Lola Cars has announced that it is going into financial administration as it continues to search for possible investors.

The group, which was formed in 1958, said the latest economic downturn has caused a serious cash-flow problem that had forced it into making the decision.

It also blamed the move on the HMRC not paying ongoing R&D tax credits.

“It is with enormous regret that a decision has been taken to issue Notices of intention to appoint an Administrator to Lola Cars International Limited and Lola Composites Limited,” said Lola in a statement.

“This step allows the board to continue its discussions with possible investors and prospective purchasers with a view to securing the best outcome for the staff, creditors and customers of both businesses.”

Lola creations have claimed five LMP2 Le Mans 24 Hours titles since 2000. The company has also worked with major manufacturers including Nissan, MG and Honda. Last year it captured the LMP1 and LMP2 constructors’ titles in the ALMS and the manufacturers’ title in LMS.

Lola said the board will not make any further comment until 21st May.

The company had already gone into administration in 1997.

Porsche Supercup race winner Sean Edwards will emulate his father Guy by racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours this year.

Edwards Jr, who has four Supercup wins to his name, will make his debut in the French enduro on June 16/17 with ProSpeed Competition.

The 25-year-old will share the Belgian team’s GTE Am class Porsche 911 GT3-RSR with fellow Le Mans debutant Bret Curtis and Saudi Abdulaziz Al Faisal, who contested last year’s 24 Hours in a Porsche.

Edwards explained that Curtis, who has been a regular in the American Le Mans Series since 2009, had been instrumental in putting the deal together. They raced together in a Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 in the opening round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Monza last month.

“I raced with ProSpeed at the Spa 24 Hours in 2009 and we sat down with [team boss] Rudi Penders at Monza and things moved pretty quickly,” said Edwards. “Bret is the key guy; he’s made this happen.

“It’s taken me a few years to get to Le Mans because teams always ask if you have experience there. Now I’ve finally got in, I’m hoping this will be the first of many.”

Edwards explained that the deal to do the race his father contested nine times in the 1970s and ’80s was the fulfillment of a childhood dream.

“I always wanted to do Le Mans as a kid,” he said, “and dad is really pleased for me.”

Both Edwards and Curtis are having to resort to chartering jets in order to take part in the Le Mans Test Day, which is mandatory because they are rookies. Edwards is racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup at the Red Bull Ring and Curtis in the BES at Silverstone.

Lotus GP’s Conor Daly scored his maiden GP3 victory in the second race of the opening weekend of the season at Barcelona in Spain.

From third on the grid, Daly outsprinted polesitter Robert Visoiu (Jenzer) via the grass into Turn 1, as front row starter Tio Ellinas of Manor took the lead having blatantly jumped the start.

When Ellinas pitted for his drive-through penalty on lap six, Daly was able to cruise to victory 3.2 seconds clear of Visoiu. Mathias Laine finished third, as his MW Arden team-mate David Fuminelli lost his fourth position with a drive-through penalty due to setting a purple sector while yellow flags were out.

That promoted Lotus’s Aaro Vainio to fourth, ahead of Patric Niederhauser (Jenzer). Antonio Felix da Costa (Carlin) barged his way past Lotus man Daniel Abt in the battle between Saturday’s penalised leaders to finish sixth from 14th on the grid.

Ellinas finished 15th, with Fumanelli 17th. Saturday’s runner-up Marlon Stockinger finished 19th for Status after a horrendously poor start, while opening race winner Mitch Evans was only 20th after pitting to have a punctured rear tyre replaced.

MW Arden driver Evans still leads the championship by two points, however, ahead of Daly.

Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr’s Pickett Racing HPD utterly dominated the American Le Mans Series’ six-hour race at Laguna Seca on Saturday.

The polesitting car was very briefly headed when the rival Dyson Lola-Mazda got an over-enthusiastic start, but Chris Dyson realised his error and immediately let Graf back past. After that, the Pickett crew was unstoppable, lapping several seconds per lap faster than its rivals for most of the day.

Dyson was not only unable to hang on to the HPD, but struggled to fend off the LMP2 cars, even before a variety of problems saw Dyson and team-mates Guy Smith and Johnny Mowlem dropping 20 laps down.

Second overall went to the Level 5 LMP2 class HPD of Scott Tucker, Luis Diaz and Franck Montagny, which won its class after a battle with the team’s second car and Conquest’s Morgan-Nissan. The #55 Level 5 machine was ultimately eliminated in a crash with a GTC car, while Conquest flew from the back of the grid before being delayed by electrical problems.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner recovered from some pit delays to win the ferociously close-fought GT class for Corvette, with their team-mates Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia battling hard to make it a one-two for the yellow cars, just ahead of the BMWs, Extreme Speed’s #01 Ferrari, the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche and the Falken Porsche. A scant 10 seconds covered the top seven in class after six hours of racing. BMW’s Bill Auberlen tried his utmost to get between the Corvettes in the final moments, but had to settle for third. The polesitting Aston Martin was only eighth after pit problems and a penalty for causing a collision.

LMPC also saw a very close late battle, with a last-gasp pass by Colin Braun on RSR’s Bruno Junqueira giving the CORE Autosport driver victory in the car he shared with team boss Jon Bennett. The second CORE car – in which Tom Kimber-Smith starred – was right behind, while Merchant Services’ #8 car had been in the thick of what was a four-way fight until a tangle with Kimber-Smith left Kyle Marcelli in the Turn 3 gravel just minutes from the end.

TRG’s #66 car took victory in GTC, the Jeroen Bleekemolen/Emilio di Guida/Bret Curtis crew finishing 12s clear of the GMG Porsche.

Pre-season title favourite Mitch Evans kicked off his 2012 GP3 Series campaign with victory in round one at Barcelona.

The MW Arden driver simply had to be patient in third until leaders Daniel Abt (Lotus) and Antonio Felix da Costa (Carlin) were penalised for jump-starts.

Once elevated into the lead, Evans was able to pull away from second-place Status driver Marlon Stockinger and win by 2.6 seconds despite a mid-race safety car to retrieve Kevin Ceccon’s Ocean car, which had stopped on course.

Both polesitter da Costa and sixth-place starter Abt had rolled forward on the grid before the lights went out, but Abt then turned his issue into a brilliant getaway – surging through to second and then passing da Costa into Turn 1. Their drive-throughs dropped them outside the top 20, but they fought back to 13th and 14th, Abt still ahead.

In contrast to Abt and da Costa, front-row qualifier Conor Daly went backwards at the start, and was then overtaken in quick succession by Jenzer’s Patric Niederhauser and MW Arden’s Matias Laine.

Rookie Niederhauser went on to attack Daly’s Lotus team-mate Aaro Vainio for third – briefly making it in front into the first corner before Vainio fought back at Turn 3 and reclaimed the final podium spot for good.

Niederhauser then had to fend of Laine and Daly, who were also caught by the flying Tio Ellinas. A penalty for a yellow flag infringement had dropped the Manor driver from sixth to 16th on the grid, but he recovered to seventh in the race.

Eighth and race two pole went to Robert Visoiu (Jenzer), while MW Arden’s David Fumanelli and Carlin’s Alex Brundle completed the top 10.

Antonio Felix da Costa gave Carlin the first pole of the 2012 GP3 season at Barcelona.

The Portuguese driver edged out Lotus duo Conor Daly and Aaro Vainio in a top three covered by just 0.090 seconds.

Mitch Evans held pole for MW Arden early on, but was edged back to fourth on the grid, 0.193s off the pace.

Status driver Marlon Stockinger completed the top five, while Manor’s Tio Ellinas secured sixth and top rookie honours despite missing free practice – although he is under investigation over a potential yellow flag infringement.

Daniel Abt (Lotus), Patric Niederhauser (Jenzer), practice pacesetter Matias Laine (MW Arden) and Dmitry Suranovich (Manor) completed the top 10.

Auto GP champion Kevin Ceccon will start on the back row after failing to set a time in his Ocean car.

Pos  Driver                  Team       Time       Gap

 1.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Carlin     1m38.642s

 2.  Conor Daly              Lotus      1m38.720s  + 0.078s

 3.  Aaro Vainio             Lotus      1m38.732s  + 0.090s

 4.  Mitch Evans             MW Arden   1m38.835s  + 0.193s

 5.  Marlon Stockinger       Status     1m38.867s  + 0.225s

 6.  Tio Ellinas             Manor      1m38.894s  + 0.252s

 7.  Daniel Abt              Lotus      1m38.945s  + 0.303s

 8.  Patric Niederhauser     Jenzer     1m38.988s  + 0.346s

 9.  Matias Laine            MW Arden   1m39.151s  + 0.509s

10.  Dmitry Suranovich       Manor      1m39.164s  + 0.522s

11.  David Fumanelli         MW Arden   1m39.175s  + 0.533s

12.  Tamas Pal Kiss          Atech CRS  1m39.201s  + 0.559s

13.  Alex Brundle            Carlin     1m39.228s  + 0.586s

14.  William Buller          Carlin     1m39.512s  + 0.870s

15.  Robert Visoiu           Jenzer     1m39.553s  + 0.911s

16.  Kotaro Sakurai          Status     1m39.701s  + 1.059s

17.  Antonio Spavone         Trident    1m39.932s  + 1.290s

18.  Alice Powell            Status     1m40.002s  + 1.360s

19.  Fabiano Machado         Manor      1m40.278s  + 1.636s

20.  John Wartique           Atech CRS  1m40.578s  + 1.936s

21.  Ethan Ringel            Atech CRS  1m40.640s  + 1.998s

22.  Jakub Klasterka         Jenzer     1m41.053s  + 2.411s

23.  Robert Cregan           Ocean      1m41.112s  + 2.470s

24.  Carmen Jorda            Ocean      1m42.066s  + 3.424s

25.  Vicky Piria             Trident    1m43.509s  + 4.867s

26.  Kevin Ceccon            Ocean

Pickett Racing’s HPD dominated LMP1 qualifying for the American Le Mans Series’ Laguna Seca round on Friday.

Klaus Graf took the car, which had also been quickest in testing and practice, to the top spot with a commanding 1.795-second advantage over the Dyson Lola-Mazda that completes the slender LMP1 entry.

Level 5 continued HPD’s good day with a one-two result in LMP2, Christophe Bouchut setting the class pole time, as a suspension problem prevented Conquest from running in the session. Class newcomer Dempsey Racing was third.

In another tight GT qualifying session, Darren Turner put the Aston Martin at the head of the field. The Briton had a four tenths of a second margin over second-placed Tommy Milner’s Corvette, behind which just a tenth of a second covered the two BMWs, both Extreme Speed Ferraris, the second Corvette and the top Flying Lizard Porsche.

Anthony Davidson had his first test of Toyota’s TS030 hybrid Le Mans racer at Aragon this week.

The former Peugeot driver joined team-mates Alexander Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre, Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi at the three day test, which concluded with an endurance simulation on Thursday.

The test gave Toyota a chance to further evaluate its latest specification aerodynamic package, while it also focused on tyre testing and practicing pitstops in race conditions.

Toyota Motorsport technical director Pascal Vasselon said: “Aragon is representative of Le Mans in terms of track layout, asphalt characteristics and weather conditions. Therefore, we have been able to evaluate several options on our new bodywork and develop it with the 24 Hours in mind.

“Adding to that, we continue our work on the assessment of Michelin’s tyre range to ensure we can cover all kinds of temperature and track conditions.”

Vasselon added that the test did not pass without problems, as Toyota makes up for track time lost when its first test car was damaged beyond repair last month.

“The endurance test has not been as smooth as expected,” he said. “We had a couple of issues, but we fixed them to achieve a reasonable mileage.

“Step by step, we are close to having a car capable to do a 24-hour race. After such a long time without being on track, I am pleased to see that both team and car have made a real step forward.”

Toyota added that it had been able to use this week’s test to finalise the specifications of its THS-R hybrid powertrain ahead of Le Mans.

Matias Laine set the pace in the first practice session of the 2012 GP3 Series season at Barcelona.

The second-year driver led an MW Arden one-two ahead of his Formula 3 convert team-mate David Fumanelli – the pair separated by just 0.099 seconds.

The MW Arden duo were followed by the trio of Lotus entries, with Aaro Vainio third and his team-mates Conor Daly and Daniel Abt next up.

