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.

Peugeot Sport’s announcement that it has pulled the plug on its endurance racing programme understandably stunned the sport. During the Rallye Monte-Carlo, we came across Stéphane Sarrazin in the service park in Valence. In his pocket was a plane ticket for Florida to join the team for testing at Sebring, and he had trouble coming to terms with the decision. It is said that Peugeot had originally planned to prune its 2012 programme to just three races (Sebring, Spa and Le Mans), but that figure will finally be zero. The French carmaker has stopped completely and will now not take part in the championship for which it had pushed so hard… There is plenty of encouraging news from the WEC, however. There is talk of a prototype being entered by Pescarolo Team, for example, with two cars going to Le Mans. Rebellion Racing has committed to the WEC with a pair of Toyota-engined Lolas for Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost, Andrea Belicchi and Harold Primat. OAK Racing will have a single OAK-Pescarolo LMP1 prototype, with the young Dominik Kraihamer confirmed as being part of the squad. Strakka Racing is also putting the final touches to its 2012 campaign and Leventis/Kane/Watts are eagerly waiting to sit in the brand new HPD-ARX03 which is currently being built at the team’s base near Silverstone. Meanwhile, a busy programme on the simulator is underway. Another HPD-ARX03 will be entered by JRM for Brabham/Dumbreck/Chandhock. The LMP2 class promises to be competitive with Morgan-badged OAK-Pescarolos, an ORECA03-Nissan for Pecom Racing (Ayari/Kaffer/Perez-Companc) and a Zytek-Nissan for Greaves Motorsport. Felbermayr-Proton will run two Porsche 997 RSRs in the WEC, one of which will contest the LM GTE Pro class, with Lietz and Lieb in command. AF Corse is expected to have two F458s in GTE Pro and one in GTE Am.

News broke this afternoon that Peugeot has decided to bring its endurance racing programme to a halt. In a surprise press release, the French manufacturer, which is experiencing economic problems, stated that it will instead concentrate resources on its sales performance in 2012. The communiqué goes on to recall the make’s record in the discipline – victory at Le Mans in 2009, plus ILMC titles in 2010 and 2011 – but it will not now be able to seek revenge following its narrow defeat at the hand of Audi last June. Different versions of the 908 diesel-engined prototype have raced in the discipline since 2007. News broke this afternoon that Peugeot has decided to bring its endurance racing programme to a halt. In a surprise press release, the French manufacturer, which is experiencing economic problems, stated that it will instead concentrate resources on its sales performance in 2012. The communiqué goes on to recall the make’s record in the discipline – victory at Le Mans in 2009, plus ILMC titles in 2010 and 2011 – but it will not now be able to seek revenge following its narrow defeat at the hand of Audi last June. Different versions of the 908 diesel-engined prototype have raced in the discipline since 2007.

It was announced today that Olivier Quesnel has stood down from the management of Citroën Racing, but he will continue in his role as director of Peugeot Sport where he is directly answerable to the brand's General Manager Vincent Rambaud. The move means that Peugeot will now have someone in charge of its motorsport programme on a full-time basis, and that will surely be a 'plus' ahead of a season that promises to be crucial for the 908 prototypes. Indeed, in 2012, the French make will be eager to turn the tables on its rival Audi which has won the last two Le Mans 24 Hours. It is also busy preparing for the imminent arrival of diesel/electric hybrid technology in endurance racing, while the Peugeot 908 will be hoping to make a successful start in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). The new series kicks off soon at Sebring, on March 17, with a suitably mouth-watering line-up of teams, cars and drivers.