Le Mans Series 2008

Several prototypes in the Silverstone 1000km race

The 2008 Le Mans Series season was the ACO's fifth endurance championship . It was held over five races from April 5, 2008 to September 14, 2008. For the first time in the history of the Le Mans Series, two car companies fought for victory in the LMP1 prototype class.

Changes in 2008

Set of rules

After the success of the semi-works team Penske Racing in the American Le Mans Series , the ACO modified the rules for the Le Mans prototypes. From 2008, for example, the LMP1 class was intended for designers and automobile manufacturers, whereas the LMP2 class of the less powerful prototypes should be aimed more at privateers. In addition, the minimum weight of the two classes has been modified. While the minimum weight of the heavier but more powerful vehicles of the LMP1 was reduced by 25 kg to 900 kg, the lighter but less powerful LMP2 prototypes were not allowed to fall below 825 kg. The original weight difference of 150 kg thus shrank from 2008 to 75 kg. In order to highlight the difference in performance between the two prototype classes more clearly, LMP2s were now not allowed to carry more than 80 liters of fuel. LMP1 vehicles continued to have either a 90 liter petrol or 81 liter diesel tank. On the engine side, in addition to the thoroughbred LMP1 racing engines, from 2008 onwards, homologated GT1 racing engines based on series engines up to a displacement of 6000 cc. The condition for using these performance-enhanced series engines was the annual production of 1000 units of the series counterpart. In addition, diesel engines were approved for the first time in the LMP2 prototype category in 2008 . These engines, similar to the GT engines, had to come from the series. In contrast, it should have been manufactured at least 10,000 times a year. The maximum cubic capacity of the diesel engines was 4400 cm³. In addition, the sporting regulations have been adjusted in some points. While drivers previously had to show at least one hour of driving time to receive championship points, the minimum requirement has been reduced to 45 minutes. In addition, the ACO now planned to award more championship points for championship runs of more than 1000 km. The first eight vehicles and their drivers received the following points in longer races: 15-12-9-7.5-6-4.5-3-1.5. The key for the classic 1000 km distance remained unchanged at 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Racetracks

Barcelona Monza spa Nürburg Silverstone

Venues for the 2008 season

Initially, six race dates were planned for the 2008 season. The race originally planned as the start of the Asian offshoot of the Le Mans Series and the only race outside Europe in Shanghai, was canceled in May 2008 with reference to the economic situation and the Olympic Games . Otherwise, the calendar remained constant compared to the previous year, only the race at the Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia was canceled in favor of the 1000 km race in Barcelona .

vehicles

For the official Le Mans Series pre-test in Le Castellet , two completely newly developed vehicles appeared. On the one hand the closed prototype ee1 from Epsilon Euskadi , on the other hand the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2. Due to delivery problems not present at the pre-test, the WF01 prototype developed by Embassy Racing only appeared in Barcelona. Also for the first race of the season, Gérard Welter returned with a new development for the LMP2 category. In addition to the new chassis designs, a number of vehicles have also been further developed for the 2008 season, above all the Lola B08 / 60 and its LMP2 variant B08 / 80. Compared to the previous year's car, the B08 was designed as a coupé , making it the third closed Le Mans prototype this season.

championship

Already in 2007 was not only the actual class rating by Michelin sponsored Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge held. During the pre-test in Le Castellet, ACO manager Daniel Poissenot presented the change for the 2008 season. In cooperation with Michelin, for example, the rating was simplified. According to Poissenot, the aim was to restructure the rating in such a way that prize money is distributed to those who can cover the greatest possible distance with the least amount of fuel. Furthermore, the ACO added another aspect during the first race weekend in Barcelona. From 2008 onwards, winning the energy classification is linked to an automatic invitation to the 24-hour race of Le Mans in the following year.

Teams and drivers

LMP1

Creation with AIM engine in Silverstone

The reigning team champion Peugeot-Total fielded his two driver pairings in the Le Mans Series in 2008, including the two winners of the 2008 drivers' championship. With the renewed participation of a team supported by Audi, the season was the first meeting of the two diesel prototypes in a championship . So far, Peugeot and Audi have only competed against each other in Le Mans and the Sebring 12-hour race . Allan McNish found his way back into the series together with Audi . Up until then, McNish had been one of the most successful prototype drivers in the Le Mans Series with a total of three overall victories and was reported this year together with Rinaldo Capello , with whom he won the American Le Mans Series last year. Although Audi already competed in the European championship in 2004 and 2005, it was the first time for team owner Reinhold Joest . The last Audi team , Team ORECA , switched to the GT1 category in 2006 and 2007 and took over the chassis manufacturer around Yves Courage during the winter break . After the incorporation of Courage, its prototype LC70 was further developed and reported by ORECA at the beginning of the season. The two 2007 LMS GT1 champions Soheil Ayari and Stéphane Ortelli drove in the first prototype , while the second cockpit was shared by former Formula 1 driver Olivier Panis with Nicolas Lapierre . ORECA also took over a 5.5-liter engine from Judd from Courage. The British racing engine manufacturer supplied a total of five of the eleven LMP1 teams this season. While Judd remained the most widely used engine manufacturer, Antonin Charouz's Czech racing team used the newly created option of using a GT1 engine in a prototype. The engine of the new Lola Coupé came from an Aston Martin DBR9 and was the only gasoline engine with 12 cylinders in the LMP field. The factory team from the chassis manufacturer Creation secured the exclusive cooperation with the Japanese engine manufacturer AIM back in 2006. After the engine was developed in 2007, it made its European racing debut in the Le Mans Series in 2008. While the majority of the vehicles were provided by Lola in the previous year , in 2008 the chassis designs by Henri Pescarolo were in the majority. While his team was using two Pescarolo 01 cars, another customer team, Saulnier Racing, was promoted to LMP1. In addition, the British Rollcentre Team also registered a Pescarolo chassis on the start list. All four racing cars were equipped with Judd engines, making it the most common chassis-engine combination in the LMP1.

team	chassis	engine	tires	No.	Regular driver	Substitute driver
Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi R10 TDI	Audi (diesel)	M.	1	Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello
				2	Alexandre Prémat Mike Rockenfeller
Scuderia Lavaggi	Lavaggi LS1	AER P32T	D.	3	Giovanni Lavaggi Wolfgang Kaufmann
Saulnier Racing	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2	M.	4th	Jacques Nicolet Marc Faggionato Richard Hein
Team ORECA-Matmut	Courage-ORECA LC70	Judd GV5.5 S2	M.	5	Soheil Ayari Stéphane Ortelli	Loïc Duval
				6th	Olivier Panis Nicolas Lapierre
Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot (diesel)	M.	7th	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené	Jacques Villeneuve
				8th	Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Alexander Wurz
Charouz Racing System	Lola B08 / 60	Aston Martin	M.	10	Jan Charouz Stefan Mücke
Creation Autosportif	Creation CA07	AIM YS5.5	D.	14th	Felipe Ortiz Stephen Simpson	Jamie Campbell-Walter Liz Halliday Ryan Lewis Stuart Hall
				15th	Robbie Kerr Stuart Hall Jamie Campbell-Walter	Bruce Jouanny
Pescarolo sport	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2	M.	16	Emmanuel Collard Jean-Christophe Boullion	Romain Dumas
				17th	Harold Primate Christophe Tinseau
Rollcentre Racing	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2	D.	18th	Vanina Ickx Martin Short	João Barbosa Ducan Tappy Mikael Forsten Charlie Hollings
Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport	Lola B06 / 10	AER P32T	D.	19th	Gareth Evans Bob Berridge
Epsilon Euskadi	Epsilon Euskadi ee1	Judd GV5.5 S2	M.	20th	Angel Burgueño Miguel Angel de Castro
				21st	Adrián Vallés Shinji Nakano

