After skipping last year’s visit to Sebring, Audi returns in force with R18 TDIs for the 2011 Le Mans winners Lotterer/Tréluyer/Fassler, McNish/Kristensen/Capello (Sebring winners in 2006 and 2009) and Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas/TBA. Audi will be hunting for its 10^th victory at Sebring - 12 years after its first success there with Biela/Pirro/Kristensen – and also for its first WEC points. The question is whether anybody will be able to beat Audi/Michelin? The chief threats are likely to come from the Strakka Racing- or JRM-run HPD-ARX03As, the same car which finished on last year’s podium in 2011 in the hands of Highcroft Racing. Rebellion Racing will also be in Florida with two Toyota-engined Lolas, while OAK Racing will have a Pescarolo-Judd. The LMP2 entry list features no fewer than nine cars, including the Signatech-Nissan Oreca03-Nissans, the ADR-Delta, the OAK Racing Morgan-Judd, the Starworks HPD-ARX03b, the Greaves Motorsport Zytek and the Gulf Racing Lola-Nissan. The 30 WEC-registered cars will be joined by the 2012 ALMS runners and around 60 cars are expected to start at Sebring.

Since the announcement of Peugeot’s withdrawal from endurance racing and the news that Toyota has decided to run a second LMP1 prototype at Le Mans, the telephone probably hasn’t stop ringing at the latter’s headquarters in Cologne, Germany! In the end, the team has confirmed that Anthony Davidson, Switzerland’s Sébastien Buemi and Japan’s Hiroaki Ishiura will share the N°8 Toyota TSO30 Hybrid at the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours. Anthony Davidson has been one of the fastest drivers in the French race in recent years, and his amazing run of four consecutive stints on the same Michelin tyres in 2010 (627km at an average speed of 243kph) will be remembered for a long time to come. Anthony will team up with Red Bull’s third driver in F1, Sébastien Buemi. The N°7 car will be driven by Alex Wurz (Davidson’s team-mate at Peugeot last year), Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima. Stéphane Sarrazin has been snapped up by Starworks Motorsport, the team which came second at January’s Daytona 24 Hours. The American squad will make its debut at Le Mans with an HPD-ARX03a/Michelin entered in the LMP2 class. Sarrazin will join Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio for the French race and will contest the complete World Endurance Championship. Indeed, there is likely to be a close fight in LMP2, since Signatech-Nissan has confirmed that Mailleux/Lombard/Tresson will compete in the world championship in the N°23 car. In the LMGTE Pro class, Fred Mako has decided to remain at Luxury Racing to contest the WEC in a Ferrari 458, plus a GT1 World programme in a McLaren run by Hexis Racing. Felbermayr-Proton has just announced its drivers for Sebring: Lieb/Lietz/Pilet in the N°77 Porsche/Michelin and Ruberti/Ried/Roda in the N°88 sister car. During last weekend’s Rally Sweden, the WRC champion confirmed that his new racing team will enter an Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 prototype in the 2012 European Le Mans Series. Nicolas Marroc will be one of the drivers. The car might be seen at the official Le Mans test day at the beginning of June.

On February 8-9, the Sebring International Raceway will be available for American Le Mans Series and WEC runners for the traditional pre-season test session. However, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing is the only team with an LMP1 prototype – the new HPD-ARX03a/Michelin – which will be shared by ALMS regulars Graff and Pickett, along with Frenchman Simon Pagenaud who will join them for the 12 Hours of Sebring. The LM2 class is represented by Level 5 Motorsport with two HPD-ARX03b prototypes, and by Pecom Racing (Oreca03-Nissan). Both teams have entries for June’s Le Mans 24 Hours. The GT teams have snapped up the opportunity to get a little winter testing under their belts, including the two factory Corvette C6.Rs (Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor and Gavin/Milner/Westbrook), as well as the Flying Lizard 2012-spec Porsche 997 RSR/Michelins. At the 12-hour race, the German cars will be driven by Bergmeister/Long/Holzer (N°45) and Neiman/Law/Lally (N°44). Also in Florida are the three Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia and Krohn Racing’s similar car. BMW has sent entries for its two factory M3s, although no drivers have been specified, while Christophe Bouchut, Pascal Gibson and Jean-Philippe Beloc Larbre Compétition have been recruited to share drive the French team’s Corvette C6.R. The 60th 12 Hours of Sebring will take place on March 17, and a 64-strong grid is expected for the 2012 WEC and ALMS curtain-raiser.

