LE MANS 24 HOURS: TEAM INFO GUIDE by Wolf Feather/Jamie Stafford FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM Initial Version Completed: October 6, 2002 FINAL VERSION Completed: October 15, 2002 ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== CONTENTS Spacing and Length Permissions Introduction Team Information Contact ==================================== SPACING AND LENGTH For optimum readability, this driving guide should be viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier. Check for appropriate font setting by making sure the numbers and letters below line up: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz This guide is more than 45 pages long in the Macintosh version of Microsoft Word 98 using single-spaced Courier 12 font. ==================================== PERMISSIONS This guide may ONLY be posted on FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com, PSXCodez.com, F1Gamers, Cheatcc.com, Absolute- PlayStation.com, InsidePS2Games.com, RedCoupe, gamesover.com, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, GameReactors.com, cheatingplanet.com, vgstrategies.com, CheatHeaven, IGN, hellzgate, Games Domain, RobsGaming.com, ps2fantasy.com, and neoseeker.com. Permission is granted to download and print one copy of this game guide for personal use. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== INTRODUCTION This guide is designed to provide readers with information about the various racing teams included in Le Mans 24 Hours. As a major part of the unlocking strategy of the game, players must win or beat posted goal times in various game modes in order to unlock most cars in the game - thus, players cannot drive for most teams until the teams' car(s) are unlocked. While the information contained in this guide is not necessarily meant to assist with gameplay, it may be useful information to some readers. ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== TEAM INFORMATION This section will present each team alphabetically, the car(s) for each team, and some team information. In some cases, teams use multiple cars of the same model; these are differentiated by racing number in the game (but are not listed here. Audi Sport Team Joest Cars - Audi R8 Web Site - http://www.audi.com/com/en/experience/ motorsport/background/team_joest/team_joest.jsp Joest Racing was founded in 1978. Since , Reinhold Joest's team has won a large number of important titles and races - among them seven Le Mans 24 Hour triumphs in 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Since Audi races the R8, Joest Racing is preparing the cars. Based at Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, Audi Sport is responsible for the ongoing development of the Infineon Audi R8, Joest Racing in Germany's region "Odenwald" for the racing. Both partners contribute knowledge and their experience in all areas. "We can only be strong together", knows Team Director Reinhold Joest, who has already guided his team to seven Le Mans victories. Prior to that Joest had climbed the Le Mans podium also as a driver. When Audi looked for a suitable team to run the Le Mans 24 Hour race, Joest Racing was first choice. Right from the start, Joest was involved in the project of the Infineon Audi R8. The joint successes at Le Mans and at the races of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) are the product of perfect team work. Audi Sport UK Cars - Audi A8C Web Site - http://www.audi.com/com/en/experience/ motorsport/background/audi_sport/audi_sport.jsp Audi Sport can look back on a long-standing tradition in motorsport, with experience in almost every type of racing. No matter where the team from Ingolstadt has competed, it has been amongst the winners. Around 100 people are employed by Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Here, under the leadership of Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, the Infineon Audi R8 was also developed. Following Audi Sport tradition, everything is developed in-house: from chassis to the 610 hp V8 twin-turbo power units. Success at Audi Sport is not by chance, rather it is the result of immense experience - in cooperation with reliable partners. BMW Motorsport Cars - BMW V12 LMR Web Site - http://www.bmw-motorsport.com/session: ca6p8ku1w1/ms/en/index.html In 1954, BMW continued its motorsport activities with as much enthusiasm and success as ever. Alex Von Falkenhausen, BMW engine chief of the time and friend of German motorsport legend Hans Joachim Stuck still competes in races. Firstly with the BMW 507 V8 sportscar and more recently with the BMW 700. Soon afterwards, a whole armada of BMW 700s would be competing with great success in different motorsport categories. Even at the age of 60, Hans Stuck continued his career in the 700 and won the 1960 German hillclimb championship. Then the mid-range BMW was launched, first as the BMW 1500 and later as the 1800 and 2000. Von Falkenhausen had wanted to enter touring car racing for a long time, and this car was perfectly suited to his plans. At this point there was no separate motorsport department at BMW, so the racing engines were developed in the same department as the production engines. This allowed von Falkenhausen to personally push the development programme forward. The project proved to be another BMW motorsport success story. Hubert Hahne won he 1964 German Circuit Championship in a BMW 1800ti, while two years later Josef Schnitzer took his BMW 2000ti to the German Touring Car crown. "Our activities of those days were far away from the meticulously organised motorsport programme of today", explains former BMW racing engine director Paul Rosche. "In those days we carried out lots of experiments, working mainly using the principle of 'trial and error'. There was a motorsport budget at BMW, but we worked like real privateers." In between, engine designer Ludwig Apfelbeck is determined to construct a four-valve engine for BMW. Supported by Rosche he gained authorisation to design a 500cc single cylinder engine. "This engine already produced 57bhp," Rosche remembers. "This meant 114bhp per litre, while our 1800 didn't produce more than 90bhp per litre." Von Falkenhausen was convinced by the concept and instructed his engine specialists to build a two-litre version for hillclimbs and a 1.6-litre version for Formula 2. With the BMW Brabham BT 7, he set up several world records with the aid of a four-valve Apfelbeck engine. The BMW Monti sportscar was used for hillclimbs. In the following decades BMW was massively successful with normally aspirated two and four valve engines in touring car racing and Formula 2. At the same time, BMW was entering a new era - the turbo era. In 1968 Dieter Quester won the European Touring Car Championship in a BMW 2002, but the competition was getting stronger and stronger. In a bid to keep BMW at\ the top, Alex von Falkenhausen instructed his team of engine experts to build a turbocharged engine for the 1969 season. "We had never worked on turbo engines before," Paul Rosche recalls. "This was a brand new experience for us. So we took a turbocharger and installed it on one of our production engines." Three months, many experiments and many exploded engines later, the first turbocharged BMW touring car made its debut at Snetterton in England. This first race ended with an early retirement, but the turbo principle proved its worth during the course of the season and Quester duly delivered another European Touring Car title, this time in a BMW 2002 turbo. It would be 1978 before the BMW turbo concept could achieve more success. The German Racing Championship regulations were opened up to allow turbo engines, albeit restricted to 1.42 litres. Harald Ertl's BMW 320 Turbo still produced a massive 550bhp however, and took the championship in its very first year. It was this engine that made BMW first think about Formula 1. The normally-aspirated three litre Cosworth engines that dominated F1 at the time produced just 500bhp. In 1980 this idea became a serious project. A contract was signed with Brabham, the team supplied BMW with a test car and the development was intensified. "We were travelling week-by-week from one track to the next", Rosche says. "We had plenty of power right from the start. But the driveability and the reaction of the engine had to be improved." Again BMW would pioneer the use of new technology during the F1 test programme, using