LMP2

Embassy WF01

In 2008, three customer teams registered with the Porsche RS Spyder , which had previously been very successful in the ALMS . While Horag Racing and Team Essex had already gained experience in the Le Mans Series in previous years, the name of rally driver Peter van Merksteijn had only appeared as a guest starter in a few GT2 races in the series. Franz Verschuur, who had already gained experience in several national championships and the Renault Mégane Trophy, was behind the message from the Dutchman . In addition to Merksteijn, the former Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen were hired. Defending champion Ray Mallock competed in 2008 with both a further developed chassis and a new turbocharged engine from AER. For the last race of the season, the team switched to the closed prototype EX265C. The new car was based on the Lola B08 / 80, which Speedy Racing Team Sebah had been driving for the entire 2008 season. The Swiss team, which fielded a Spyker C8 in the GT2 category last year , launched both a Lola motorized by Judd and a Spyker in 2008. In order to be able to cope with the double burden, the British team Sebah Racing was brought on board. Unlike Speedy Racing, the San Pietro Mosezzo- based Team Racing Box switched completely to the LMP2 class. Active last year with a sale in the Le Mans Series, team owner Luca Canni-Ferrari procured a Lucchini LMP2. The team was unhappy with the reliability of the car and skipped the 1000 km race at Spa-Francorchamps in favor of further development of the vehicle . Before the 24-hour race at Le Mans, there were disagreements between Lucchini and Racing Box, which led to the exclusion from the race on the Sarthe . Not only did the Lucchini from Racing Box appear for the race at the Nürburgring , but also Ranieri Randaccio's vehicle . However, errors were discovered in the homologation papers of both cars and therefore not allowed to race. Gérard Welter, who can look back on a long Le Mans history, appeared in 2008 with a completely newly developed vehicle. The team, now renamed WR-Salini, was financially supported by the two brothers Philippe and Stéphane Salini. In return, they secured a place in the cockpit of the new prototype. The second new development in the LMP2 field of the year came from the British racing team Embassy Racing. After team owner Jonathan France used a Radical SR9 in 2007 , two prototypes designed by Peter Elleray appeared for the first race of the season.

team	chassis	engine	tires	No.	Regular driver	Substitute driver
Ray Mallock, Ltd. (RML)	MG-Lola EX265 MG-Lola EX265C	AER XP21	M.	25th	Mike Newton Thomas Erdos
Bruchladdich Radical	Radical SR9	AER P07	D.	26th	Marc Rostan Jan-Dirk Lueders Jens Petersen
Horag Racing	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6	M.	27	Fredy Lienhard Didier Theys Jan Lammers
Racing box	Lucchini LMP2 / 04	Judd XV675	D.	30th	Marco Didaio Filippo Francioni Mirco Savoldi
Team Essex	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6	D.	31	Casper Elgaard John Nielsen
Barazi epsilon	Zytek 07S / 2	Zytek ZG348	M.	32	Juan Barazi Michael Vergers Fernando Rees
Speedy Racing Team Sebah	Lola B08 / 80	Judd DB	M.	33	Xavier Pompidou Steve Zacchia Andrea Belicchi
Van Merksteijn Motorsport	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6	M.	34	Peter van Merksteijn Jos Verstappen	Jeroen Bleekemolen
Saulnier Racing	Pescarolo 01	Judd DB	M.	35	Mathieu Lahaye Pierre Ragues
WR - Salini	Welter Racing 2008	Zytek ZG348	D.	37	Patrice Roussel Philippe Salini Stéphane Salini	Tristan Gommendy
Quifel ASM team	Lola B05 / 40	AER P07	D.	40	Miguel Amaral Olivier Pla
Trading performance	Zytek 07S / 2	Zytek ZG348	M.	41	Karim Ojjeh Claude-Yves Gosselin	Julien Schroyen Adam Sharpe
Kruse Schiller Motorsport	Lola B05 / 40	Mazda-AER MZR-R	D.	44	Jean de Pourtales Hideki Noda
Embassy Racing	Embassy WF01	Zytek ZG348	M.	45	Warren Hughes Jonny Kane	Mario Haberfeld
				46	Joey Foster	Jonny Kane Tom Kimber-Smith Darren Manning

GT1

Aston Martin DBR9 at Silverstone

The decline in participants in the GT1 category continued in 2008. Only five entries started in all races of the season. Larbre, who won the GT1 title with Aston Martin in 2006 , initially competed this year with a Saleen S7R . However, the racing calendar collided with that of the French GT championship. Therefore neither the vehicle nor one of the three drivers in Monza and Spa was available. Since the French team was also commissioned to look after a Ferrari in the FIA GT Championship , team owner Jacques Leconte decided to withdraw the only Saleen of the season from the series. In return for the race at Spa, another Aston Martin DBR9 appeared . In addition to the sporadic Strakka Racing vehicle, Team Modena also continued to rely on the British manufacturer. Tomáš Enge joined Antonio García, who drove for the racing team for the third season . In 2008, Luc Alphand's racing team again relied on the racing version of the Chevrolet Corvette designed by Pratt & Miller . Unlike in the previous year, however, two C6.R cars were used in the season. For the last race at Silverstone, Alphand wanted to concentrate on the car that had a promising position in the championship and therefore did without the second GT1 Corvette. After a year off, a Lamborghini made its way into the Le Mans Series again in 2008 . The three-year commitment of the Russian Spartak Racing team was supported by Reiter Engineering, who developed the Murciélago R-GT .

team	chassis	engine	tires	No.	Regular driver	Substitute driver
Larbre Compétition	Saleen S7R	ford	M.	50	Patrick Bornhauser Frédéric Makowiecki Christophe Bouchut
IPB Spartak Racing	Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT	Lamborghini L535	M.	55	Roman Russinow Peter Kox
Team Modena	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin	M.	59	Antonio García Tomáš Enge
Strakka Racing	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin	D.	61	Peter Hardman Nick Leventis Darren Turner	Kurt Mollekens
Luc Alphand Aventures	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7-R	M.	72	Guillaume Moreau Patrice Goueslard	Luc Alphand Olivier Beretta
				73	Jean-Luc Blanchemain Stéphane Lemeret Roland Bervillé	Sébastien Dumez Patrice Manopoulos Jérôme Policand Olivier Beretta

GT2

Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2

Virgo Motorsport, the 2007 championship team, entered a Ferrari F430 again this year. Gianmaria Bruni , who was replaced by the reigning ALMS GT2 champion Jaime Melo for the last race of the year , started alongside Robert Bell this season . Bruni was not available that weekend because he competed in the FIA ​​GT race at the Automotodrom Brno . In addition to the two Ferrari teams Virgo Motorsport and JMB Racing, Farnbacher Racing fielded both a Ferrari F430 GTC and a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR this season. In addition to Horst Farnbacher's team, James Watt Automotive also competed with two different makes. While the British team fielded a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR the entire season, owner James Watt was entrusted with the use of the newly developed Vantage. After the first use in Spain, the vehicle did not reappear in the list of participants until Silverstone. The two teams from IMSA Performance Matmus and Felbermeyer-Proton, supported by Porsche, each received a further developed boxer engine with a displacement of four liters from the race at the Nürburgring . Both aggregates used were used in the vehicles with Porsche works drivers Marc Lieb , Alex Davison and Richard Lietz . During the winter break of 2007/2008, the two teams equipped by the small series manufacturer Spyker switched to the coupé version of the C8 Spyder.

team	chassis	engine	tires	No.	Regular driver	Substitute driver
IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80	M.	75	Michel Lecourt Richard Balandra's Jean-Philippe Belloc
		Porsche M97 / 80 Porsche M97 / 81		76	Raymond Narac Richard Lietz
Felbermayr-Proton team	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80 Porsche M97 / 81	M.	77	Marc Lieb Alex Davison
Snora's Spyker Squadron	Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	Audi	M.	85	Alexei Vasiliev Ralf Kellener's Peter Dumbreck	Tom Coronel
Felbermayr-Proton team	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80	M.	88	Horst Felbermayr Jr. Horst Felbermayr Sr. Christian Ried
Farnbacher Racing	Ferrari F430GTC	Ferrari F136	M D	90	Pierre Kaffer Pierre Ehret Anthony Beltoise
	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80	M.	91	Lars-Erik Nielsen Richard Westbrook Allan Simonsen	Dirk Werner
James Watt Automotive	Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2	Aston Martin	D.	93	Alan van der Merwe Michael Outzen	Stéphane Lemeret Tim Sugden
Speedy Racing Team	Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	Audi	M.	94	Andrea Chiesa Benjamin Leuenberger	Irady Alexander
James Watt Automotive	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80	D.	95	Paul Daniels Markus Palttala Tim Sugden	Mikael Forsten Peter Bamford Matt Griffin
Virgo Motorsport	Ferrari F430GTC	Ferrari F136	D.	96	Robert Bell Gianmaria Bruni	Jaime Melo
JMB Racing	Ferrari F430GTC	Ferrari F136	M D	98	Paolo Maurizio Basso Peter Kutemann	Bo McCormick Mauro Casadei Stéphane Daoudi Johan-Boris Scheier Julien Gilbert
				99	Stéphane Daoudi Ben Aucott	Alain Ferté

Racing calendar

Overall winners are highlighted in bold .

