Le Mans Series 2007
The 2007 Le Mans Series season was the ACO's fourth endurance championship . It was held over six races in the period from April 15, 2007 to November 10, 2007. For the first time, a diesel vehicle won the constructors' championship in the LMP1 prototype class. In addition to the five European races, a 1000-mile race was held in Brazil. It was therefore not only the first race on the South American continent, but also the first run in which a distance of more than 1000 km was covered.
Changes in 2007
Set of rules
In addition to minor aerodynamic changes to the LMPs , the restriction on the maximum volume of an exhaust system announced in the regulations for 2006 came into force. The threshold of 113 dB (A) was not allowed to be exceeded, the volume measurements were carried out at a distance of 15 m from the race track. In addition, the maximum size of the tank container for diesel vehicles was set at 81 liters. As before, the capacity of the petrol tanks remained at 90 liters. The guidelines for temperatures inside a cockpit were relaxed somewhat in 2007. The maximum temperature in the vehicle with the air conditioning installed could now be up to 32 ° C. If no air conditioning was installed, the driver had to be supplied with fresh air via a fan , but the temperature in the cockpit was not allowed to exceed the outside temperature by 12 ° C.
Racetracks
The racing series was expanded by one route to six runs. The races in Valencia and Interlagos were driven for the first time this season as part of the Le Mans Series. The 1000 kilometer races in Silverstone and Monza took place again after a break in 2006, but the races in Donington and Istanbul were dispensed with. The run Mil Milhas Brasil at Interlagos represented the first run of the series on the South American continent, but it was not the first race outside Europe, as in the belonging to Asia part of in 2005. Turkey a run outside of Europe took place. It was also the first race in the Le Mans Series in which the distance covered did not correspond to the usual 1000 km, but more than 1600 km.
vehicles
The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP was presented to the public for the first time in 2007 in the LMP1 prototype class . In addition to the new presentation of the diesel prototype, the further developments of the previous year's models by Lola , Creation, Pescarolo and Zytek were presented. No new vehicles have been developed for vehicles in the GT1 category, as the FIA and ACO plan to abolish this category by 2010. The new regulations were presented in October 2007. In the GT2 group , in addition to the Porsche 997 GT3-RSR , a Corvette Z06 was also used for the first time in the Le Mans Series.
championship
In 2007 a further rating was introduced in addition to the previous four racing categories. Together with the new series sponsor Michelin , the ACO integrated the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans into the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge . The separate evaluation was presented by Frédéric Henry-Biabaud at the LMS pre-test in Le Castellet . In each race, all participating vehicles in the respective classes were rated on the basis of an index that was calculated from fuel consumption, average speed and weight of the vehicle. The respective winning team won prize money of up to 10,000 euros per race.
Teams and drivers
LMP1
After the 2006 season, Swiss Spirit sold its Courage LC70 to Saulnier Racing and bought the first B07 chassis from Lola . An Audi FSI engine was installed in this Lola , which was only available to the works team until 2006. The Czech racing team Charouz contested its first sports car year in 2007 with another new Lola B07 chassis. The Judd GV5.5 S2 was chosen as the engine, with which Pescarolo Sport won not only the team but also the driver championship in 2006. Pescarolo himself continued to use his own development based on the Courage C60 . In addition, Rollcentre could be won as a customer, who also competed with Judd engines and Pescarolo chassis. After the unsuccessful foray into the LMP2 class the year before, the British team ended up in the large prototype class again. During the winter break, Courage ended the program with Mugen , whose engines had not proven to be sufficiently reliable in recent years, and switched to the British engine specialist AER. Arena Motorsports, which has already competed in sports car races under the banner of Audi Sports UK, competed in 2007 as a factory-supported Zytek team under its own name. In addition to the regular drivers, Max Chilton was allowed to take part in a race, at the age of 16 the youngest racing driver in the Le Mans Series to date. After more than ten years of abstinence, Peugeot returned to endurance racing. With the 2006 LMS GT1 champion Pedro Lamy , Formula 1 driver and Open Fortuna champion 1998 Marc Gené and the only closed sports car of the season, the works team was the title contender for 2007.
team | chassis | engine | tires | No. | Regular driver | Substitute driver |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scuderia Lavaggi | Lavaggi LS1 | Ford PME | D. | 3 |
Giovanni Lavaggi Marcello Puglisi |
Cristian Corsini Wolfgang Kaufmann |
Swiss Spirit | Lola B07 / 18 | Audi | M. | 5 |
Marcel Fässler Jean-Denis Delétraz Iradj Alexander |
|
Team Peugeot Total | Peugeot 908 HDi FAP | Peugeot (diesel) | M. | 7th |
Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené |
|
8th |
Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy |
|||||
Creation Autosportif | Creation CA07 | Judd GV5.5 S2 | D. | 9 |
Jamie Campbell-Walter Felipe Ortiz |
Stuart Hall Haruki Kurosawa Shinji Nakano |
Arena Motorsports International | Zytek 07S | Zytek 2ZG408 | M. | 10 |
Stefan Johansson Hayanari Shimoda Tom Chilton |
Max Chilton |
Courage Compétition | Courage LC70 | AER P32T | M. | 12 |
Alexander Frei Jonathan Cochet |
Bruno Besson |
13 |
Jean-Marc Gounon Guillaume Moreau |
Vitaly Petrov | ||||
Racing for Holland | Dome S101.5 | Judd GV5.5 S2 | M. | 14th |
David Hart Jan Lammers Jeroen Bleekemolen |
|
Charouz Racing System | Lola B07 / 17 | Judd GV5.5 S2 | M. | 15th |
Jan Charouz Stefan Mücke |
Alex Yoong |
Pescarolo sport | Pescarolo 01 | Judd GV5.5 S2 | M. | 16 |
Emmanuel Collard Jean-Christophe Boullion |
Harold Primate Romain Dumas |
17th |
Harold Primate Christophe Tinseau |
|||||
Rollcentre Racing | Pescarolo 01 | Judd GV5.5 S2 | D. | 18th |
Stuart Hall João Barbosa Martin Short |
Phil Keen |
Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport | Lola B06 / 10 | AER P32T | M. | 19th |
Gareth Evans Bob Berridge Peter Owen
|
LMP2
In the small prototype class, the winner of the 2006 LMP2 constructors' championship switched from a Judd-powered Courage to a new Zytek 07S / 2. In addition to Michael Vergers and team owner Juan Barazi , the team was completed by Karim Ojjeh , who drove for Paul Belmondo Racing in 2006 . Also equipped by Zytek, the LMP2 newcomer Team LNT started the season from Silverstone. The British troops were still present in the GT2 category. With T2M Motorsport, another acquaintance from the GT2 category was now active in the LMP2 sports car segment. During the winter break, the Japanese team based in France exchanged their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for a dome- mader team. Serge Saulnier , whose Saulnier Racing team had supervised a Courage LC70 for Swiss Spirit last year, sold his team to the JN Investissements Group. Now led by Jacques Nicolet, the company entered the series under its own name, bought the Courage chassis from Swiss Spirit and modified it for the LMP2 class. The only German sports car team, however, took a different path. Ian Mitchell, team owner of Kruse Motorsport, swapped his Courage C65 for a chassis from Pescarolo Sport from last year. Some changes had to be made to the former LMP1 vehicle in order to convert its Pescarolo 01 chassis to the rules of the small prototype class. Mitchell continued to rely on a Judd XV675 unit to be installed in the car, a process that no other team had previously undertaken with this vehicle. Last year's two Radical SR9 chassis were also used in the 2007 Le Mans Series. The Rollcentre vehicle was sold to Embassy Racing, which showed up for a pre-test at the Paul Ricard Circuit with a Pilbeam, but was not satisfied with its reliability. The other radical was used by Team Bruichladdich as in the previous year.