Completing an all-MW Arden/Lotus top six, title favourite Mitch Evans was sixth fastest.

Manor’s Fabiano Machado had the only significant incident when he spun into the Turn 14 barriers, while his team-mate Tio Ellinas stopped after just one lap.

Antonio Pizzonia will make his endurance racing debut in the American Le Mans Series with Conquest, the team has announced.

The 31-year-old former Formula 1 driver will be the team’s third driver for this weekend’s round of the ALMS at Laguna Seca.

Pizzonia, who has been racing in the Brazilian stock car championship, will join Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier Hansson in the Nissan LMP2 car at the six-hour event.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Conquest Endurance this weekend,” said the Brazilian.

“It will be my first experience with this car and also with this type of racing but I have experience in many categories, which will be helpful in this situation.

“And I know that I will certainly have help from my teammates to get used to everything over the weekend so that we can have a strong race.”

John Wartique has completed the Atech CRS GP3 line-up ahead of this weekend’s season-opener at Barcelona.

The 21-year-old Belgian has never raced in single-seaters before, but has been a frontrunner in the French Peugeot 207 Cup for the past three years.

“I know GP3 is a big step for me, but after three seasons in saloon cars I realised that my driving style is more suited to single-seaters and that GP3 is where I wanted to be,” said Wartique.

“Due to a lack of budget, I could never really give my best performance but I have gained a lot of mileage and experience so far with the Atech team and [boss] David Hayle in particular has been a great help during the pre-season testing.

“At Barcelona [in March], which was my first proper single-seater test, I was only a couple of seconds off the fastest time. Although a lot of people have questioned my decision to do GP3 without the benefit of doing Formula Renault or Formula 3, I’m sure that I will continue to work well with the team, with my first objective to keep learning.”

Wartique will partner Tamas Pal Kiss, a GP3 race-winner last year, and Ethan Ringel.

Hiroaki Ishiura has been forced to withdraw from Toyota’s 2012 Le Mans line-up due to a back complaint suffered during testing.

The 31-year-old experienced discomfort in his back due to the high g-forces experienced during the first tests of the TS030 Hybrid.

After taking medical advice, Ishiura said he had made the ‘extremely difficult’ decision to withdraw from this year’s 24 Hour race. He had been set to compete alongside Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson in the second hybrid.

“This was an extremely difficult decision to take because racing at Le Mans is my dream, but my physical condition has to be the priority,” Ishiura said.

“I did not feel I was in the right condition to race an LMP1 car at Le Mans this year but I will focus on recovering as I really want to drive for Toyota Racing next year.

“For now I will focus my energy entirely on Super GT and the Nurburgring 24 Hours, whilst supporting Toyota Racing from a distance.”

Toyota is evaluating potential replacements and will confirm its decision as soon as the change has been ratified by the ACO.

Team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita said he had reluctantly accepted Ishiura’s decision, and insisted the door was still open for him to compete with the squad next year.

“I would like to express my thanks to Hiroaki for his integrity in these difficult circumstances. As a team we reluctantly respect his decision and we are pleased he remains part of the Toyota motorsport family through his activities in Super GT and at the Nurburgring 24 Hours,” Kinoshita said

“His speed, consistency and team mentality impressed us greatly during his short time with Toyota Racing so we would be delighted if he can return to the team next year.”

Andre Lotterer says he is proud to have finished second with Audi’s new R18 e-tron hybrid prototype on its debut, even though the German led for the majority of his opening stint in the World Endurance Championship’s six-hour race at Spa.

Lotterer, along with Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, could not maintain the advantage they had built up in the wet early stages, when the quattro technology came into its own, and were beaten by conventional R18 of Marc Gene, Loic Duval and Romain Dumas.

But in spite of not being able to keep pace with the winning car in the dry conditions, Lotterer told AUTOSPORT afterwards that it was a strong start for the project.

“Of course you know I want to win and I cannot lie about that, and then when you take the lead and at one stage have a 55-second lead, so you feel like you lost out on something,” he said. “But the other guys were just better, they did a perfect decision [to change to slick tyres at the right time], we were a bit more conservative and then Ben struggled a lot with the understeer in the car at that point.

“He was struggling to get some temperature into his tyres and then we were really unlucky with the safety car, when we got split and that was crucial in the race. It put us even further away from trying to do something.

“We did our thing but it is still a learning curve for the hybrid system. And for that we can be happy and proud about it.”

The hybrid had proved highly competitive in the rain. Lotterer and Tom Kristensen in the other example dominated the early stages of the event, maximising the extra traction from the power boost to the front wheels once the car reached 120km/h.

“It’s a quattro and even if it is not permanent and it’s just a few seconds that we have this boost the fact that it is on the front wheels makes your life easier,” Lotterer said.

“From the rules we boost at 120km/h, so any part of the track where we reached that you still are in a big acceleration phase. Those long corners like the fast double fast left-hander at Pouhon, you have a good advantage there and those long corners you carry a lot of speed and still turning this helped a lot.

“Even out of hairpins you struggle until 120km/h and then boom you have the advantage.”

Spa six hours winner Marc Gene said his decision to switch to slick tyres a stint earlier than his rivals in the early stages of the race – a strategy which was key to his crew’s victory in the race – was something he had been contemplating overnight before the event.

The Peugeot refugee, who signed for Audi a month ago, won on his debut with the team, alongside team-mates Loic Duval and Romain Dumas, said that he knew the call would be marginal and could be pivotal to the outcome of the race.

“I started working on that yesterday and this morning,” Gene told AUTOSPORT after the race. “Before the race I met for a quite a long time with the Michelin guys and I was asking questions about the intermediate and the slicks. And then I spoke with my engineer just before the race and I said: ‘Look I think we are going to have to make a very close call, you know.’

“So we were kind of ready.

“And then with 15 laps to go I started to tell him that we had to go for slicks, and then five laps to go I said it’s for sure slicks. And I had doubts about which one because we had two types of slicks. I was even in favour of the very, very dry slick, which would have been maybe too much, but when he saw me so confident he had no doubts about making the decision.

“After three laps when I started overtaking cars, then I realised we had made the right choice.”

Gene admitted that victory on his first outing for Audi had come as a surprise to him.

“It’s very unexpected!” he said. “It wasn’t expected a month ago because I didn’t expect to be here. I closed the deal with Audi a month ago more-or-less, and to win on my debut, especially when we didn’t have the speed because yesterday, it’s so unexpected. Life is full of surprises.

“Who would have told me I would be wearing these overalls and standing on top of the podium? It’s incredible.”

Loic Duval, Marc Gene and Romain Dumas took advantage of the Audi R18 Ultra’s superior speed over its in-house rivals to deny the e-tron hybrid version victory on its debut, as the German cars finished 1-2-3-4 in Saturday’s Spa six hour race.

The second round of the World Endurance Championship was completely dominated by the four Audi machines, but the superior pace of the #3 Ultra car in the dry meant that Duval, Gene and Dumas scored a hard-earned but deserved win over their team-mates.

The race began in wet conditions which gave the four-wheel drive e-trons a distinct advantage when the hybrid power kicked in over 120km/h around the soaking sweeps of Spa and Tom Kristensen, in the #2 car initially led from the #1 car of Andre Lotterer.

The duo swapped positions on lap three and Lotterer quickly established a lead, the pair followed by the conventional ultra cars of Marco Bonanomi (#4) and Gene (#3).

The two hybrids pitted first and stayed on intermediates for their second stints, but former Peugeot driver Gene, in his first race for Audi, changed to slicks in a smart move that provided the catalyst to begin a spirited pursuit of the e-trons. This was further assisted by a right front light problem for Kristensen’s #2 car, forcing a regulatory nose change and costing the car 45s, dropping it to third.

Gene closed the gap to Lotterer over the remainder of his stint before handing over to Duval who delivered a supreme performance to move ahead of leader Benoit Treluyer, now in the #1 car, mid-race as the ultra’s superiority took hold.

Not long after Duval had taken the lead, two safety car periods, the second because of a massive shunt for the LMP2 Norma at Eau Rouge, ensured the #3 car had a comfortable gap to its rivals thanks in part to its fortuitous track position.

After that it was a question of Dumas bringing the car home in the final two stints. The two Frenchmen now lead the drivers’ championship.

Marcel Fassler brought the #1 car home second more than a minute behind Dumas after a late stop for tyres – still an impressive result for the all-new flywheel hybrid machine.

Jarvis also stopped late on in the #4 car he shared with Bonanami but took third ahead of the Sebring-winning crew of Kristensen/Allan McNish/Dindo Capello which endured a catalogue of issues through the race. These included that nose change, being delayed by the safety car, a small off when the Scot was at the wheel and finally a late-race stop-and-go penalty for a pit infringement. In the end, the crew that came into the race as championship leaders was nearly three laps off the lead.

Behind the Audis, Rebellion won a spirited battle among the petrol runners as Nicolas Prost brought the #12 Lola home fifth overall. Nick Heidfeld put in a strong middle stint in this car to move it ahead of Pescarolo’s Dome in the mid-race at a time when the Strakka HPD was also in the hunt.

The Dome, driven by Sebastian Bourdais and Nicolas Minassian would finish 16th after problems late on, which meant the sister Rebellion car of Andrea Belicchi and Harald Primat finished sixth ahead of the Nick Leventis, Jonny Kane and Danny Watts for Strakka.

Sam Hancock and Simon Dolan took a well-deserved victory for the Nissan-powered Jota team in the LMP2 class after inheriting the lead late-on when Robbie Kerr pitted five minutes from the end to take on fuel.

The ADR-Delta car had led for much of the race, having taken pole, though Jota’s Zytek had always been within striking distance.

The GT race was settled in enthralling style as Richard Lietz’s Felbermayr Porsche held off Gianmaria Bruni’s AF Corse Ferrari by less than a second as they raced past the chequered flag.

The Porsche had established a strong lead in the wet early stages, but Bruni’s late-race pursuit meant the result was in doubt right to the end.

The JRM entered HPD LMP1 car started the Spa Six Hours from the pitlane after Karun Chandhok crashed the car on the reconnaissance lap heading to the grid in wet conditions.

The Indian driver lost control of the car at the top of Eau Rouge after struggling to maintain tyre temperature with the Michelins and spun into the barriers, damaging the right side of the car at the front and the rear.

The team made the start just in time, having replaced parts of the right rear suspension and the front bodywork.

“We were struggling big time with tyre temperature in the wet, and we’d only ever run the car in the wet in the warm-up this morning,” said Chandhok. “The first two reconnaissance laps I did the car felt okay, but I just kept losing more and more grip.

“Through the right left, as you go over the crest the rear goes light, I think the tyre temperature got so low it just spun around.

“The irritating thing is that it was the lightest tap with the barriers on the front right, but that brought the rear around and that did more damage.”

The #31 Lotus-powered Kodewa Lola also started from the pits after an engine change in the morning. It had been a contender for LMP2 pole with James Rossiter at the wheel and had qualified 12th overall.

The AF Corse Waltrip Ferrari has been withdrawn from the Spa six hours race following Brian Vickers’ accident in the wet warm-up session on Saturday morning.

Vickers, a NASCAR Sprint Cup race winner who was getting his first taste of World Endurance Championship action prior to his Le Mans 24 Hours debut next month, lost the F458 Italia under braking for the final corner when the circuit was at its wettest. The American then hit the barriers backwards before escaping uninjured from the car.

“I think I just applied too much brake pressure I guess,” Vickers told AUTOSPORT. “We looked at everything and ultimately I locked the rear wheels up going into the braking zone.

“I was still on the straightaway, locked the rears up. The tyre temps were up and the car felt good – really quick through the first two sectors then going onto the brakes in the last turn and I locked the rears up and ended up in the wall.

“I really hate it for the team you know, they did a really good job. It was my first experience in the rain. Actually I had tested the car in the rain and really liked it and found it quite fun. But clearly unpredictable!”

The accident bent the F458 chassis and it was deemed unfixable in time for the race. It had been set to start 38th on the grid and sixth in the LMGTE Am class.

Danny Watts believes the fight for unofficial petrol honours in Saturday’s six-hour World Endurance Championship race at Spa will be close as the weather looks set to unpredictable and predominantly wet throughout the event.

