The official 2011 Le Mans Series calendar is finally available! After a high standard 2010 season, with a large panel of manufacturers and private teams, 2011 puts the accent on novelties! No less than five meetings across Europe will be on this season’s programme, with one new circuit in Italy: Imola. The race format goes from 1000Km to 6 Hours with the aim of having a better visibility of the races and improving their broadcasting. The main evolution in 2011, concerns the categories with the disappearing of GT1 and the appearing of LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am (formerly LM GT2).

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The 2010 season is now over and the winners will party tonight to celebrate their titles. In the end, Team ORECA Matmut and Peugeot, as a car-manufacturer, came away with everything, and Audi with nothing. Stéphane Sarrazin started the 1,000Km of Silverstone as title favorite and duly ended it as champion for the second time.Nicolas Minassian and Anthony Davidson snatched a strong overall victory while Strakka Racing took a brilliant victory in the LMP2 class. Jody Firth and Warren Hughes brought a third trophy home this weekend thanks to FLM, and AF Corse Ferrari secured their second win of the season.Despite a few rain drops, the track has remained dry the whole race and no safety-car period disturbed the course of the race.

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Several drivers and teams came head-to-head in four classes in Le Mans Series title decider at Silverstone, but also first round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, and it is still impossible to predict who will triumph, even if today’s sunny qualifying session gave the polesitters a leg up.Audi Sport Team Joest’s Allan McNish retained the honor of setting the fastest lap time of the Autosport 1,000Km of Silverstone qualifying session, despite some strong competition from Timo Bernhard in thSaturday was a day of surprises in Great-Britain – no Peugeot prototype on the front row, no genuine threat to polesitters Audis, and JMW Motorsport eclipsing the Porsches and the Ferraris in the LMGT2 class. Who are the genuine contenders for victory on Sunday afternoon? May the best teams and drivers win!

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Four races so far in 2010 and four different overall winners! If the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP scored two victories, courtesy of the official team at Spa and Team ORECA Matmut in Portugal, Lola-Rebellion leads the LMP1 “Manufacturers” standings of the 2010 Le Mans Series. With 47 cars on the entry list at Silverstone, the battle is not over yet, except in the LMGT1 class!The legendary British track that has hosted the Le Mans Series finale for a few years now and is the home track for Strakka Racing. The LMP2 team snatched an unexpected overall victory in Hungary after Danny Watts chalked up the best overall time in the morning qualifying session. The Briton is glad to race on a track that he knows like the back of his hand.

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The twists and turns of the Hungaroring test cars and drivers to the absolute limit. With a high level of downforce, exceptionally low grip and high track temperatures, the 1,000Km of Hungaroring have been very demanding on drivers, teams and cars.Nobody could hold a candle to Strakka Racing’s Danny Watts on Sunday morning’s qualifying in Hungary, and the British team’s overall victory made history with the very first overall victory for a LMP2 car in the Le Mans Series.

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The 1000Km of the Hungaroring have offered a major development in the starting grid. Suspected after the free practices to be the most efficient cars on this layout, the les LMP2 have opened a new chapter in the Le Mans Series history with their first pole position.

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The Le Mans Series heads to Hungary for the very first time so the 1,000Km of Hungaroring is a leap in the dark for most of teams and drivers. Team ORECA Matmut took their first victory with the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP one month ago in Portugal and expects to clinch another one in the heat of the night at Budapest.

The Hungaroring lies just east of Budapest and the Castle District of Pest has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The layout has not been too much modified over the years and the latest changes see the longest lap in the circuit’s history with a total distance of 4.384 km.

With its slow corners and its narrow straights, many say its characteristics more closely resemble a street circuit than a purpose-built track. However, its beautiful setting in a natural amphitheatre makes it an excellent venue for spectators. They should enjoy a race that Team ORECA Matmut ex-Formula One driver Olivier Panis predicts tough.

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After the « break » which traditionally separates the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the second half of the Le Mans Series season, our competitors are ready for Portugal and the 1000 Kms of Algarve.

On 16 and 17 July, they will all be present for this race held partly at night as the start will be given at 5 pm on Saturday for an arrival around 11 pm

Last year at the first edition of this Iberian race, Pescarolo Sport was under the spotlights of a lovely nocturnal podium! This year will Signature Plus, Oreca-Matmut or Rebellion Racing win this category? And in the other categories, who will shine in front of the Portuguese public? The answer in less than two weeks!

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Sunday’s Belgian race produced one of the most nail-biting races in several seasons to date, mostly because of changing weather conditions, but also because of the tough fight between Audi and Peugeot factory teams.