telemetry to improve motorsport performance for the first time. At this point electronic memory had not been created, so the reams of data were printed out on paper. Only when a clever electronic engineer developed the first electronic data store were mountains of paper made a thing of the past. Another innovation duly followed. Electronic engine management was designed to cure the engine of its bad habits and warn of impending problems. "A turbo engine being run on poor fuel, or with too much turbo pressure will soon start to struggle, and then it won't survive much longer," explains Rosche. The first analogue control unit was an instant improvement over the existing technology, but the real breakthrough came when electronics company Bosch supplied BMW with a digital unit in 1981. The turbocharged BMW F1 engine was finally ready to race at the start of 1982. There were still plenty of problems hampering the project however, and its future was put into question when reigning champion Nelson Piquet's Brabham BMW failed to qualify for the US Grand Prix in Detroit. At the next grand prix in Montreal, Brabham designer Gordon Murray wanted to abandon the turbo project. A compromise was found: Piquet would continue with the BMW turbo but his team-mate Riccardo Patrese would use the normally-aspirated Cosworth. But the BMW was plagued by a misfire throughout Friday and Saturday. Bernie Ecclestone, then the boss of Brabham, demanded that Piquet's car was also fitted with the Cosworth. BMW race director Dieter St appert reacted in uncompromising style, threatening to cancel the whole project if Ecclestone carried out his threat. Ecclestone gave in, but during the Sunday warm-up Piquet's engine continued to misfire. "So we checked the engine, changed the complete electronics, and won the race," recalls Rosche. "But we never really found out what had gone wrong before and why it worked during the race." At the end of the turbo era, there was a group at BMW that wanted to keep on racing in Formula 1. The group was headed by Paul Rosche and a member of the board, Dr Wolfgang Reitzle. The F1 department was reduced, but a group of 20 men called the 'E-90-Team' got the permission to design a V12 engine conforming to the new 3.5-litre regulations. Although it gave permission for the group to carry out the work, the board still did not show great interest, and the engine was used as a test-bed for new developments. The next major racing engine project was the BMW M3, which was to race in series such as the German Touring Car Championship (DTM). This project proved to be a huge success. The car won championships around the world and collected more than 50 titles. At the end of 1992 BMW developed the BMW 320i for the new class two Super Touring regulations. The car won 29 championship titles around the world. The 12-cylinder engine for the McLaren F1 sportscar was also developed under the supervision of Paul Rosche. This engine proved extraordinarily successful. It had such reliability that most of the McLaren F1 GTRs entered in the FIA GT Championship only needed a single engine change during a complete season. "At the beginning, we had planned to use our production V12 with a four valve head," said Rosche. "But during the course of the development it became a complete new engine, only the distance of the cylinders stayed the same. This engine wasn't supposed to be a race engine, that's why it had to stand tough reliability tests in the development phase. The power of the engine was heavily reduced by an air restrictor. Without the air restrictor, the engine would have produced some 800bhp for sure. But then it wouldn't have been able to survive so long." At the same time the Motorsport GmbH became the M GmbH, which did not do much with the motorsport activities of BMW. M GmbH was occupied with developing the sports production models of BMW. Then in 1995, a new motorsport company was founded - Motorsport Limited. Paul Rosche, then the managing director of the M GmbH, got the task of running the new company. Two years later, a new BMW Formula 1 project was launched. "This meant that I had to solve three different tasks at the same time," said Rosche. "The formation of Motorsport Ltd, the design of a new F1 engine and the employment of the new personnel that we needed." Rosche did almost all the interviews himself and nearly all the staff he employed were signed from other BMW departments. Only 20 of the new Motorsport Ltd employees were from outside the marque, and these newcomers all brought with them fresh F1 experience and knowledge. Rather than entering a full works team and designing both the car and engine in-house, BMW opted to become an engine partner with the WilliamsF1 team. The new engine first hit the track in 1999 and made its race debut at the start of 2000. The goal for the first year was simply to finish races and gather information. Despite these cautious objectives, the new BMW WilliamsF1 Team finished on the podium in its first race - one of the most successful debuts made by a manufacturer in grand prix history. By the end of the season, the team had clinched third place in the constructors' championship. Bonnet Didier Cars - Debora LMP2000-BMW Web Site - Unable to find information online Carsport Holland Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R Web Site - http://www.hezemans.nl/GT2001/NL/index.htm Unfortunately, this site is entirely in Dutch... a language I cannot read :-( Chamberlain Engineering Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R Web Site - http://www.chamberlain.cc/history.htm Hugh Chamberlain, a former policeman in the UK, spent six years working for the Radial motor component manufacturing company before forming Chamberlain Engineering in 1972. The company concentrated on repairing and servicing commercial engines and raced a Jaguar XK120 for fun. Later Hugh bought a Cooper-Jaguar, then a Mallock U2 Mk6, which he raced until 1982. As a result of the Clubman's racing, Chamberlain Engineering, as the team was known until 1999, initially began preparing racecars for young men in the UK like Will Hoy, Creighton Brown and Nick Adams each of whom went on to successful careers in motorsport. But Hugh found it increasingly difficult to both compete and run a race team and so concentrated his efforts on running the team. Since 1985 the team has competed in a number of endurance formulas, winning 2 World Championships, the C2 class Le Mans 24 hour race and nine National Championships. Since 1999, Jack Cunningham has been Chief Executive, and with the Team under new ownership and with a new management team in place Hugh Chamberlain subsequently left the company. The Team's management and technical expertise has been strengthened considerably with new appointments being made at all levels. The Team has prospered as a result, participating successfully in major international endurance events around the world. The Team were runners-up in the 1999 FIA GT Championship, the first non-manufacturer Team at Daytona in 2000 and, in 2001, were selected to test and race the MG EX257 cars at Le Mans and other events on behalf of the manufacturer for two seasons. With the organisation now having been involved in motor racing for over 25 years, it is acknowledged as one of the world's most experienced sports car and GT racing teams. Corvette Racing Cars - Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Web Site - http://www.corvetteracing.net/race_history/ race_history_set.htm Corvette Racing's latest addition to its stable, the Corvette C5-R, continues a decade long tradition of exciting Corvette road racers. Under the guiding hand of engineering genius Zora Arkus-Duntov, Chevrolet first thrust its sports car into competition in 1956. In 1960 a trio of Corvettes was brought to Le Mans by team owner Brigs Cunningham. With a remarkable demonstration of endurance and speed, the #3 car, driven by John Fitch and Bob Grossman, finished eighth overall, well ahead of many of the finest sports and all-out racing cars of the era. The third-generation Corvette, introduced in 1968, continued the winning ways of its predecessors. In fact, Corvettes were totally dominant in the late 60's and 70's, winning sixteen SCCA national A-and B-Production titles and finishing as high as third overall at both Daytona and Sebring. In the Late 70's and early 80's Corvettes went Trans-Am racing and