team | chassis | engine | tires | No. | Regular driver | Substitute driver |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pierre Bruneau | Pilbeam MP93 | Judd XV675 | M. | 20th |
Pierre Bruneau Marc Rostan Simon Pullan
|
Paulo Bonifácio |
Team Bruichladdich Radical | Radical SR9 | AER P07 | D. | 21st |
Tim Greaves Stuart Moseley |
Robin Liddell Jacob Greaves
|
Noël del Bello Racing | Courage LC75 | AER P07 | M. | 24 |
Jean-Marc Gounon Vitaly Petrov |
|
Ray Mallock, Ltd. (RML) | MG-Lola EX264 | AER P07 | M. | 25th |
Mike Newton Thomas Erdos |
|
Ranieri Randaccio | Lucchini LMP2 / 04 | Nicholson-McLaren LMP2 | D. | 26th |
Ranieri Randaccio Gianni Collini
|
Giovanni Lavaggi |
Horag Racing | Lola B05 / 40 | Judd XV675 | M. | 27 |
Fredy Lienhard Didier Theys Eric van de Poele |
|
T2M motorsport | Dome S101.5 | Mader | M. | 29 |
Robin Langechal Koji Yamanishi |
|
Binnie Motorsports | Lola B05 / 42 | Zytek ZG348 | K | 31 |
William Binnie Allen Timpany Chris Buncombe |
|
Barazi epsilon | Zytek 07S / 2 | Zytek ZG348 | M. | 32 |
Juan Barazi Michael Vergers Karim Ojjeh |
|
Saulnier Racing | Courage LC75 | AER P07 | M. | 35 |
Jacques Nicolet Alain Filhol Bruce Jouanny |
|
Quifel ASM team | Lola B05 / 40 | AER P07 | D. | 40 |
Miguel Amaral Miguel Angel de Castro Angel Burgueño
|
|
Kruse Motorsport | Pescarolo 01 | Judd XV675 | K | 44 |
Tony Burgess Jean De Pourtales Norbert Siedler |
|
Embassy Racing | Radical SR9 | Judd XV675 | D. | 45 |
Warren Hughes Neil Cunningham |
Darren Manning Mario Haberfeld |
Team LNT | Zytek 07S / 2 | Zytek ZG348 | M. | 46 |
Tom Kimber-Smith Danny Watts |
GT1
Last year's winners in Team Larbre fielded two Aston Martin DBR9s in 2007 . Of the drivers of the winning vehicle, however, only the Swiss Gabriele Gardel remained in the team. Luc Alphand Aventures also appeared with two vehicles . In addition to the old Corvette C5, the successor model Corvette C6.R could be acquired, which achieved class victory in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 2006. Racing Box entered the series as a newcomer with a newly built Saleen . However, the team already had experience from operations in the Italian GT series. In 2007, the Jetalliance Racing squad, which drives in the FIA-GT , had a short guest visit during the 1000 km from Spa , including the former Formula 1 driver and FIA-GT champion Karl Wendlinger .
team | chassis | engine | tires | No. | Regular driver | Substitute driver |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aston Martin Racing Larbre | Aston Martin DBR9 | Aston Martin | M. | 50 |
Christophe Bouchut Fabrizio Gollin Gabriele Gardel |
|
51 |
Grégory Franchi Steve Zacchia Gregor Fisken |
Roland Bervillé Fernando Rees
|
||||
Team ORECA | Saleen S7-R | ford | M. | 55 |
Stéphane Ortelli Soheil Ayari |
|
Team Modena | Aston Martin DBR9 | Aston Martin | M. | 59 |
Antonio García Christian Fittipaldi |
Liz Halliday Darren Turner |
Racing box | Saleen S7-R | ford | M. | 61 |
Piergiuseppe Perazzini Marco Cioci Salvatore Tavano
|
Kurt Mollekens |
Jetalliance Racing | Aston Martin DBR9 | Aston Martin | M. | 65 |
Karl Wendlinger Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer Thomas Gruber
|
|
Luc Alphand Aventures | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | Chevrolet LS7-R | M. | 72 |
Luc Alphand Jérôme Policand Patrice Goueslard |
Olivier Beretta Oliver Gavin |
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R | 73 |
Jean-Luc Blanchemain Sébastien Dumez Vincent Vosse |
Didier André |
GT2
Since last year's GT2 winner, Autolando Sport, had migrated to the International GT Open, Joël Camathias switched to James Watt Automotive's Porsche team, while title holder Marc Lieb received a cockpit with Team Felbermayr-Proton. In addition to two new cars, the German team also relied on an old 996 GT3 RSR. All other Porsche teams switched to the new Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, with the exception of Ice Pol Racing, which this season now competed with a Ferrari F430 . The Spyker factory team concentrated its presence on one car, but was able to sell a vehicle to the Swiss Speedy Racing Team over the winter break.