The pressure on Team Peugeot Total was massive going into the Spa weekend, and the team delivered in a style that suggests they still are highly competitive with a 1-2 victory.

The Team Peugeot Total trio of Pedro Lamy, Sébastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud scored an outright win in the second round of the 2010 Le Mans Series, taking the team’s 908 HDi FAP from pole to checkered flag victory, for the great pleasure of 38,000 race-fans.

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Sportscars racing is a new challenge for ex-Formula One drivers Jean Alesi and Giancarlo Fisichella as the Italian driver explained: “It is not easy to share the cars with two other drivers. We only ran ten laps each in both practice sessions so it is not easy to find the limits of the car.”

Last year the driver from Rome was on pole for the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix, but this year, “it is not really important to be on pole – it is more important to finish the race,” Giancarlo said. “The race will be tough because the weather is always unpredictable here at Spa. Of course, it would be better for everyone that the track stays dry, but this morning I was the quickest on a wet track so rain would not be a problem.”

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From Friday onwards, for the second round of the 2010 Le Mans Series season, just in LMP1 there will be four Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs, three Audi R15s and three Lola chassis (the Signature Plus Lola Aston Martin and the two Coupé Rebellion Lola B10/60s from the team of the same name)! Exciting duels are awaited in every category and the level of competition will be higher than ever on the extremely technical Spa Francorchamps circuit, much appreciated by the drivers.

Drivers are all here: Jean Alesi, Sebastien Bourdais, Dindo Capello, Giancarlo Fisichella, Allan McNish, Nicolas Minassian, Olivier Panis, Stéphane Sarrazin and so many other that we cannot mention all of them!

To be noted: the absence of the Mansell family and their Beechdean Mansell Ginetta-Zytek 09S; because of technical incidents, the team prefers not to participate in this race.

Download the 1000 Km of Spa Francorchamps entry list and let yourself be guided by Belgian Vanina Ickx who describes in our official press release the details of this circuit that she knows by heart.

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Tomorrow, on Tuesday 27 April, city inhabitants and tourists will attend an historical event on Brussels Grand Place!

For the very first time, five of the major cars entered in the 1000 Km of Spa (7/8/9 May) will be exhibited on this mythical place.

With the complicity of the Brussels Community and police, trucks will deliver the cars on the pavement in front of the Maison des Maïtres Chocolatiers from 9.00 am on.

The Audi R15 TDi and Allan McNish, who recently won the 8 Hours of Le Castellet will be there, as well as the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP (winning car of the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans ), and the wonderful Lola Aston-Martin prototype driven by Vanina Ickx (her famous father should be present too). Bas Leinders‘ Ford GT1 Marc VDS and Prospeed’s Porsche 911 RSR GT3 (FIA GT2 Champion) will also be exhibited inside this most legendary Parc Fermé until 1.00 pm.

Of course, access is free. Hundreds of photographers will have the occasion to immortalize not only one of the most beautiful city halls, but also mythical cars!

Last minute information: if you can’t join us in Brussels, follow us thanks to webcams displayed on the Grand Place (on Google, write Webcam Grand Place and direct the webcams by yourself).

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What did we learn from the 8 Hours of Le Castellet? 2010 has all the hallmarks thus far of a brilliant season, with Audi battling it out with reigning champion Aston Martin Racing, and ORECA-Matmut moving forward to challenge both of them with the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP.

The first victory from Audi with the R15 Plus, a very successful debut of the ARX-01 in Europe, a practice session for Larbre Compétition in GT1 and a brilliant race from Porsche finishing in a GT2 victory.

The intensive off-season development work has obviously paid off for the bulk of the teams, as very few teams retired. The race has been very exciting till the end on the 5.791 km legendary track.

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Near 14,000 spectators came to visit the Le Mans Series meeting, since Friday to finally support the Audi R15 Plus making its very firsts competition debuts.

Aston Martin Racing ranks second with its Aston Martin Lola 009; while Jean-Christophe Boullion revives victory thanks to the Rebellion Racing team’s Lola B01/60 Coupe Rebellion. In LMP2, until the last minute, victory was uncertain after a race essentially leaded by the OAK Racing team. In GT2, the local hero and former F1 driver Jean Alesi, in association with Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander, is on the podium as his first race in Le Mans Series!

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Peugeot works driver, Stéphane Sarrazin, will drive the Team ORECA-Matmut Peugeot 908 HDi FAP in the Castellet 8 Hours.

The technical team and the other drivers will be able to benefit from his experience for their first round of the 2010 Le Mans Series Championship.

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