No.	date	Race name / circuit	class	team	winner	vehicle
1	April 6th	1000 km race of Catalonia Circuit de Catalunya	LMP1	Team Peugeot Total	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP
			LMP2	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	Jos Verstappen Peter van Merksteijn senior	Porsche RS Spyder Evo
			GT1	Luc Alphand Aventures	Luc Alphand Guillaume Moreau Patrice Goueslard	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R
			GT2	Virgo Motorsport	Rob Bell Gianmaria Bruni	Ferrari F430GTC
2	April 27	Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza 1000 km race	LMP1	Peugeot Total Sport	Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP
			LMP2	Team Essex	John Nielsen Casper Elgaard	Porsche RS Spyder Evo
			GT1	Team Modena	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Aston Martin DBR9
			GT2	Farnbacher Racing	Lars-Erik Nielsen Allan Simonsen Richard Westbrook	Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
3	May 11th	Spa-Francorchamps 1000 km race Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	LMP1	Peugeot Total Sport	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené Jacques Villeneuve	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP
			LMP2	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	Jos Verstappen Peter van Merksteijn senior	Porsche RS Spyder Evo
			GT1	Luc Alphand Aventures	Olivier Beretta Guillaume Moreau Patrice Goueslard	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R
			GT2	Virgo Motorsport	Rob Bell Gianmaria Bruni	Ferrari F430GTC
4th	17th August	1000 km race on the Nürburgring Nürburgring	LMP1	Peugeot Total Sport	Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP
			LMP2	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	Jos Verstappen Jeroen Bleekemolen	Porsche RS Spyder Evo
			GT1	Team Modena	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Aston Martin DBR9
			GT2	Virgo Motorsport	Rob Bell Gianmaria Bruni	Ferrari F430GTC
5	September 14th	Silverstone 1000km race at Silverstone Circuit	LMP1	Audi Sport Team Joest	Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Audi R10 TDI
			LMP2	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	Jos Verstappen Peter van Merksteijn senior	Porsche RS Spyder Evo
			GT1	Team Modena	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Aston Martin DBR9
			GT2	Virgo Motorsport	Rob Bell Jaime Melo	Ferrari F430GTC

1000 km Catalunya

LMP1	total	driver	team	time
1	1	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené	Team Peugeot Total	5: 59: 30.812
2	2	Alexandre Prémat Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Joest	+1 lap
3	3	Jan Charouz Stefan Mücke	Charouz Racing System	+3 rounds
LMP2	total	driver	team	time
1	6th	Jos Verstappen Peter Van Merksteijn	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	+7 rounds
2	8th	Andrea Belicchi Xavier Pompidou Steve Zacchia	Speedy Racing Team Sebah Automotive	+8 laps
3	9	Casper Elgaard John Nielsen	Team Essex	+11 rounds
GT1	total	driver	team	time
1	16	Luc Alphand Guillaume Moreau Patrice Goueslard	Luc Alphand Aventures	+21 laps
2	18th	Frédéric Makowiecki Patrick Bornhauser Christophe Bouchut	Larbre Compétition	+23 laps
3	19th	Peter Kox Roman Russinow	IPB Spartak Racing	+25 rounds
GT2	total	driver	team	time
1	21st	Robert Bell Gianmaria Bruni	Virgo Motorsport	+26 laps
2	22nd	Marc Lieb Alex Davison	Felbermayr-Proton team	+26 laps
3	23	Raymond Narac Richard Lietz	IMSA Performance Matmut	+28 rounds

The first round of the Le Mans Series took place on April 6, 2008 at the Circuit de Catalunya and covered a distance of 215 laps. A distance of 1000.825 km was covered.

Stéphane Sarrazin drove to pole position with a lap time of 1: 31.875 , followed by local hero Marc Gené in the sister car. Jos Verstappen qualified as the fastest LMP2 driver in the Porsche RS Spyder in fifth place. He lapped the course in 1: 34.422, more than a second faster than Xavier Pompidou in the new Lola B08. In the GT1 category, Antonio García finished qualifying in pole position in his class. With a time of 1: 44.484 he undercut Patrice Goueslard by 47 ms. The pole position in the GT2 went to Ferrari driver Robert Bell.

Pedro Lamy converts his pole position into a lead, behind which Allan McNish and Stefan Mücke can overtake Nicolas Minassian . Within 60 minutes, Minassian overtook Mücke and later also McNish and was able to close the gap with team-mate Lamy. Shortly afterwards, the safety car had to be deployed after the Bruchladdich Radical stopped on the track. Many participants used the yellow phase for a pit stop. First Olivier Panis, then Allen McNish, was brought to the top. At the restart, McNish is leading ahead of Marc Gené and Sarrazin. A few laps later, while lapping, there was a collision between the Peugeot from Sarrazin and the Aston Martin from Team Modena. Sarrazin managed to pit his car but dropped back to 39th position. Before the third hour of the race, McNish had problems with the vehicle electronics and had to have his R10 repaired in the pits for several laps. Meanwhile, Minassian leads just ahead of Mike Rockenfeller and Jan Charouz . By the end of the race, Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish overtook one competitor after the other and, one hour before the end of the race, took over fifth position from Christophe Tinseau. Marc Gené and Nicolas Minassian cross the finish line just before the six-hour mark and win the first race of the season.

In the LMP2, Casper Elgaard overtook two competitors at the start of the race and is now second in his class behind Jos Verstappen. After a good hour and a half, Verstappen has to go to the pits to serve a stop-and-go penalty for overtaking under yellow. Elgaard takes the lead, but one hour later he is involved in a collision with Allan Simonsen and Marc Lieb. Elgaard pits and drops to fourth place in the LMP2 category. One hour before the end of the race, Jos Verstappen is in the lead again, ahead of Andrea Belicchi and Matthieu Lahaye. By the end of the race, Capser Elgaard and John Nielsen can work their way back to third position in the LMP2 category.

In the GT1 category, Antonio García leads after the first lap, ahead of Guillaume Moreau and Peter Kox . After the scheduled driver changes and a collision between Team Modena's Aston Martin and Sarrazin’s Peugeot, Moreau’s team-mate Patrice Goueslard can take the lead. Tomáš Enge then closes the gap for up to five seconds, but has to park his vehicle on lap 124 with a defective fuel pump . Frédéric Makowiecki benefits from the failure and now moves up to second place in the GT1 category.

Marc Lieb leads the GT2 category at the start, but has to hand over the lead to Robert Bell a few minutes later. Allan Simonsen uses the following safety car phase to be the first GT2 in the field with a better pit stop. He was able to maintain the lead until his accident with Elgaard and second-placed Lieb. The beneficiaries of this situation are Bell and Raymond Narac, who now occupy the first two places in GT2. While Simonsen had to park his car as a result of the accident, the driver duo Davison and Lieb could drive up to second place until the end of the race.

1000 km Monza

LMP1	total	driver	team	time
1	1	Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Team Peugeot Total	4: 59: 07.955
2	2	Alexandre Prémat Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Joest	+47.672 s
3	3	Harold Primate Christophe Tinseau	Pescarolo sport	+4 rounds
LMP2	total	driver	team	time
1	8th	Casper Elgaard John Nielsen	Team Essex	+8 laps
2	9	Jos Verstappen Peter Van Merksteijn	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	+8 laps
3	10	Jan Lammers Didier Theys Fredy Lienhard	Horag Racing	+9 laps
GT1	total	driver	team	time
1	15th	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Team Modena	+14 rounds
2	16	Olivier Beretta Guillaume Moreau Patrice Goueslard	Luc Alphand Aventures	+14 rounds
3	19th	Jean-Luc Blanchemain Sébastien Dumez Patrice Manopoulos	Luc Alphand Aventures	+18 rounds
GT2	total	driver	team	time
1	21st	Lars-Erik Nielsen Richard Westbrook Allan Simonsen	Farnbacher Racing	+22 laps
2	23	Pierre Ehret Pierre Kaffer	Farnbacher Racing	+22 laps
3	24	Ben Aucott Stéphane Daoudi	JMB Racing	+23 laps

The 1000 km race in Monza took place on April 27th at the Autodromo Nationale Monza and covered 173 laps of 5.793 km, for a total of 1002.189 km.