team | chassis | engine | tires | No. | Regular driver | Substitute driver |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
JMB Racing | Ferrari F430GTC | Ferrari F136 | D. | 74 |
Francisco Longo Chico Serra Daniel Serra
|
|
75 |
Alexandre Negrão, Sr. Alexandre Negrão jr. Andreas Mattheis
|
|||||
IMSA Performance Matmut | Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | Porsche M97 / 80 | M. | 76 |
Raymond Narac Richard Lietz |
|
Felbermayr-Proton team | Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | Porsche M97 / 80 | P | 77 |
Marc Lieb Xavier Pompidou |
Marc Basseng |
Scuderia Villorba Corse | Ferrari F430GTC | Ferrari F136 | P | 78 |
Alex Caffi Denny Zardo
|
|
Felbermayr-Proton team | Porsche 996 GT3 RSR | Porsche M96 / 77 | P | 79 |
Gerold Ried Horst Felbermayr Sr. Philip Collin |
Johannes Stuck |
Prospeed Competition | Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | Porsche M97 / 80 | M. | 80 |
Rudi Penders Franz Lamot Bart Couwberghs
|
|
Team LNT | Panoz Esperante GT-LM | Élan | P | 81 |
Tom Kimber-Smith Danny Watts |
|
82 |
Richard Dean Lawrence Tomlinson
|
Lucas Lassere Tom Milner Jr. |
||||
GPC sport | Ferrari F430GTC | Ferrari F136 | P | 83 |
Luca Drudi Gabrio Rosa Johnny Mowlem
|
|
Chad Peninsula Panoz | Panoz Esperante GT-LM | Élan | P | 84 |
John Harsthorne Sean McInerney Michael McInerney
|
|
Spyker Squadron | Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R | Audi | M. | 85 |
Peter Kox Jaroslav Janiš |
Mike Hezemans Peter Dumbreck Paul van Splunteren
|
Felbermayr-Proton team | Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | Porsche M97 / 80 | P | 88 |
Horst Felbermayr Jr. Christian Ried Thomas Gruber
|
Marc Basseng Johannes Stuck |
Markland Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06 | Chevrolet | D. | 89 |
Henrik Møller Sørensen Kurt Thiim Thorkild Thyrring |
Rene Rasmussen |
Farnbacher Racing | Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | Porsche M97 / 80 | P | 90 |
Pierre Ehret Dirk Werner Lars-Erik Nielsen
|
Piers Masarati |
Dener Motorsport Stuttgart Sportscar
|
Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | Porsche M97 / 80 | Y | 91 |
Raul Boesel Marcel Visconde Flavio Figueiredo
|
|
Thierry Perrier Perspective Racing
|
Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | Porsche M97 / 80 | D. | 92 |
Philippe Hesnault Anthony Beltoise Nigel Smith
|
Rob Barff John Hartshorne Pedro Névoa Thierry Perrier |
Speedy Racing Team | Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R | Audi | D. | 94 |
Andrea Chiesa Jonny Kane Andrea Belicchi |
|
James Watt Automotive | Porsche 997 GT3 RSR | Porsche M97 / 80 | P | 95 |
Paul Daniels Dave Cox Joël Camathias
|
Richard Westbrook Bryce Washington Allan Simonsen |
Virgo Motorsport | Ferrari F430GTC | Ferrari F136 | D. | 96 |
Robert Bell Allan Simonsen |
Gianmaria Bruni |
GPC sport | Ferrari F430GTC | Ferrari F136 | P | 97 |
Sergio Hernández Alessandro Bonetti Fabrizio De Simone |
Matteo Bobbi Luca Drudi Yves Lambert
|
Ice Pol Racing Team | Ferrari F430GTC | Ferrari F136 | P | 98 |
Yves Lambert Christian Lefort Fred Bouvy
|
Christian Kelders Stéphane Lemeret Markus Palttala
|
JMB Racing | Ferrari F430GTC | Ferrari F136 | D. | 99 |
Paolo Maurizio Basso Bo McCormick
|
Peter Kutemann Stéphane Daoudi Francisco da Cruz Martins Ben Aucott Robert Bell Philipp Peter |
Results
Racing calendar
Overall winners are highlighted in bold .
No. | date | Race name / circuit |
class | team | winner | vehicle |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | April 15th |
Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza 1000 km race |
LMP1 | Team Peugeot Total |
Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené |
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP |
LMP2 | Horag Racing |
Fredy Lienhard Eric van de Poele Didier Theys |
Lola B05 / 40 | |||
GT1 | Luc Alphand |
Luc Alphand Jérôme Policand Patrice Goueslard |
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | |||
GT2 | GPC sport |
Sergio Hernández Alessandro Bonetti Fabrizio De Simone |
Ferrari F430GTC | |||
2 | May 6th |
1000 km race of Valencia Circuit Ricardo Tormo |
LMP1 | Peugeot Total Sport |
Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy |
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP |
LMP2 | Quifel ASM team |
Miguel Amaral Miguel Angel de Castro Angel Burgueño |
Lola B05 / 40 | |||
GT1 | Team Oreca |
Stéphane Ortelli Soheil Ayari |
Saleen S7R | |||
GT2 | Felbermayr-Proton team |
Marc Lieb Xavier Pompidou |
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR | |||
3 | July 1 |
1000 km race on the Nürburgring Nürburgring |
LMP1 | Peugeot Total Sport |
Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy |
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP |
LMP2 | RML |
Mike Newton Thomas Erdos |
MG-Lola EX264 | |||
GT1 | Team Oreca |
Stéphane Ortelli Soheil Ayari
|
Saleen S7R | |||
GT2 | Virgo Motorsport |
Rob Bell Allan Simonsen |
Ferrari F430GTC | |||
4th | August 19th |
Spa-Francorchamps 1000 km race Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
LMP1 | Peugeot Total Sport |
Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy |
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP |
LMP2 | RML |
Mike Newton Thomas Erdos
|
MG-Lola EX264 | |||
GT1 | Team Oreca |
Stéphane Ortelli Soheil Ayari
|
Saleen S7R | |||
GT2 | Felbermayr-Proton team |
Marc Lieb Xavier Pompidou
|
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR | |||
5 | 16th September |
Silverstone 1000km race at Silverstone Circuit |
LMP1 | Team Peugeot Total |
Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené |
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP |
LMP2 | Barazi epsilon |
Juan Barazi Michel Vergers Karim Ojjeh |
Zytek 07S / 2 | |||
GT1 | Team Oreca |
Stéphane Ortelli Soheil Ayari
|
Saleen S7R | |||
GT2 | Virgo Motorsport |
Rob Bell Gianmaria Bruni |
Ferrari F430GTC | |||
6th | November 11th |
Mil Milha's Autódromo José Carlos Pace |
LMP1 | Team Peugeot Total |
Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené |
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP |
LMP2 | Barazi epsilon |
Juan Barazi Michel Vergers Karim Ojjeh
|
Zytek 07S / 2 | |||
GT1 | Aston Martin Larbre |
Roger Fisken Roland Bervillé Steve Zacchia Fernando Rees |
Aston Martin DBR9 | |||
GT2 | Felbermayr-Proton team |
Marc Lieb Xavier Pompidou Marc Basseng |
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR |
1000 km Monza
LMP1 | total | driver | team | time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené |
Team Peugeot Total | 4: 59: 20.735 |
2 | 2 | Emmanuel Collard Jean-Christophe Boullion |
Pescarolo sport | +1 lap |
3 | 3 | Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy |
Team Peugeot Total | +2 rounds |
LMP2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 6th | Fredy Lienhard Didier Theys Eric van de Poele |
Horag Racing | +8 laps |
2 | 8th | Mike Newton Thomas Erdos |
RML | +12 rounds |
3 | 23 | William Binnie Allen Timpany Chris Buncombe |
Binnie Motorsports | +23 laps |
GT1 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 9 | Luc Alphand Jérôme Policand Patrice Goueslard |
Luc Alphand Aventures | +13 rounds |
2 | 10 | Christophe Bouchut Fabrizio Gollin Gabriele Gardel |
Aston Martin Racing Larbre | +14 rounds |
3 | 11 | Jean-Luc Blanchemain Sébastien Dumez Vincent Vosse |
Luc Alphand Aventures | +14 rounds |
GT2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 14th | Sergio Hernández Alessandro Bonetti Fabrizio de Simone |
GPC sport | +19 rounds |
2 | 15th | Alex Caffi Denny Zardo |
Scuderia Villorba Corse | +19 rounds |
3 | 16 | Robert Bell Allan Simonsen |
Virgo Motorsport | +19 rounds |
The 1000 km race in Monza took place on April 15th at the Autodromo Nationale Monza and covered 173 laps of 5.793 km, for a total of 1002.189 km.
Nicolas Minassian achieved pole position in the Peugeot 908 in a time of 1: 34.503 in qualifying ahead of his team mate Stéphane Sarrazin . In the LMP2, Angel Burgueño placed his Lola in 10th overall position. Among the GT1 cars, the ORECA team set the fastest time with 1: 45.443. Richard Lietz was able to set the best time in the GT2 for IMSA Performance Matmut, with 1: 50.381 that was enough for 28th place overall.
