Back in June this year, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Automobile Club
de l'Ouest announced that they would find a way to link the various Le
Mans series that run in Europe, Asia and America. Today, December 8th,
they confirmed their intentions in a press release with the "Le Mans
Intercontinental Cup."
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2009 Le Mans winners from Team Peugeot - Alexander Wurz, David Brabham, Marc Gene. Photo by Eric Gilbert.
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The special "Cup" will be awarded at the end of 2010 to the top team in
the LM P1 class, the fastest of the classes that take on the Le Mans
challenge. Teams will have the opportunity to win the award based on the
three continents that they may campaign on. Three races were selected by
the ACO covering one race in each series: Le Mans European Series, Le
Mans Asian Series and American Le Mans Series.
In effect, it is a triple crown setup, with the first of the three
races at the Silverstone Circuit in Northampton, England. Silverstone
is looking to make changes to their famous circuit, based on the fact
that they recently secured the Formula One British Grand Prix for the
next 17 years, pending FIA homologation. The MotoGP series will also run
at the venue in June and the new layout is planned to be ready prior to
MotoGP's inaugural race.
"There is an awful lot going on," said Silverstone managing director
Richard Phillips. "I would love to run the Arena circuit (for F1 in
2010) because I think it will be incredible. It is keeping the best of
the original circuit, but it is much safer because of the changes we are
making for the bikes."
However the original layout at Silverstone will still be in place, so
which of the two layouts that could be used for the LMS is not yet
known.
There was no surprise that the American event, will be the Petit Le
Mans, which is held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. Not only is
it the season finale for the ALMS, but it is also one of the two the
crown jewels of the series. The event was first held in 1998, opening
the door for the formation of the series in 1999. Obviously the Twelve
Hours of Sebring is the other crown jewel for the American sportscar
series.
"We share and wholeheartedly support the ACO's vision for the expansion
of a global sports car racing championship," said Scott Atherton,
President and CEO of the American Le Mans Series. "It is extremely
appropriate to have Petit Le Mans - our signature event - as part of
the inaugural Intercontinental Cup for 2010. During the past decade,
Petit Le Mans has become a truly world-class, blue-ribbon event on the
endurance calendar. This announcement will only add to the spectacle and
pageantry that has come to define Petit Le Mans."
The final of the three events will be in November in Asia at a yet to be
named location.
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2009 Petit Le Mans, two Audi Sport Team Joest R15 TDIs battle for the lead. Photo by Eric Gilbert.
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Per the ACO press release: "The "2010 Le Mans Intercontinental Cup"
prefigures the creation of a world trophy for the 2011 season, which
will be run in compliance with the new ACO regulations: it will consist
of 6 races minimum. A more detailed presentation of the world trophy
will be made before the end of March 2010."
The team or manufacturer (competitor) for the new challenge will need to
confirm their entry by February 28, 2010. They must compete at all three
locations and they must also enter and race at five other events, excluding
the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the trio of series named. However that will not
include the Asian series if they end up with, again, only one race which
will force the Asian series teams to select five events on the European LMS
or the ALMS 2010 calendar.
It did not take long of Audi Motorsport to announce their entry for the "Le
Mans Intercontinental Cup". The German marquee will field three R15 TDIs
under the Audi Sport Team Joest banner for the main Le Mans 24 hour event.
Besides their annual trek to Le Mans, France for the June classic, they will
compete at Spa in the LMS for their main dress rehearsal for the 24 hour
event.
"In 2001, at Le Mans, we used a TFSI engine for the first time
that has since become standard in production vehicles," said Dr.
Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Motorsport. "In 2006, we were the first
automobile manufacturer in history to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with
a diesel-powered vehicle. And in the future we will use our LMP1 cars
to test pioneering technologies and to underscore our 'Vorsprung durch
Technik' claim also on the race track.
"Therefore, we welcome greatly the fact that the Automobile Club de
l'Ouest (ACO) has announced the first international racing series for
LMP1 vehicles. We are convinced that this motorsport category, which
is particularly attractive from the perspective of technology, has
prospects for a great future and fits our times well."