though the competition was formidable, Corvettes continued to finish in front. In addition to racing in production classes as it had done for decades, a more exotic Corvette-based car took to the track in the late 80's. The incredible IMSA GTP Corvettes reached speeds well in excess of 200 mph by virtue of their 1200 horsepower, turbocharged Chevrolet engines and thrilled fans from coast to coast. In the early 90's Corvettes were again provided an opportunity to race against and defeat some of the world's most sophisticated and most expensive cars in the Bridgestone Potenza Super Car Series. Corvette once again set new marks for speed and durability. For 2001 Chevrolet introduced the new ZO6, a production vehicle with 385-hp and 385-ft.lbs. of torque that's ready for the racetrack. Based on the former hardtop model already the lightest, stiffest and quickest corvette- it is a car aimed directly at the diehard performance enthusiasts at the upper end of the high-performance market. Courage Competition Cars - Courage C 52 Web Site - http://www.sportscarchampionship.com/cgi-bin entrantsdetails.cgi?category=teams&ID Courage+Competition Between 1982 et 2001, Courage has left his mark on the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours, with notably : - The record number of entries by a French car maker (47) - Two winner stands: 3rd in 1987, 2nd in 1995. His cars have crossed the finish line twenty-two times, thirteen times ranked in the top ten. An overview of the team's racing highlights: 1982 The first Courage-Ford Cosworth entered in Le Mans. 1985 First year with a Porsche engine. 1987 First winner's stand in Le Mans (3rd place of C 20 Porsche). 1989 Le Mans : win in the C2 category, after 20 years of British supremacy. Entry in the Protoype Sport Championship 1990 Entry in the Protoype Sport Championship 1991 Entry in the Protoype Sport Championship 1992 Entry in the Daytona 24 Hours. Le Mans : 6th place. 1994 Le Mans : pole position and 7th place. 1995 Courage officially represents Porsche in Le Mans, and registers his best result to date : 2nd (1er in prototype). 1996 Entry in the Daytona 24 Hours. Le Mans : 7th Start of customer program. 1997 Entry in the ISRS championship. 2 pole positions and 1 win.Le Mans : 4th (2nd prototype). 1998 Nissan partnership (engines) 1999 Le Mans : 3 Courage chassis on the starting line and 3 at the finish : 6th 8th (only Nissan mechanics to finish), and 9th . 2000 Le Mans : 4th place of a Courage Peugeot (Pescarolo Sport) 2001 3 Courage chassis entered in Le Mans (2 Pescarolo Sport, 1 SMG). Pescarolo-Sport wins at Estoril and Magny-Cours, 2nd place in Nürburgring ( FIA championship). 2002 FIA Sportscar Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours. Freisinger Motorsport Cars - Porsche 911 GT2 Web Site - http://www.superracingweekends.com/ fiagtmg2002/Teams/FreisingerMotorsport.htm 1993 2nd in the Nürburgring 24 Hours 1994 BPR GT Series; 2nd at Paul Ricard 1995 Le Mans with Porsche 993 biturbo, 19th 1996 BPR GT Series 1997 FIA GT Championship 1998 GTR series, 2 wins. GT2 class winner at Petit Le Mans. 1999 2nd at 12 Hours of Sebring; winner of the Suzuka 1000km; 3rd and 1st Porsche in FIA GT Championships, including 3rd at Monza 2000 4th in FIA GT Championship Teams Classification: winner at the Lausitzring, 2nd at Monza. 2nd in ELMS at Silverstone and 1000km Suzuka 2001 3rd overall at Rolex 24 Daytona. 2nd, 24 Hours of Le Mans, LM GT; 3rd, FIA GT Championship, N-GT Classification - second at Spa, Austria, Nürburgring and Zolder GTC Competition Cars - LMGTP Web Site - http://www.gtc-mirage.com/NewFiles/intro.html Upon the request of the Ferrari Factory, Grand Touring Cars, Inc. (GTC, Inc.) was first incorporated in Chicago, Illinois in 1972, by Harley E. Cluxton III, who became the youngest exclusive Authorized Ferrari Dealer in the United States. It relocated to Phoenix, Arizona in 1973, and the dealership has been in Scottsdale, Arizona ever since. GTC, Inc. was awarded the Lamborghini importership for the Western United States from 1973 through 1977. In late 1975 John Wyer, the guru of LeMans (with World Championships for Aston Martin, Porsche, Ford, and Mirage) approached Mr. Cluxton as to whether he would be interested in purchasing his Mirage Team from the Gulf Oil Corporation in Pittsburgh. Mr. Cluxton had competed against John while he was racing for Ferrari and had struck up a close friendship with both John and his drivers. Mr. Cluxton purchased the Mirage Team from Gulf in early 1976. By June of 1976, he had become a team owner, hired John as a consultant, retired from driving, hired drivers, found the sponsorship and achieved team finishes of 2nd and 5th behind the factory 936 Porsche! Mr. Cluxton directed the extremely successful GTC-Mirage two-car team from 1976-1982 in the F.I.A. World Sportscar Championship. In 1982, Mario and Michael Andretti, sixth on the grid out of 58 cars, the only American owned, American manufactured and American driven Group C car was excluded 20 minutes before the start of the race for a 2 centimeter infraction. The Mirage team has not been back to Le Mans since. But that is not to say GTC has been dormant in the world racing arena. Quite the opposite. GTC developed and manufactured 2.65 c.i. turbo charged Indy motors for Renault. We continue to represent, unabated from 1978, Formula 1 drivers, CART drivers and selected Sportscar drivers in sponsorship, legal and management matters. We have and continue to provide these services to major Formula 1 teams, CART teams, manufactures and Fortune 500 corporations. Jaguar Cars - Jaguar XJR9 LM Web Site - http://www.jaguar-racing.com/ Jaguar Racing extends a long and distinguished motorsport tradition with its entry into the 2002 Formula One World Championship. The company has been involved in motorsport since it was founded in 1922. Seven times it has won the world's toughest endurance race at Le Mans, been World Sports Car Champions three times and in 1956 won both Le Mans and the Monte Carlo Rally in the same year. The roll call of drivers who have raced Jaguars during the past 50 years reads like a Who's Who of motorsport. In the Fifties, Mike Hawthorn, Paul Frere, Duncan Hamilton and Stirling Moss were regulars with the Jaguar team. Jackie Stewart (and brother Jimmy), Sir Jack Brabham, Briggs Cuningham and Graham Hill all drove Jaguars during successful racing careers. In more recent times, Martin Brundle, Tom Walkinshaw, Derek Warwick, Patrick Tambay, John Watson, Eddie Cheever and Jan Lammers all drove for Jaguar. The lessons learned on the race tracks will benefit the Company's customers around the world as Jaguar prepares to expand its model range. This will extend the appeal of the marque to new sectors of the premium car market. JMB Competition Cars - LMP Web Site - http://www.superracingweekends.com/ FIAGTmg/Teams/JMBCompetition.htm 1997 FIAGT Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Porsche 911 GT1 1998 winner of the Sports Racing World Cup with Emmanuel Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri, in a Ferrari 333 SP, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1999 winner of the Sports Racing World Cup with Emmanuel Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri, in a Ferrari 333 SP, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2000 Winner of the Sports Racing World Cup with David Terrien and Christian Pescatori, in a Ferrari 333 SP; selected rounds of the FIA GT Championship with two Ferrari Modena 360s; 2nd in the N-GT category of the 6 Hours of Vallelunga with a Ferrari Modena 360 2001 FIA N-GT Champions, 5 wins; Champion of the FFSA category in the FFSA French GT Championship; winner of the N-GT category of the Vallelunga 6 Hours with a Ferrari Modena 360 Joest Racing Cars - LMP Web Site - http://www.joest-racing.de/ Reinhold Joest's eyes are gleaming when he reports from the 24 hours of Le Mans. "For me, Le Mans is the biggest challenge existing in motorsports." He knows what he is talking about: Scarcely anybody knows the perfidies of the French classic long-distance race as well as him. Joest has experienced the race as driver and as a team owner. The numerous victories are the results of meticulous preparations. "Everyone asks for the mystery of Joest Racing", says Reinhold Joest. "But there is no mystery. Everything that counts are perfect preparations, ideal manpower planning and the right