In the race, the two Peugeots can quickly break away from the rest of the field, the closest pursuers to Pedro Lamy and Marc Gené are Jean-Christophe Boullion in the Pescarolo and Stefan Mücke in the Lola from Charouz Racing Systems. Before the 2-hour mark, Pedro Lamy and Stéphane Sarrazin's Peugeot had technical problems and lost four laps in the pits. While the first two places have now been assigned to the driver duo Nicolas Minassian / Marc Gené and Emmanuel Collard / Jean-Christophe Boullion, the second Peugeot overtakes one opponent after the other and can drive up to third place until the finish line, after the sports car has opened in the meantime Overall rank 10 had fallen back.
In the small LMP class, three Lolas are at the top after a few minutes, Thomas Erdos for RML , followed by the prototypes from Quifel ASM and Horag Racing. The positions seem to have been taken when, in the second half of the race, the ASM team's Lola is pushed into the pits and then Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos' vehicle is in the pits with a cooling problem. However, the car can continue to drive with regular compulsory breaks and despite the handicap comes in second. Behind, far behind due to a technical problem, lies the car from Binnie Motorsports. The Swiss Lola from Horag Racing crossed the finish line as class winner and in sixth place overall.
In the initial phase, thanks also to the safety car phase, the leadership changes several times between the Team ORECA Saleen and Luc Alphand's Corvette C6.R. In the end, ORECA prevailed over its competitors, but after 52 laps the race for ORECA was over, an engine failure stopped the French team. About an hour before the end of the race, the positions are taken, Luc Alphand's two vehicles in first and third place, the remaining Aston Martin DBR9 from Team Modena in between.
As with the large GT class, the initial phase of the race in the GT2 field is characterized by overtaking maneuvers, with the Farnbacher Racing team initially retaining the upper hand. After a few twists and technical problems of various participants, after three hours the Ferrari F430 of Sergio Hernández , Alessandro Bonetti and Fabrizio De Simone is in front of another Ferrari of the English Scuderia Villorba Corse team. While the gap between the two leaders is 10 seconds one hour before the end of the race, Porsche works driver Marc Lieb has to finish the championship run with just two functioning gears. The order in the top of the GT2 remains until the end of the race.
1000 km Valencia
LMP1 | total | driver | team | time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy |
Team Peugeot Total | 6: 01: 22.555 |
2 | 2 | Jan Charouz Stefan Mücke Alex Yoong |
Charouz Racing System | +2 rounds |
3 | 3 | Marcel Fässler Jean-Denis Delétraz Iradj Alexander |
Swiss Spirit | +3 rounds |
LMP2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 7th | Miguel Amaral Miguel Angel de Castro Angel Burgueño |
Quifel ASM team | +10 rounds |
2 | 8th | Jacques Nicolet Alain Filhol Bruce Jouanny |
Saulnier Racing | +12 rounds |
3 | 9 | Tim Greaves Stuart Moseley Robin Liddell |
Team Bruichladdich Radical | +12 rounds |
GT1 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 10 | Stéphane Ortelli Soheil Ayari |
Team ORECA | +12 rounds |
2 | 12 | Piergiuseppe Perazzini Marco Cioci Salvatore Tavano |
Racing box | +15 rounds |
3 | 13 | Christophe Bouchut Fabrizio Gollin Gabriele Gardel |
Aston Martin Racing Larbre | +16 rounds |
GT2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 18th | Marc Lieb Xavier Pompidou |
Felbermayr-Proton team | +23 laps |
2 | 19th | Robert Bell Allan Simonsen |
Virgo Motorsport | +24 rounds |
3 | 20th | Alex Caffi Denny Zardo |
Scuderia Villorba Corse | +24 rounds |
The second round of the LMS took place on May 6, 2007 at the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo and covered a distance of 234 laps. A distance of 947.934 km was covered.
The pole position was achieved by Marc Gené, with a time of 1: 23.489 he was able to take 0.441 seconds from the second Peugeot. In the LMP2, Michael Vergers lapped the course in 1: 25.606, so he started the race from 4th place overall. As in Monza, the fastest qualifying time for the GT vehicles went to Team ORECA and IMSA Performance.
Similar to Monza, the two factory Peugeots can already gain a considerable lead after the start, only the Zytek from Arena Motorsports can keep up with the turbodiesel's lap times . However, the vehicle breaks down in the third hour due to a defective throttle cable. The position is taken over by Jan Charouz, Stefan Mücke and Alex Yoong after a three-way battle between the Lola teams. The double victory for Peugeot can no longer be taken from them under normal racing conditions when the Peugeot with the number 7 is pushed into the pits in the last hour of racing. The diagnosed clutch problems mean the end of the prototype. After the 6-hour mark has been exceeded, the race is waved off. Stéphane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy win with two laps ahead of the two Lolas from Charouz Racing and Swiss Spirit.
The race of the fastest training vehicle in the LMP2 is mixed. In the first lap, Michael Vergers had to start the race behind all the other LMP vehicles due to a driving error. In the meantime again first of the small prototypes, the car falls back to 22nd overall due to technical problems. In contrast, the two local heroes Miguel Angel de Castro and Angel Burgueño are getting better and better into the race. Initially starting in third class, they overtook Vitaly Petrov and Jean-Marc Gounon's leading LMP2 car in the last hour of the race. In the end, they win their class by two laps ahead of the Saulnier Racing car.
Stéphane Ortelli and Soheil Ayari achieved a start-to-finish victory for Team ORECA. While your Saleen S7-R circles the course 222 times without any problems, the other teams are thrown back with technical problems and minor collisions. In the end, both Saleen cross the finish line in front of the Aston Martin DBR9 of the Larbre team.
In the small GT class, the two Porsches from Felbermayr-Proton and IMSA Performance drive away from the remaining GT2 vehicles at the beginning, but both Virgo Motorsport and Scuderia Villorba Corse can catch up again in the middle of the race. Around an hour before the end of the race, it looks like a class win for Raymond Narac and Richard Lietz, when the LMP2 driver Bruce Jouanny pulls back on the ideal line early while lapping and pushes Lietz into the wall. That meant the end for the Porsche from IMSA Performance and a 30-second stop-and-go penalty for the team from Saulnier Racing.
1000 km Nürburgring
LMP1 | total | driver | team | time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy |
Team Peugeot Total | 6: 01: 13.828 |
2 | 2 | Marc Gené Nicolas Minassian |
Team Peugeot Total | +1 lap |
3 | 3 | Emmanuel Collard Jean-Christophe Boullion |
Pescarolo sport | +3 rounds |
LMP2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 6th | Mike Newton Thomas Erdos |
RML | +6 laps |
2 | 7th | Juan Barazi Michael Vergers Karim Ojjeh |
Barazi epsilon | +7 rounds |
3 | 10 | Miguel Amaral Miguel Angel de Castro Angel Burgueño |
Quifel ASM team | +7 rounds |
GT1 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 16 | Stéphane Ortelli Soheil Ayari |
Team ORECA | +13 rounds |
2 | 18th | Luc Alphand Jérôme Policand Patrice Goueslard |
Luc Alphand Aventures | +14 rounds |
3 | 19th | Christophe Bouchut Fabrizio Gollin Gabriele Gardel |
Aston Martin Racing Larbre | +14 rounds |
GT2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 25th | Robert Bell Allan Simonsen |
Virgo Motorsport | +21 laps |
2 | 26th | Marc Lieb Xavier Pompidou |
Felbermayr-Proton team | +21 laps |
3 | 20th | Pierre Ehret Dirk Werner Lars-Erik Nielsen |
Farnbacher Racing | +22 laps |
The traditional 1000 km race on the Nürburgring took place on July 1, 2007 on the Grand Prix circuit of the Nürburgring and covered a distance of 1003.860 km; the course was circled 195 times.