In qualifying, as in Barcelona, ​​Peugeot secured the front row of the grid. With the best time of 1: 31.470, Nicolas Minassian lapped the circuit as the fastest racing driver. Pole position in LMP2 went to Jos Verstappen. In the end, there was about a second between him and second-placed Jan Lammers. The fastest GT1 car entered the race in 27th place. Olivier Beretta narrowly won the duel against Tomáš Enge, who completed the 14th row on the grid, with a lap time of 1: 44.102. Two rows further Robert Bell qualified as the fastest GT2 driver, followed by Alex Davison for Felbermayer-Proton.

Marc Gené wins the flying start against his teammate Sarrazin. Chase Rinaldo Capello has to pits after around 15 minutes, a burst tire throws him back nine laps. Now both Peugeots are leading by several seconds ahead of Stefan Mücke. After the end of the first hour of racing, the Minassian, who had been leading up to that point, was pushed into the pit with a damaged drive shaft . He can continue later but loses almost 15 minutes. Pedro Lamy is now in the lead, followed by Mike Rockenfeller. In the last hour of the race, Stéphane Ortelli vigorously hit the bar at the Rettifila chicane . The safety car then has to go out onto the track. Lamy goes straight into the pits and Rockenfeller is the leader. After the race has been reopened, Lamy Rockenfeller can overtake in the first chicane, but cuts the inside of the corner in the process. He then lets Rockenfeller pass again. He tries again one lap later, and the two vehicles touch each other. Rockenfeller has to have his damaged vehicle repaired, but Lamy also has to pit. He receives a stop-and-go penalty for the first attempt to overtake. The Peugeot is processed faster and in the end wins ahead of Rockenfeller and Christophe Tinseau.

In the LMP2, Jos Verstappen leads at the start. He is first pursued by Jan Lammers and later by Andrea Belicchi, who was able to overtake Lammers after the first safety car phase. After 90 minutes, the Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche and the Speedy Racing Spyker clash when lapping. The RS Spyder then has to go to the pits to have the defect on the chassis repaired. The class leadership of the LMP2 now goes to Casper Elgaard. The Essex team was able to expand the gap to runner-up, but was given a stop-and-go penalty during the third hour of the race, so Didier Theys is now driving directly behind John Nielsen's RS Spyder again. A few laps later, Theys had to bury his hope of a class win, he lost the course and was stuck in the gravel. Theys can continue later, but falls behind in the ranking. Nevertheless, he ended up in third place in the end and only had to admit defeat to his two brand colleagues.

At the start of the race, Oliver Barretta leads in the GT1 category from Tomáš Enge. Enge tries several times to pass Barretta, but can not prevail. During the race, due to different pit stop strategies, the places change several times between the vehicle of Team Modena and Luc Alphand Aventures. Around 90 minutes before the end of the race, Tomáš Enge decided the race in favor of the British Aston Martin team by first overtaking Barretta and then taking a twelve-second lead until the end of the race.

Gianmaria Bruni and Robert Bell led the field of GT2 vehicles almost continuously until the third hour of the race, but then the duo had two punctures within a few minutes, which put them back in seventh place. The new leader is now Raymond Narac. Behind them, Pierre Kaffer and Richard Westbrook are dueling for second place. Westbrook can ultimately prevail over his teammate. Kaffer initially stayed within striking distance, but lost 26 seconds to the driver trio of Nielsen, Westbrook and Allan Simonsen by the end of the race. Initially, Richard Lietz and Raymond Narac are declared winners of the GT2 class, but disqualified after the technical inspection of the vehicles. The race management announced that Lietz and Narac's vehicle had lost its connection to the data recording device.

1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps

LMP1	total	driver	team	time
1	1	Marc Gené Nicolas Minassian Jacques Villeneuve	Team Peugeot Total	5: 17: 48.566
2	2	Alexandre Prémat Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Joest	+30.367 s
3	3	Oliver Panis Nicolas Lapierre	Team ORECA-Matmut	+3 rounds
LMP2	total	driver	team	time
1	6th	Jos Verstappen Peter Van Merksteijn	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	+5 laps
2	7th	Jan Lammers Didier Theys Fredy Lienhard	Horag Racing	+5 laps
3	8th	Casper Elgaard John Nielsen	Team Essex	+8 laps
GT1	total	driver	team	time
1	13	Luc Alphand Guillaume Moreau Patrice Goueslard	Luc Alphand Aventures	+13 rounds
2	15th	Peter Kox Roman Russinow	IPB Spartak Racing	+14 rounds
3	16	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Team Modena	+16 rounds
GT2	total	driver	team	time
1	17th	Robert Bell Gianmaria Bruni	Virgo Motorsport	+17 rounds
2	18th	Marc Lieb Alex Davison	Felbermayr-Proton team	+17 rounds
3	19th	Christian Ried Horst Felbermayr Jr.	Felbermayr-Proton team	+20 rounds

The 1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps took place on August 19th and covered a distance of 143 laps of 7.004 km, for a total of 1001.572 km.

In the qualification, which was interrupted twice, Stéphane Sarrazin secured pole position with a lap time of 1: 58.069. For the first time this season, the starting position alongside Sarrazin did not go to Team Peugeot Total. In the end, McNish beat the second Peugeot 908 HDi FAP's best time with 0.07 s . In the LMP2, Jos Verstappen again lapped the course as the fastest. With a lap time of 2: 05.941 he placed his Porsche RS Spyder in eighth place overall. The best times in the two GT classes were set by Antonio García for Team Modena and Gianmaria Bruni for Virgo Motorsport.

The race is released one lap later than planned as Joey Foster strays off the track on the warm-up lap. After completing the now necessary second warm-up lap, Pedro Lamy starts the race as the leader, followed by Allen McNish, who soon comes under pressure from the second Peugeot. Nicolas Minassian initially finds no way to overtake. After 90 minutes, the Frenchman sits down next to McNish when approaching Les Combres. Both drivers brake too late and have to drive through the gravel bed . Minassian is back on track first, while the Audi driver pits with a punctured tire. A few minutes later the safety car was sent out after Jonny Kane came to a dangerous stop. The driver changes will now take place in the top field. When the race is reopened, Rinaldo Capello and Alexander Wurz clash. While Capello can continue, the race is over for Wurz. The accident triggers another safety car phase. The order on the podium remains constant until the end of the race. Marc Gené leads, followed by Alexandre Premat and Oliver Panis. The driver duo McNish-Capello finished the race in fourth place after catching up.

In the LMP2, Jos Verstappen transforms his pole position into a class lead. Behind them Andrea Belicchi, who overtook Verstappen after about 30 minutes, but lost the lead again to Verstappen after another 30 minutes. A safety car phase before the second hour of the race brings the field closer together again. After the race has been approved, the lead changes several times between the Lola B08 / 80 from Speedy Racing and the two Porsche RS Spyder from Horag Racing and Van Merksteijn Motorsport. While technical defects mean that the Lola is eliminated, the two RS Spyders are just under 20 seconds apart a few minutes before the end of the race. Shortly afterwards, the leader Jan Lammers has to go to the pit for a splash and dash . Verstappen takes the lead and in the end wins with 10 seconds ahead of Lammers.

At the start, Guillaume Moreau takes the lead in the GT1, followed by Antonio García. After 40 minutes, Garcia overtook the French and was stopped by electronics problems during the subsequent pit stop. Luc Alphand Aventures' vehicle is now in the lead until the safety car is deployed in the second hour of the race. Peter Kox is benefiting from the situation and as the leader of the GT1 lines up behind the safety car. After handing over to Roman Russinow , there is a collision between him and a prototype, in which Russinow loses the hood of his Lamborghini and has to go to the pits. Moreau took the lead again and held the position until the end of the race.

At the start, Robert Bell was able to maintain his pole position and led the GT2 field just ahead of Marc Lieb. The driver duo Lieb and Alex Davison in the Felbermayr vehicle stay close to the Ferrari of the Virgo Motorsport team. In the third hour of the race, Lieb took the opportunity and overtook Gianmaria Bruni, who has since taken over the cockpit from Bell. The positions between the two competitors change several times until the last hour of the race. When the safety car is deployed a few minutes before the end of the race, Lieb and Bell are only separated by a faster LMP2. Bell comes under pressure from Lieb after the race is released. On the last lap, Bell brakes too late in the bus stop chicane. Lieb can sit next to the Englishman so that they cross the finish line side by side. Robert Bell wins with a lead of 0.184 seconds over Marc Lieb. The podium is completed by the second Felbermayr Proton vehicle. Horst Felbermayr Sr., on the other hand, was denied the podium placement with Christian Ried and his son, because he could not show the required minimum driving time.