The Strakka driver, who qualified the HPD he shares with Jonny Kane and Nick Leventis sixth on the grid, splitting the two Rebellion Lola Coupes, believes that while the Audi diesels will be untouchable, the fight behind them is too close to call.

“Audi, with all things being equal on a dry track, are in a completely different league,” he told AUTOSPORT. “In the wet I don’t think that is going to be any different and I think the only thing they can do [to help us] is trip over each other.

“It is very close between the rest of us. There’s not a lot in it at all. The rest of us will be quite close together.”

Watts said the weather, and Saturday began drizzly following heavy rain overnight, will play a key role in deciding the outcome of the race.

“A lot of it will be chasing the weather really,” he said. “It’s going to be busy with 60-odd cars, and drivers with different experiences on track and you have always got to take that into consideration.

“A lot of it will be down to the boys on the pitwall calling the right strategy and the right tyres at the right time.”

Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre completed 81 laps of testing with Toyota’s new TS030 chassis at Magny-Cours on Friday as the Japanese manufacturer resumed its hybrid development programme ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Toyota lost weeks of preparation after Lapierre’s testing accident at Paul Ricard last month and was also forced to miss its planned World Endurance Championship race debut at Spa this weekend, after the team’s only available monocoque was destroyed in the crash.

But after giving a static demonstration of the TS030 – complete with its new aerodynamic package – at Spa on Wednesday (pictured), Toyota took the revised car to Magny-Cours for a comprehensive shakedown.

“It is an ordinary package,” Toyota’s technical director Pascal Vasselon said of the changes to the car. “We went away from the classical LMP splitter towards a more F1 like splitter with the splitter acting like a wing, and then all the features of the car have improved.

“We have reduced drag and increased downforce. It is a car that is quite simply more developed.”

Toyota now expects to be able to recover the ground it lost during the past weeks prior to its race debut at Le Mans in June.

“Before the accident we were making good progress,” said Vasselon. “For sure this has stopped for a while. We knew that we had this risk, we knew that from the beginning of this test programme, we had only one monocoque. The accident happened a little bit too early because we had a second car constructed but not ready to go immediately so we’ve lost two test sessions.

“So I would say we are now behind in our preparation, that’s a fact. But the time of regret is over and we have to make our best with what is left. We will recover the two test sessions before Le Mans that we lost.”

Audi’s four cars will fight between each other for outright victory in the 6 Hours of Spa rather than be forced to run under team orders, according Allan McNish and Marcel Fassler.

McNish who took the first pole position for the German carmaker’s R18 e-tron quattro hybrid prototype in qualifying for the Belgian round of the World Endurance Championship, said after qualifying that the only rules were not to crash with another Audi.

“There is a requirement for us, but we are allowed to race each other so long as we don’t drive into one another,” said the Scot – who also said his pole lap was a good message to send to the crew of the sister #1 e-tron car.

“I think Sebring was an important sort of statement that our car crew is still strong and fighting, and that was a victory,” said McNish, who earned an extra point for his crew with the pole position. “And this lap suggests we’re still fast as well!

“I was very happy with the lap. I had to overtake someone just coming into the braking area at La Source just a touch, but the rest of the lap was peachy. Really a good strong hard lap, right on the limit, right on the edge of everything.

“I had a few oversteer moments coming off kerbs and that sort of thing! Tom [Kristensen] said it looked like I was pushing.”

Last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours winner Fassler admitted to AUTOSPORT that while he had been disappointed to qualify only fourth behind McNish, and Audi’s two conventional R18 turbo-diesel machines, he expected to race for victory on Saturday.

“A point is always a point, and at the end of the season a point can decide between winning or losing and that’s for sure so you have to try and take all the points you can,” he said, “but for sure when you win the race you make more points!

“Dr Ullrich doesn’t like it if we crash into one another! But in all the other things we are free, so we can race hard and fair against each other, there is nothing decided in advance.

“So the race is open and we will race, because everyone is trying to win the world championship, even if we fight in between us at the moment. We all want to be the world champion at the end of the year.”

Allan McNish claimed a debut pole position aboard the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro for Saturday’s Spa 6 Hours round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The Scot set a best time of 2m01.578s on his second flying lap in the hybrid Audi. That put him just over half a second clear of Marco Bonanomi in the best of the non-hybrid R18 ultras.

McNish, who won the opening WEC round at Sebring with Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello, said: “It is quite a big day for Audi because it has given us our first milestone pole with the e-tron technology. It was quite special for me in particular because myself, Dindo and Tom also took the first pole for the Audi diesel car [at Sebring in 2006].”

Audi blocked out the front two rows of the grid. Marcel Fassler ended up third in the second hybrid R18, while Loic Duval was the final Audi qualifier in the second conventional turbodiesel.

Neel Jani headed the petrol-powered privateers in the best of the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota coupes. His 2m04.234s lap was nearly three seconds slower than the Audi pole time.

Australian John Martin claimed pole position at the head of the 18-car LMP2 field. His time of 2m09.302s in the ADR-Delta ORECA-Nissan 03 gave him the pole by just four hundredths of a second from James Rossiter in the fastest of the Lotus LMP2 team’s two Lolas.

GTE Pro honours went to Frederic Makowiecki in the Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 Italia. The Frenchman ended up four tenths ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella in the lead AF Corse Ferrari.

Imsa Porsche driver Nicolas Armindo pipped Marco Cioci’s AF Corse Ferrari to the GTE-Am class pole.

Lucas Ordonez will drive the Nissan DeltaWing in the coming weeks after being added to the programme’s test and development line-up.

The 27-year-old Spaniard has close links with Nissan, having began his racing career in its GT Academy in 2008 and helped the Nissan-powered Sigantech squad clinch last year’s LMP2 crown in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.

Now he will join DeltaWing race driver Marino Franchitti at Magny-Cours and Aragon as the test programme ramps up ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

“To be involved in the development of an innovative car like this is another big step in the career of a racing driver,” Ordonez said.

“It was very emotional to be asked by Nissan Europe to test such an important project. I am delighted that they believe in me to help with the work on this prototype car.

“I can’t wait to get in the car, focus and give the best feedback I can to help the development of the project. To be involved in the development of an innovative car like this is another big step in the career of a racing driver.”

Ordonez will be the fourth member of the DeltaWing test team, joining Franchitti, FIA GT1 world champion Michael Krumm and multiple Super GT title winner Satoshi Motoyama. The latter trio will race the car at Le Mans (although outside of the official classification) while Ordonez will be in the LMP2 Greaves Motorsport Ztyek-Nissan.

The Status Grand Prix team has withdrawn from this weekend’s Spa 6 Hours in the wake of a heavy crash in free practice on Thursday.

Insufficient spares were available for the team to repair its LMP2 Lola-Judd/BMW B12/80, which Alexander Sims crashed in the dying minutes of second free practice for round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Sims was unhurt in the 6g impact at the top of Eau Rouge.

Sims, who had been second fastest in P2 in the opening practice session, said: “It was totally my fault. I was behind some other cars and didn’t appreciate how much downforce I would lose.”

Status GP team manager Simon Cayzer said: “It’s clearly disappointing for all at Status GP, our drivers, sponsors and technical partners, to not be participating in Saturday’s race here at Spa. However, the most important thing is Alexander is okay, and we pay tribute to Lola for the car’s integrity in the accident.”

Sims, who is contesting the full European Le Mans Series in the Status Lola, was due to share the car this weekend with Yelmer Buurman and Romain Iannetta.

Status will now focus on its preparations for the Le Mans 24 Hours next month.

Audi topped the times in final practice ahead of qualifying for the Spa 6 Hours on Friday afternoon.

Marcel Fassler jumped to the head of the timesheets in the closing minutes of the one-hour session in the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, which had also been fastest in both Thursday sessions. His time of 2m01.998 in the hybrid Audi was just three tenths quicker than Marco Bonanomi in the best of the non-hybrid cars entered by the German manufacturer.

The other two Audis filled out positions three and four in the times ahead of the best petrol privateer LMP1, the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota coupe driven by Neel Jani.

Pierre Kaffer was fastest in LMP2 in the AF Corse-run Pecom ORECA-Nissan.

Quickest in GTE was the Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Stefan Mucke.

The two manufacturers planning to race hybrid systems at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, Audi and Toyota, want to see the technology become more widely available to customer teams in the future.

Audi has chosen to use a flywheel-based system while Toyota’s new TS030 harnesses energy derived from super-capacitors, both of which allow these teams access to 500kj of energy between breaking phases – when the energy is stored.

But the technology remains in its infancy in endurance racing and, according to Toyota’s team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita, it remains prohibitively expensive for non-manufacturer teams at this stage.

“It is one of our aims [to provide hybrid to customers],” he said, when asked by AUTOSPORT. “But the current situation is that this system is not so cheap, so it may take another three or four years until we can provide our system to the customers, but for sure we want to.”

Audi’s motorsport chief Dr Wolfgang Ullrich added that the working group put together to define the 2014 regulations had taken into account customer teams when structuring the new framework for efficiency-related technologies.

“The group that has been working together to develop this rulebook had for sure in mind this issue,” he said. “And we have to find a solution and we are trying to find one.

“But if you want to push completely new technologies into racing then for sure at the very beginning only manufacturers will be able to do that, but what you don’t want to do is close the door.”

Ullrich added that he believed the rules would move towards a less restrictive use of hybrid technology after 2014, which would allow manufacturers to further explore the potential of the systems.

“The idea is that the most efficient car will be the one that has the best chances to run and I think that’s the right way, because that is the same way that is relevant for our road cars.

“The ACO and the FIA leave [the door] in a certain way open, so future oriented technology should have a chance to show up in racing, improve the abilities, and I think this has always been a good motivation to use this later on for the road cars.”

Kinoshita said that he believed Toyota’s system was already capable of producing double the power it is allowed to employ within the current regulations.

“Theoretically speaking we can recover twice as much energy, by our calculations, so if there is no limitation to recover the maximum energy we can do much more with our hybrid systems,” he said. “So I clearly hope we can recover more energy in the future.”

The Toyota team will be well drilled for the race debut of its TS030 hybrid prototype at next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours despite missing this weekend’s Spa event, according to the project’s technical director Pascal Vasselon.

The team was forced to withdraw from the Spa six-hour race following a testing accident which destroyed the first chassis during testing at Paul Ricard in April.

Toyota has now built a second car up from a new monocoque, complete with the latest aero package which was briefly displayed at Spa before being packed off for further testing at Magny Cours, and Vasselon said that while not racing at Spa was a setback, the team would still complete the required running before Le Mans.

“What you can do is really operate the car like in a race,” he said to AUTOSPORT. “In testing, as soon as something goes totally right, you stop, you take your time. When you do a race simulation, you try to handle all problems – if problems happen – like in a race.

“It puts the team under pressure, it’s good training, and it reveals what has to improve. It’s never completely representative of a race situation of course, that’s why we wanted to race. But in testing it’s the best you can do.”

Vasselon admitted that resource constraints meant that the team will not have time to build up a third monocoque to act as a spare at Le Mans, and that the drivers would have to protect the two cars through the event.

“Simply because our initial 2012 programme was not designed to be a championship attack but a learning year where we decided to do a couple of races, because races are the best for learning,” he said. “We knew we only had one monocoque, then it was accelerated. But unlike the others who are using suppliers, we are manufacturing in our team 80 per cent of the car. This includes the monocoque and we can only do one at a time and it is as simple as that. We cannot suddenly employ 50 people we have to spread the workload.”

The Frenchman added that it remained unclear whether Toyota would complete the build of the second car in time for it to run at the Le Mans pre-test on the first weekend of June.

“It looks very difficult,” he said. “For the full Le Mans race, we are now confident of having a second car. For the test day, it’s still not comfortable. Of course, we would prefer to.”

Vasselon also accepted that winning Le Mans at its first attempt using a hybrid was not a priority for Toyota, but being the fastest car with the technology was.

“It’s the target of a race to win,” he said, “But we don’t have to win Le Mans as a target this year.

“We want to be competitive. Our target is to be the fastest hybrid car. Then to be at the end of the race as the fastest, that is another step. It’s not our target this year.”

Andre Lotterer set the fastest lap of the weekend so far during a shortened second practice session for the World Endurance Championship six-hour race at Spa Francorchamps as Audi once again dominated the top spots.

