Playstation R8 ?

[Werner]

gt-eins, a german sportscar website reports today that there is confirmation now for an ORECA-runned Audi R8 with an all-french driver line-up. Any ideas who will run the other Audis? Goh? Champion?

[Gilles]

gt-eins, a german sportscar website reports today that there is confirmation now for an ORECA-runned Audi R8 with an all-french driver line-up. Any ideas who will run the other Audis? Goh? Champion?

For the moment, and probably definitely no Goh Audis, but still Champion R8

[Nordic]

The French press are reporting that the Oreca effort will be a 2 car team of R8's at Le Mans, sponsored by Orange and 1 of the Drivers may be Alain Prost!!

Prost is yet to confrim but if its true then the crowd will be huge.

The good news of the orange sponsor is the playstation could still be on Uncle Henri's cars.

[Fax]

Champion are campaigning two R8's in the ALMS this year but haven't yet heard if they are planning on taking one or both cars to the Sarthe.
John

[Gilles]

The French press are reporting that the Oreca effort will be a 2 car team of R8's at Le Mans, sponsored by Orange and 1 of the Drivers may be Alain Prost!!

Prost is yet to confrim but if its true then the crowd will be huge.

The good news of the orange sponsor is the playstation could still be on Uncle Henri's cars.

These news were denied today by Prost himself. He still refuses to drive at LM finding the race too dangerous.

[Andy Zarse]

The French press are reporting that the Oreca effort will be a 2 car team of R8's at Le Mans, sponsored by Orange and 1 of the Drivers may be Alain Prost!!

Prost is yet to confrim but if its true then the crowd will be huge.

The good news of the orange sponsor is the playstation could still be on Uncle Henri's cars.

These news were denied today by Prost himself. He still refuses to drive at LM finding the race too dangerous.

The big wet blanket.

[BigH]

The big wet blanket

Now I don't know a hell of a lot about F1, and even less about Pele's antics in the bathroom with the loofa, but wasn't Prost racing  in the days when it was still possible to blend yourself with the Armco, tyre barriers and other competitors. As experienced by Martin Donnelly in a Lotus.
LM doesn't particularly strike me as being a dangerous track, not these days anyway. I know Jochen Maas was never a fan, but he still raced there. I could be wrong, but I don't think that there has been more serious incidents there than any other circuit, hour for hour or even race for race. In fact I'm struggling to think of many in the last 20 years, apart from Win. It'd be interesting to hear what Colin Macrae, Kenny Brack or Alex Zanardi thinks...
I always thought Le Profs driving style would suit LM, shame he won't be coming to the party.
I reckon 'big wet blanket' is giving him the benefit of the doubt. The great huge wringing tarpaulin.
H

[BigH]

Actually, on second thoughts, can I change my mind?

Le Mans is a very dangerous place indeed. Thousands and thousands of Brits (along with our Transatlantic friends) turn up there every year, most of them in a reasonable state of health. And every year, without fail, they all return a few days later in a hell of a mess.
It's statistics, you can't argue with them.
H

[Fax]

I could see the Prost-ORECA connection.  The ORECA team principal, Hughes De Chaunac (spelling?) is a longtime friend and supporter of Alain's.  But I can also see Alain being somewhat skeptical of the safety at LM.  He saw and was part of some pretty awful things during his F1 days (it was off the back of his Renault that Didier Pironi went cartwheeling to the end of his career at Hockenheim)
and there has always been a stigma, founded or not, among the F1 elite that the Sarthe, is still a dangerous place.  Guys like Jochen Mass, Klaus Ludwig and JL Schlesser all used to hate Le Mans but still drove their guts out when strapped into the cockpit.
John

[Chris24]

Big H,

I think that young French kid, who crashed the WR there a few years back, might like to argue with you about the place being dangerous. Oh, sorry, I forgot, he can't argue with you because he is dead !

[Andy Zarse]

Chris

I could be wrong but I seem to recall the poor guy was T-boned off the start line. So guess it could have happened anywhere and does not necessarily make LM a dangerous track.

[BigH]

Blimey Chris,
I don't remember this! Was it in the main race?
I remember a Pug saloon car driver being fatally injured after being t-boned at the start of one of the support races, but this was on the pit straight immediately after the start flag, so it would be difficult to blame the circuit.
H

[Andy Zarse]

H, I saw Donnelly at Brands in 1989 racing for Jordan in F3000. His team mate was Jean Alesi and Donnelly blew him into the weeds. I thought he had a great future ahead of him.

The Lotus crash was a terrible incident. If you look at the photos he looks like a twisted piece of dog's dinner lying amongst the multicoloured wreckage of a stunt plane that had seemingly just crashed onto his head. Quite the worst thing I've ever seen, I think he had more broken bones than straight ones. How he came out alive remains a mystery. So it was great to see the guy make a comeback, I recall they did a TV documentary on him. He's now into team management and not surprisingly still walks with a limp.

[Fax]

Guys,
It happened over the test weekend back in 98 or 99 I think.  The rear bodywork came off the car approaching the Porsche Curves and the car got airbourne over the armco and into the trees.  I can't recall off hand the young guys name but he was a promising French F3 driver.
Fax

[Fax]

His name was Sebastian Enjolras and it happened in during the pre-qual weekend in '97
John