Despite Peugeot’s shock withdrawal, the list stars two factory teams in LMP1, thanks to the participations of Audi and Toyota. The Japanese make has finally confirmed that it will run a TS030 Hybrid at every race, except Sebring. Other front-running LMP1 prototypes will be the Rebellion-run Lola-Toyotas, a Pescarolo03-Judd, an OAK-Pescarolo and two HPD-ARX03As. Michelin is expected to equip all these cars. The LMP2 category can claim six different chassis/engine combinations, which points to a particularly exciting fight, while top names include Morgan, Lotus and Starworks, who came second at the recent Daytona 24 Hours. There has been little interest in the LM GTE Pro class which only includes three Ferrari F458s, a Porsche 997 RSR and an Aston Martin Vantage V8 entered by the factory Aston Martin Racing squad. Despite the low numbers, the quality is there, thanks to the presence of top teams like AF Corse, Luxury and Felbermayr-Proton. In the LMGTE AM class, Larbre Compétition will have two cars to defend its title, while Krohn Racing returns with a new Ferrari. Luxury, Felbermayr-Proton and AF Corse have entered their second cars in this category. The ACO has also confirmed that Shanghai will replace Zhuhai as the venue for the final round of this year’s WEC. The date has been brought forward to October 27. WEC entries LMP1 N°1 Audi Sport Team Joest (Audi R18 TDI Hybrid) André Lotterer N°2 Audi Sport Team Joest (Audi R18 TDI Hybrid) Allan McNish N°7 Toyota Racing (TS030 Hybrid) Alexander Wurz N°12 Rebellion Racing (Lola B12/60-Toyota) Nicolas Prost N°13 Rebellion Racing (Lola B12/60-Toyota) Andrea Belicchi N°15 OAK Racing (OAK-Pescarolo) Guillaume Moreau N°16 Pescarolo Team (Pescarolo03-Judd) Emmanuel Collard N°21 Strakka Racing (HPD-ARX03a) Nick Leventis N°22 JRM (HPD-ARX03a) David Brabham LMP2 N°23 Signatech-Nissan (Oreca03-Nissan) Jordan Tresson N°24 OAK Racing (Morgan-Judd) Jacques Nicolet N°25 ADR-Delta (Oreca03-Nissan) John Martin N°28 Gulf Racing Middle-East (Lola B12/80-Nissan) Fabien Giroix N°29 Gulf Racing Middle-East (Lola B12/80-Nissan) Frédéric Fatien N°31 Lotus (Lola B12/80-Lotus) Thomas-Josef Dolzer N°41 Greaves Motorsport (Zytek Z11SN-Nissan) Christian Zugel N°44 Starworks Motorsport (HPD-ARX03b) Vincente Potolicchio N°49 Pecom Racing (Oreca03-Nissan) Luis Perez-Companc LM GTE Pro N°51 AF Corse (Ferrari F458) Giancarlo Fisichella N°59 Luxury Racing (Ferrari F458) Frédéric Makowiecki N°71 AF Corse (Ferrari F458) Andrea Bertolini N°77 Felbermayr-Proton (Porsche 997 RSR) Richard Lietz N°97 Aston Martin Racing (Aston Martin Vantage) Stefan Mücke LM GTE Am N°50 Larbre Compétition (Corvette C6.R) Patrick Bornhauser N°55 JWA-AVILA (Porsche 997 RSR) Paul Daniels N°57 Krohn Racing (Ferrari F458) Tracy Krohn N°58 Luxury Racing (Ferrari F458) Pierre Ehret N°61 AF Corse (Ferrari F458) Robert Kauffman N°70 Larbre Compétition (Corvette C6.R) Christophe Bourret N°88 Felbermayr-Proton (Porsche 997 RSR) Christian Ried

The 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours, which will be broadcast live by Eurosport, will see a battle between four Audi prototypes (two of which will run on hybrid power), two Toyota TS030 Hybrids, two Rebellion-run Lola-Toyotas, a Pescarolo 03-Judd, a Dome S102.5-Judd, two Dyson Racing Lola-Mazdas and three HPD-ARX03s, in the hands of =Strakka Racing, JRM and OAK-Pescarolo. The LMP1 list features 15 cars in all. With a record of 10 previous Le Mans wins to its name, Audi will defend its 2011 success with a line-up of two R18 TDIs and two R18 Hybrids. The four drivers whose