l'endurance Le Mans 2011 Issue

 It seems like a lot of today's publications are going the online only route these days and l'endurance is a great online magazine for sports car racing fans. The Le Mans issue features crisp, clear photography and all the coverage of the French classic you could possibly ask for.

Video: Audi at Le Mans

 Take a cinematic look back at Audi's victory at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans. Enjoy.

l'endurance Le Mans Guide, 2011

 Check out this very cool virtual magazine from l'endurance. Read about every car in every class and examine their chances for an overall victory. (Click on the guide to read)

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Le Mans 2011: GTE Pro Preview

The GT Battle will be fierce at Le Mans (Photo: John Dagys)

While the Audi vs Peugeot LMP1 battle at Le Mans this year will most likely steal the majority of the headlines, GTE, formerly GT2, could provide the best on track racing. With many of the world's best teams, drivers and seven different marques taking the grid this year, the field looks especially deep.With GT1 cars running the Le Mans for the final time last year, GTE takes over as the sole GT category, but the class has been split into two categories; GTE Pro for all pro driver lineups and new cars and GTE AM which features pro-am driver pairings and machinery that must be at least one year old.In our preview, we will focus on the GTE Pro.

2011 24 Hours of Le Mans Spotter's Guide

Thanks to Andy Blackmore for allowing us to feature his wonderful spotter's guides on our site. The two part guide features every car and lists every driver taking part in this year's French classic. Click on the images for a full-resolution download.

Video: A Day in the Life of an Audi Driver

 Very cool commercial by Audi ahead of this year's running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Preview: Audi vs Peugeot 2011

Sebring left many questions unanswered (Photo: John Dagys)

   Every sport needs a good, hard-fought rivalry to fuel the passion and emotions of competitors and fans alike. Baseball has the long lasting feud between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, soccer has Manchester United vs Liverpool and college football has the heated Ohio State and Michigan game. Motor racing has seen its fair share of rivalries, just as fierce as the ones mentioned above. Ferrari vs Porsche in sports cars and Ferrari vs McLaren in Formula One are two famous battles that spring to mind, but recently Audi vs Peugeot at Le Mans has been the one to watch.

News: Audi R18 unveiled

Nervous Peugeout? (Photo: Audi Motorsport)

    Audi has unveiled their replacement to the Audi R15+, with their latest Le Mans Prototype, the R18 and for the first time since the Audi R8C, in 1999, Audi will race a closed cockpit LMP.

    The R18 will be powered by a 3.7-liter V6 TDI with a possible hybrid system integrated into the power plant for 2012. The V6 engine has been worked on since early summer, with the car completing its first shake down at the end of November with Scottish ace, Allan McNish behind the wheel.

News: Toyota to Le Mans

Photo: John Dagys

    

     Toyota and Rebellion Racing have announced a partnership that will bring the Japanese auto manufacturer back to Le Mans. Toyota will supply engines to power Rebellion's two LMP1 Lola coupes for the 2011 LMS season and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
     The team has conducted successful test runs at Snetterton, Portimao and Monteblanco and all parties involved are thrilled with the new partnership.
    Rebellion has announced the drivers for its 2011 campaign will be Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost in one car and Andrea Belicchi and Jean-Christophe Boullion piloting the sister car.

Alexandre Pesci, Rebellion Racing Team Principal: "This agreement is the cornerstone of REBELLION's challenge for the forthcoming season. Toyota is an impressive and remarkable industrial giant, we are proud to have been selected by Toyota Motorsport as their partner in this project. It means a lot for our team to have secured their support in our efforts to target the victory."

Bart Hayden, Rebellion Racing Team Manager: "We are delighted to become a partner of Toyota Motorsport and are excited about working alongside a company with a Formula One background and a rich history at Le Mans. We look forward to establishing a strong and long term relationship with them."

Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Toyota Motorsport President: "Toyota Motorsport has recent experience of engine supply partnerships from our Formula One days so we are drawing on that to deliver a reliable and competitive engine. We are looking forward to working with REBELLION Racing on this exciting project and it was very pleasing to see this engine running in a car for the first time, particularly because the performance, as well as the reliability, was very encouraging."

Martin Birrane, Executive Chairman of Lola Group: "Lola is delighted to be the 2011 LMP constructor of choice for Toyota Motorsport and REBELLION Racing. Supporting our customers at the very highest level has always been and will continue to be very important to Lola. We once again look forward to taking the challenge to the factory works teams next year."

Quotes courtesy of Rebellion Racing's Press release

Video: Racing in Slow Motion

 Words would be an injustice to this video, so this is where they'll end. Enjoy.

News: 2011 ILMC Schedule Released

2011 will hopefully bring more head to head races between Audi and Peugeot (Photo: John Dagys)

   The Automobile Club d l’Ouest has released the final schedule for the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Fans of the American Le Mans Series will be relieved to see that Petit Le Mans has indeed been included in the cup, after some speculation that the popular race at Road Atlanta would be left off the calendar.
  The cup starts on American soil with the first event being the 12 Hours of Sebring, followed by a six hour enduro at the famous Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the third event and is the first time in many years that the French classic is now a points paying race.The year is rounded out with events at Imola, Silverstone, Road Atlanta and a yet to be determined venue in China.

2011 ILMC Schedule

March 19 - Twelve Hours of Sebring (ALMS)
May 8 - Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours (LMS)
June 11-12 - Le Mans 24 Hours (Double Points)
July 3 - Imola 6 Hours (LMS)
Sept. 11 - Silverstone 6 Hours (LMS)
Oct. 1 - Petit Le Mans (ALMS)
Nov. 12 - China 6 Hour (Circuit TBA)

News: BMW Unveils New Art Car

BMW unveiled their newest Art Car yesterday with artist, Jeff Koons having the honor of giving the M3 GT2 a significant visual overhaul. There has been a great deal of anticipation for this car, with the likes of Andy Warhol and Frank Stella working on previous cars, but Koons has produced a worthy addition to the collection. Koons aimed to capture the power and energy of the car with bright, exploding colors and the result is quite eye-catching.

Read the full press release here

  

Race Preview: Long Beach

    The American Le Mans Series returns to action this Saturday at Long Beach with a strong entry of 36 cars. Long Beach also marks the first event with combined LMP classes.After much speculation and anticipation, IMSA released the new regulations to balance the LMP1 and LMP2 machines.

Video: Perfect Storm for Corvette

Here is part 2 of a very cool video series Corvette is posting, documenting their quest for the 2010 GT championship