strategy. The basic requirement is a steady car. The team has to work perfectly, the drivers must not make mistakes." In the years 1996 and 1997 everything worked right in the Joest Racing team: With an open Porsche sports car prototype, the Joest team managed to take the checkered flag twice in a row. Thus being the second 1-2 victory after the years 1984 and 1985 - at this time with the Porsche 956. The team's strength is based on a long-lasting experience. The bulk of the crew, which attended the group C-Porsche cars in the 80ies, is still on board. "The core crew is the same", proudly says Reinhold Joest, who is looking back on over 20 years as a race driver. "For this reason the important know-how and many rules of thumb get stuck in the team. Johansson Matthews Racing Cars - Reynard 2KQ-Judd Web Site - Unable to find information online Konrad Motorsport Cars - GT2 Lola B2K10-Ford Porsche 911 GT2 Web Site - http://www.konradmotorsport.com/ Konrad Motorsport was founded by Franz Konrad in 1976 and is now based in Verl, Germany, where Konrad and his engineers, mechanics, and administrative staffs oversee the production of high-class racecars, including Porsche, Lamborghini, Lola, and Saleen which are prepared for numerous racing series. Kremer Racing Cars - LMP Web Site - http://www.kremer-racing.net/ 2000 - Participant at the European Le Mans Series and the Sportsracing Worldcup with the Lola B98/K2000 , Winner of the last World-Cup-Race in Kyalami with Gary Formato and Ralf Kelleners 1999 - Participant at the International Sports Racing Series (ISRS), 30 years Le Mans with the Lola B98/10 with Roush-Ford-Power 1998 - 2nd Sportsprototype in Le Mans (12.th overall) Participant at the ISRS with the K8 Sypder 1997 - Overall-Winner of the 1000km Monza with the Kremer Spyder K8. Participant at the FIA-GT-Championship with Porsche GT1 and GT2 1996 - Participant at the 24h Le Mans & the BPR-Series, Winner of the 4h of Le Mans, international GT-Race of Shah Alam & the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring 1995 - Winner of the 24h of Daytona with the Kreme Porsche Spyder K8 (Jürgen Lässig, Christophe Bouchut, Giovanni Lavaggi & Marco Werner), Porsche- Works supported participation at the 24h Le Mans (K8) : 6th overall. Participant at the BPR Championship with Porsche 911 GT2 1994 - Kremer Racing is Honda-Worksteam, Vice-Champion in the ADAC-GT-Cup, 25 years of Kremer Racing in Le Mans: 3 Honda NSX GT in the team & at the finish line! Additional 6.th overall with Kremer Porsche Spyder K8 1993 - Interserie-Champion with Giovanni Lavaggi, Interserie Vice Champion with Thomas Saldana, both on Kremer Porsche K7 1992 - Interserie-Champion with Manuel Reuter on Kremer Porsche Spider K7, Vice-Champion in the Porsche Cup 1991 - Best Porsche-team in the Group C Sportscar Championship 1990 - Winner of Porsche-Cup & Interserie Champion with Bernd Schneider, 6.th in the Group C Championship\ 1989 - 2.nd in Porsche-Cup and in Interserie, 3.rd in Japanese Endurance-championship, 8.th in the Group C Championship 1988 - 3.rd in Porsche-Cup and Interserie, 3.rd in Japanese Endurance-championship, 8.th in the Group C Championship, Mario and Michael Andretti are Kremer-Racing Team-pilots 1987 - Winner of Porsche Cup with Volker Weidler, 6.th in the Group C Championship, 5th. in Super-Cup, 4.th in Interserie, 7th in All Japan Sportscar Championship 1986 - Participation at the Group C Sportscar World Championship, Supercup & Interserie 1985 - Winner of 1000km in Monza (Group C) and 200 Meiles of Norisring 1984 - Winner of the 200 Meiles of Norisring with Manfred Winkelhock 1983 - With Alan Jones, Mario Andretti and Keke Rosberg 3 former F1-Champions as Kremer-Team-drivers. Mario and Mike Andretti, & Phillipe Alliot gain a 3rd overall at Le Mans 1982 - Vice-Champion in the german Racecar-Championship 1981 - Winner of Porsche-Cup with Bob Wollek, Vice Champion and best Porsche in the german Racecar Championship 1980 - A customer- Kremer Porsche 935 K3 winns IMSA championship and Porsche Cup 1979 - Overall-Winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans with Kremer Porsche K3 and Klaus Ludwig, Bill & Don Whittington, Winner of the german Racecar Championship and Porsche-Cup with Klaus Ludwig 1978 - Winner of Porsche-Cup with Bob Wollek, Krremer helps Porsche to win World Championship for makes, Group 5 -class winner in Le Mans with Porsche 935 and the drivers Jim Busby, Rick Knoop and Chris Cord. 1977 - Winner of Porsche-Cups with Bob Wollek, Vice Champion of german Racesportchampionship, Group 4 class-win in Le Mans with Porsche 934 and Bob Wollek, Phillipe Gurdjian and "Steve" 1976 - Winner of Porsche Cup with Bob Wollek, best Porsche-team of german Racesportchampionship 1975 - Best Porsche-team of german Racesportchampionship 1974 - Winner of Porsche-Cup and GT-Europe-championship with John Fitzpatrick 1973 - Winner of Porsche-Cup and GT-Europe-championship with Clemens Schickendanz 1972 - Winner of Porsche-Cup and GT-Europe-championship with John Fitzpatrick 1971 - Winner of Porsche-Cup with Erwin Kremer, winner in 5. International 1000km-Races 1970 - GT-Winner in the 3000ccm-class with Erwin Kremer and Nicolas Koob on Porsche 911S at the 24h of Le Mans 1969 - Helped to win the GT-Worldcup for Porsche 1968 - Winner of Europe-Touringcar-championship with Erwin Kremer on Porsche La Filiere ELF Cars - Courage C 36 Web Site - Unable to find information online Lancia Car: Lancia LC2 Web Site - http://www.lancia.com/ History section not currently online Larbre Competition Cars - GT2 Web Site - http://www.larbre-competition.com/ Founded in 1998 by Jack Leconte, Leconte was able to create and develop the Larbre Competition team even while overseeing his own transport and logistic company. In 2000, Leconte decided to devote himself full-time to auto racing to secure the position of the team as a major player in motorsport. Mopar Team Oreca Cars - Reynard 2KQ-Mopar Web Site - http://www.orecaracing.com/ No history available on this French-language site Multimatic Motorsports Cars - Lola B2K40-Nissan Web Site - http://www.multimatic.com/ Multimatic Motorsports has enjoyed significant success since its inception in 1992. Two Canadian national championships, strong debuts in all new endeavours and a continuous string of podium finishes has established Multimatic Motorsports as a leading North American racing organization. Scott Maxwell is the team's lead driver and brings a wealth of motor racing experience, in a wide range of classes and formulae, to the organization. Scott was part of the group that conceived Multimatic Motorsports and he continues to play a prominent role in the planning and organization of the team. He is also a key member of Multimatic's ride and handling development organization that offers services to the global automotive industry. Newcastle Lister Storm Cars - Lister Storm GTL Web Site - http://www.listerstorm.com/ The first Lister sports racer was designed in 1954 by Brian Lister,and the cars competed against Jaguar D-types and Aston Martins throughout the 1950's. The '54 season initially featured a Lister MG, which scored five wins and eight second places in the hands of Archie Scott-Brown. This was followed in June of that year by the Lister Bristol, which won its class in the supporting race to the British Grand Prix ahead of the works Jaguars and Aston Martins. A further 13 victories were recorded that year. Scott-Brown went on to dominate the British sports-racing car season in 1957, winning 11 out of 14 races in total and the prestigious British Empire Trophy Race, aboard a Lister Jaguar. Just to underline its place in the history books, Archie's Lister Jaguar also notched up many lap records on his successful rampage. As a result of this success Brian Lister attracted customer orders for an improved 1958 version of the car, which conformed to international regulations; this car was to be known as the 'Knobbly' Lister-Jaguar (a Centenary Edition of this car was built to celebrate 100 years of the Lister company in a joint venture between Brian and current Lister helmsman, Laurence Pearce, in 1990).More success followed with Stirling Moss winning the support race for the British Grand Prix and Lister Chevrolets dominating the American sportscar scene. This year also marked the debut of Lister Jaguar at Le Mans, where two cars competed in the French classic and one placed 15th. Lister