Group C returns to Le Mans in 2010

The support race at next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours (12-13 June 2010) will be for cars from the Group C era – hence the crowds will see such icons as the Silk Cut Jaguars, Sauber Mercedes and Porsche 962s in flat-out competition on the fabulous, 8.5-mile Le Mans circuit, shortly before the start of the 24 Hours.

The race is being organised by Motor Racing Legends, in partnership with Group C/GTP Racing, and is the 10th Le Mans support race that Motor Racing Legends has run. “Each year, we work with the ACO to pick a different period of Le Mans history for the support race,” says Duncan Wiltshire of Motor Racing Legends, “and on the two previous occasions when we’ve run Group C cars, there has been an overwhelming reaction from Le Mans fans. The Group C era was truly a golden one for the sport and it still engenders massive emotion from the crowds. We’re often told by fans who came primarily to see the modern 24 Hours that the historic support race was a real highlight of the weekend.”

The 45-minute Group C/GTP support race at the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours will be on the morning of Saturday 12^th June, a few hours before the start of the world-famous modern endurance race. Final details and entry forms will soon be available from Group C/GTP Racing.

For further information see www.motorracinglegends.com or www.groupcracing.com.

If you want to be part of this (and you have a decent sized bank-account), then why not pop into JD Classics in Essex because they have the No.21 Jaguar XJR9 LM (seen in the picture above) for sale. Price On Application. www.jdclassics.co.uk

Porsche return to LMP1 in 2011?

Porsche held its ‘Night of Champions’ last night at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Dirk Werner was awarded the Porsche Cup for the most successful driver of privately-entered race cars and Porsche confirmed its plans for 2010 and possibly beyond.

Porsche AG’s CEO Michael Macht, who took over from Wendelin Wiedeking back in July, also made it clear that Porsche will remain committed to motorsport and even mentioned a possible return to Le Mans in the near future. “Motorsport is a central element of our company’s DNA. And it will hold an important role in the future. I’m not the only one at Porsche to be tempted to race for overall victory again at the Le Mans 24 hour race.”

Despite not confirming a prototype project or a date the fact that Macht used these exact words makes it quite clear that a project is in the making. In recent years comments like this would not have been made. With new regulations in place for 2011 it could well mean that Porsche will take over from Audi at Le Mans – or could we be lucky enough to see Porsche and Audi? Certainly the lure of a global world championship will be very attractive for some of the manufacturers… Possible factory players for 2011 24 Heures du Mans:

• Aston Martin Racing
• Audi Sport Team Joest
• BMW Motorsport
• Honda Performance Development
• Peugeot Sport
• Porsche Motorsport
• Toyota Motorsport

We could well be entering a golden era of Sportscar racing. Party like it’s 1999…