1000 km Nürburgring

LMP1	total	driver	team	time
1	1	Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Team Peugeot Total	5: 44: 58,174
2	2	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené	Team Peugeot Total	+16.161 s
3	3	Alexandre Prémat Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Joest	+1 lap
LMP2	total	driver	team	time
1	7th	Jos Verstappen Jeroen Bleekemolen	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	+7 rounds
2	9	Mathieu Lahaye Pierre Ragues	Saulnier Racing	+11 rounds
3	10	Casper Elgaard John Nielsen	Team Essex	+11 rounds
GT1	total	driver	team	time
1	20th	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Team Modena	+23 laps
2	37	Luc Alphand Guillaume Moreau Patrice Goueslard	Luc Alphand Aventures	+55 laps
3	-	not forgiven	-	-
GT2	total	driver	team	time
1	24	Robert Bell Gianmaria Bruni	Virgo Motorsport	+26 laps
2	25th	Marc Lieb Alex Davison	Felbermayr-Proton team	+28 rounds
3	26th	Raymond Narac Richard Lietz	IMSA Performance Matmut	+28 rounds

The 1000 km race on the Nürburgring took place on August 17, 2008 on the Grand Prix circuit of the Nürburgring and covered a distance of 1001.715 km, circling the course 195 times.

Marc Gené secured pole position in the qualification. He undercut his own lap time of the previous year by more than two seconds. He lapped the course in 1: 39.492 and thus 0.023 seconds faster than his team-mate Pedro Lamy. In the LMP2, Jos Verstappen once again set the fastest lap and qualified in seventh place overall. In the GT1, Tomáš Enge beat Olivier Beretta's time on the final lap. Enge needed 1: 52.387 to complete his last lap. The pole position in the GT2 was achieved by Anthony Beltoise.

At the start of the race, both Peugeots can break away from the field. Initially Stéphane Sarrazin is in the lead, but after 15 laps he is overtaken by Nicolas Minassian. Behind them, Stefan Mücke and Alexandre Prémat are fighting for third place. Prémat later passes Mücke, but is now several seconds behind the two Peugeot 908s. Changes in leadership now only take place through different pit stop windows of the two leading vehicles. Prémat and Mike Rockenfeller fall further behind and are caught up by the second Audi R10. At the end of the race, the Peugeot team was one lap ahead of both of the Audi factory team's cars.

In the LMP2, Jos Verstappen leads at the start, followed by Casper Elgaard. Verstappen was able to maintain its place between the more powerful LMP1 vehicles, the RS Spyder of Team Essex slipped into the gravel trap at the end of the second hour of the race, but continued afterwards. First the vehicle from Horag Racing, later Matthieu Lahaye, took second place in the LMP2. Xavier Pompediou later overtook Lahaye, but had to go to the pits to repair the Lola in the fourth hour of the race. In the end Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen win with a four lap lead over Lahaye and Pierre Ragues.

After the start, Tomáš Enge leads in the GT1 category. After about 20 minutes, Olivier Baretta overtook his team-mate Guillaume Moreau and is now second. Baretta later hands over to Jérôme Policand, who collides with Juan Barazi in the second hour of the race, but is able to drive his vehicle into the pits. The Lamborghini Murciélago is now in second place in the GT1. However, Peter Kox had to park the car one hour before the end of the race with a problem with the power transmission. While Enge and Antonio García continue to lead the class, Luc Alphand Aventures' remaining vehicle goes to the pits. In the repairs that follow, they have to use parts from the sister car, which has thus been eliminated. They fall far behind in this regard, but can narrowly classify themselves.

In the GT2, Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz overtake Pierre Ehret's pole car. Championship leader Gianmarina Bruni has to start from last place after a fire in training, but after 30 minutes he can overtake Lietz and a little later Lieb and is now leading in the GT2 category. The order of Virgo Motorsport, Felbermayr-Proton and IMSA Performance Matmus will not change. So Bruni and Robert Bell win their third race of the season.

1000 km Silverstone

LMP1	total	driver	team	time
1	1	Rinaldo Capello Allen McNish	Audi Sport Team Joest	5: 40: 24.862
2	2	Stefan Mücke Jan Charouz	Charouz Racing System	+2 rounds
3	3	Jean-Christoph Boullion Romain Dumas	Pescarolo sport	+4 rounds
LMP2	total	driver	team	time
1	5	Peter van Merksteijn Jos Verstappen	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	+4 rounds
2	9	Fredy Lienhard Didier Theys Jan Lammers	Horag Racing	+8 laps
3	10	Miguel Amaral Oliver Pla	Quifel ASM team	+10 rounds
GT1	total	driver	team	time
1	20th	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Team Modena	+17 rounds
2	21st	Roman Russinow Peter Kox	IPB Spartak Racing	+18 rounds
3	22nd	Patrice Goueslard Guillaume Moreau	Luc Alphand Aventures	+21 laps
GT2	total	driver	team	time
1	26th	Robert Bell Jaime Melo	Virgo Motorsport	+23 laps
2	27	Marc Lieb Alex Davison	Felbermayr-Proton team	+24 rounds
3	28	Pierre Kaffer Pierre Ehret Anthony Beltoise	Farnbacher Racing	+26 laps

The 1000 km race at Silverstone took place on September 14, 2008 and covered a distance of 195 laps of 5.141 km, for a total of 1002.495 km.

In the 20-minute qualification, Stéphane Sarrazin took his second pole position of the year. With a lap time of 1: 30.359, he finished his fastest lap 11/1000 seconds ahead of his team-mate Nicolas Minassian, who completed the front row. Jos Verstappen achieved the best time in the LMP2 category. All the best times in his class this season went to the Dutchman. With a lap time of 1: 34.212, Verstappen also qualified in the midfield of the LMP1 vehicles. The fastest laps in the two GT classes were one with a 1: 45.327 Peter Kox and the other with Robert Bell, who lapped the course in 1: 48.960.

Allan McNish and Nicolas Minassian meet at the start of the race. Minassian turns and lines up at the end of the field while McNish pursues the now leading Pedro Lamy. During the pit stop before the end of the first hour of the race, the Audi driver passed Lamy. Minassian, who has meanwhile worked his way up to third place after the spin at the start of the race, collides with GT2 driver Richard Lietz while lapping. Both vehicles are irreparably damaged in the accident and the race is neutralized by the safety car. Both Audi R10s are now leading the field, but Rinaldo Capello and Stéphane Sarrazin collide after the race has been released. As a result of the second accident between the two cars in this race, Sarrazin had to go to the pits for a half-hour repair; Capello was able to continue driving immediately after changing tires. As a result of the accident, Alexandre Premat is now in the lead, followed by Jan Charouz and Olivier Panis. As the race progresses, Capello and McNish can catch up with the sister vehicle again and overtake it one hour before the end of the race. Shortly afterwards, the now runner-up Premat has to pit with problems with the suspension. Premat is able to continue later, but falls back to fourth place in a subsequent stop-and-go penalty until the end of the race.

Jos Verstappen converts his LMP2 best time in the qualification into a class lead, followed by Xavier Pompediou in the Lola B08 / 80. Despite a stop-and-go penalty for unauthorized help on the starting grid, Verstappen continues to lead even after completing the second hour of the race. A few minutes later, his direct pursuer Pompidou collides with Roman Russinov. The accident triggers a safety car phase and Pompidou has to give up his vehicle. After the race has been reopened, Jan Lammers can advance to second place in the LMP2 class by the fourth hour of the race. Behind them Darren Manning and Miguel Amaral are fighting for the remaining podium. With an 8-minute pit stop for the Embassy driver, the situation is in favor of the Quifel ASM Team.

In the GT1 category, Peter Kox is initially leading, but is overtaken by Tomáš Enge after 30 minutes. The cars of Luc Alphand Aventures and Strakka Racing lose touch with the leading group early on, so that Roman Russinow remains in second place at the beginning of the third hour of the race despite a collision with Xavier Pompidou. However, the driver pairing Kox / Russinow falls one lap behind the leaders Antonio García and Tomáš Enge, who ultimately win the race in the GT1.