Jaguar returned to Le Mans a year later, again with a two car squad. Glory was not to come their way, however, as both cars retired with engine problems. The lead car showed that the British racing combination had unfinished business at Le Mans, however, as it was running in fourth place at the time of its retirement. From 1959 until the early 1980's, Lister Cars retired from competitive racing. However, the name was revived following the involvement of engineer Laurence Pearce and a new car was designed to take part in a series of races for Jaguar sports cars known as the Lister Challenge. During this decade Laurence, in association with Brian Lister, was responsible for the rebirth of the company as a producer of performance road cars. This then led to the design in 1991 of an all-new supercar, as opposed to the Jaguar conversions that had previously been produced under the Lister name; the Storm. With the Storm road car being launched in 1993, Laurence and Lister then had the perfect machine to rekindle the works Lister Cars racing team of the 1950's. The emergence of GT racing as the world's top sportscar arena over the past few years had provided ideal timing for a Lister Storm GT1 contender to return to the international competition stage. Now Lister has the experience of three Le Mans 24 Hours, three Daytona 24 Hours, selected races in the 1996 BPR International GT Series where the car always ran in a podium position, the 1997 and 1998 BRDC Privilege Insurance GT Championships (finishing second in the GT1 Championship in 1998), the American SportsCar racing series and the FIA Global GT Championship. In 1999 the Storm won both classes of the Privilege Insurance GT Championships with Julian Bailey and Jamie Campbell-Walter in the GT1 car and David Warnock in the GT2 car. Julian Bailey and Jamie Campbell-Walter also won the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy and the Oulton Park Gold Cup. Julian and Jamie won seven out of the eleven British rounds, David Warnock won all six races entered in the Lister Storm GT2. The Storm GT2 also competed in four rounds of the FIA Championship achieving 2 pole positions and one 2nd position on the grid, finishing 2nd at Donington, 3rd at Zolder and 4th at Hockenheim. Thorkilld Thyrring won the Danish Grand Prix in a Lister Storm and Peter Hardman and Nicolaus Springer came 2nd in the final two races of the Spanish GT Championship. Nissan Motorsports Cars - Nissan R390, Nissan R391 Web Site - http://www.nismo.co.jp/ Unfortunately, this site is entirely in Japanese... a language I cannot read :-( Panoz Motorsports Cars - Panoz Esperante GTR Panoz LMP Spyder Panoz LMP-1 Panoz LMP07 Web Site - http://www.panozmotorsports.com/ 1997 Formed by entrepreneurial businessman, Donald E Panoz, and based in Braselton, Georgia alongside the Road Atlanta track. Four Panoz GTR-1 cars were designed and developed for the company by Reynard Motorsport's special projects division, RSVP. One was run in the Professional Sports Car Series by Panoz, and three were represented in the FIA GT Championship by two teams - the French DAMS and British DPR teams. The front-engined cars with the rumbling 6.0 liter Ford V8 engines attracted a great deal of attention. Victory at Road Atlanta in the team's second ever race, 2nd place overall in the Manufacturers' points standings in the US PRSCC. First time at the Le Mans 24 Hour race - retired due to mechanical failure after 17 hours while running in the top ten. 1998 Two GTR-1s entered in the two leading US sports car series and one in the FIA GT Championship, run by DAMS. Multiple class victories and winners of the Team and Drivers Championship titles in the Professional Sports Car series. At the pre-qualifying sessions for the Le Mans 24 Hours, an electric-hybrid version of the GTR-1 - the Panoz Q9 - was entered. Unfortunately the car was not among those to line up on the grid for the race itself. First running of the 10-hour Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta. Q9 was entered with the two factory GTR 1s and finished 2nd in the GT1 class - the first electric hybrid vehicle to race in an international event. 1999 The Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S, new open-cockpit cars, run in the American Le Mans Series - a new racing series founded by Don Panoz using ACO (Le Mans) regulations. Victories at Mosport Park, Portland and the Petit Le Mans races. Winners of the Teams and Manufacturers' Championship titles, David Brabham and Eric Bernard 2nd in Drivers' points standings. 2000 Using an evolution version of the LMP-1 Roadster S, the team continue in the American Le Mans Series powered by Elan Power 6L8 engines, built and prepared by Panoz's own engine company, Elan Power Products. Panoz chassis have also been sold as customer cars for entry at the Le Mans 24 Hour race and the Sportsracing World Cup Series. Victory at the Nurburgring in Germany, 3rd place in the Teams and Manufacturers Championships. 2001 Introduction at the beginning of the year of the all new Panoz LMP 07 prototype powered by the Panoz V8 4 liter engine. After six months of technical troubles and unreliability, the decision was taken after the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June to re-introduce the 2000 LMP-1 Roadster. Since that time, the team took two victories, plus a 2nd and 3rd placing. Paul Belmondo Racing Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R Web Site - http://www.paul-belmondo-racing.com/ Web site currently under reconstruction Pescarolo Sport Cars - Courage C 52-Peugeot Web Site - http://www.pescarolo.com/ Web site does not contain historical information on the team Peugeot Talbot Sport Cars - Peugeot 905 Web Site - http://www.peugeot-avenue.com/ A generalist manufacturer, Peugeot has always been involved in motor racing and has for the last fifteen years or so demonstrated the importance of high level sport for its image. Crowned World Rally Champion twice, in 1985 and 1986, with the 205 Turbo 16, the Lion trademark dominated long distance rallying from 1987 to 1990. Turning to the motor racing circuits, Peugeot won the Le Mans 24 hours in 1992 and 1993, and was crowned World Champion in the 1992 Sports Car championships with the 905. Entering F1 in 1993 as an engine manufacturer, Peugeot partnered McLaren, Jordan then Prost Grand Prix. Supplying an engine considered to be one of the best in F1, Peugeot did not however obtain the results it had hoped for and withdrew from F1 in 2000, directing its efforts to running the totally new 206 WRC in the World Rally Championship, with which it scooped the dual crown of World Champion Constructor and Driver in 2000, its first full year of competition. Pilot Racing Cars - LMP Web Site - http://www.pilotrc.ee/ Unfortunately, this site is entirely in a Scandinavian language I cannot read :-( Riley & Scott Europe Cars - Riley & Scott MKIII S2 Web Site - http://www.rileyscott.com/ Riley & Scott was founded in May 1990 with a contract for a single Trans-Am chassis. Today, more than seventy-five complete racing cars have been delivered to loyal customers. It began with George Robinson, a Texas-based businessman/driver who bought the first Mk I Trans-am chassis, and also bought the first Hunter (the Mk II), and a Mk III and a Mk III C, to earn a place in the customer Hall of Fame. General Motors began its long involvement with R&S by purchasing Mk I chassis nos. 2, 3 and 5. In its first season, the Mk I began its domination with the first of three successive championships. Scott Sharp won in 1991 and 1993; Jack Baldwin won in 1992. Between 1991 and 1997, 40 of the Mk I chassis were built and sold, and the company was established as a brand in major professional road racing. R&S began racing as a company in 1996. Before that, the company supported its customers in Trans-Am and World Sports Car, but did not race its own products. That changed when GM tapped R&S to introduce its Aurora 4.0 L engine to World Sports Car competition. In 1995, the R&S MK III began a hugely successful run that continues today. The first customer was Dyson Racing, which used Ford power. In February 1996, R&S and Doyle Racing debuted for GM at the "Rolex 24 at Daytona" in spectacular fashion. Drivers Wayne Taylor, Jim Pace and Scott Sharp brought home Mk III chassis no. 004 first in the closest race ever at Daytona. After 24 hours, Wayne brought the car home less than