Pescarolo Peugeot 908 HDI should be quick
Le Mans is dominated by big-name, big-budget manufacturers looking for the brand kudos that winning one of the world's most famous motor races brings. This year is no different, with the works efforts of Audi, Peugeot and Aston looking like the favourites to bag outright victory.
The factory teams won't have it easy though, because the same three Frenchman whose Le Mans entries have consistently snapped at the heels of the big boys for so many years - and occasionally swiped top honours - will once again be present at the Circuit de La Sarthe: Henri Pescarolo, Hugues de Chaunac and Yves Courage.
Judd V10-engined Pescarolo is tried and tested
During the eighties, nineties and noughties, Hugues de Chaunac's ORECA team, Yves Courage's Courage Competition outfit, and the Pescarolo Sport organisation of Henri Pescarolo helped keep the likes of Porsche, BMW, Audi, Mazda, Bentley and Peugeot thoroughly honest.
This year's strongest independent home-team challenge (the works Peugeot effort doesn't count as it isn't a plucky underdog) will come from the Pescarolo Sport outfit.
Pescarolo's recent form with their Judd V10-engined chassis has been strong, with a plucky third place for the team in 2007 behind an Audi and a Peugeot, and a best-of-the-petrol-powered cars finish of seventh overall last year.
This year, however, the Pescarolo boys have got their hands on one of last year's super-quick Peugeot 908s - the first to fall into the hands of a privately entered team. Even though it doesn't have the redesigned front end of the latest 908s, with a driver line-up that includes former F1 driver Jean-Christophe Boullion, the Pescarolo Peugeot will be quick and could be angling for a top three finish, should the works Audi and Peugeot teams run into problems.
The ORECA-01 is an all-new design
The major fly in the ointment for Pescarolo will most likely be the pair of Audi R10 TDIs run by Audi DTM team Kolles, which might not be as quick as the Pescarolo Pug but are likely to be a touch more economical.
Yves Courage sold his team and factory to ORECA in 2007, so Courage Competition as a separate entity won't really feature at La Sarthe this year. But Courage-designed monocoque from last year's Courage-Oreca entry remains in the ORECA-01, which is otherwise an all-new car for 2009.
On the way to 4th place at the Spa 1000km
"We haven't made any compromises and we've redesigned everything," says David Floury, ORECA's technical director. "We've mad a big leap forward, especially with the dampers, developed with PKM. We have also changed the wheel hubs, the suspension uprights and the wheel rims, with various objectives: reliability, performance, especially in the tighter turns, gaining time in pit stops, and minimising weight."
The V10 AIM-engined ORECA-01 could well be fast, and it's hard to argue with a driver line-up that includes rapid young hands like Bruno Senna and experienced campaigners like Olivier Panis, but the car is so new that a question mark hangs over its reliability and stamina.
The Courage name lives on in the Signature Plus team's Courage-Oreca LC70 LMP1 challenger, but that car is unlikely to trouble the top runners.
Whatever the final result at Le Mans this Sunday, whether Peugeot, Audi (or maybe even Aston - fingers crossed) are ultimately victorious, you can be sure that the local boys will have given them a good run for their money.
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