After the start of the race, Robert Bell leads the GT2 class, but initially cannot break away from his pursuers Richard Lietz and Marc Lieb. Because of the collision between Lietz and Nicolas Minassin after completing the first hour of the race, Lieb now moves up to second position. After the race management re-released the race, the driver pairing Bell and Jaime Melo increasingly set themselves apart from the runner-up Lieb and Alex Davison. Lieb and Davison, for their part, were able to pull out two laps ahead of Pierre Ehret, Pierre Kaffer and Antohony Beltoise by the time they crossed the finish line.

Total score

Driver ranking

Within each of the 4 classes, points are distributed to the drivers of the first eight vehicles as follows: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. Drivers who have not driven for at least 45 minutes will not receive any points. If two or more drivers have the same number of championship points, those who achieved the best individual result in the season will be better off. If all drivers have achieved the same result, priority will be given to the one who has the most placements with the result. If all drivers have the same number of corresponding results, the one who achieved the individual result first will be rated better. Otherwise, all drivers have the same ranking.

LMP1

Mike Rockenfeller in the Audi R10

Last year's champions Stéphane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy could not repeat their success despite two wins in five races. Their teammates Marc Gené and Nicolas Minassian also failed to win the championship with two more victories. Similar to the previous year, all Peugeot drivers were always the fastest drivers in the field, so one of the two vehicles always started from pole position into the race. Allan McNish only qualified for the front row in Spa-Francorchamps. However, both Peugeot driver pairings still lacked reliability. If the team was able to prevail over Jean-Christophe Boullion at the end of 2007, they failed this year because of Alexandre Prémat and Mike Rockenfeller. Although Prémat and Rockenfeller only led 5.5% of the entire race distance of the year, they avoided all risks and always finished in the top four in the points. Team mates Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish, on the other hand, were unable to exploit their victory in the 1000 km race at Silverstone, the better qualifying times and the higher number of leading laps in the championship. Due to the multiple collisions with competitor Team Peugeot Total, they fell far behind in Monza and Spa, for example. The runner-up title went to Marc Gené and Nicolas Minassian. The best drivers in Le Mans prototypes with gasoline engines were Jan Charouz and Stefan Mücke, who were able to show the greatest consistency in the field behind the works drivers.

space	driver	team	Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Run 4	Run 5	Total
1	Alexandre Prémat	Audi Sport Team Joest	8th	8th	8th	6th	5	35
=	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Joest	8th	8th	8th	6th	5	35
2	Marc Gené	Team Peugeot Total	10	4th	10	8th		32
=	Nicolas Minassian	Team Peugeot Total	10	4th	10	8th		32
3	Rinaldo Capello	Audi Sport Team Joest	4th	3	5	5	10	27
=	Allan McNish	Audi Sport Team Joest	4th	3	5	5	10	27
4th	Pedro Lamy	Team Peugeot Total	1	10		10		21st
=	Stéphane Sarrazin	Team Peugeot Total	1	10		10		21st
5	Jan Charouz	Charouz Racing System	6th	1		4th	8th	19th
=	Stefan Mücke	Charouz Racing System	6th	1		4th	8th	19th
6th	Jean-Christophe Boullion	Pescarolo sport	5		4th		6th	15th
7th	Stuart Hall	Creation Autosportif		5	3	2	4th	14th
8th	Harold Primate	Pescarolo sport	3	6th		1	3	13
=	Christophe Tinseau	Pescarolo sport	3	6th		1	3	13
9	Jacques Villeneuve	Team Peugeot Total			10			10
10	Emmanuel Collard	Pescarolo sport	5		4th			9
11	Robbie Kerr	Creation Autosportif		5	3			8th
12	Nicolas Lapierre	Team ORECA-Matmut			6th			6th
=	Olivier Panis	Team ORECA-Matmut			6th			6th
13	Romain Dumas	Pescarolo sport					6th	6th
14th	Jamie Campbell-Walter	Creation Autosportif				2	4th	6th
15th	Soheil Ayari	Team ORECA-Matmut				3	2	5
=	Stéphane Ortelli	Team ORECA-Matmut				3	2	5
16	Vanina Ickx	Rollcentre Racing	2	2			1	5
17th	Loïc Duval	Team ORECA-Matmut				3		3
18th	João Barbosa	Rollcentre Racing	2				1	3
19th	Martin Short	Rollcentre Racing	2					2
20th	Ducan Tappy	Rollcentre Racing		2				2
21st	Angel Burgueño	Epsilon Euskadi			2			2
=	Miguel Angel de Castro	Epsilon Euskadi			2			2
22nd	Marc Faggionato	Saulnier Racing			1			1
=	Richard Hein	Saulnier Racing			1			1
=	Jacques Nicolet	Saulnier Racing			1			1
23	Charlie Hollings	Rollcentre Racing					1	1

LMP2

Verstappen at Silverstone 2008

The LMP2 drivers' championship was already decided at the Nürburgring. With Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen winning, the second placed Casper Elgaard and John Nielsen could only draw level in the last race. However, since the two Danes could have shown fewer class wins, they would only have been runner-up. Since Peter Van Merksteijn's driver and team owner at the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring decided against participating in the championship and taking part in the Rallye Deutschland with his son , the LMP2 driver's title was awarded to Verstappen alone. At the run in Silverstone it was decided whether Van Merksteijn or Casper Elgaar and John Nielsen would get the runner-up title. With another victory for the Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS Spyder, the Dutchman ultimately got the upper hand. Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos, champions of the previous year, like the remaining runner-up Miguel Amaral, did not play a decisive championship role this year. None of the drivers had either a pole position or a lead at the end of the year.

space	driver	team	Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Run 4	Run 5	Total
1	Jos Verstappen	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	10	8th	10	10	10	48
2	Peter Van Merksteijn	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	10	8th	10		10	38
3	Casper Elgaard	Team Essex	6th	10	6th	6th	4th	32
=	John Nielsen	Team Essex	6th	10	6th	6th	4th	32
4th	Jan Lammers	Horag Racing	3	6th	8th		8th	25th
=	Didier Theys	Horag Racing	3	6th	8th		8th	25th
5	Mathieu Lahaye	Saulnier Racing	4th	4th	5	8th		21st
=	Pierre Ragues	Saulnier Racing	4th	4th	5	8th		21st
6th	Thomas Erdos	RML	5	5	3	3	5	21st
=	Mike Newton	RML	5	5	3	3	5	21st
7th	Fredy Lienhard	Horag Racing	3	6th			8th	17th
8th	Miguel Amaral	Quifel ASM team		2		4th	6th	12
=	Olivier Pla	Quifel ASM team		2		4th	6th	12
9	Jeroen Bleekemolen	Van Merksteijn Motorsport				10		10
10	Andrea Belicchi	Speedy Racing / Team Sebah	8th					8th
=	Xavier Pompidou	Speedy Racing / Team Sebah	8th					8th
=	Steve Zacchia	Speedy Racing / Team Sebah	8th					8th
11	Claude-Yves Gosselin	Trading performance	1		4th		2	7th
=	Karim Ojjeh	Trading performance	1		4th		2	7th
12	Warren Hughes	Embassy Racing		1		2	3	6th
13	Joey Foster	Embassy Racing				5		5
=	Darren Manning	Embassy Racing				5		5
14th	Julien Schroyen	Trading performance	1		4th			5
15th	Jonny Kane	Embassy Racing				2	3	5
16	Hideki Noda	Kruse Schiller Motorsport		3			1	4th
=	Jean de Pourtales	Kruse Schiller Motorsport		3			1	4th
17th	Jan-Dirk Lueders	Bruchladdich Radical	2		2			4th
=	Jens Petersen	Bruchladdich Radical	2		2			4th
=	Marc Rostan	Bruchladdich Radical	2		2			4th
18th	Adam Sharpe	Trading performance					2	2
19th	Mario Haberfeld	Embassy Racing		1				1
20th	Fernando Rees	Barazi epsilon				1		1
=	Michael Vergers	Barazi epsilon				1		1
=	Juan Barazi	Barazi epsilon				1		1