one minute in front of a Ferrari 333 SP driven by Max Papis. At the 1996 Twelve Hours of Sebring a month later, the team steamrollered to its second straight endurance classic win. Wayne Taylor, Jim Pace, and endurance maestro Eric van de Poele combined for the win. Competing against the Ferraris and a number of customer Mk IIIs, the factory effort won again at Texas World Speedway on May 5th. After a third-place at Watkins Glen, the team flew to France for the 24 hours of Lemans with high hopes. These were brought to earth by a gearbox failure in the 14th hour. The team returned to the US and won again that year at Sears Point. Wayne Taylor finished 1996 as the IMSA World Champion sports car driver. Between the Dyson team and the factory effort, R&S Mk IIIs won 7 of the 10 races for the championship. In 1997, the factory effort returned as a two-car team. Peruvian ace Eduardo Dibos had purchased chassis no. 006, and R&S ran that car and the Doyle Racing entry. The season was a disappointment however, as the Aurora motors that had been so reliable the year before suddenly began to experience mechanical failures. At Daytona, the defending champion had a three-lap lead at 3 a.m. when the motor self destructed (the Dibos car finished third in the race, which was won by Dyson Racing's Mk III). In the eleven-round championship, the team's best finish was a second at Pikes Peak International Raceway in September. As the success of the Mk I attracted attention, other opportunities arose. Long-time sports car team owner Rob Dyson asked R&S to improve his Spice/Ferrari WSC car in 1994. The experience gave him the confidence to order two of the Mk III WSC prototypes Bob Riley was ready to design. Ready because WSC was the perfect opportunity for the company. Created as a reaction to the collapse of the IMSA GTP class when manufacturers (Nissan, Toyota, Jaguar) determined GTP no longer met their marketing goals, WSC was designed to make prototype sports car competition affordable for "privateer" entrants like Dyson Racing. The car debuted in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in February 1995. After DNFs at Daytona and Sebring, it began a string of successes against the Ferrari 333 SP and other rivals that continues even today. From round 3 of the IMSA championship at Road Atlanta to the season finale at New Orleans, a Dyson Mk III won 5 of the 8 races and finished on the podium in every race. Following the factory team's win at Daytona in 1996, the Dyson team won the race in 1997, and followed that with a second at Sebring. The Dyson team won four of the eight rounds of the IMSA series and the team and driver's championship (Butch Leitzinger) that year. In 1998, six Mk IIIs took the green at Daytona, but the Ferrari 333SP scored its first and only 24 hour win in that event. Jim Matthews, Intersport, Transatlantic Racing, Support Net Racing, and BMW Team Rafanelli all competed in various events in Mk IIIs that year. The BMW Team Rafanelli entry won its first event, at Laguna Seca in October. Despite the increased competition, the Dyson Team remained dominant, winning the Team and Driver's Championships (Butch Leitzinger, again) in the USRRC Can-Am series. A WSC series known as the ISRS (International Sports Racing Series) began in 1998, and grew into the FIA Sports Car Championship by 2001. Bill Riley had established Riley & Scott Europe in 1998 to service the growing number of customers in that series. As many as four R&S Mk IIIs started ISRS events that year, fielded by Solution F, Target 24, and BMW Team Rafanelli. After the Rafanelli car secured the Mk III's first European pole in the 5th of eight rounds, the Solution F car, piloted by Gary Formato and Jerome Pollicand, won the final race of the year at Kylami in South Africa. In August 1997, the company introduced its first IRL chassis, the Mk V. Two of the cars raced in the final IRL event of 1997 at Las Vegas, driven by owner/driver Stan Wattles and Mike Shank for Neinhouse Racing. The winner of that event was Eliseo Salazar, who even then was in negotiations with R&S to race the Mk V in a factory effort in 1998. That team was sponsored by Reebok. R&S brought the shoe giant to the IRL in the League's first non-automotive primary sponsorship. The season reached its zenith on the morning of Pole Day, May 15, 1998. After a promising week of practice for the Memorial Day classic, Salazar was 5th quickest in the morning warm-up, with a realistic chance for the pole later that day. The afternoon brought disaster. Eliseo crashed hard in turn one on the first lap of what should have been a four lap qualifying run. Not seriously injured, Salazar returned to the track for practice in the backup car just hours later. But the damage was done, and the team's backup qualified weakly on Bump Day. At 5:43 PM that day, Billy Roe bumped Salazar from the field and the season was effectively over. At Dover in July, Salazar was severely injured in a practice crash. He recovered well and is still a force in the IRL today. After Reebok, the team found support from Brant Motorsports. The Brants were West Virginia-based aviation and real estate entrepreneurs with a background as NASCAR sponsors. They bought the team cars and motors after the 1998 season in preparation for the 1999 campaign. 1999 was more successful, in that driver Raul Boesel qualified for and finished 12th in the Indy 500 that year. When GM ended the Aurora program in 1997, two others were in the works. The Corvette C-5R began testing in 1998 and first raced at Daytona in 1999. Those cars were built by and have been raced very successfully by Pratt & Miller Engineering. However, R&S played a role in the development of the car and throughout its first season on the track. Bill Riley managed a hand-picked crew from R&S to race one of the two cars at Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Lemans that year. R&S was already building the first Cadillac Northstar LMP prototype in 1999. That car first tested in September 1999 and debuted at Daytona in February of 2000. After exhibiting typical teething issues at Daytona, the cars struggled for results against the dominant Audis at Sebring and Lemans. In its fifth appearance in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Mk III reached a high water mark. Eight cars, with a total of thirty drivers, took the green. Two new teams, TRV Motorsport and Hybrid R&D, entered the race. At the checker, Dyson Racing's chassis 002 took the win, driven by Andy Wallace, Elliot Forbes-Robinson, and team owner Rob Dyson. American sports car racing remained splintered that year. The American Lemans Series and the USRRC both staged championships again. For the first and only time, one driver, Dyson's Elliot Forbes-Robinson, won both. The Dyson team also won the USRRC championship. Sebring in 1999 also set a record for Mk III participation. Eleven chassis started the race, which marked the debut of Robinson Racing as well as new entries from Nygmatech, Autoexe, and the Whittington Brothers. After 12 hours, Dyson's chassis 002 was second to the winning BMW by the closest margin in the long history of that race. Team Rafanelli also won that year, at Road Atlanta with drivers Eric van de Poele and Mimo Schiattarella. This time, the car was powered by a Judd engine. In Europe, four chassis competed regularly in the ISRS. Nicola Larini in the Target 24 Judd-powered posted the best finish, a second, after winning the pole at Pergusa. Three R&S also started at Lemans that year, but all retired early with motor problems. When GM ended the Aurora program in 1997, two others were in the works. The Corvette C-5R began testing in 1998 and first raced at Daytona in 1999. Those cars were built by and have been raced very successfully by Pratt & Miller Engineering. However, R&S played a role in the development of the car and throughout its first season on the track. Bill Riley managed a hand-picked crew from R&S to race one of the two cars at Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Lemans that year. R&S was already building the first Cadillac Northstar LMP prototype in 1999. That car first tested in September 1999 and debuted at Daytona in February of 2000. After exhibiting typical teething issues at Daytona, the cars struggled for results against the dominant Audis at Sebring and Lemans. R&S and GM parted ways at the end of the year. Riley & Scott