The session was stopped early after Alexander Sims crashed the Status Lola Coupe at the top of Eau Rouge. The former McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner shunted heavily but emerged from the significantly damaged machine unscathed.

Lotterer set his best time in an e-tron R18 on new tyres in the final third of the session and ended the day more than three tenths up on his team-mate Allan McNish, who also bolted on a new set of Michelins late on.

The two conventional R18s of Oliver Jarvis (fastest of all for a while) and Loic Duval were next up.

Nick Heidfeld, who shares the Rebellion Lola with Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost, was the quickest petrol runner ahead of the Pescarolo Dome. Andrea Belicchi was seventh in the sister Rebellion car.

Olivier Pla was fastest LMP2 runner in the Oak Racing Morgan-Judd ahead of Thomas Holzer in the Lotus Lola coupe.

Audi dominated the first free practice session for the World Endurance Championship six hour race at Spa Francorchamps with Benoit Treluyer setting the pace in one of the R18 e-tron quattro hybrid cars.

The French driver’s time of 2m04.434s was not quite matched by compatriot Romain Dumas in the conventional R18 Ultra – which was 0.044 seconds slower. Both times were set early in the 90 minute session.

Rinaldo Capello set the third quickest time before handing over to Tom Kristensen in the second e-tron machine while the Marco Bonanami/Oliver Jarvis Audi Sport North America entered R18 was fourth.

The Rebellion Lolas headed the petrol times, with Andrea Belicchi outpacing Nick Heidfeld’s sister car. Both were kept honest by Pescarolo’s Judd-powered Dome S102.5, which in the hands of Sebastian Bourdais was seventh quickest.

Jonny Kane was eighth fastest in the Strakka HPD, which ended the session in the barriers at La Source when Nick Leventis locked up going into the hairpin.

The #49 Pecom Racing ORECA-Nissan was quickest in LMP2 in the hands of Soheil Ayari, ahead of Alexander Sims, who impressed on his first outing in the Status Lola Coupe. Third was the Starworks HPD, which features a driving line-up that includes former Le Mans Series champion Stephane Sarrazin and Ryan Dalziel.

Gianmaria Bruni set the GT pace in the AF Corse Ferrari with a time of 2m20.916s. The F458 Italia was four tenths quicker than its nearest rival, Marc Lieb’s Felbermayr Porsche.

Alexander Sims and Yelmer Buurman will head up the Status GP team’s driver line-up for its debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa this weekend.

European Le Mans Series participant Status has gained a late entry for its Lola-Judd/BMW B12/80 in the Spa 6 Hours after the withdrawal of the new Pescarolo-Judd 03. It has signed Sims, Buurman and four-time Le Mans 24 Hours starter Romain Iannetta for the event.

Sims has extended his deal for the ELMS to include Spa. Buurman will undertake another one-off with the team after making his prototype debut at the ELMS opener at Paul Ricard.

The line-up for Spa looks likely to be retained for Le Mans in June. Only Sims is confirmed for the remainder of the ELMS.

Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup race winner Brian Vickers will contest the Le Mans 24 Hours this year.

The Michael Waltrip Racing driver will compete in a Ferrari 458 Italia for its sportscar sister team, AF Waltrip Racing.

Twenty-eight-year-old Vickers will also contest this weekend’s Six Hours of Spa, round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The drive came about courtesy of team boss Michael Waltrip’s heavy workload this year, explained MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman, who will drive with Vickers and Rui Aguas at Spa and Le Mans.

“Michael wasn’t able to do Spa or Le Mans, because he has two different contractual obligations on those weekends,” said Kauffman. “He’s racing at Talladega this weekend and is scheduled to comment for Fox TV on the weekend of Le Mans.

“Brian was kind of a member of the family, so he’ll be doing those races instead, but we expect Michael to be back in the car for Silverstone.”

Kauffman revealed that Vickers, who is scheduled to contest eight Cup races with MWR, was fulfilling a long-held ambition by racing at Le Mans.

“Because he is not doing a full season of NASCAR this year, Brian was looking at doing Le Mans,” he said. “We was working on a couple of deals independently of us to get over there.”

Waltrip and Kauffman undertook selected races, including Le Mans, with the Italian AF Corse team last year. This year, an entry has been lodged for the full WEC under the AF Waltrip Racing banner, the team name also used at the Daytona 24 Hours in January.

Toyota will return to the track with its TS030 HYBRID this week after a hiatus in its testing programme following a crash.

The Japanese squad was forced to delay its planned racing debut in the Six Hours of Spa this weekend because of an accident that damaged its chassis during testing at Paul Ricard.

The setback also meant the team had to cancel seven days of testing during April.

Toyota has worked hard to produce a second car that will be completed directly before transportation to the one-day functionality test at the Magny-Cours circuit on Friday.

“I would like to express my thanks to the staff members at Toyota Motorsport GmbH who have worked so hard to deliver our second monocoque ahead of schedule,” said team president Yoshiaki Kinoshita.

“Now we have a very intense testing programme to prepare for Le Mans, beginning with an initial functionality test to shakedown our systems.”

Toyota’s new car will make its racing debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

Oliver Jarvis says he is treating his debut in Audi’s factory sportscar squad at Spa next weekend as a learning experience ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Briton is racing as part of the German’s squad’s works LMP1 line-up for the first time this year, starting with the Spa 6 Hours. And Jarvis, who competed in the DTM from 2008-11, is looking forward to racing the Audi R18 ultra with Marco Bonanomi.

“I’ve been looking forward to my first run as an Audi factory driver at Spa for a long time,” he said. “We’ve got a new car and I’m forming a new driver team with Marco.

“There’s a lot to learn for us at this race that we’re using as a test for Le Mans. But that doesn’t mean that Spa is not important as a single race.

“We obviously want to battle for a podium place but as a relatively new member of the sportscar family I know I’ve still got a lot to learn.”

Jarvis and former Audi reserve driver Bonanomi will be joined by Mike Rockenfeller at Le Mans, but the German cannot race at Spa because it clashes with the DTM race at Lausitz. Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich believes that the newcomers will benefit from racing as a two-man team in Belgium.

“For Marco and Oliver, Spa has the positive effect that as a team of two they have the chance of driving more race kilometres than the teams of three drivers,” Ullrich said. “So Spa is an important premiere for them.”

Team Joest technical director Ralf Juttner added that Audi was disappointed by Toyota having to delay the debut of its TS030 racer after a heavy crash in testing.

“Everyone is looking forward to Spa,” he said. “The preparations are underway but the event will be a huge challenge for us.

“Toyota, unfortunately, will be missing Spa, which is really a shame. We’ll only be meeting with our competitor at Le Mans, but there are many other good cars in the field.”

Three-time Super GT champion Satoshi Motoyama is to return to the Le Mans 24 Hours after an absence of 12 years at the wheel of the Nissan DeltaWing.

Nissan-contracted Motoyama will share the lightweight DeltaWing prototype with Michael Krumm, with whom he is racing in Super GT this year, and Marino Franchitti at Le Mans on June 16/17.

The Japanese driver is due to get his first taste of the car at Snetterton today.

Motoyama said: “I am very excited about joining the Nissan DeltaWing project and looking forward to driving the car at Le Mans, and showing everyone what it can do.”

Nissan Europe general manager Darren Cox said: “Satoshi is a superstar in Japan, so for Nissan to put him in the car proves the international recognition within the company for what has so far been a European-led programme.”

Motoyama raced with Nissan factory teams in 1998 and 1999. He drove a R390 GT1 car to 10th place in ’98 and did not finish at the wheel of the R391 prototype the following year.

Sportscar legend Henri Pescarolo has delayed the debut of his new LMP1 contender until the Le Mans 24 Hours.

His team had planned to race its new Pescarolo-Judd 03, which is based around the monocoque and suspension from last year’s Aston Martin AMR-One, at the Spa 6 Hours on May 5.

As predicted by AUTOSPORT, it will now not be ready in time for the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, which means Pescarolo Team will be forced to give the car its race debut in the 24 Hours in June.

The late start date for the project was blamed by Pescarolo for the postponement. He explained there would be no chance to test properly before the Spa event.

The team ran its 2011-specification Pescarolo 01 at the Sebring 12 Hours WEC opener in March. Teams were given dispensation to run last year’s cars for one race only.

Pescarolo will still be on the grid at Spa with the Dome-Judd S102.5 coupe, which it will also race at Le Mans.

Renger van der Zande is set to make his prototype sportscar racing debut this year with the Lotus LMP2 squad in the World Endurance Championship.

The Dutchman, who raced for Mercedes in the DTM last year, expects to compete in six WEC events with the team, alongside a campaign in the Formula 1-supporting Porsche Supercup which kicks off in Bahrain this weekend.

“I’m actually quite proud that two months after my sudden departure from the DTM, I already have an interesting year lined up,” said van der Zande, who only found out in February that he was not being retained by Mercedes.

“International motorsport is currently facing seriously reduced budgets, so landing a seat in a professional class is far from easy.

“I’m sincerely grateful to Colin Kolles and the Lotus team for giving me this opportunity. I need to get into my ‘endurance mode’, and I’m looking forward to it.”

The team announced last week that it was expanding to a second WEC Lotus-powered Lola for the upcoming Spa Six hours, with James Rossiter and Kevin Weeda confirmed as drivers.

The radical Nissan DeltaWing sportscar project undertook its first wet weather running yesterday at Snetterton.

Marino Franchitti and long-term Nissan driver Michael Krumm shared control of the car at the Norfolk circuit, which also marked the project’s first European test.

Franchitti, who ran in the morning when conditions were at their worst, said the first wet run had provided the team with important data and given them a clear direction for future development.

“Mother nature really did us a favour today, because it was great to get another run in the wet,” Franchitti explained.

“The day allowed us to try the wet tyres in a real world situation – we didn’t have to wet the track at all, it was a proper wet, rainy day. [It] has really given us some important data and provided Michelin with some clear direction for future development.”

Nissan Europe’s general manager Darren Cox added: “The whole Nissan DeltaWing team is still on a massive learning curve.

“Testing in the States was a stable, predictable way of doing the initial groundwork but this exciting car is going to be racing in the French countryside.

“Today, the whole team got a taste of the conditions they may well face on June 16/17, so it may not have been much fun in the Norfolk rain, but it’s about the best thing that could have happened for a project and a car that will face an enormous challenge just to make the end of the race.”

Audi has signed Peugeot refugee Marc Gene as a reserve driver for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The 38-year-old Spaniard had been part of Peugeot’s Le Mans effort from its inception in 2007 to its abrupt cancellation at the end of 2011, taking victory at Le Mans along the way.

In addition to being Audi’s standby for Le Mans, Gene will also race one of the team’s new R18 ultras in the Spa round of the World Endurance Championship in May, substituting for the Timo Bernhard, who is still not fully recovered from his Sebring testing crash.

“At our first meetings I immediately had the impression that Marc will blend well with our sports car squad,” said head of Audi Sport Wolfgang Ullrich.

“We very quickly reached an agreement. It’s very unfortunate that Timo Bernhard won’t be able to compete for us at the second WEC round at Spa as planned. At the same time, I’m pleased to see his recovery making significant progress. That’s why we’re sticking to our original plan of having him run at the Le Mans 24 Hours.”

Audi has already confirmed Berhard, Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler, Benoit Treluyer, Allan McNish, Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen, Romain Dumas, Loic Duval, Oliver Jarvis, Marco Bonanomi and Mike Rockenfeller as the race drivers for its four-car Le Mans entry.

Sebastien Loeb will try his new team’s ORECA-Nissan LMP2 car in the Le Mans test day on 3 June.

The Sebastien Loeb Racing team does not have an entry for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, but is taking advantage of a rule that allows teams not doing the endurance classic itself to participate in the test day.

Loeb’s team finished second in the European Le Mans Series opener at Paul Ricard with Stephane Sarrazin, Nicolas Minassian and Nicholas Marroc.

Sarrazin and Minassian already have Le Mans drives with Starworks and Pescarolo respectively, so will not be available for Loeb. So far, the World Rally legend is the only driver confirmed in the car for the test.

AUTOSPORT magazine revealed earlier this month that Loeb was open to the idea of racing for his squad later in the year, and was aiming for a Le Mans entry in 2013.

The eight-time WRC champion has always admitted that he set up Sebastien Loeb Racing as a project for when he eventually retires from motor racing.