The two diesel-powered sports prototypes from Peugeot once again secured the front row. Marc Gené was able to undercut last year's pole time by almost four seconds with a 1: 41.867. The best place in an LMP2 vehicle was achieved by Thomas Erdos for the British RML team. With a 1: 45.492 it was enough for the eighth starting position. Soheil Ayhari drove in 24th place, so the fastest GT1 time went to the ORECA team. Team Modena's second-placed Aston Martin DBR9 missed the fastest time by almost a second. The qualification in the GT2 category was much closer, with a lead of 0.140 seconds for the first time in the 2007 season with a Ferrari at the beginning of the GT2 field. Thanks to Robert Bell, the Virgo Motorsport Team finished the qualification with a 1: 58.930 on starting position 31.
After the start of the race, the two Peugeots can build a gap to the rest of the field. The fastest gasoline engine is the factory courage of Jean-Marc Gounon and Guillaume Moreau, as both the Charouz and Racing for Holland start from the last row due to technical inconsistencies. Halfway through the race, the Pescarolo with the number 16 overtook Courage, who was in third place. While the first three places do not change until the end of the race, Jean-Marc Gounon is stranded in the gravel and can only be freed with the help of the marshals. The team from Charouz Racing Systems and Creation Automotive use the unwanted downtime of Courage, pull past and are classified fourth and fifth at the finish.
The fastest LMP2 vehicles after the start are the two Lolas from RML and Quifel ASM; third place alternates a few times between the Radical from Embassy Racing and the Zytek from Barazi-Epsilon up to the halfway point of the race. Around two hours before the end of the race, Karim Ojjeh was able to overtake Quifel ASM's vehicle and thus took second class position. Since no further positions are swapped in the top field of the LMP2 until the checkered flag is waved, Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos achieve their first class win of the season.
The GT1 vehicles stayed close together from the start, only the Saleen from Team ORECA can stand out from the rest of the GT1 field. Before the 3-hour mark, the leading vehicle suffers a puncture and has to go to the pits on an unscheduled basis. Nevertheless, after four hours driven, it can take over the class leadership again and will not give it up until the end of the race.
In the category of small Gran Turismo vehicles, the Virgo Ferrari of Robert Bell and Allan Simonsen leads from the start, followed by the two Porsches from Felbermayr-Proton and Farnbacher Racing. The race is very unspectacular, in addition to the position changes due to pit stops , the order of the vehicles remains constant until the end of the race.
1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps
LMP1 | total | driver | team | time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy |
Team Peugeot Total | 5: 47: 47.313 |
2 | 2 | Emmanuel Collard Jean-Christophe Boullion |
Pescarolo sport | +2 rounds |
3 | 4th | Harold Primate Christophe Tinseau |
Pescarolo sport | +5 laps |
LMP2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 3 | Mike Newton Thomas Erdos |
RML | +3 rounds |
2 | 5 | Miguel Amaral Miguel Angel de Castro Angel Burgueño |
Quifel ASM team | +6 laps |
3 | 7th | Fredy Lienhard Didier Theys Eric van de Poele |
Horag Racing | +7 rounds |
GT1 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 6th | Stéphane Ortelli Soheil Ayari |
Team ORECA | +6 laps |
2 | 8th | Christophe Bouchut Fabrizio Gollin Gabriele Gardel |
Aston Martin Racing Larbre | +7 rounds |
3 | 9 | Luc Alphand Jérôme Policand Patrice Goueslard |
Luc Alphand Aventures | +9 laps |
GT2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 17th | Marc Lieb Xavier Pompidou |
Felbermayr-Proton team | +13 rounds |
2 | 18th | Robert Bell Allan Simonsen |
Virgo Motorsport | +14 rounds |
3 | 19th | Sergio Hernández Alessandro Bonetti Fabrizio de Simone |
GPC sport | +15 rounds |
The 1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps took place on August 19th and went over a distance of 143 laps of 7.004 km, for a total of 1001.572 km.
Nicolas Minassian was able to set the fastest lap in qualifying and only narrowly failed at the 2-minute mark. Noteworthy, it was the fourth pole position in four races for the Peugeot team with starting number 7. In the LMP2, the RML MG-Lola achieved the best starting position in its class with a lap time of 2: 06.660. The Saleen S7R from Team ORECA came in 22nd overall and was the fastest GT1. Stéphane Ortelli lapped the course with 2: 14.715, around half a second faster than the second-placed car of the Racing Box Team. In the GT2, the best starting position went to Marc Lieb, who was 31st overall for the Felbermayr-Proton team.
The factory courage collides with the Chavouz Lola-Judd in the first corner. Both vehicles can continue to drive after a long repair break, but for the factory courage the race is over after 15 laps. Both Peugeots left the field unaffected by the accident, the strongest pursuer is the Pescarolo Sport car owned by Emmanuel Collard and Jean-Christophe Boullion. After a good hour, repairs are carried out on the Peugeot with the number 7, after which the prototype can continue to drive, but after a good ten minutes the car is parked in the box and checked in. Meanwhile, the positions of the LMP1 have been taken, the remaining Peugeot is leading in front of the two Pescarolos until the end of the race.
The LMP2 race turned out to be relatively unspectacular, while Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos were able to pull away quickly, fighting for a podium place in the first half of the race for Lola from Binnie Motorsport and Radical from Embassy, in which Warren Hughes ended up stranded in the gravel. In the second half of the race, Binnie Motorsport also had problems. After contact with the Saulnier Racing car, the car had to be repaired several laps in the pits. Also in the battle for second place, Michael Vergers puts his Barazi-Epsilon prototype against the wall and has to give up the race. The advancing Lola of the Horag Lister team inherits the third podium place behind the overall third and leading LMP2 from Team RML and Team Quifel ASM.
In GT1, a management trio quickly forms, consisting of the ORECA Saleen team, the Luc Alphand Corvette and the Larbre team's Aston Martin. During the race, the Aston Martin squeezed past the second-placed Corvette and finished the race in 8th overall. The remaining podium places will be completed by Stéphane Ortelli and Soheil Ayari for the French ORECA team and by Luc Alphand, Patrice Gouslard and Jerome Policand.
The start of the GT2 vehicles is won by the Felbermayr Proton Porsche, driven by Marc Lieb and Xavier Pompidou. Directly behind the driver pairing Robert Bell and Allan Simonsen, followed by the French IMSA Performance Matmut Team. During the race there are numerous spins, takeoffs and collisions that trigger several SafetyCar deployments. Even if Robert Bell's car is now in the lead, Felbermayr-Proton wins in the end, ahead of the two Ferraris from Virgo Motorsport and GPC Sport.