produced the Mk VIII IRL racing car in 1999 and 2000. The first customer, Hemelgarn Racing, had finished 3d in the IRL championship in 1999 (the team, with driver Buddy Lazier, won the Indianapolis 500 in 1996). Other Mk VII customers included Walker Racing (for driver Sarah Fisher) and Team Cheever (1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever). At the opening race of the 2000 championship at Orlando, Buddy and Eddie were running 1-2 with 5 laps remaining. An historic debut was spoiled by backmarkers, as Robby Buhl expertly used traffic to pass both R&S cars. That misfortune was righted at the next race in Phoenix. After an unsatisfying qualifying effort, Hemelgarn elected to withdraw its primary car and start Buddy in the backup R&S from the very back of the grid. Buddy carved his way through the field to win the race, the first and only time an IRL driver has gone "worst to first". Although Buddy went on to win the championship, the R&S proved insufficiently developed for the Speedway. The teams shelved their R&S chassis, qualified for the 500 in other cars, and R&S was once more out of the IRL. The story of sports car racing in the last two years is simple - Audi. Audi's commitment, F1-level budgets, and the results that they have achieved have all been chronicled elsewhere. Among privateers, however, the Mk III has persisted and continued to win. 2000 brought the inaugural season of the Grand American Road Racing Association, founded on principles of lower-cost, more-equal competition. Dyson Racing (6) and Robinson Racing (1) each won Grand Am races in 2000. Dyson was team champion, and James Weaver was driver champion. Grand Am also established a manufacturer's championship, which was won by Riley & Scott. In 2001, the Mk III remained a vital part of the Grand Am series. Seven of the chassis were on the grid at Daytona, including chassis 001, an amazing six years after it first competed in that event. Although motor woes again dropped the cars from the overall podium at Daytona, they continued to dominate in the series. Dyson Racing won the team championship, and James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger won five races and finished first and second in the driver's championship. Riley & Scott won the manufacturer's championship over Lola and Ferrari. Heading into 2002, there is no doubt that Grand Am races will once again feature Riley & Scott Mk IIIs at the front of the grid and on the podium - joined this time by younger siblings. In both Grand Am and ALMS, the new Mk IIIC, which Dyson debuted at Sebring in 2001, will compete for race wins and championships. This site will chronicle the story of the Jim Matthews Racing/ Riley & Scott partnership as the factory returns to prototype racing in 2002. After the completion of our work with GM, longtime customers saw an opportunity to engage R&S in new projects. A new Mk III, the Series C, was designed and production began on cars for Dyson Racing and Robinson Racing. Tom Gloy, who had purchased one of the first R&S Mk I chassis, asked the company to design and build a new car for that series. The car was ready in July and competed in the last three rounds of the championship, beginning at Mid-Ohio in August. Bill Riley accompanied the Tom Gloy Racing team to each event. At Mid-Ohio, Tony Ave drove the new car as an "extra" TGR entry. Tony qualified third and was running top five when the gearbox broke. Defending Series champion Brian Simo drove the car for the first time in the next race at Laguna Seca. Brian's qualifying time was disallowed on a technicality, and he was forced to start in the rear of the grid. Brian cut through the field of 24 cars to finish second to Justin Bell. The car had proven its superiority. At the season closer in the streets of Houston, Brian again finished second to Justin Bell. ROC Cars - Reynard 2KQ-Volkswagen Web Site - Unable to find information online Roock Racing Cars - GT2 Web Site - http://www.roockusa.com/ Founded in 1984, the ROOCK Sportsystem family business focuses entirely on Porsche. The Leverkusen, Germany (just outside of Cologne) based company specializes in racing, developing unique high quality products and performance tuning programs for several Porsche models. In 1999, ROOCK Sportsystem moved its operations to Braselton, Georgia (just outside of Atlanta) to form ROOCK North America, LLC. ROOCK Motorsport is Europe's most successful Porsche customer racing team, with five Championship titles in less than seven years and victories at 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Daytona 24 Hours. Our passion for racing is the main reason the company is conveniently located at the Road Atlanta race course. ROOCK has worldwide sales and distribution facilities in North America, Europe and Japan. It all began in 1990 when ROOCK Racing was approached by a customer to maintain his club racing Porsche. At the end of the season, the customer's car finished fifth in the championship and Michael and Fabian were hooked on racing. Not only were they passionate about the competitiveness, but they also has a vision for a future business opportunity. Fabian ROOCK intensified his links to motor racing. After each step on the ladder of success and victory, ROOCK Racing set out for new challenges and made it clear that ROOCK was a hungry new team with a great racing future ahead with victories at Le Mans 24 Hours, Daytona 24 Hours, and FIA GT World Championships. In mid-1999, ROOCK ventured to step over to the United States to campaign in the Le Mans Series. Sauber Cars - Sauber C9 Web Site - http://www.sauber.ch/ At first sight, the small town of Hinwil in the Zurich Highlands is probably not the place you would expect to find a highly developed Formula One centre, equipped to the finest technical detail. But appearances are deceptive: It is only a few steps from the workshop, in which the now 58-year-old Peter Sauber started his company in 1970, that the high-tech cars, which have been competing in the Formula One World Championship since 1993, are built. The development of high technologies and their function under race pressure within the field of motor racing has always fascinated Peter Sauber. While back then three of his current competitors were already active in Formula One, Peter Sauber started off quite modestly by comparison with the sporting variation of the legendary Volkswagen Beetle. SMG Cars - Courage C 60-Judd Web Site - Unable to find information online Team Augusta Racing Cars - GT2 Web Site - Unable to find information online Team Cadillac Cars - Cadillac N LMP Web Site - http://www.cadillaceurope.com/ The new racing season is here and the Cadillac Team is excellently prepared for toughest competition in the ALMS on the race tracks of America and of course, Le Mans. Since the end of last season the team worked hard on the second generation Cadillac LMP 02. It was designed under the direction of GM Racing engineers by Nigel Stroud. Herb Fishel, executive director of GM racing comments: "Very seldom in racing can you talk about a program in its third year and say that you have an all-new race car, but that is exactly the case with the Cadillac LMP 02. The Cadillac LMP 02 marks a new beginning for Team Cadillac with a state-of-the-art race car." Two teams of three international endurance racing stars, each with Le Mans experience, have been named to drive the brand-new Cadillac Northstar LMPs in 2002. Team Cadillac is backed for the third straight year by a distinguished list of supporters, including: ACDelco, Bose HiFi systems, Compuware, GMAC Financial Services, Michelin, Mobil 1, Northstar System, Tehama and On Star. American Wayne Taylor, Italian Max Angelelli and Frenchman Christophe Tinseau will drive Cadillac Northstar LMP No. 5. Finnish JJ Lehto will join Frenchmen Eric Bernard and Emmanuel Collard in the No. 6 Cadillac Northstar LMP. As final preparation for the start of the season the team will run a 26-day test schedule which includes several 24 hour endurance tests. And on March 16th, the team and all six drivers will give the Cadillac Northstar LMP 02 its race debut. Team Dams Cars - Cadillac N LMP Web Site - http://www.dams.fr/ The DAMS Formula 3000 and GT motor racing Team was the creation of Jean-Paul Driot, in 1998. Prior to this Jean Paul was a business partner with formula one driver Rene Amoux. At the start of the team very first season DAMS