Loeb raced at Le Mans with Pescarolo in 2005 and ’06.

British sportscar regular Johnny Mowlem will return to the prototype ranks with Dyson Racing in this year’s American Le Mans Series.

The 43-year-old, who is also continuing in his role as test and development driver with Lotus, will contest the four remaining ALMS enduros. He will share the lead Dyson Lola-Mazda B12/60 LMP1 coupe with reigning ALMS champions Guy Smith and team boss Chris Dyson.

Mowlem, who has already tested the team’s car on two occasions at Sebring, will race for the first time in the six-hour race at Laguna Seca next month.

His programme will continue with the four-hour events at Road America and the Virginia International Raceway and then the 1000-mile Petit Le Mans enduro at Road Atlanta.

Mowlem, whose prototype credentials include finishing second at Petit at the wheel of a works Zytek LMP1 in 2006, said: “I’m delighted to be back racing an LMP1, especially with a championship-winning team. I’m over the moon.”

Team boss Chris Dyson said: “We were looking for someone who could support our championship defence and bolster our development efforts as we look to continue our success through 2012 and beyond. Johnny fits the bill perfectly.”

Mowlem is also contesting the GT Open with a Lotus Evora GTE jointly run by the factory and Scuderia Guidici.

The 19-year-old British racer graduates to GP3 after three seasons competing in Formula Renault in the UK.

Powell, who tested with Status at Silverstone last week, completes the team’s line-up alongside Marlon Stockinger and Kotaro Sakurai.

“I am delighted to join Status GP for my step up into the international motorsport arena,” Powell said. “I liked the GP3 car immediately, and I am confident that together we will produce some strong results.

“I will be learning the F1 circuits and the formula this year, but the team is very experienced and we’re already working well together.”

Powell is the third female racer to join the series this year alongside Carmen Jorda and Vicky Piria.

The US Dyson Racing team has withdrawn from the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Dyson, which won last year’s American Le Mans Series, had planned to contest the race for the first time with a pair of Lola-Mazda B12/60 LMP1 coupes. Its entries were missing when a revised entry list for the big race on June 16/17 was published this morning.

The team’s participation was known to be conditional on it finding the necessary finance to take part. Together with Status Grand Prix, its commercial and logistical partner for the French event, Dyson was seeking funding for four of the seats available, the other two being taken by team regulars Chris Dyson and Guy Smith.

Status is one of the beneficiaries of the Dyson’s withdrawal. Its own entry, the the Lola-Judd/BMW B12/80 LMP2 it is running in the European Le Mans Series, moves up from the reserve list along with the RLR-run Murphy Prototypes ORECA-Nissan 03.

Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr took an emphatic win in Saturday’s American Le Mans Series round on the Long Beach street circuit.

The Muscle Milk/Pickett Racing HPD duo, who started from second on the grid, took the lead for the final time with around 30 minutes left to run and quickly opened a gap over polesitter Chris Dyson, who was sharing his Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda with Guy Smith. The final margin of victory was 43.66 seconds.

Third outright and first of the PC class cars was the CORE Autosport ORECA shared by Alex Popow and Ryan Dalzell, who finished comfortably ahead of Muscle Milk’s Memo Gidley and Mike Guash.

LMP2 honours went to Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut in their Level 5 Motorsports HPD; their campaign having been helped by rivals Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier Hansson’s Conquest entry being called in for a pitlane speeding penalty while sitting in the class lead after its final stop.

The P2 ranks had earlier been decimated when the Black Swan Lola of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Scott Tucker rammed a car that was rejoining the track after a spin on the second lap, prompting the team to fire a broadside at officials over the lack of yellow flags.

A tight battle for the GT win fell the way of Chevrolet duo Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, who triumphed after a long tussle with the BMW of Dirk Muller and Joey Hand. The BMW challenge had been diminished early on when the sister car of Jorg Muller and Bill Auberlen lost several laps in the pits with a leaking radiator.

Damien Faulkner and Peter LeSaffre (Green Hornet Racing) claimed the GTC class win by just 3.11s ahead of Alex Job Racing’s Leh Keen and Cooper MacNell.

Bad weather forced the American Le Mans Series to abandon its qualifying session at Long Beach on Friday evening, meaning that Dyson Racing duo Chris Dyson and Guy Smith will take pole position based on championship points.

The weather had initially cleared enough for the GT and GTC cars to go out, but the track never dried enough for anyone to set a representative time and was red-flagged before the prototypes had a chance to run.

Michael Valiante set the fastest lap of the afternoon in the GTC class JDX Racing Porsche with a 1m45.508s tour of the Californian street circuit. The Best of the GT cars was Wolf Henzler’s 2m44.519s lap in the Falken Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

The washout means that current LMP1 points leaders Dyson and Smith (Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda) will start from pole ahead of the Pickett Racing HPD shared by Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf.

The Level 5 Motorsports HPD driven by Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker will have the LMP2 class pole, while BMW’s Joey Hand and Dirk Muller will have the GT class advantage in their Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-run works machine.

CORE Motorsport’s Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel (ORECA) and Alex Job Racing’s Leh Keen and Cooper MacNeil (Porsche) will take the PC and GTC honours respectively.

Grid to follow…

James Rossiter will make his World Endurance Championship debut with Lotus at the Spa Six Hours in May as the Kodewa-run team expands to a pair of cars.

Rossiter, who raced a GTE-class Evora at Le Mans last year, will be one of two drivers in the second Lotus-engined Lola B12/80 LMP2 machine. His co-driver will be American amateur Kevin Weeda.

“I feel very honoured to be part of Lotus again and to race for the team in FIA WEC this year. It is great for my career to be back racing in LMP2 class,” said Rossiter, a race winner in the American Le Mans Series and a former Formula 1 tester for Super Aguri.

“Representing the legendary Lotus colours means a lot to me and I hope that we will have good results. I would especially like to thank Kevin Weeda for making this opportunity a reality.”

The other Lola-Lotus will continue to be raced by Thomas Holzer, Mirco Schultis and Luca Moro.

Mitch Evans topped the second day of GP3 testing at Silverstone on Thursday.

The MW Arden driver, who is the standout championship favourite ahead of the season, moved to the top of the times early in the afternoon session as track conditions improved after a damp start to the day.

Evans knocked Carlin’s Antonio Felix da Costa off the top spot after the Portuguese driver had led the way following a flurry of activity before lunch when the track dried out.

Conor Daly and Tio Ellinas were among the other drivers to have brief spells at the head of the field before lunch, and their times stood through the afternoon running to leave them third and fourth on the day.

New Carlin signing Will Buller set the fifth fastest time, while Evans’s closest challenger in the afternoon – Robert Visoiu – rounded out the top six for the day.

Results to follow…

William Buller will join the Carlin team for this year’s GP3 series, completing the British squad’s line-up.

The 19-year-old Northern Irishman had completed several GP3 tests with Carlin before securing the drive for 2012.

In yesterday’s test at Silverstone he was fifth quickest overall.

Buller is a race winner in the British F3 series, having claimed 13 F3 podiums in total.

“I’ve tested the GP3 car a few times over the winter with Carlin and it’s gone very well,” said Buller. “GP3 is now an established series with great racing, plus it has a lot of commercial and sporting benefits for me as I develop my career.

“Live TV on the new Sky Sports F1 channel will be good for my sponsors and the opportunity to show the F1 teams what I can do again is a major plus point for me as a driver.

“I know most of the tracks from Formula BMW, but I am going to gain even more experience of competing on a number of Formula 1 circuits, which will help me as I move forwards in my career.”

Mitch Evans narrowly edged out Mattias Laine to finish fastest on the first day of GP3 pre-season testing at Silverstone.

In a morning dominated by heavy clouds and cool temperatures, Evans left it until the final 20 minutes of the session to post a 1m50.276s, enough to put him more than half a second clear of the field.

Second went to Carlin’s Antonio Felix da Costa, who had ended GP3′s previous test at Barcelona on top.

Manor’s Tio Ellinas and Carlin’s William Buller were the last two drivers to dip below the 1m51s mark.

Only three drivers managed the feat in the afternoon, with Evans again in the mix.

He could not match team-mate’s Laine’s 1m50.292s however, which was the second fastest time of the day and ensured Arden occupied the top two slots at the day’s close.

Conor Daly (Lotus) posted a 1m50.085s to finish third fastest in the afternoon, with the session being brought to an effective close an hour from the finish when the expected rain finally fell.

British youngster Alice Powell, making her maiden GP3 appearance with Status, finished 22nd and 20th in the respective sessions, and also brought out the day’s first red flag when she spun early on at Turn 13.

Ethan Ringel (Atech) brought out the second when he crashed just two laps into the afternoon running.

Times to follow…

Toyota has been forced to delay the racing debut of its new LMP1 car following a crash during testing at Paul Ricard.

The Japanese manufacturer was scheduled to compete with its new TS030 HYBRID in the Six Hours of Spa on 5 May, but a crash at Paul Ricard last week has made Toyota change its plans.

Toyota said the damage to the car was too severe to be repaired, and that a new monocoque cannot be produced and sufficiently tested to ensure reliability within the limited time available.

The team will now make its first racing appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

“We are deeply saddened to announce this decision and our sympathies are with the drivers, team members and fans who have been anticipating the Spa race so eagerly,” said Toyota racing president Yoshiaki Kinoshita.

“Since the accident we have looked into all options but unfortunately there is no alternative course of action open to us.”

The team said it will now urgently prepare a new monocoque to resume testing ahead of Le Mans.

Conquest has announced that it will run a Nissan engine in its LMP2 car for the remainder of the ALMS season.

The car, shared by Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier Hansson, will debut its NISMO-prepared 4.5 litre V8 at this weekend’s Long Beach round.

“Nissan has proven to be the leader in sportscar racing and we are very happy to have their engine powering our LMP2 car,” said team owner Eric Bachelart.

“This partnership solidifies our package in the ALMS and gives us the right tools to go out and win races. I’d like to thank Nissan North America for their support and we look forward to a successful partnership.”

The engine being used by Conquest is the same specification as that which took the class win at last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as winning the overall LMP2 championship in the ILMS.

Conquest used a Judd engine at the previous round at Sebring.

Auto GP champion Kevin Ceccon has chosen GP3 for his 2012 programme, signing for Ocean Racing Technology’s first assault on the series.

Italian driver Ceccon contested a partial GP2 campaign with Coloni in late 2011, as well as making his Formula 1 testing debut with Toro Rosso in the Abu Dhabi young driver sessions, after winning the Auto GP crown at the first attempt.

“I am very happy to face this challenge of the GP3 Series with Ocean Racing Technology, which is discovering this world at the same time I am,” said Ceccon.

“I think that with my experience, I could conceivably finish in the top three of the championship. I can’t wait to get my start in the Silverstone tests, where I will be able to start working with the crew.”

Established GP2 team Ocean has replaced Tech 1 in GP3 this year. Ceccon completes the line-up at Tiago Monteiro’s squad, joining the already-signed Carmen Jorda and Robert Cregan.

“Kevin is a very fast, professional driver,” said Monteiro. “Despite his youth, he has the necessary experience to successfully enter the GP3 Series and to help his two team-mates to evolve. It’s a great pleasure to be able to count on him.”

Japanese driver Kotaro Sakurai will move into GP3 this year with the Status team.

Sakurai, who won the British Formula 3 National Class title in 2011, tested for Status both in winter 2010 and again after his F3 campaign last year.

Team boss Teddy Yip said: “Status GP has been involved in Kotaro’s development as a driver over the past 18 months, and watched him mature and grow as a driver.

“It’s a great pleasure to welcome him into the team on a full-time basis in the GP3 Series this season, and his dedication and determination to succeed aligned to his natural ability will see him progress through the season on the F1 stage.”

The 17-year-old joins GP3 returnee Marlon Stockinger in the Status line-up.

The team took Robert Wickens to second in the inaugural GP3 championship in 2010, and was a race-winner with Alexander Sims last year.

Chrysler will return to endurance racing later this year after the manufacturer announced a new racing programme for the SRT Viper in the American Le Mans Series.

SRT Viper Racing is set to make its debut mid-season with an SRT Viper GTS-R, officials announced at the New Your Auto Show on Wednesday.

Chrysler has partnered with Riley Technologies to design and build the car over the past two years, while the car maker also confirmed that it had already signed Kuno Wittmer, Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens as its three drivers.

