Better Numbers Than Anyone Imagined?
Well yes! and certainly the variety is excellent with none of the six teams (four of them two car efforts), opting to field the same combination of chassis and engine.
Senior WEC and ACO sources were talking late last year of the prospect of “Eight, maybe even nine” LMP1s – Now the race is on to make the cars reliable, and fast!
Could Aero Be The Key?
Whilst the Toyotas have budget, maturity of concept, and efficiency on their side the non-hybrid cars have a potentially valuable trick up their sleeves.
The factory TS050s have a fixed homologation for the season – The privateers do not have that restriction.
They can re-homologate multiple times, leaving the option open for LM24-only body kits. Looking back at the numbers produced by LMP2 cars at Le Mans last year the increased power, and the better aero compared to their P2 cousins could see the privateers as a real factor if reliability emerges, and the aero is as good as it should be!
Drivers
With the headline act clearly Fernando Alonso at Toyota, alongside their already impressive existing driver line-up the gathering drivers corps for the class looks set to be impressive.
Toyotas sextet include no fewer than four ex F1 drivers, including, of course a double World Champion and amongst them too a Formula E Champion (Buemi). Beyond that there is multiple WTCC Champion Pechito Lopez and, recently confirmed with a multi-year contract with the team, GP2 and IndyCar race winner Mike Conway.
Elsewhere Rebellion field two Le Mans winners and WEC World Champions (Messrs Jani and Lotterer), ex F1 driver and reigning WEC LMP2 Champion Bruno Senna, 2016 WEC LMP2 Champion and 2016 WEC LMP2 and Le Mans 24 Hours Champion Gustavo Mezes and WEC Rookie of the Year and reigning Asian Le Mans Champion Thomas Laurent.
SMP Racing have already named ex F1 man Vitaly Petrov and IndyCar podium finisher Mikhail Aleshin, TRSM have Formulae renault 3.5 Champion and Formula 2 race winner Oliver Rowland and 2015 European LMP3 Champ Charlie Robertson with Dragonspeed fielding ex GP2 racer Ben Hanley and IMSA race winner, class Champion and 2018 Rolex 24 Hours pole setter Renger van der Zande.
And there are 10 further names to emerge!
Teams
The Rebellion Racing Team has multiple WEC Championship titles to their name – they have won a Championship in every season of the WEC thus far!
SMP Racing too have Championship winning form with titles in the ELMS and LMP2 and GTE AM titles in the FIA WEC.
TRSM come to LMP1 with LMP2 form and, of course have F1 heritage too.
And Dragonspeed arrive in LMP1 on the back of the 2017 ELMS LMP2 title.
Who Isn’t There?
The Perrin LMP1 car, announced with a customer last year, did not emerge as a reality after ART Racing Services, owned by Romanian-based Dutchman Frank van Nunen, opted not to progress with the programme last summer.
He instead pursued other options and confirmed to DSC late last year that he was the un-named customer for the Ginetta LMP1, the plan was to run a two car team with AER engines, but the required finance was not forthcoming in time for the 2018/19 season.
Amongst others known to to have evaluated, but opted not to progress, LMP1 programmes were Signatech Alpine and Jackie Chan DC Racing together with other major European and US racing concerns and some still live projects in Asia.
Do the cars exist?
For the most part yes.
Toyota are testing their 2018 spec TS 050, The first SMP Racing BR1 has been testing since late 2017, the second car is either complete, or very close.
Dragonspeed’s solo BR1 is due for delivery in the coming weeks, the new Gibson engine will be available before the WEC Prologue, Dragonspeed were the launch customer and should receive the first customer engine for testing.
The first Ginetta has been testing in recent weeks with the second cars build well underway.
ByKolles’ reworked CLM has been testing too since late 2017.
The ORECA-designed and built Rebellion R13 has been promised to the team in time for the WEC Prologue but with tight deadlines.