GT1

Corvette by Patrice Goueslard and Guillaume Moreau

After last year's winner ORECA, a number of teams turned to other tasks this season, there were only three permanently registered racing teams in the GT1 group. Since at no time did more than five driver combinations start in a race, each classified driver achieved championship points. Up until the penultimate race at the Nürburgring, Guillaume Moreau and Patrice Goueslard were clearly in the lead with nine points. After the technical defect in Barcelona, ​​Antonio García and Tomáš Enge found two podium places to catch up with the Russinow / Kox driver pairing, who in turn had to give up points to guest starters Larbre Compétition in the first championship run. Only four GT1 vehicles were registered at the Nürburgring, two of which were from Luc Alphand. With the failure of the Lamborghini and its own sister vehicle, only two GT1 vehicles remained in the race. Despite being 32 laps behind García and Enge, who are now runner-up in the championship, the distance covered was enough to earn eight championship points as runner-up. As a result, Moreau and Goueslard only needed one point for the last run at Silverstone. The driver pairing ultimately finished the race on the podium and thus secured the championship of the GT1 category, although at the end of the season the pursuers had a significantly higher number of leading laps with 58.1%. Enge and García, however, defended their position as runner-up in 2008 with their third class win.

space	driver	team	Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Run 4	Run 5	Total
1	Patrice Goueslard	Luc Alphand Aventures	10	8th	10	8th	6th	42
=	Guillaume Moreau	Luc Alphand Aventures	10	8th	10	8th	6th	42
2	Tomáš Enge	Team Modena		10	6th	10	10	36
=	Antonio García	Team Modena		10	6th	10	10	36
3	Luc Alphand	Luc Alphand Aventures	10		10	8th		28
4th	Peter Kox	IPB Spartak Racing	6th	5	8th		8th	27
=	Roman Russinov	IPB Spartak Racing	6th	5	8th		8th	27
5	Peter Hardman	Strakka Racing			5		5	10
5	Nick Leventis	Strakka Racing			5		5	10
6th	Patrick Bornhauser	Larbre Compétition	8th					8th
=	Christophe Bouchut	Larbre Compétition	8th					8th
=	Frédéric Makowiecki	Larbre Compétition	8th					8th
7th	Olivier Beretta	Luc Alphand Aventures		8th				8th
8th	Jean-Luc Blanchemain	Luc Alphand Aventures		6th				6th
=	Sébastien Dumez	Luc Alphand Aventures		6th				6th
=	Patrice Manopoulos	Luc Alphand Aventures		6th				6th
9	Darren Turner	Strakka Racing					5	6th

GT2

Robert Bell in the Ferrari F430

In the GT2 drivers' championship, two driver teams were able to set themselves apart from the rest of the field during the season. On the one hand there was last year's champion Robert Bell with Gianmaria Bruni, on the other hand the 2007 runner-up Marc Lieb with Alex Davison. Since Bruni followed his obligations in the FIA ​​GT Championship at the 1000 km race at Silverstone, it again opened up the opportunity for Bell to become sole winner. Thanks to the fourth class win for Bell and Jamie Melo in the home race of Virgo Motorsport, Bell not only won the championship, but also equaled Lieb in the number of championship titles. In addition, he was now able to show a higher number of class wins than the German, who with Davison surpassed Brunis by 30 points with another podium finish and was again runner-up. Bruni, for his part, had secured third position before the race, as pursuers Ben Aucott and Stéphane Daoudi were already more than 10 points behind after the 1000 km race at the Nürburgring.

space	driver	team	Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Run 4	Run 5	Total
1	Robert Bell	Virgo Motorsport	10		10	10	10	40
2	Alex Davison	Felbermayr-Proton team	8th	3	8th	8th	8th	35
=	Marc Lieb	Felbermayr-Proton team	8th	3	8th	8th	8th	35
3	Gianmaria Bruni	Virgo Motorsport	10		10	10		30th
4th	Pierre Ehret	Farnbacher Racing	5	8th			6th	19th
=	Pierre Kaffer	Farnbacher Racing	5	8th			6th	19th
5	Ben Aucott	JMB Racing	3	6th	4th	5		18th
6th	Stéphane Daoudi	JMB Racing	3	6th	2	5		16
7th	Richard Lietz	IMSA Performance Matmut	6th		3	6th		15th
=	Raymond Narac	IMSA Performance Matmut	6th		3	6th		15th
8th	Ralf Kelleners	Snora's Spyker Squadron	4th			4th	5	13
=	Alexei Vasiliev	Snora's Spyker Squadron	4th			4th	5	13
9	Anthony Beltoise	Farnbacher Racing	5				6th	11
10	Andrea Chiesa	Speedy Racing Team		5	5		1	11
=	Benjamin Leuenberger	Speedy Racing Team		5	5		1	11
11	Paolo Maurizio Basso	JMB Racing		4th	2	2	3	11
=	Peter Kutemann	JMB Racing		4th	2	2	3	11
12	Lars-Erik Nielsen	Farnbacher Racing		10				10
=	Allan Simonsen	Farnbacher Racing		10				10
=	Richard Westbrook	Farnbacher Racing		10				10
13	Jaime Melo	Virgo Motorsport					10	10
14th	Horst Felbermayr Jr.	Felbermayr-Proton team			6th		4th	10
=	Christian Ried	Felbermayr-Proton team			6th		4th	10
15th	Peter Dumbreck	Snora's Spyker Squadron	4th			4th		8th
16	Tim Sugden	James Watt Automotive		2	1	1	2	6th
17th	Irady Alexander	Speedy Racing Team			5			5
18th	Tom Coronel	Snora's Spyker Squadron					5	5
19th	Richard Balandras	IMSA Performance Matmut	2			3		5
=	Jean-Philippe Belloc	IMSA Performance Matmut	2			3		5
=	Michel Lecourt	IMSA Performance Matmut	2			3		5
20th	Markus Palttala	James Watt Automotive	1	2	1	1		5
21st	Alain Ferté	JMB Racing			4th			4th
22nd	Horst Felbermayr Sr.	Felbermayr-Proton team			0 †		4th	4th
23	Julien Gilbert	JMB Racing					3	3
24	Paul Daniels	James Watt Automotive	1		1	1		3
25th	Johan-Boris Scheier	JMB Racing				2		2
26th	Michael Outzen	James Watt Automotive					2	2
=	Alan van der Merwe	James Watt Automotive					2	2
27	Mikael Forsten	James Watt Automotive	1					1

† - Driver did not receive any points for the championship run because he did not drive at least 45 minutes in the race.

Team evaluation

LMP1

Peugeot 908 in Spa

Since all top teams consistently relied on the same drivers during the season, the result of the team ranking corresponds to the drivers' championship. Audi Sport Team Joest took the lead at the last race at Silverstone. Peugeot, which until then shared the victories between the two 908s, could not score any points due to racing accidents. Despite the failure of the leading car of Marc Gené and Nicolas Minassian , the duo finished the championship in second place and thus secured Peugeot another automatic invitation to the 24-hour race of Le Mans 2009. Behind the four works cars from Peugeot and Audi , Charouz Racing System finished the championship in fourth place and thus also beat the Pescarolo Sport team, which with two championship titles in 2005 and 2006 is the most successful Le Mans Series team to date. Team owner Henri Pescarolo was less pleased with the results of the season and, after the last race at Silverstone, considered switching to the LMP2 category.

space	No	team	chassis	engine	Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Run 4	Run 5	Total
1	# 2	Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi R10 TDI	Audi	8th	8th	8th	6th	5	35
2	# 7	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot	10	4th	10	8th		32
3	#1	Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi R10 TDI	Audi	4th	3	5	5	10	27
4th	#8th	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot	1	10		10		21st
5	# 10	Charouz Racing System	Lola B08 / 60	Aston Martin	6th	1		4th	8th	19th
6th	# 16	Pescarolo sport	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2	5		4th		6th	15th
7th	# 15	Creation Autosportif	Creation CA07	AIM YS5.5		5	3	2	4th	14th
8th	# 17	Pescarolo sport	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2	3	6th		1	3	13
9	# 6	Team ORECA-Matmut	Courage-ORECA LC70	Judd GV5.5 S2			6th			6th
10	# 5	Team ORECA-Matmut	Courage-ORECA LC70	Judd GV5.5 S2				3	2	5
11	# 18	Rollcentre Racing	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2	2	2			1	5
12	# 20	Epsilon Euskadi	Epsilon Euskadi ee1	Judd GV5.5 S2			2			2
13	# 4	Saulnier Racing	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2			1			1