“Racing has been a significant part of the illustrious history of Viper not only with significant wins on the track, but also in the continued development of the street cars – and our new 2013 SRT Viper models are proof of those lessons learned,” said Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of Chrysler’s SRT group.

“Now with our new team and the launch of the GTS-R, we’re excited and proud to begin writing more chapters in the racing history of the Viper later this summer.”

The Viper dominated GT racing in the ALMS and at Le Mans for over a decade, winning the 24-hour race each year from 1998 to 2000 in the category.

The original Viper GTS-R made its racing debut back in 1996.

“I don’t think it’s possible to overstate the significance of the SRT Viper returning to the top level of professional sports car racing,” said ALMS president Scott Atherton.

“The Chrysler Group has a long, storied and very successful history of competing with the American Le Mans Series. We would be hard-pressed to come up with a better scenario than having the brand return with the simultaneous introduction of both the new production car and the competition version. What a great way for SRT Viper to come back to racing.”

Dempsey Racing has confirmed it will compete in the American Le Mans Series with a Lola B12/80 LMP2 car.

The team, owned by the star of TV show Grey’s Anatomy Patrick Dempsey, is preparing for a “possible” debut at Laguna Seca in May before competing in more races during the 2012 season.

The Lola B12/80 LMP2 coupe will be powered by a Judd engine.

Dempsey Racing, established in 2003, is aiming to take part in the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours.

“It is no secret that I really enjoyed my experience at Le Mans in 2009,” said Dempsey. “Lola is a famous name throughout the world of racing. I kind of knew what they did at Indy and in sports cars from when I was a kid. I am relishing driving this brand new LMP2 design.”

Hungarian Tamas Pal Kiss will join Atech CRS GP for the 2012 GP3 season.

Pal Kiss, a race winner in GP3 last year with Tech 1 Racing, had already tested for the team at Barcelona last month.

He joins American Ethan Ringelin in Atech’s line-up for 2012.

“I’m really pleased to be returning to a team I know and to be working with some of the people I built up such a good relationship with in 2009/10,” said Pal Kiss, 16th in last year’s championship with 11 points.

“After a successful season last year, it’s nice to come back to Atech and after a good test at the end of last season, and a positive pre-season test in Spain recently, I’m confident ahead of the 2012 season.

“Naturally it’s always better to stay with a team for a second season for a proper attempt at winning the series, however I know the Atech team well, we work well together, and I have a very good relationship with my engineer Mick Cook.

“I’m sure that if we continue to work hard during the pre-season, we have a very good chance of challenging for the title.”

A lack of entries has forced the organisers of the European Le Mans Series to cancel the second round of the championship, which was to be held at Zolder on May 20.

Just 21 cars took part in the opening race at Paul Ricard last weekend and only 19 entries were registered for the Belgian race.

Following a meeting between ELMS promoter Patrick Peter, ACO vice president Pierre Fillon, FIM WEC general manager Gerard Neveu and ACO sports director Vincent Beaumesnil (ACO Sports Director) at Ricard, and in consultation with the teams, it was decided to write off the event.

In a press release Peter cited the reason for the cancellation as a chance to regroup and allow time to gain the targeted minimum of 25 cars for the British round of the now-four-race series at Donington Park on July 15.

“This decision, the outcome of a long discussion, was taken because the number of entrants (19) for the Belgian round was judged to be insufficient to ensure that the race unfolded in the best possible manner to ensure media fallout worthy of a six-hour event,” the release stated.

“The various partners involved in the European Le Mans Series have given themselves the time to assemble a field of 25 cars minimum for Donington.

“To achieve this objective, discussions have begun between the different partners to find solutions to attract more entrants for the various categories, in particular GTE, FLM and GTC.

“For the latter widening the range of eligible cars is being studied, and will be confirmed as soon as possible according to the results of the technical assessment carried out by the ACO.”

The ELMS and American Le Mans Series make up for 25 of the 55 Le Mans 24 Hours entries, and Fillon says the aim for the European Series, which does not run LMP1 prototypes, is to have 35 cars on the grid in 2013.

The release also stated that, subject to an FIA waiver, a certain number of ELMS teams may be accepted for the Spa-Francorchamps round of the WEC on May 6.

Mathias Beche and Pierre Thiriet claimed victory in the opening round of the European Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard for the French TDS Racing squad.

Beche and Thiriet ended up winning the six-hour race in their ORECA-Nissan 03 by more than a lap after the challenge from the Greaves Zytek wilted in the fifth hour.

Greaves driver Alex Brundle dislodged part of the front bodywork after taking over the Zytek-Nissan Z11SN and a pitlane infraction at the resulting stop resulted in a two-minute stop-go penalty. That left the car, which was started by Tom Kimber-Smith, in fourth place at the chequered flag.

The race for overall victory had initially been a three-way fight between the TDS ORECA, the Greaves Zytek and the Status GP team’s brand-new Lola-Judd/BMW B12/80 driven by Yelmer Buurman, Alexander Sims and Dean Stirling.

The Status car fell out of contention when SPEED EuroSeries graduate Stirling, racing a modern LMP2 for the first time, was unable to match the times of his team-mates after taking over from Buurman in the third hour.

The Sebastien Loeb Racing ORECA-Nissan 03 driven by Nicolas Minassain, Nicolas Marroc and Stephane Sarrazin came through to finish a lap down on the winners. The car, which was only finished in the week of the race, was never in contention for the victory.

Sims brought the Status Lola back to third after the Greaves car’s problems, finishing 30s down on Sarrazin at the finish.

The JMW Motorsport Ferrari squad sealed a dramatic victory in the GTE Pro class. James Walker and Jonny Cocker completed the race on four stops in their 458 Italia,
whereas the JMB Ferrari that had led most of the way in the hands of Jamie Melo and Marco Frezza needed a late-race splash-and-dash.

Cocker sneaked ahead as Melo exited the pits with 11 minutes to go and was able to hold on to claim a one-second victory.

GTE Am honours went to the ProSpeed Porsche 911 GT3-RSR of Marc Goossens and Maxime Soulet.

Curtis Racing Technologies drivers Phil Keen, John Hartshorne and Alex Kapadia came out on top in the one-make LMPC category.

Switzerland’s Mathias Beche claimed pole position for the opening round of the European Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard this weekend.

Beche posted two laps good enough for pole to head the 11-car LMP2 field in the TDS Racing ORECA-Nissan 03 he shares with Pierre Thiriet. His best time of 1m48.171s put him three tenths of a second clear of Yelmer Buurman in the Status GP team’s Lola-Judd/BMW B12/80.

“Guys like Stephane Sarrazin [who qualified the Sebastien Loeb Racing ORECA in seventh place] have always been the reference for me,” said Beche, twice an LMP2 class winner in last year’s Le Mans Series. “To be ahead with exactly the same car, engine and tyres means a lot to me and the team.”

Tom Kimber-Smith, last year’s LMS LMP2 champion, ended up third fastest with a time four tenths slower than Buurman. Guillaume Moreau was fourth in OAK Racing’s Morgan-Judd/BMW.

British-based Italian Massimo Vignali, who has graduated from the SPEED EuroSeries, ended up fastest in the two-car LMPC field with the Boutsen Energy team.

Jaime Melo took the GTE Pro category pole on his return to JMB Racing, the team with which he started his sportscar career in 2004. His time of 1m57.630s was seven tenths quicker than the next best GTE car, the Am class ProSpeed Porsche driven by Marc Goossens.

The ELMS takes over from the LMS following the creation of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The LMP2 class should provide the overall winner following the decision to do away with LMP1 prototypes from the rebranded series.

Pos  Cl     Drivers                       Team/Car                     Time

 1.  P2     Beche/Thiriet                 TDS ORECA-Nissan             1m48.171s

 2.  P2     Buurman/Sims/Stirling         Status Lola-Judd             1m48.482s

 3.  P2     Ordonez/Kimber-Smith/Brundle  Greaves Zytek-Nissan         1m48.882s

 4.  P2     Nicolet/Moreau/Kraihamer      OAK Morgan-Judd              1m48.977s

 5.  P2     Perez Companc/Bruni/Kaffer    Pecom ORECA-Nissan           1m49.068s

 6.  P2     Firth/Hughes/Moro             Murphy ORECA-Nissan          1m49.122s

 7.  P2     Marroc/Minassian/Sarrazin     Loeb ORECA-Nissan            1m49.157s

 8.  P2     Dolan/Hancock                 Jota Zytek-Nissan            1m49.687s

 9.  P2     Frey/Meichtry/Hirschi         Race Performance ORECA-Judd  1m50.193s

10.  PC     Dagoneau/Vignali/Merlin       Boutsen Ginion FLM           1m55.338s

11.  PC     Hartshorne/Keen/Kapadia       Curtis FLM                   1m55.410s

12.  GTE P  Melo/Frezza                   JMB Ferrari                  1m57.630s

13.  GTE A  Goossens/Soulet               Prospeed Porsche             1m58.388s

14.  GTE A  Armindo/Narac/Pons            Imsa Porsche                 1m58.428s

15.  GTE P  Walker/Cocker                 JMW Ferrari                  1m58.517s

16.  GTE A  Goethe/Hall                   Gulf Aston Martin            1m58.532s

17.  GTE A  Cioci/Griffin/Perazzini       AF Ferrari                   1m58.803s

18.  GTE P  Broniszewski/Peter            Kessel Ferrari               1m59.082s

19.  GTE A  Ferte/Illiano                 JMB Ferrari                  2m00.182s

20.  P2     Rosier/Thirion                Extreme Limite Norma-Judd

21.  P2     Clarke/Briere/Buemi           Boutsen Ginion ORECA-Nissan

Alexander Sims has joined the Status GP team to complete in the European Le Mans Series this season.

He talked to AUTOSPORT following his first taste of LMP machinery.

Q. What did you make of your first experience of an LMP car?

Alexander Sims: It was cool and about what I expected. It had good power and good downforce.

Q. How well prepared do you feel for the season opener at Paul Ricard this weekend?

AS: I did eight to 10 laps, so it is not the ideal scenario, but it is not a disaster either. I’m feeling pretty comfortable going into the race weekend.

Q. How did the deal with Status happen?

AS: I’d kept in contact with the team after last year finish out of curiosity and as the season approached they put an offer to me. I had to okay it with McLaren, because that deal is my priority, and they were happy for me to do it. It will be good to get some endurance racing experience in a prototype, which means I will be on the ball when I get to race the McLaren for the first time.

Q. You are listed against the Status Lola on the Le Mans 24 Hours entry list; what are the plans there?

AS: It was done more out of convenience than anything else because of time constraints. Status is still on the reserve list, so I’m playing it by ear. It is certainly a race I want to do.

Q. How much running have you done in the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 since you were announced as part of that programme?

AS: I’ve got quite a lot of time in the car and feel comfortable in it now. I’ve tested at Hockenheim and Paul Ricard, and done a few days at the MIRA proving ground.

Q. Will you race a McLaren this year?

AS: Nothing is confirmed yet. There are seats in McLarens yet to filled, so there is still a chance of a full season, but I definitely hope to get a seat for the Spa 24 Hours.

Sportscar newcomer Alexander Sims will race for the Status GP team in this year’s European Le Mans Series alongside his role as test and development driver for the McLaren GT programme.

Sims, who raced with Status in GP3 last season, will drive the team’s LMP2 Lola B12/80-Judd/BMW in the full ELMS.

He will be joined at the season opener at Paul Ricard this weekend by multiple Superleague Formula race winner Yelmer Buurman and British sportscar regular Dean Stirling.

Sims, the 2008 McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner, said: “To be able to balance my programmes this year is a fantastic way for me to quickly gain sportscar experience and hopefully top results. Developing the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 and racing a prototype in ELMS will complement each other perfectly.”

Status is moving into sportscars under its own name for the first time in 2012. The team has previously helped run cars for the Level 5 Motorsports LMP2 team and Team Modena in GT1.

Status team principal Teddy Yip Jr said: “It’s fantastic that Status GP’s long-held ambition to move into sportscar racing in our own right is coming to fruition this weekend, and it’s an important development for the company.”

The Status Lola shaken down at Snetterton on Monday, with Sims getting his first laps in a prototype, before the team left for Ricard.