names have already been confirmed are Lotterer, McNish, Bernhard and Jarvis. Audi was the first carmaker to win the French endurance classic with diesel power, in 2006, and would certainly like to write more motor racing with the first hybrid victory, despite opposition from the two hybrid-engined Toyota TS030s. The Japanese firm has also confirmed that it will have at least one car at every round of the WEC, with the exception of Sebring. Pescarolo will continue its love affair with the French race with two cars: a Pescarolo 03-Judd (based on an AMR-One) for Collard/Boullion/Jousse and a Dome 102.5-Judd for Minassian/Bourdais/TBA. Meanwhile, the defending ALMS champions Dyson Racing will fly the American Le Mans Series flag at Le Mans with two Lola B12/60-Mazdas. The LMP2 list features 18 prototypes, and there will be nine cars in the LM GTE Pro class, including two Corvettes, two AF Corse and one Luxury Racing Ferraris and two Porsches. The category also sees the return of Aston Martin Racing with a Vantage. There are 13 LM GTE Am entries. The '56th garage' will effectively be filled by the Deltawing. Marino Franchitti has been confirmed as one of the futuristic prototype's drivers. Last but not least, Shanghai has been confirmed as host of the Chinese round of the WEC which will bring the season to a close. LMP1 N°1 Audi Sport Team Joest (Audi R18 TDI Hybrid) André Lotterer N°2 Audi Sport Team Joest (Audi R18 TDI Hybrid) Allan McNish N°3 Audi Sport Team Joest (Audi R18 TDI) Timo Bernhard N°4 Audi Sport North America (Audi R18 TDI) Oliver Jarvis N°7 Toyota Racing (TS030 Hybrid) Alexander Wurz N°8 Toyota Racing (TS030 Hybrid) Hiroaki Ishiura N°12 Rebellion Racing (Lola B12/60-Toyota) Nicolas Prost N°13 Rebellion Racing (Lola B12/60-Toyota) Andrea Belicchi N°15 OAK Racing (OAK-Pescarolo) Guillaume Moreau N°16 Pescarolo Team (Pescarolo03-Judd) Emmanuel Collard N°17 Pescarolo Team (Dome 102.5-Judd) Nicolas Minassian N°18 Dyson Racing Team (Lola B12/60-Mazda) Guy Smith N°19 Dyson Racing Team (Lola B12/60-Mazda) Chris Dyson N°21 Strakka Racing (HPD-ARX03a) Nick Leventis N°22 JRM (HPD-ARX03a) David Brabham LMP2 N°23 Signatech-Nissan (Oreca03-Nissan) Jordan Tresson N°24 OAK Racing (Morgan-Judd) Jacques Nicolet N°25 ADR-Delta (Oreca03-Nissan) John Martin N°26 Signatech-Nissan (Oreca03-Nissan) Franck Mailleux N°28 Gulf Racing Middle-East (Lola B12/80-Nissan) Fabien Giroix N°29 Gulf Racing Middle-East (Lola B12/80-Nissan) Frédéric Fatien N°31 Lotus (Lola B12/80-Lotus) Thomas-Josef Dolzer N°33 Level 5 Motorsport (HPD-ARX03b) Scott Tucker N°35 OAK Racing (Morgan-Judd) Olivier Pla N°38 Jota (Zytek Z11SN-Nissan) Sam Hancock N°40 Race Performance (Oreca03-Judd) Michel Frey N°41 Greaves Motorsport (Zytek Z11SN-Nissan) Christian Zugel N°42 Greaves Motorsport (Zytek Z11SN-Nissan) Alex Brundle N°43 Extreme Limite Aric (Norma MP 2000-Judd) Fabien Rosier N°44 Starworks Motorsport (HPD-ARX03b) Vincente Potolicchio N°45 Boutsen Ginion Racing (Oreca03-Nissan) Bastien Brière N°46 Thiriet By TDS Racing (Oreca03-Nissan) Pierre Thiriet N°49 Pecom Racing (Oreca03-Nissan) Luis Perez-Companc LM GTE Pro N°51 AF Corse (Ferrari F458) Giancarlo Fisichella N°59 Luxury Racing (Ferrari F458) Frédéric Makowiecki N°66 JMW Motorsport (Ferrari F458) Tim Sugden N°71 AF Corse (Ferrari F458) Andrea Bertolini N°73 Corvette Racing (Corvette C6.R) Antonio Garcia N°74 Corvette Racing (Corvette C6.R) Oliver Gavin N°77 Felbermayr-Proton (Porsche 997 RSR) Richard Lietz N°80 Flying Lizard Motorsports (Porsche 997 RSR) Jorg Bergmeister N°97 Aston Martin Racing (Aston