LMP2

Porsche RS Spyder from Team Essex

The LMP2 championship was largely dominated by the three RS Spyder teams. Only the Swiss-British collaboration between Speedy Racing and Team Sebah was able to keep up with the speed of the Porsche teams. The Lola Coupé was also the only vehicle that, alongside Van Merksteijn Motorsport, Team Essex and Horag Racing, could show leading laps in the LMP2 class. However, due to technical defects and racing accidents, the team was denied a corresponding result in the points evaluation. Last year's winner RML , like Saulnier Racing, was able to consistently score points with her open Lola, but neither played a role in the championship decision. At the end of the year, the Van Merksteijn won the team ranking by more than 10 points. In addition to the championship title, the Dutch team, like the second-placed Essex team, received an invitation to the 2009 Le Mans 24-hour race.

space	No	team	chassis	engine	Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Run 4	Run 5	Total
1	# 34	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	Porsche RS Spyder	Porsche MR6	10	8th	10	10	10	48
2	# 31	Team Essex	Porsche RS Spyder	Porsche MR6	6th	10	6th	6th	4th	32
3	# 27	Horag Racing	Porsche RS Spyder	Porsche MR6	3	6th	8th		8th	25th
4th	# 35	Saulnier Racing	Pescarolo 01	Judd DB	4th	4th	5	8th		21st
5	# 25	RML	MG-Lola EX265	AER XP21	5	5	3	3		21st
			MG-Lola EX265C						5
6th	# 40	Quifel ASM team	Lola B05 / 40	AER P07		2		4th	6th	12
7th	# 33	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	Lola B08 / 80	Judd DB	8th					8th
8th	# 41	Trading performance	Zytek 07S / 2	Zytek ZG348	1		4th		2	7th
9	# 45	Embassy Racing	Embassy WF01	Zytek ZG348		1		2	3	6th
10	# 46	Embassy Racing	Embassy WF01	Zytek ZG348				5		5
11	# 44	Kruse Schiller Motorsport	Lola B05 / 40	Mazda-AER MZR-R		3			1	4th
12	# 26	Bruchladdich Radical	Radical SR9	AER P07	2		2			4th
13	# 32	Barazi epsilon	Zytek 07S / 2	Zytek ZG348				1		1

GT1

Runner-up Team Modena at Silverstone.

The results of the driver championship and the team championship are largely congruent. Only Darren Turner at Strakka Motorsport, Olivier Barretta and his team owner Luc Alphand started for the respective teams in selected championship races. At the end of the year, Luc Alphand Aventures' team with starting number 72 won the championship. Ultimately, the two regular drivers Patrice Goueslard and Guillaume Moreau helped on the one hand that the competing teams each had one retirement, while Alphand's French team finished every race in the points despite technical defects. With the class win and the runner-up title in the GT1, both Luc Alphand Aventures and Team Modena also received an invitation to the 24-hour race in Le Mans 2009.

space	No	team	chassis	engine	Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Run 4	Run 5	Total
1	# 72	Luc Alphand Aventures	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7-R	10	8th	10	8th	6th	42
2	# 59	Team Modena	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin		10	6th	10	10	36
3	# 55	IPB Spartak Racing	Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT	Lamborghini L535	6th	5	8th		8th	27
4th	# 61	Strakka Racing	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin			5		5	10
5	# 50	Larbre Compétition	Saleen S7R	ford	8th					8th
6th	# 73	Luc Alphand Aventures	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7-RR		6th				6th

GT2

Vehicle of the runner-up Felbermayr-Proton in Silverstone

The 2008 GT2 team championship was won by Virgo Motorsport, who finished four of the five races as class winners. As in the previous year, the runner-up title went to follower Felbermayr-Proton. For their part, the German team was able to finish four races in second class, technical defects in the only failure of the Virgo Motorsport Ferrari in Monza prevented the team supported by Porsche from achieving a better position. Even the 4.0-liter boxer engine used from the 1000 km race in Spa could not reverse the outcome of the championship. Virgo, who at the end of the year could show the most lead kilometers with 70.9%, secured an invitation to the 24-hour race of Le Mans 2010. Vice-champion Felbermayr-Proton, who in return covered the greatest race distance of 4,316 km, received the remaining automatic invitation in the GT2 category.

space	No	team	chassis	engine	Run 1	Run 2	Run 3	Run 4	Run 5	Total
1	# 96	Virgo Motorsport	Ferrari F430GTC	Ferrari F136	10		10	10	10	40
2	# 77	Felbermayr-Proton team	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80	8th	3	8th			35
				Porsche				8th	8th
3	# 90	Farnbacher Racing	Ferrari F430GTC	Ferrari F136	5	8th			6th	19th
4th	# 99	JMB Racing	Ferrari F430GTC	Ferrari F136	3	6th	4th	5		18th
5	# 76	IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80	6th		3			15th
				Porsche				6th
6th	# 85	Snora's Spyker Squadron	Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	Audi	4th			4th	5	13
7th	# 94	Speedy Racing Team	Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	Audi		5	5		1	11
8th	# 98	JMB Racing	Ferrari F430GTC	Ferrari F136		4th	2	2	3	11
9	# 98	Farnbacher Racing	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80		10				10
10	# 88	Felbermayr-Proton team	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80			6th		4th	10
11	# 75	IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80	2			3		5
11	# 95	James Watt Automotive	Porsche 997 GT3 RSR	Porsche M97 / 80	1	2	1	1		5
12	# 93	James Watt Automotive	Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2	Aston Martin					2	2

Companion series

In addition to the main races of the Le Mans Series, there were several accompanying racing series on the same track on the same race weekend in 2008. Classic Endurance Racing with historic sports cars and the Radical European Masters were an integral part of the supporting program . In addition, the one-make cup of the THP Spider Cup started at three of the five European events. Selected championship races included the World Series by Renault and the ADAC GT Masters .

reporting

Eurosport took over the rights to a Europe-wide broadcast of the live broadcast of the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans for three years. In 2008, the special interest broadcaster broadcast the start of every race live, after which Eurosport 2 took over until the end of the race . A summary of the championship run followed on Eurosport. Motors TV , which previously broadcast all Le Mans Series events, reduced their coverage to a summary of the respective races.

literature

• Andrew Cotton, Michael Cotton, Alfredo Filippone, Thierry Jaglain, Olivier Loisy, Jean-Marc Teissèdre: 2008 Le Mans Series Yearbook Apollo Publishing, ISBN 978-2-9521044-1-8 .

Web links

Commons : Le Mans Series 2008  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• official Le Mans Series website
• reporting
• Race results
• News and race reports

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reglement Technique ACO - ACO Technical Regulations 2008 Prototype "LM" P1 & "LM" P2. December 18, 2007
2. ↑ Guido Quirmbach: http://www.projectlemans.de/content/view/4470/192/ Status: May 29, 2008
3. ↑ 2008 Le Mans Series Yearbook. 2008, p. 34
4. ↑ Guido Quirmbach: http://www.projectlemans.de/content/view/2608/192/ Status: December 5, 2006
5. ↑ Harald Gallinnis: http://www.gt-eins.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2122&Itemid=2 as of December 30, 2007
6. ↑ Harald Gallinnis: http://www.gt-eins.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2618&Itemid=2 Status: May 8, 2008
7. ↑ Oliver Runschke: http://www.projectlemans.de/content/view/4498/192/ Status: June 11, 2008
8. ↑ 2008 Le Mans Series Yearbook 2008. P. 186
9. ↑ Harald Gallinnis: http://www.gt-eins.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2068&Itemid=2 Status: December 6, 2007
10. ↑ Oliver Rutschke: http://www.projectlemans.de/content/view/4340/192/ Status: April 25, 2008
11. ↑ Harald Gallinnis: http://www.gt-eins.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3012&Itemid=29
12. ↑ 2008 Le Mans Series Yearbook 2008. p. 129
13. ↑ Harald Gallinnis: http://www.gt-eins.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3042&Itemid=2 as of September 10, 2008
14. ↑ 2008 Le Mans Series Yearbook 2008. P. 56
15. ↑ Oliver Rutschke: http://www.projectlemans.de/content/view/3928/192/ Status: January 18, 2008
16. ↑ 2008 Le Mans Series Yearbook 2008. p. 244
17. ↑ Harald Gallinnis: http://www.gt-eins.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3088&Itemid=2 as of September 19, 2009