Antonio Felix da Costa will stay in GP3 after Carlin confirmed him as its second driver for the forthcoming campaign.

The 20-year-old Portuguese driver made his category debut with Carlin in 2010, before switching to Status – with whom he won once on his way to finishing 13th in the championship – in 2011.

He then rejoined Carlin for GP3′s pre-season tests at Estoril – where he finished third fastest on both days – and Barcelona, where he ended at the top of the timesheets.

Da Costa, who also competed in the 2011 GP2 Final in Abu Dhabi and tested for Force India in Formula 1, said his testing pace left him confident for his 2012 campaign.

“I’m really looking forward to this season with Carlin: I know the team really well and get on so well with everyone, it’s like a family,” he said.

“Having raced with the team before I feel really comfortable in the car, which I think we’ve shown in pre-season testing.

“Our pace in testing has left me confident for the start of the season and I can’t wait for the first race in May.”

Team boss Trevor Carlin added: “The team have done a great job in testing and Antonio has really been on form, setting the fastest time at the last test in Barcelona.

“I’m expecting him to be a real contender this season.”

Da Costa will join Alex Brundle at Carlin, the Briton having been confirmed at the start of February.

Ted Cutting, the man behind Aston Martin’s Le Mans-winning DBR1, has died at the age of 85.

After a spell in the Fleet Air Arm, Cutting joined Sydney Allard’s small team in the 1940s. He once described the job as “very basic automobile engineering” and left to join Aston Martin in 1949.

Initially a draughtsman, he was quickly brought into the company’s design team, working under chief engineer Professor Robert Eberan-Eberhorst, of pre-war Auto Union GP car fame, and later Willie Watson.

In 1955 Cutting became chief racing designer and was instrumentally involved in every Aston Martin racing car produced during the manufacturer’s most active and successful period prior to modern times.

Although he was responsible for all the racing Astons until 1963, from the delayed and ultimately ill-fated DBR4/250 grand prix car to the Project 212, 214 and 215 GT cars of 1962-63, his greatest achievement was the DBR1/300.

The three-litre machine won the Nurburgring 1000Km three years in a row from 1957-59. In its final season as a works car, the DBR1 took the Le Mans 24 Hours in the hands of Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, and Aston Martin became only the second marque to beat Ferrari to the World Sports Car Championship in 1959.

After the Project cars, Aston Martin ceased direct involvement in motor racing and Cutting joined Ford, where he worked for many years and completed his career.

In retirement, he lectured in motor engineering and retained a close interest in both Aston Martin and Ford. He appeared at the Aston Martin Owners Club’s 50th anniversary celebrations of the Le Mans win in 2009.

Audi is continuing its test at the Sebring International Raceway this week, despite a serious accident late on Monday that hospitalised Timo Bernhard.

The German manufacturer, which started its traditional test the week after the Sebring 12 Hours with four cars, concluded that the technical problem that put Bernhard into the barriers at Turn 17 would not reoccur on the other cars and resumed running on Tuesday.

Bernhard climbed from the wreck of the R18 unaided but was taken to hospital where he spent the night under observation.

Audi began the four-day test with two R18 e-tron quattro hybrids, one conventional turbodiesel R18 and the #3 R18 TDI that took part in the race at Sebring on Saturday.

Eleven of the the 12 drivers who will race for the German manufacturer at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June are present.

Former HRT and Lotus Formula 1 racer Karun Chandhok has labelled the new World Endurance Championship as “a proper crack at making it F1 for sportscars” after his first start in the series at the Sebring 12 Hours last weekend.

The 28-year-old Indian, who has joined World GT1 champion team JRM’s maiden assault on prototypes, was impressed with his experience at Sebring, even though his HPD ARX-03a suffered a suspension problem which restricted it to 17th place finish.

“When I walked into the paddock there were so many familiar faces from F1 and GP2,” said Chandhok. “The teams are very professional and you really have to be on it for every lap of every stint to be competitive. In a way it is a bit like F1 – you have the big budget top teams and then the smaller budget privateer ones fighting for the odd podium.

“The FIA seem to be pushing the series – I met [FIA president] Jean Todt in Sebring and he seems to be fully behind it – which is great. The calendar is fantastic, especially to have Le Mans and Sebring as points-scoring races so, yes, it’s certainly a proper crack at making it F1 for sportscars.”

Chandhok moved to sportscars after failing to land a full-time F1 opportunity, having been the Team Lotus reserve driver in 2011 and contested the German Grand Prix in a one-off outing. He was also impressed by the performance level of the LMP1 cars, despite limited testing.

“I was a bit nervous before going to Sebring, as I didn’t fully know what to expect from the car or the format of the race weekend, but overall I have to say it was a pleasant surprise,” he added. “Obviously the car is a lot heavier and has less power than an F1 car, but they’ve got a good amount of downforce and are very enjoyable to drive once you get it dialled in.”

He admitted that the Audi turbodiesels were 2s per lap faster than the best of the non-works LMP1 teams at Sebring, but believes that leading the charge behind them is an achievable aim.

“The battle to be best of the rest is very tight,” he said. “When I followed [the Audis] on track, they also seemed to have a big advantage in traffic because they have so much torque with the diesel engine, they can pull out of corners quicker and get past cars more easily. It’ll be interesting to see where Toyota stack up when they join the championship.

“I think our realistic aim every time out is to be best of the rest behind the manufacturer-run cars from Audi and Toyota.”

Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello won the 60th running of the Sebring 12 Hours for Audi as the trio had a clear run to the flag in the inaugural round of the FIA’s World Endurance Championship.

Full report to follow.

Pos  Cl      Drivers                        Team/Car                Laps

 1.  P1      McNish/Kristensen/Capello      Audi                    325

 2.  P1      Bernhard/Dumas/Duval           Audi                    321

 3.  P2      Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin   Starworks HPD           319

 4.  P2      Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa         Level 5 HPD             319

 5.  P2      Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla             OAK Morgan-Judd         318

 6.  P1      Collard/Boullion/Jousse        Pescarolo-Judd          318

 7.  P2      Companc/Kaffer/Ayari           Pecom ORECA-Nissan      317

 8.  P1      Dyson/Smith/Kane               Dyson Lola-Mazda        317

 9.  P2      Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian          Greaves Zytek-Nissan    316

10.  P1      Leventis/Watts/Kane            Strakka HPD             316

11.  P2      Martin/Kerr/Graves             ADR-Delta ORECA-Nissan  315

12.  PC      Popow/Viso/Friselle            CORE FLM                312

13.  PC      Leitzinger/Dobson/Junco        PR1 FLM                 311

14.  P2      Holzer/Shultis/Moro            Lotus Lola              310

15.  PC      Bennett/Braun/Lux              CORE FLM                310

16.  P1      Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler      Audi                    310

17.  P1      Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck      JRM HPD                 309

18.  GT      Hand/Müller/Summerton          RLL BMW                 307

19.  GT      Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor        Corvette                307

20.  GT      Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci        AF Corse Ferrari        307

21.  GT      Gavin/Milner/Westbrook         Corvette                307

22.  GT      Müller/Auberlen/Alzen          RLL BMW                 307

23.  GT      Lietz/Lieb/Pilet               Felbermayr Porsche      306

24.  GT      Miller/Maassen/Bell            Miller Porsche          303

25.  PC      Ducote/Echeverria/Sanchez      Merchant FLM            303

26.  GT      Law/Neiman/Lally               Flying Lizard Porsche   303

27.  GT      Brown/Segal/Lazzaro            Extreme Speed Ferrari   303

28.  P1      Luhr/Graf/Pagenaud             Pickett HPD             302

29.  GTE-AM  Ried/Roda/Ruberti              Felbermayr Porsche      298

30.  P2      Pappas/Curtis/Fogarty          Black Swan Lola-HPD     298

31.  GTE-AM  Bourret/Gibon/Belloc           Larbre Corvette         297

32.  P1      Prost/Jani/Heidfeld            Rebellion Lola-Toyota   296

33.  GTC     Sweedler/Bell/von Moltke       Alex Job Porsche        292

34.  GT      Mucke/Fernandez/Turner         Aston Martin            292

35.  GTC     MacNeil/Keen/Dumoulin          Alex Job Porsche        291

36.  P1      Belicchi/Primat/Bleekemolen    Rebellion Lola-Toyota   291

37.  GTC     LeSaffre/Faulkner/Bleekemolen  Green Hornet Porsche    290

38.  GT      Henzler/Sellers/Ragginger      Falken Porsche          290

39.  GTE-AM  Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy          Larbre Corvette         288

40.  GTC     Pumpelly/di Guida/Bunting      TRG Porsche             287

41.  GTE-AM  Kauffman/Waltrip/Aguas         AF Corse Ferrari        283

42.  PC      Guasch/Gidley/Wills            Pickett FLM             282

43.  GTC     Cumming/Bullitt/Estre          JDX Porsche             282

44.  P2      Plowman/Hansson/Dracone        Conquest Morgan-Judd    281

45.  GTC     Faieta/Avenatti/Wagner         Competition Porsche     279

46.  GT      Sharp/van Overbeek/Cosmo       Extreme Speed Ferrari   278

47.  P2      Giroix/Jousse/Johansson        Gulf Lola-Nissan        277

48.  GTC     Sofronas/Welch/Villeneuve      GMC Porsche             276

49.  PC      Nicolosi/Vera/Matos            Performance Tech FLM    274

50.  GTE-AM  Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo           Krohn Ferrari           265

51.  PC      Junqueira/Drissi/Gonzalez      RSR FLM                 255

52.  GTE-AM  Binnie/Palttala/Camathias      JWA-Avila Porsche       252

53.  GT      Bergmeister/Long/Holzer        Flying Lizard Porsche   251

54.  GTC     Benitez/Benitez/Thiim          NGT Porsche             236

55.  P1      Moreau/Baguette/Kraihamer      OAK Pescarolo-Judd      233

56.  GT      Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander      AF Corse Ferrari        215

57.  GTC     Cisneros/Edwards/Kauffmann     NGT Porsche             205

58.  PC      Richard/Ende/Cameron           Dempsey FLM             173

59.  P2      Tucker/Diaz/Hunter-Reay        Level 5 HPD              85

60.  P2      Tresson/Mailleux/Lombard       Signatech ORECA-Nissan   85

61.  GT      Makowiecki/Melo/Vernay         Luxury Ferrari           83

62.  PC      Marcelli/Downs/Stirling        Merchant FLM             38

63.  GTE-AM  Ehret/Farnbacher/Jakubowski    Luxury Ferrari            0

DNS. P2      Fatien/Ihara/Deletraz          Gulf Lola-Nissan

The #3 Audi R18 TDI held the lead at the halfway stage of the Sebring 12 Hours in the hands of Timo Bernhard.

The German, who shares the car with Romain Dumas and Loic Duval, had just taken the lead from the sister car driven by Rinaldo Capello as the opening round of the new FIA World Endurance Championship hit the six-hour mark.

The #2 Audi, in which Capello is joined by Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen, had led for the majority of the first half of the race. The car was nearly a minute ahead in Kristensen’s hands after two and half hours, at which point a series of safety-car periods wiped out that cushion.

Kristensen reasserted his advantage and was 10 seconds ahead of Duval when he handed over to Capello. The Italian held off Bernhard until the closing stages of his stint.

The #1 Audi driven by Benoit Treluyer, Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler fell off the lead lap when an electrical glitch hit the car at the start of the fifth hour. Treluyer came slowly into the pits before the problem was resolved by hitting the electrical reset button, but the Frenchman had caught the Joest Audi team by surprise and a pit infraction meant he had to return to the pits to take a stop-go penalty.

The problem reoccurred late in the sixth hour and the car was taken back to the paddock to investigate what were described as gear selection issues.

The best of the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas and the Pickett Racing Honda Performance Development were battling over third place nearly two laps back from the Audis. Nick Heidfeld in the Lola held a narrow advantage over Simon Pagenaud in the HPD.

The LMP2 class was led by Joao Barbosa in the remaining Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b. The Portuguese held a 30s advantage over Stephane Sarrazin in the Starworks HPD.

Seven cars were on the lead lap in a frenetic battle in the GTE class. Tommy Milner topped the order in the best of the Chevrolet Corvette C6.Rs from Marc Lieb in the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3-RSR.