1000 km Silverstone
LMP1 | total | driver | team | time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené |
Team Peugeot Total | 6: 01: 13.828 |
2 | 2 | Emmanuel Collard Jean-Christophe Boullion |
Pescarolo sport | +2 rounds |
3 | 3 | Stuart Hall João Barbosa Martin Short |
Rollcentre Racing | +4 rounds |
LMP2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 5 | Juan Barazi Michael Vergers Karim Ojjeh |
Barazi epsilon | +8 laps |
2 | 7th | Tom Kimber-Smith Danny Watts |
Team LNT | +9 laps |
3 | 8th | Miguel Amaral Miguel Angel de Castro Angel Burgueño |
Quifel ASM team | +10 rounds |
GT1 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 12 | Stéphane Ortelli Soheil Ayari |
Team ORECA | +14 rounds |
2 | 13 | Antonio García Darren Turner |
Team Modena | +15 rounds |
3 | 15th | Jean-Luc Blanchemain Sébastien Dumez Vincent Vosse |
Luc Alphand Aventures | +18 rounds |
GT2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 20th | Robert Bell Gianmaria Bruni |
Virgo Motorsport | +22 laps |
2 | 22nd | Raymond Narac Richard Lietz |
IMSA Performance Matmut | +23 laps |
3 | 23 | Mike Hezemans Peter Dumbreck |
Spyker Squadron | +24 rounds |
The 1000 km Silverstone on the Silverstone Circuit, near the city of Northampton , took place on April 8, 2007 and covered a distance of 195 laps of 5.141 km, for a total of 1002.495 km.
Nicolas Minassian takes pole position with a time of 1: 31.692, followed by his team-mate Pedro Lamy, who completes the front row for Peugeot. The fastest LMP2 is Team LNT's Zytek with a time of 1: 35.149, thus 4th overall starting position. In GT1, Team Modena not only recorded the first GT1 qualifying time of the season, but also stopped the ORECA team, who are entering the race behind another GT1 car for the first time this season. With a lap time of 1: 49.730 it is enough for Virgo Motorsports to finish 29th on the grid, ahead of all other GT2 vehicles.
The two Peugeots can immediately convert their starting position into a lead and quickly put a gap between them and the rest of the field. Halfway through the race, Marc Gené's Peugeot suffered a tire damage that forced it to hobble around the circuit for almost a complete lap, while a battle for the order of the winner's pot broke out between the Charouz Lola and the Pescarolo with the number 16. The beneficiary of this situation is the relapsed Peugeot, which quickly approaches the duo and overtakes around half an hour before the end of the race. Only a few minutes later the Peugeot with the number 8 drives into the pits, the vehicle is inspected by the race management and shortly thereafter disqualified because of the broken wheel arch . The two Pescarolo teams inherit positions 2 and 3 just five minutes before the end of the race.
In LMP2 the lead changes several times up to the third hour of the race, after which the Zytek from Barazi-Epsilon leads and does not give up until the end of the race. The upcoming double victory almost slips out of the hands of the British manufacturer Zytek when the vehicle from Team LNT and Binnie Motorsport Lola stranded in the gravel a few minutes before the end of the race. However, Tom Kimber-Smith manages to break free before the Portuguese can overtake Lola.
While the GT1 vehicles are close together in the initial phase, the field is becoming increasingly thin due to driving errors. Therefore, in the third hour of the race, Team Modena is ahead of Team ORECA. Almost 2 hours before the end of the race, Stéphane Ortelli takes the lead in the GT1 classification and drives the French team to its fourth class win this year.
Robert Bell and Gianmaria Bruni quickly moved away from the field, followed by the vehicles from IMSA Performance Matmut and Feldmeyer-Proton. While the Virgo Motorsport team is heading towards a class win, the closest pursuer sneaks around the track on three tires and has to give up around an hour before the end of the race. In addition to the Ferrari from Virgo Motorsport and the Porsche from IMSA Performance Matmut, a Spyker is on the GT2 podium for the first time this season.
Mil Milhas
LMP1 | total | driver | team | time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené |
Team Peugeot Total | 8: 58: 21.822 |
2 | 2 | Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy |
Team Peugeot Total | +12 rounds |
3 | 3 | Jamie Campbell-Walter Stuart Hall Felipe Ortiz |
Creation Autosportif | +16 rounds |
LMP2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 5 | Juan Barazi Michael Vergers Karim Ojjeh |
Barazi epsilon | +23 laps |
2 | 16 | Warren Hughes Darren Manning Mario Haberfeld |
Embassy Racing | +96 laps |
3 | - | - | - | - |
GT1 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 6th | Gregor Fisken Steve Zacchia Roland Bervillé Fernando Rees |
Aston Martin Racing Larbre | +45 laps |
2 | 11 | Olivier Beretta Oliver Gavin Patrice Goueslard |
Luc Alphand Aventures | +54 laps |
3 | - | - | - | - |
GT2 | total | driver | team | time |
1 | 7th | Marc Lieb Xavier Pompidou Marc Basseng |
Felbermayr-Proton team | +48 laps |
2 | 8th | Alexandre Negrão, Sr. Alexandre Negrão, Jr. Andreas Mattheis |
JMB Racing | +50 rounds |
3 | 9 | Ben Aucott Robert Bell Philipp Peter |
JMB Racing Aucott Racing |
+51 laps |
The last round of the 2007 Le Mans Series took place on November 10, 2007 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace and for the first time covered a distance of more than 1000 km. The race course was lapped 374 times, which corresponds to a distance of 1611.566 km.
Stéphane Sarrazin won qualifying for the first time, with a 1: 18.787 he was around 0.2 seconds faster than his team-mates Nicolas Minassian and Marc Gené. For overall position 5 and fastest in the LMP2 class, Michael Vergers achieved a 1: 23.449. In the GT1, the multiple ALMS winner Olivier Beretta placed Luc Alphand's Corvette in eighth overall position. The fastest GT2 starts one row behind, piloted by Dirk Werner in tenth position.
The 1000 mile race got off to a dramatic start, the car in pole position did not move and could only move away after the field was on the warm-up lap. The gearshift hangs between the gears and the electronics block the drive wheels. Pedro Lamy needs a good hour to move his Peugeot from behind to second position and to line up behind his team-mate. Half an hour later, when Jean-Christophe Boullion brakes the Senna-S, the front suspension breaks, he can catch the car without touching the barrier and then drive into the pits. After half-time in the race, Pedro Lamy and Stéphane Sarrazin push the Peugeot into the pits to carry out repairs, but can continue before the Pescarolo is within striking distance again. After the seventh hour of racing, the number 8 Peugeot had to go to the pits twice, but was able to continue after a few repairs, but lost several laps to the leading sister vehicle. The race is flagged after 374 laps. Pedro Lamy and Stéphane Sarrazin win the championship as runner-up.
Like the Peugeot, the pilbeam of the Pierre Bruneau team cannot start and is pushed into the pits, can continue later, but hits the wall in the second half of the race, thus building a secure podium position. The two remaining LMP2s drive close together until the Embassy Radical loses several laps in the pits after a take-off into the gravel trap and thus Juan Barazi, Michael Vergers and Karim Ojjeh can secure their second class win for Barazi-Epsilon.
In the GT1, the Luc Alphand Team's Corvette can quickly set itself apart from the Aston Martin. After five hours the lead is already seven laps, but shortly afterwards the Corvette has to give up the lead in the GT1 during a longer repair break. Since the Larbre team does not make any mistakes, they can book their first class win of this season in the last round of the championship.