Martin Vantage) Stefan Mücke LM GTE Am N°50 Larbre Compétition (Corvette C6.R) Patrick Bornhauser N°55 JWA-AVILA (Porsche 997 RSR) Paul Daniels N°57 Krohn Racing (Ferrari F458) Tracy Krohn N°58 Luxury Racing (Ferrari F458) Pierre Ehret N°61 AF Corse (Ferrari F458) Robert Kauffman N°67 Imsa-Performance Matmut (Porsche 997 RSR) Anthony Pons N°70 Larbre Compétition (Corvette C6.R) Christophe Bourret N°75 Prospeed Compétition (Porsche 997 RSR) Paul Van Splunteren N°79 Flying Lizard Motorsports (Porsche 997 RSR) Seth Neiman N°81 AF Corse (Ferrari F458) Pierguiseppe Perrazzini N°83 JMB Racing (Ferrari F458) Manuel Rodrigues N°88 Felbermayr-Proton (Porsche 997 RSR) Christian Ried N°99 Aston Martin Racing (Aston Martin Vantage) Christoffer Nygaard N°56 Highcroft Racing (Deltawing) Marino Franchitti Suppléants LMP N°47 Jetalliance Racing (Lola-Judd) David Heinemeier-Hansson N°30 Status Grand Prix (Lola-Judd) Alexander Sims N°48 Murphy Prototypes (Oreca03-Judd) Gregory Murphy N°5 Hope Racing (Oreca-Swiss Tech Hybrid) Steve Zacchia N°32 Lotus (Lola B12/80-Lotus) Dariusch Ahrabian LM GTE N°76 Imsa-Performance-Matmut (Porsche 997 RSR) Patrick Pilet N°64 Lotus Cars (Lotus Evora GTE) John Mowlen N°98 Aston Martin Racing (Aston Martin Vantage) Darren Turner N°63 Proton Compétition (Porsche 997 RSR) Horst Felbermayr Jr

The Swiss team, which won both the Teams’ and Constructors’ Le Mans Series titles in 2011, has confirmed that Nick Heidfeld will defend its colours at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Spa 6 Hours and the Le Mans 24 Hours in one of the team’s two LMP1 prototypes. After stepping in for the injured Kubica at Lotus-Renault GP at the beginning of 2011, Nick Heidfeld was in turn replaced by Bruno Senna after the Hungarian GP. The German has contested 183 F1 Grands Prix since the 2000 Australian GP. His record includes 13 podium finishes and a pole position. In 1999, the 34-year old was a Formula 1 test driver for McLaren-Mercedes. The same year, he raced at Le Mans in a factory Mercedes Benz CLR (retired on Lap 75). “I always knew I would return to endurance racing one day,” he says. “I am delighted to be joining Rebellion Racing. It’s a whole new challenge which begins very soon at Sebring, a track that is completely new to me…” Said Rebellion Racing boss Bart Hayden: “We received lots of offers from drivers for Sebring and Le Mans. Nick Heidfeld was available and was looking for a fresh challenge. He is fast, very experienced and enthusiastic. We are very pleased to have in in our team and we will be counting on him at Sebring, the opening round of the WEC.” Rebellion Racing’s squad appears to be complete now, with Belicchi/Bleekemolen/Primat and Prost/Jani/ Heidfeld listed to share the two Lola-Toyota LMP1 prototypes which will race on Michelin rubber. Tomorrow (Thursday, February 2), the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) will release the list of entries for the World Endurance Championship and for the 80th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Ford-Rileys finished first, second and third at Daytona thanks to the N°60, N°8 (Starworks Motorsport, Dalziel/McNish/Popow/Potolicchio) and N°6 (Goncalvez/McDowel/Nasr/Yacaman) cars. Scotland’s Allan McNish took part in the classic American race for the first time. Corvette’s four factory drivers in the ALMS (Garcia/Gavin/Magnussen/Westbrook) finished eighth in a Corvette DP entered by Spirit of Daytona. The GT class was won by the Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 of Lally/Lietz/Potter/Rast. The similar cars entered by TRG and Brumos Racing made it a one-two-three for the German make in the GT3 classification.             The Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 of Beretta/Bertolini/Vilander was fifth in GT, while Patrick Dempsey and his colleagues (Mazda RX-8) were 10th in the class, ahead of the Orbit GMG Porsche driven by Nicolas Armindo. The other ALMS regulars who started the race were Extrem Speed Motorsport with a Ferrari 458 (13th in GT, with Brown/Cosmo/Sharp/Van Overbeek) and Flying Lizard with a Porsche GT3 (15th in GT, Bergmeister/Long/Neiman/Rockenfeller). Other well-known endurance drivers competing at the Florida venue included Emmanuel Collard and Marco Holzer (17th in GT, Porsche Alex Job Racing), Gimmi Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari, retired), Patrick Pilet (Porsche, 7th in GT) and BMW’s factory drivers. Emanuele Pirro contested the race in an Audi R8 GRAND-AM. It is here that the Italian made his international racing debut back in 1981, at the age of 19.

Following the presentation of the new Toyota TS030 Hybrid, the Switzerland-based Green GT team has taken the wraps off its H2 prototype which will be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The team has specified a power output of 460 horsepower for the H2 and the objective is to run the car at the official test day (June 3) ahead of the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours. Progress is also being made on the Project 56 Deltawing, which was selected by the ACO as its 56th entry for this year’s Le Mans. Michelin has already delivered specially-designed 15-inch tyres for this futuristic car. The fronts are 10/58-15, which is a third of the width of the tyres that go on the Audi R18 TDI (36/71-18). The size of the Deltawing’s rear tyres is 31/62-15. The Deltawing prototype will initially be tested in the wind tunnel before making its track debut. The name of the engine supplier has yet to be announced, but the chassis was designed AAR based on an AMR-One monocoque, with brakes provided by Performance Friction Brakes and the transmission designed by EMCO Gears.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/user/ToyotaMotorsportGmbH

Practically a week after the surprise announcement of Peugeot’s withdrawal from endurance racing, Toyota unveiled the TS030 Hybrid at Paul Ricard (Le Castellet), France, today. Following a ceremony at a hotel in Marseilles on Tuesday evening, the press was at the French circuit this morning to see the new hybrid prototype in action, in the hands of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima. The TS030 follows in the footsteps of the TS010 (Group C) and TS020 (GT-One) which raced at Le Mans in the 1990s. It is a petrol/electric hybrid prototype with a 3.4-litre normally-aspirated V8 and a system comprising super-capacitors instead of batteries to store the energy recovered under braking. The chassis was designed by TMG in Köln. Michelin is a partner of Toyota’s return to endurance racing, and the French tyre company’s ex-F1 manager Pascal Vasselon is the project’s chief. “The car’s two main strengths are its aerodynamics and hybrid system,” he says. The TS030 Hybrid actually lapped at Le Castellet earlier this month, while its official race debut will be the Spa 6 Hours in Belgium next May. There is a chance that two cars will be entered for Le Mans, and also a possibility that Toyota will add one or two extra races to its programme at the end of the year (Mont Fuji?), before tackling a full World Endurance Championship campaign in 2013.