established that they were a top team with Eric Comas driving the DAMS Lola, equalling the points with Jean Alesi. With Comas and Alesi on equal points the Championship went to Jean Alesi because he had more wins. The next year the DAMS Team went on to become International Formula 3000 Champions with Eric Comas in only the teams third year. Today in 1998, DAMS obtained 3 World Championship Crowns in Formula 3000 with Comas, Olivier Panis, and Bouillon, and has a total of 20 wins. Also 8 of DAMS drivers have made the very difficult step up to the Formula One Championship. After the success of the Formula 3000 Racing Team DAMS commenced on a design and feasibility study to enter Formula One Grand Prix Racing. This project was the first engineering partnership between DAMS and Reynard Racing Cars. Unfortunately the project was stopped after two years because of lack of sponsorship in France. The next large step in the creation of DAMS was at the end of 1996 when Jean-Paul DRIOT signed a contract with Don PANOZ to run his Panoz GTI car for the next two years in the 171A World GTI Championship, and Le Mans. This is also a joint project with Reynard Racing Cars. After having made the big manufacturers tremble with the impressionable Panoz in the FIA-GT World Championships, DAMS Team took on a new challenge in 1999 with an open prototype. Having never worked on this particular kind of car, the technical team drew on its GT experience to give their drivers a very competitive LOLA T98/10 complete with JUDD motor. In his first run at the Monza Sport Prototype World Cup race, Eric BERNARD took the pole position and was quickly imitated by fellow team-mate, Jean-Marc GOUNON, one month later at Spa. The unreliability of this very young car eventually deprived DAMS of 2 assured victories at the end of races which were dominated mostly by DAMS. Race after race innovations and continuous development strengthened the reliability of the car and in the second half of the season DAMS took 4 victories, which did not go unnoticed by the world's first automobile constructor, General Motors, at the dawn of the 2000 season.... For 2 years, DAMS has joined General Motors Le Mans Sports Car program and runs the Cadillac LMP at Le Mans, FIA World Cup and American Le Mans Series. In 2000 the 2 Cadillac - DAMS Northstar LMP ran in 10 races including the 24 Hours of Le Mans where the car of BERNARD/COLLARD/MONTAGNY held the 4th place until 3 hours before race finish when suspension broke. The Executive Management of General Motors who was impressed by the performances and the professionalism of the Team designated DAMS as the Cadillac Factory Team for Le Mans 2001. After making a great improvement of 5 seconds in qualifying (compared to 2000 qualifying time), DAMS kept GM aim of being in the fastest Teams, inside of the top 5, until the last hour of the race when the clutch broke. Team Den Bla Cars - Panoz LMP-1 Web Site - http://www.team.den-blaa-avis.dk/ Team Den Blaa Avis Ltd. was established before the 1997 season with the aim of placing Denmark on the map in the world of motorsports. It is Denmarks first truly professional racing team, and has managed to establish itself at the top of European motor racing in only four years. Together with Danish driver Jason Watt, the team succeded in winning two prestigius Formula 3000 races; Spa in 1997 and Imola in 1998, and in 1999, the team, now in the colours of partner Petrobras, took a fantastic 1-2 win at Hockenheim and finished third in the Teams Competition. This association continued in 2000 with even greater succes, as Brazilian Bruno Junqueira won the Championship in convincing style. In the year 2000 Team Den Blaa Avis also entered sportscar racing with two Panoz Roadsters in the classic Le Mans event. It was another highpoint for Team Den Blaa Avis Ltd., and is seen as a step in the teams efforts to consolidate itself in the highly-charged world of international motor racing The team has already proved that it posses the nessecery people, financial and techical means to succeed. Team Goh Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R Web Site - http://www.teamgoh.com/ Unfortunately, this site is entirely in Japanese... a language I cannot read :-( Team Marcos Cars - Marcos Mantara LM600 Web Site - http://www.marcosracingusa.com/ Marcos Racing International brings style, speed and success to any racetrack. The stylish Marcos Mantis Plus draws a crowd in every paddock with its sleek, daring design. The 400 horsepower car is powered by a Ford 4.6 litre V8 engine, making the Mantis Plus a fierce competitor on the track. The Marcos Mantis Plus is based on Marcos Cars' Mantis road car. With over 40 years of sports car development and production to support them, Marcos Racing has what it takes to build a successful racecar. The Mantis Plus is a more competitive model of the car that raced in Europe's Mantis Challenge. Marcos Racing has more than proven itself both in Europe and the United States, winning numerous championships and proving that Marcos can pose a formidable challenge to other popular manufacturers, including Porsche, BMW and Ferrari. In 2000, Marcos Racing won the British GT, Spanish GT championships and the Suzuka 1000K race in Japan. They continued their success the following season, beginning with a trip over to the United States to compete in one of the world's most famous endurance race the ROLEX 24 at Daytona. At the 2001 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the two-car team of Marcos Racing finished fourth and fifth in the competitive GTS class. For the first several hours of the race, the team even challenged the overall race-winning Corvette team. The 2001 season was also a development year for Marcos Racing. A new version of the Marcos Mantara LM600 EVO was developed with the Marcos Mantis Plus GT in hopes of dominating both production classes in 2002. The Marcos Mantis Plus will find a new home with the Grand-American Road Racing Series in 2002. The car will compete in the challenging GT class. With such a successful history of racing, the Marcos Mantis Plus is sure to be a popular car with fans and racers alike in 2002. Fans in the United States will be delighted to see a car as exotic as the Mantis Plus at road courses that are famous for attracting the best sports cars in the world. Team Oreca Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R Chrysler Viper GTS-RT Web Site - http://www.orecaracing.com/ No history available on this French-language site Team Rafanelli Cars - Lola B2K10-Judd Web Site - http://www.teamrafanelli.com/ The team was created in 1987 as Team Bigazzi; its name was changed in 1998. Major events: - 1992: Won 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps - 1994: Won 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps - 1995: Won 24 Hours of Nurburgring - 1996: Won 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Won BPR GT Series - 1997: Won Brasilia 1000 Miles Race Won MACAU Guja Grand Prix - 2000: Started on Pole Position at 24 Hours of Spa- Francorchamps Thomas Bscher Promotion Cars - BMW V12 LM Web Site - Unable to find information online TV Asahi Team Dragon Cars - Panoz LMP-1 Web Site - Unable to find information online Welter Gerard Cars - WR LMP-Peugeot Web Site - Unable to find information online ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== CONTACT For rants, raves, etc., contact me at FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful to you, I would certainly appreciate a small donation via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) using the above e-mail address. To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2 game guides, visit FeatherGuides at http://www.angelcities.com/members/feathersites/ ==================================== ==================================== ==================================== ======================================================================= Wolf Feather Jamie Stafford ======================================================================= Just as there are many parts needed to make a human a human, there's a remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are. - Major Kusanagi, _Ghost in the Shell_ ======================================================================= What isn't remembered never happened. - _Serial Experiments Lain_ =======================================================================