While in the GT2 the Felbermeyer-Proton Porsches with the number 79 and 88 stand out due to multiple tire damage on the right rear wheel, the sister car of Marc Lieb, Xavier Pompidou and Marc Basseng achieved an undisputed class victory. Due to technical problems of the teams from GPC and James Watt Automotive, the Monegasque JMB Racing Team was able to promote two Ferraris to the GT2 podium, with one of the vehicles being completely occupied by Brazilian local heroes. The other JMB Ferrari includes championship leader Robert Bell, who did not bring his own Ferrari to Interlagos.
Total score
Driver ranking
Within each of the four 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 an hour 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
The decision on the championship title in the drivers' standings was made in the last race of the season. Stéphane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy have been in the lead since the second round of the season, but the technical problems and the resulting deficit at Silverstone made it possible for Jean-Christophe Boullion, who had consistently scored points up to then, to catch up again. Thanks to the better result in the last race, the title went to Pedro Lamy and Stéphane Sarrazin, 4.5 points ahead. The second regular Pescarolo driver, Emmanuel Collard, built the championship ahead of schedule because he did not take part in the 1000-kilometer race in Valencia in the FIA GT due to obligations as a Porsche works driver.
space | driver | team | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 4 | Run 5 | Run 6 † | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Stéphane Sarrazin | Team Peugeot Total | 6th | 10 | 10 | 10 | 4th | 40 | |
= | Pedro Lamy | Team Peugeot Total | 6th | 10 | 10 | 10 | 4th | 40 | |
2 | Jean-Christophe Boullion | Pescarolo sport | 8th | 4th | 6th | 8th | 8th | 2.5 | 36.5 |
3 | Nicolas Minassian | Team Peugeot Total | 10 | 8th | 10 | 5 | 33 | ||
= | Marc Gené | Team Peugeot Total | 10 | 8th | 10 | 5 | 33 | ||
4th | Emmanuel Collard | Pescarolo sport | 8th | 6th | 8th | 8th | 2.5 | 32.5 | |
5 | Stuart Hall |
Rollcentre Racing Creation Autosportif
|
3 |
5 |
5 |
6th |
3 |
22nd | |
6th | João Barbosa | Rollcentre Racing | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6th | 19th | ||
7th | Harold Primate | Pescarolo sport | 5 | 3 | 6th | 2.5 | 16.5 | ||
8th | Jan Charouz | Charouz Racing System | 8th | 5 | 2 | 15th | |||
= | Stefan Mücke | Charouz Racing System | 8th | 5 | 2 | 15th | |||
9 | Jamie Campbell-Walter | Creation Autosportif | 4th | 3 | 5 | 3 | 15th | ||
= | Felipe Ortiz | Creation Autosportif | 4th | 3 | 5 | 3 | 15th | ||
10 | Christophe Tinseau | Pescarolo sport | 5 | 3 | 6th | 14th | |||
11 | Alex Yoong | Charouz Racing System | 8th | 5 | 13 | ||||
12 | Tom Chilton | Arena Motorsports International | 3 | 4th | 7th | ||||
13 | Marcel Fässler | Swiss Spirit | 6th | 6th | |||||
= | Jean-Denis Delétraz | Swiss Spirit | 6th | 6th | |||||
= | Irady Alexander | Swiss Spirit | 6th | 6th | |||||
14th | Gareth Evans | Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport | 2 | 4th | 6th | ||||
= | Bob Berridge | Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport | 2 | 4th | 6th | ||||
= | Peter Owen | Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport | 2 | 4th | 6th | ||||
15th | Haruki Kurosawa | Creation Autosportif | 5 | 5 | |||||
16 | Jean-Marc Gounon | Courage Compétition | 4th | 1 | 5 | ||||
= | Guillaume Moreau | Courage Compétition | 4th | 1 | 5 | ||||
17th | Alexander Frei | Courage Compétition | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||||
= | Jonathan Cochet | Courage Compétition | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||||
18th | Romain Dumas | Pescarolo sport | 4th | 4th | |||||
19th | Shinji Nakano | Creation Autosportif | 4th | 4th | |||||
20th | Max Chilton | Arena Motorsports International | 4th | 4th | |||||
21st | Hayanari Shimoda | Arena Motorsports International | 3 | 3 | |||||
22nd | Jan Lammers | Racing for Holland | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
= | Jeroen Bleekemolen | Racing for Holland | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
= | David Hart | Racing for Holland | 1 | 2 | 3 |
† - Only half points were awarded for the run in Interlagos, as fewer than five vehicles in this class took part in the race.
LMP2
The championship in LMP2 was not yet decided by the course of the race at Silverstone. Both Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos as well as Miguel Amaral, Miguel Angel de Castro and Angel Burgueño still had the opportunity to win the championship. However, none of the title contenders took part in the last run in South America. Since only three LMP2 vehicles were registered for the race in Brazil, the championship title finally went to Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos, even if one of the Quifel ASM drivers had taken part in the race in a different prototype. Because of the small number of racing cars, the ACO decided to only award half championship points. So you could only get five points for a win instead of the usual ten. However, six points would have been required for a tie.
space | driver | team | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 4 | Run 5 | Run 6 † | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike Newton | RML | 8th | 3 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 36 | |
= | Thomas Erdos | RML | 8th | 3 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 36 | |
2 | Miguel Amaral | Quifel ASM team | 10 | 6th | 8th | 6th | 30th | ||
= | Miguel Angel de Castro | Quifel ASM team | 10 | 6th | 8th | 6th | 30th | ||
= | Angel Burgueño | Quifel ASM team | 10 | 6th | 8th | 6th | 30th | ||
3 | Juan Barazi | Barazi epsilon | 2 | 8th | 10 | 5 | 25th | ||
= | Michael Vergers | Barazi epsilon | 2 | 8th | 10 | 5 | 25th | ||
= | Karim Ojjeh | Barazi epsilon | 2 | 8th | 10 | 5 | 25th | ||
4th | Jacques Nicolet | Saulnier Racing | 5 | 8th | 2 | 5 | 3 | 23 | |
= | Alain Filhol | Saulnier Racing | 5 | 8th | 2 | 5 | 3 | 23 | |
= | Bruce Jouanny | Saulnier Racing | 5 | 8th | 2 | 5 | 3 | 23 | |
5 | Fredy Lienhard | Horag Racing | 10 | 5 | 6th | 21st | |||
= | Eric van de Poele | Horag Racing | 10 | 5 | 6th | 21st | |||
= | Didier Theys | Horag Racing | 10 | 5 | 6th | 21st | |||
6th | William Binnie | Binnie Motorsports | 6th | 3 | 4th | 4th | 17th | ||
= | Allen Timpany | Binnie Motorsports | 6th | 3 | 4th | 4th | 17th | ||
= | Chris Buncombe | Binnie Motorsports | 6th | 3 | 4th | 4th | 17th | ||
7th | Warren Hughes | Embassy Racing | 4th | 3 | 1 | 4th | 12 | ||
8th | Danny Watts | Team LNT | 8th | 8th | |||||
= | Tom Kimber-Smith | Team LNT | 8th | 8th | |||||
9 | Tim Greaves | Team Bruichladdich Radical | 6th | 2 | 8th | ||||
= | Stuart Moseley | Team Bruichladdich Radical | 6th | 2 | 8th | ||||
10 | Tony Burgess | Kruse Motorsport | 4th | 4th | 8th | ||||
= | Jean de Pourtales | Kruse Motorsport | 4th | 4th | 8th | ||||
= | Norbert Siedler | Kruse Motorsport | 4th | 4th | 8th | ||||
11 | Darren Manning | Embassy Racing | 3 | 1 | 4th | 8th | |||
12 | Robin Liddell | Team Bruichladdich Radical | 6th | 6th | |||||
13 | Jean-Marc Gounon | Noël del Bello Racing | 5 | 5 | |||||
= | Vitaly Petrov | Noël del Bello Racing | 5 | 5 | |||||
14th | Neil Cunningham | Embassy Racing | 4th | 4th | |||||
15th | Mario Haberfeld | Embassy Racing | 4th | 4th | |||||
16 | Pierre Bruneau | Pierre Bruneau | 3 | 1 | 4th | ||||
= | Marc Rostan | Pierre Bruneau | 3 | 1 | 4th | ||||
= | Simon Pullan | Pierre Bruneau | 3 | 1 | 4th | ||||
17th | Jacob Greaves | Team Bruichladdich Radical | 2 | 2 |
† - Only half points were awarded for the run in Interlagos, as fewer than five vehicles in the class took part in the race.
