McLarens spent a good part of qualifying in the search for more speed (at the cost of downforce) on the straights. This seems to have made them less stable in braking from high speed; shock settings were tweaked in an effort to compensate. In Thursday timed practice/qualifying, Gulf McLaren #40 was heavily damaged after it began dumping oil just past the second Mulsanne chicane. Driver Chris Goodwin only noticed some squirreliness during upshifts, soon to be followed by an oil light in the cockpit and an even brighter one from the oil fire out back. The car was withdrawn as the damage was too extensive to be repaired in time for the race. FERRARI They sure are fast...while they're still running. Last year saw two Ferrari 333 SPs entered in the prototype class. One of them, the Racing for Belgium car of Van de Poele /Goossens/Bachelart, not only set fastest prequalifying time but also broke the race lap record six times (fastest lap 3:46.958). Unfortunately, the car retired at 7 AM after an accident. Despite being fast, it was never a contender for the lead and lost time having the front bodywork, transmission and front discs changed before it eventually dropped out. The other Ferrari became the first official retirement, running out of fuel just two and a half hours into the race. This year, we again have two Ferrari 333 SPs, for Moretti Racing and the Michel Ferte team. Didier Theys in the Moretti car clocked up the second fastest prototype prequalifying time at 3:46.005, just over two seconds behind Michele Alboreto at 3:43.799 in the Joest Porsche. The Ferraris are a long shot, but anything can happen in 24 hours... NISSAN The dark horse in this year's race just might be Nissan. Tom Walkinshaw has prepared three Nissan R390 GT1s for the factory team. In prequalifying, Martin Brundle set fastest time of the weekend at 3:43.152, nearly four seconds faster than last year's fastest race lap and 5 seconds below the best 1996 prequalifying time (both set by Van de Poele in a Ferrari). In pre-race qualifying, Van de Poele, now a Nissan driver, put the #22 car into third place on the grid with a 3:45.324 behind the Joest and the lead factory GT1. One change in the lineup at Nissan: just before the qualifying sessions, American driver Wayne Taylor replaced Mauro Martini, who had been injured in a mountain biking accident, in the #21 car, which he shares with Brundle and Mueller. BRM There is another Nissan engine in the running -- powering the Pacific Racing Ltd. BRM Nissan P301 in the "big" prototype class. The team just squeaked in; misplaced suspension bits had to be flown in from England at the last minute. A new rear suspension upright was installed barely in time to go out and turn seven laps to prequalify. In timed practice, the BRM was second slowest -- but on the grid. The slowest car, the second of the Kremer K8s, didn't make it. COURAGE Powered by the venerable but now dated Porsche 962 engine, four cars in two teams were entered in the "big" prototype category: C36s for the La Filiere team Courage Competition, and a single C41 for Courage Competition. These cars are capable of finishing well, although despite many attempts they have never won Le Mans. Last year, the Pescarolo-Lagorce-Collard car finished seventh, and the Andretti-Lammers-Warwick effort came home in thirteenth. A third Courage did not finish. In prequalifying, Emmanuel Clerico set fastest time on Saturday at 3:50.349, and Didier Cottaz in the C41 was third fastest prototype on Sunday at 3:47.361. In a press conference during practice and qualifying, Mario Andretti seemed enthusiastic about the team's prospects for victory, feeling that the C36, while not as fast as the newer C41, might be more capable of sticking it out for the finish. The Courage team has to scramble to find Porsche engines and parts, as the factory is concentrating on its GT1 (and to a lesser extent, GT2) efforts, no longer supporting the "old" engines. KREMER The Kremer team entered a pair of its antiquated K8 Spyders in the prototype class, with Porsche power. One Kremer was the slowest prototype to survive prequalifying, not counting the Mazda-Kudzu. During qualifying, though, Giovanni Lavaggi (driving #6, the faster of the two Kremers) hit the Armco and seriously damaged the car. In view of its eventual classification as the slowest prototype, it seems like this car will be a non-starter. That leaves the #5 Kremer, which barely prequalified back in May. MAZDA First they were out. Then they were in again. The Mazda was bumped in prequalifying by the BRM, and its prequalifying session ended ignominiously when the new four-rotor engine broke in a last-gasp attempt to climb back into the field. When the Rachel Welter team withdrew its entry after the death of driver Sabastien Enjolras, the Kudzu-Mazda found itself unbumped. In qualifying, the Mazda fared considerably better, coming in ninth in class, good enough to ensure a starting position. LOTUS Five Loti were entered for three teams in GT1. Only two made the cut: the GTI Lotus Racing cars, #50 driven by Fabien Giroix and the #49 sister car of Jan Lammers. GTI Team Lotus Franck Muller (#51) crashed out in the hands of Ratankul Prutirat, and the other two didn't show. In qualifying, the #50 car, without the benefit of qualification tires, finished dead last in class, so it will be a non-starter on Saturday. That leaves just Lammers, Hezemans and Grau in #49 to carry the flag. LISTER Continuing our coverage of English specials is the Lister. Powered by front-mounted Chevy engines, both Newcastle United Racing Lister Storms made the list for GT1. These are favorites among the many British fans at the track. MARCOS Another English "specialist builder" is Marcos, also Chevy powered. Two Marcos Mantara LM600s made the GT2 prequal list. The #71 Marcos of Chappell/Migault/Maunoir scattered its gearbox and finished dead last in GT2 qualifying. It will be a non-starter on Saturday. PANOZ Four Panoz GT1 cars tried, and all four of the Ford-powered coupes made the short list. In qualifying, the David Price team had its hands full getting #55, driven by David Brabham/Perry McCarthy/Doc Bundy up high enough to make the cut, finally making it third from the bottom...good enough to start on Saturday. The #52 car of the DAMS team qualified higher up, midfield of the GT1 starters. DODGE VIPER The Vipers, with their huge, deep-throated pushrod engines, were crowd pleasers last year in GT1. Three were classed as finishers, with the best (Price Cobb-Mark Dismore-Shawn Hendricks) finishing seventh in class behind the works Porsche GT1s and a string of four McLarens. This year, they're in GT2. Three cars were sent by the French-based Viper Team Oreca, and two by Chamberlain Engineering; all but one of the Chamberlain cars made the cut. Two of the Oreca cars took the top slots in qualifying, with the third team car in sixth -- a strong showing from a team that's going to be hard to beat. CALLAWAY CORVETTE Italian-based Agusta Racing Team Ltd. put their Callaway Corvette LM GT2 solidly into the GT2 class with a 4:08.948. Welcome news for Callaway fans; last year, the Callaway C7Rs were unable to make the GT1 field due to teething troubles. MUSTANG American fans have yet another team to cheer. Two Saleen/Allen Speedlab Mustangs made the GT2 list. Price Cobb did the honors in one car. The Cobb/Saleen/Palau Mustang then duly finished third in class, behind two Vipers, in qualifying...a surprising result indeed for this first-time effort and putting American cars solidly at the head of the GT2 pack.