Club Arnage

Announced today at the Autosport Show in Birmingham: Charouz Racing will take advantage of the new rule, that a GT1-engine can be placed in a prototype - they'll put a 6 litre / 12 cyl. AM engine in a brand new Lola B80/60 chassis and race it in the LMS and have applied for an entry at the 24 hours as well. Drivers will be Stefan Mücke, Tomas Enge and Jan Charouz.
There seems to be serious support from ProDrive/Aston Martin: AM has contracted all 3 drivers and will place them in the Lola and they will also support with engineers. Sounds almost like a semi-factory car!

Lets hope they get an entry for the "big one"....

Good, 'cos they seem a talented bunch to me and real enthusiasts.  Cheers, Werner.

So is this going to be entered as an LMP1 or 2?

As the regs say the production engine is allowed in either.

Does this also mean the engine will benefit from the increase in restrictor size for petrol cars?

Answer my own question if I think about it.......

6L means LMP1.........

So how will this Lola AM do against the Audi and Pug?

A few more words from Project Le Mans.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.projectlemans.de&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools


And a closed car......I do hope it is on the pace.

Good news, good news.

More details on planetlemans: http://www.planetlemans.co.uk/cmsv2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3510&Itemid=2

(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc170/ajwCA/Lola_B08_60.jpg)

Shades of the '67 Lola T70 raced by J Surtees amongst others, which also had an Aston engine, did it not?

Lets hope it goes a bit, no, alot better than the Aston powered T70 which were dumped in favor of chevys very quickly.

Not sure how a single car team will go in the 24 hours, but the shorter races it should be a contender.

Aston could have pulled of a bit of a coup, by taking advantage of the rules the big V12 will have a power advantage over the other petrol cars.

Reminds me of the TWR jag. Large displacement V12 production based engine.

BMW did the same with the V12 in the LMR as well I think.

Great, a V12 petrol! 8) Nothing beats the sound of a screaming V12, especially not the diesels.

You heard it here first!

Unfortunately, my arithmetic wasn't too clever, the Salvadori/Shelby DBR1 won in 1959, which is only 49 years ago.  Does this mean that the Charouz Lola is just a toe in the water for 2009?

From what I have been told, very much so! 2009 will be the year.

lovely car :D

There are also rumours of a 2nd team running the Aston engine later this year.

The Lola Audi is also now back from being held by the courts and will race again this year, expect stronger support for the team from Audi and the team running it should also be much better,

this is fantastic news! That car is stunning. I hope they will be able to give the diesels a run for their money.

Are you going to be here to see it, Goodduck?

not sure about my summer plans yet. It would be awesome. this year sounds like its going to be an exiting one and maybe it wouldn't rain as much.  :laugh:
Planet Lemans says it will compete in ALMS so can we expect to see this in two months at Sebring?

Fingers crossed.... that looks soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. Roll on June!!!!!!

The rumour mill is in overdrive now. Aston Martins 2009 LMP1 Car is being designed by non other than Gordon Murray and will be blue and orange.

2008 is nothing more than a proving season for the V12 and team. The V12 will also be available to other teams. Top of the list is a current Brit P2 team with long term Lola and Aston connections.

Thanks Nordic, thanks brightened up a dull wet day no end.  Time for a celebratory bottle of Leffe.

I think the rule introducing "lids" again, will make for some really handsome beasts appearing over the next couple of years.  Cannot wait, myself, to see the new Oreca Courage - due very soon. :P