GT1
The championship situation in the GT1 was similar to the LMP2. After the race at Silverstone, three driver pairings still had the opportunity to win the GT1 title. However, due to the small number of participants and the resulting halved championship points, not enough points could be achieved to wrest the championship title from Stéphane Ortelli and Soheil Ayari.
† - Only half points were awarded for the race in Interlagos, as fewer than five vehicles in the class took part in the race.
GT2
Robert Bell was able to secure the decision about the championship title in GT2 early with his victory at Silverstone. Team-mate Allan Simonsen did not take part in this penultimate championship run because he had obligations in the Australian GT championship. After the Virgo Motorsport-Ferrari itself did not compete in the last race in Brazil and the two drivers were hired by various other teams, it was only here that the decision was made as to whether or not Robert Bell had to share the championship title with his team-mate. Robert Bell remained loyal to Ferrari and switched to JMB for the race, while Allan Simonsen contested the race for the Porsche Team James Watt Automotive. By reaching the points, Robert Bell became the sole LMS GT2 champion in 2007.
Team evaluation
LMP1
The 2007 season was a battle of reliability versus speed. While the Peugeot factory vehicles were unbeaten in speed in any race, they lacked reliability. Above all, the previous year's championship team from Pescarolo Sport was able to show off here, although they could not win any race this season, they reached the points in every race, often they were only beaten by the diesel prototypes. In the end, however, it was only enough for the runner-up title, which was linked to an automatic invitation to the 2008 Le Mans 24-hour race. The 2007 Le Mans Series champion was therefore Peugeot, which, in addition to the title, also received an invitation to Le Mans 2008.
† - Only half points were awarded for the race in Interlagos, as fewer than five vehicles in the class took part in the race.
LMP2
The decision in the LMP2 team ranking largely corresponded to the driver ranking, as all top teams completed the entire season with their regular line-up. So RML was able to decide the championship between the races, because the only title competitor in Brazil did not start. Since both the title holder and the runner-up in the team classification were automatically invited to the Le Mans 24-hour race, the number of participants in the last race was decisive. Quifel ASM renounced a trip to South America and enabled Barazi-Epsilon to draw level with a class win. In Interlagos, however, only three LMP2 vehicles competed and so, according to the ACO's decision, only half championship points were awarded, which secured the Portuguese team the runner-up title.
† - Only half points were awarded for the race in Interlagos, as fewer than five vehicles in the class took part in the race.
GT1
As in the driver standings, the ACO's decision to award only half points was the championship decision due to the number of participants for the race in Interlagos. Thus, the ORECA team could no longer take the class title, as they could decide every race of the season for themselves apart from the Mil Milhas. The title of runner-up, however, was still open. However, Team Larbre registered the Aston Martin with the number 51 for the race in Brazil. After noticing the error, they asked the ACO whether it would be possible to swap the vehicle numbers in order to be able to compete with the start number of the third-placed sister car. The request was rejected because Luc Alphand Adventures protested against it.
† - Only half points were awarded for the race in Interlagos, as fewer than five vehicles in the class took part in the race.
GT2
Due to constant driving performance, the GT2 title already went to the Virgo Motorsport team at Silverstone, which was also able to experience a podium position with every participation this season. Felbermeyer-Proton was confirmed as runner-up when the list of participants for the race in Interlagos was published. Neither GPC Sport nor Scuderia Villorba Corse went to South America to intervene in the fight for the title. Remarkably, a special series of victories was not broken in 2007 either: since 2005, first Ferrari and in the following race a Porsche have won the GT2 class alternately.
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 2007. The one-make cup Peugeot 207 Spider Cup and the Classic Endurance Racing organized by Peter Auto were an integral part of the supporting program . In addition, the sports cars of the Radical Race Cup started at three of the five European events. Selected championship races included the World Series by Renault and the French Porsche Carrera Cup .
reporting
All six races of the season were broadcast live in full by the television broadcaster Motors TV . The program was commented on by Mark Cole and Carlton Kirby. The team was supported by the racing driver Liz Halliday for the races in Spa, Silverstone and Interlagos.
literature
- Andrew Cotton, Alfredo Filippone, Olivier Loisy, Jean-Marc Teissedre: 2007 Le Mans Series Yearbook. Apollo Publishing, ISBN 2-9521044-7-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reglement Technique ACO - ACO Technical Regulations 2007 Prototype "LM" P1 & "LM" P2 . November 22, 2006.
- ↑ http://www.michelin.com/corporate/actualites/en/actu_affich.jsp?id=20108&codeRubrique=38&lang=EN Status: June 12, 2007.
- ↑ a b Wouter Melissen: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/3210/Courage-LC75-AER.html as of May 2, 2007.
- ↑ Wouter Melissa: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/3185/Courage-LC70-AER.html as of April 2, 2007.
- ↑ Jonny Kane: http://jonnykane.com/news/races/2003/sebring.htm ( Memento from January 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) as of March 12, 2003.
- ↑ 2007 Le Mans Series Yearbook . 2007, p. 200.
- ↑ http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=241313&F=N ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Status: January 17, 2007.
- ↑ 2007 Le Mans Series Yearbook . 2007, p. 18.
- ↑ David Palmeter: http://palmeter.com/C6R-004.htm ( Memento from October 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) as of February 16, 2008.
- ^ Martin Krejci: Saleen chassis numbers as of October 4, 2007.
- ↑ Wouter Melissen: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/2320/Spyker-C8-Spyder-GT2-R.html as of April 3, 2008.
- ↑ Gabriel Portos: http://www.planetlemans.com/2007/04/30/the-planetlemans-valencia-preview-prototypes/ as of April 30, 2007.
- ↑ a b c d e f Oliver Runschke: http://www.projectlemans.de/content/view/3726/154/ as of November 7, 2007.
- ↑ ASkyler: - ( Memento of December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) As of November 9, 2007.
- ↑ Liz Halliday: - ( Memento of April 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) As of November 1, 2007.