Allan McNish led an Audi one-two-three by just over 38 seconds on the one-hour mark of the Sebring 12 Hours, the opening round of the new FIA World Endurance Championship.

McNish, who is sharing the #2 Audi R18 TDI with Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello, led the early going before pitting during the first safety-car period. The other two Audis waited and pitted on schedule under green-flag conditions late during the first hour, which explained McNish’s clear advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

Marcel Fassler filled second position in the pole-winning R18 with Timo Bernhard just under a second behind in third.

Top petrol-powered LMP1 was the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota coupe in the hands of Neel Jani. Like McNish, he pitted during the yellow flag, which leapfrogged him ahead of the two Honda Performance Development ARX-03as run by the Muscle Milk and Strakka teams.

The Starworks Motorsports ARX-03b, another early stopper, led the LMP2 class in the hands of Enzo Potolicchio from the Conquest Morgan-Judd driven by Martin Plowman.

Ferrari blocked out the top two positions in the GTE class. Luxury Racing driver Jaime Melo led Olivier Beretta, with the two Chevrolet Corvettes in third and fourth positions.

Audi driver Andre Lotterer claimed pole position for the opening round of the new FIA World Endurance Championship at Sebring this weekend.

The 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours winner jumped to the top of the timesheets with a 1m45.820s after taking a penalty for speeding in the pitlane at the start of the session. The German, who shares his Audi R18 TDI with Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, ended up four tenths of a second ahead of Audi team-mate Tom Kristensen.

Lotterer said: “The car ran well and the lap was good, so I’m pretty satisfied. I wasn’t perfect around Turns 13 and 15, but it looks like the rest of the lap was better than I expected.”

Romain Dumas took third place on the grid in the final Audi with a time a further seven tenths slower than Kristensen.

The top runner from the American Le Mans Series, of which this weekend’s Sebring 12 Hours is also the opening round, outperformed its petrol-powered rivals in LMP1. Klaus Graf ended up fourth on the grid in the Pickett Racing Honda Performance Development ARX-03a on a 1m47.536s, which was nearly eight tenths up on the Judd-powered OAK-Pescarolo driven by Guillaume Moreau.

Olivia Pla topped the times in LMP2 in OAK Racing’s Morgan-Judd on a 1m50.467s. That put him four tenths ahead of fellow Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin in the Starworks Motorsport. Elton Julian was third fastest in the Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan Z11SN a further second back.

Gianmaria Bruni ended up fastest in GTE Pro in the best of the AF Corse Ferrari 458s. His 1m58.427s was four tenths quicker than Jaime Melo in the Luxury Racing Ferrari.

The two factory Chevrolet Corvette C6.Rs were the top ALMS GT class runners in third and fourth positions in the hands of Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin respectively.

Dominik Farnbacher claimed the GTE Am pole for the Luxury Racing Ferrari squad. The German’s 2m00.184s lap put him eight tenths ahead of the Niclas Jonsson in the Krohn Racing Ferrari 458.

Audi maintained its stranglehold on the top of the timesheets in final practice for the Sebring 12 Hours.

Romain Dumas ended up fastest in the only one of the three R18 TDIs to take to the track in the fourth session. The other two R18s had completed their test programmes ahead of Friday afternoon’s qualifying session for the FIA World Endurance Championship opener and did not run.

Dumas set a best time of 1m48.200s, which was more than 1.5s up on the second-placed OAK Pescarolo-Judd driven by Guillaume Moreau. Third fastest, a further 0.2s behind, was the best of the Rebellion Lola-Toyotas in the hands of Andrea Belicchi.

Two HPDs ended up fourth and fifth. Pickett Racing driver Lucas Luhr was just over 0.1s up on sportscar newcomer Karun Chandhok in the JRM entry.

The LMP2 times were led by OAK’s Morgan-Judd. Olivier Pla set the best time of 1m51.318s, which was 0.5s up on the Starworks HPD driven by Stephane Sarrazin.

Richard Lietz jumped to the head of the GT order in the dying seconds in the best of the Felbermayr-Proton Porsches. His 1m59.987s lap put him 0.2s ahead of Jaime Melo in the Luxury Racing Ferrari.

Times to follow…

Tom Kristensen led another all-Audi top three in Sebring 12 Hours night practice, despite two of the three R18s being involved in a multi-car accident.

The incident occurred when Markus Palttala spun the JWA Porsche at the hairpin, forcing Nick Heidfeld to come to a halt in the Rebellion Lola-Toyota. Audi’s Loic Duval then crashed into the ex-Formula 1 driver, with Duval in turn hit by team-mate Marcel Fassler. Allan McNish managed to avoid the incident in the third Audi, and while Duval’s #3 car was left stranded on track in the resultant red flag, Fassler brought the #1 back to the pits with only minor damage.

Kristensen put Audi’s #2 R18 on top with a 1m47.049s lap in the closing minutes of the session, which was extended by 25 minutes due to the number of red flag interruptions. Andre Lotterer lapped 0.330 seconds slower than Kristensen in the repaired #1, while the #3 remained third despite having to sit out the rest of the session following the tangle.

The Pickett and JRM HPDs were next up after the dominant Audis, followed by the #15 OAK Pescarolo and Rebellion’s Lola.

Stephane Sarrazin put Starworks’ HPD on top in LMP2, while BMW’s Joey Hand edged out AF Corse Ferrari driver Gianmaria Bruni by just 0.065s in GTE Pro, followed by the Corvettes. Luxury Ferrari driver Pierre Ehret was quickest in GTE Am.

Raphael Matos (Performance Tech) and Spencer Pumpelly (TRG) led the one-make LMPC and GTC classes respectively.

Of the other red flag incidents, the most serious was a crash at Turn 11 for Maxime Jousse in the Gulf Lola-Nissan. Jousse was unhurt, but the car sustained heavy damage.

Having gone fastest in the morning session, Romain Dumas put the #2 R18 turbodiesel he shares with Timo Bernhard and Loic Duval at the top of the timesheets again, only to be knocked off by 0.478s by Andre Lotterer in the sister car.

Lotterer lapped the Florida circuit in 1m47.761s – the best time of the day- in the #1 car he is sharing with Benoit Treluyer and Romain Dumas. The #3 Allan McNish/Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen completed the lock-out.

Guillaume Moreau was the best non-Audi driver in fourth for the OAK Pescarolo squad, but was 1.7s off the pace. The best of the cars registered for the American Le Mans Series, rather than the World Endurance Championship was the Pickett Racing HPD, driven by Klaus Graf on its fastest lap.

Level 5 again set the pace in LMP2, Ryan Hunter-Reay heading the sister HPD driven by Christophe Bouchut. The OAK Morgan of Matthieu Lahaye was the best WEC-registered car in fourth in class.

GTE Pro honours went to the Gianmaria Bruni in the best of the AF Corse Ferraris, Uwe Alzen his closest challenger in his RLL BMW. Julien Canal set the pace in GTE Am in his Larbre Corvette.

The pace-setters in LMPC and GTC were, respectively, Pablo Sanchez Merchant ORECA and Sean Edwards for the NGT Porsche squad.

.Practice 2 Results:

Pos Cl     Drivers                        Team/Car                  Time
 1. P1	    Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer     Audi                  1m47.761s
 2. P1	    Bernhard/Dumas/Duval          Audi                  1m48.239s
 3. P1	    Capello/Kristensen/McNish     Audi                  1m49.202s
 4. P1	    Baguette/Kraihamer/Moreau     Oak Pescarolo-Judd    1m49.439s
 5. P1	    Graf/Luhr/Pagenaud            Pickett HPD           1m49.921s
 6. P1	    Heidfeld/Jani/Prost           Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m51.555s
 7. P1	    Kane/Leventis/Watts           Strakka HPD           1m51.684s
 8. P1	    Boullion/Collard/Jousse       Pescarolo-Judd        1m51.994s
 9. P1	    Belicchi/Bleekemolen/Primat   Rebellion Lola-Toyota 1m52.445s
10. P1	    Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck     JRM HPD               1m52.818s
11. P2	    Diaz/Hunter-Reay/Tucker       Level 5 HPD           1m53.094s
12. P2	    Barbosa/Bouchut/Tucker        Level 5 HPD           1m53.416s
13. P2	    Dracone/Hansson/Plowman       Conquest Morgan       1m53.481s
14. P2	    Lahaye/Nicolet/Pla            OAK Morgan-Judd       1m54.248s
15. P2	    Julian/Gonzalez/Zugel         Greaves Zytek-Nissan  1m54.594s
16. P2	    Graves/Kerr/Martin            ADR-Delta ORECA-Nissan1m55.362s
17. PC	    Ducote/Echeverria/Sanchez     Merchant ORECA FLM    1m55.573s
18. P2	    Companc/Kaffer/Ayari          Pecom ORECA-Nissan    1m55.751s
19. PC	    Matos/Nicolosi/Vera           Performance ORECA     1m56.000s
20. PC	    Dobson/Leitzinger/Junco       PR1 ORECA             1m56.161s
21. PC	    Gidley/Guasch/Wills           Muscle Milk ORECA     1m56.262s
22. P2	    Dalziel/Potolicchio/Sarrazin  Starworks HPD         1m56.549s
23. P2	    Holzer/Moro/Shultis           Lotus Lola            1m56.865s
24. P2	    Lombard/Mailleux/Tresson      Signatech ORECA-Nissan1m56.871s
25. PC	    Cameron/Ende/Richard          Dempsey ORECA FLM     1m56.928s
27. PC	    Downs/Marcelli/Stirling       Merchant ORECA FLM    1m57.059s
27. PC	    Friselle/Popow/Viso           CORE ORECA FLM        1m57.894s
28. PC	    Drissi/Gonzalez/Junqueira     RSR ORECA FLM         1m58.199s
39. P2	    Giroix/Jousse/Charouz         Gulf Lola B12         1m58.260s
30. PC	    Bennett/Braun/Lux             CORE ORECA FLM        1m59.078s
31. GTE P  Bruni/Fisichella/Vilander      AF Corse Ferrari      2m00.334s
32. GTE P  Alzen/Auberlen/Muller          BMW Team RLL          2m00.891s
33. GTE P  Bergmeister/Holzer/Long        Flying Lizard Porsche 2m01.251s
34. GTE P  Makowiecki/Melo/Vernay         Luxury Ferrari        2m01.312s
35. GTE P  Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor        Corvette              2m01.316s
36. GTE P  Gavin/Milner/Westbrook         Corvette              2m01.576s
37. GTE P  Hand/Muller/Summerton          BMW Team RLL          2m01.850s
38. GTE P  Bertolini/Beretta/Gioci        AF Corse Ferrari      2m01.874s
39. GTE P  Fernandez/Mucke/Turner         Aston Martin          2m01.998s
40. GTE P  Cosmo/Sharp/van Overbeek       Extreme Speed Ferrari 2m04.809s
41. GTE P  Lieb/Lietz/Pilet               Felbermayr Porsche    2m02.030s
42. GTE P  Henzler/Ragginger/Sellers      Falken Porsche        2m03.337s
43. GTE A  Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy          Larbre Corvette       2m05.056s
44. P2	   Fatien/Ihara/Johansson         Gulf Lola             1m59.826s
45. GTE P  Brown/Lazzaro/Segal            Extreme Speed Ferrari 2m03.694s
46. GTE A  Beltoise/Ehret/Jakubowski      Luxury Ferrari        2m02.988s
47. GTE A  Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo           Krohn Ferrari         2m03.709s
48. GTE P  Bell/Maassen/Miller            Paul Miller Porsche   2m04.317s
49. GTE A  Ried/Roda/Ruberti              Felbermayr Porsche    2m03.512s
50. GTE P  Lally/Law/Neiman               Flying Lizard Porsche 2m03.417s
51. GTE A  Belloc/Bourret/Gibon           Larbre Corvette       2m07.173s
52. GTC    Cisneros/Edwards/Kauffmann     NGT Porsche           2m07.623s
53. GTE A  Binnie/Palttala/Camathias      JWA-Avila Porsche     2m06.395s
54. GTC    Bleekemolen/Faulkner/LeSaffre  Green Hornet Porsche  2m09.507s
55. GTC    Bell/Sweedler/von Moltke       Alex Job Porsche      2m09.463s
56. GTC    Bunting/Di Guida/Pumpelly      TRG Porsche           2m08.180s
57. GTC    Benitez Jr/Benitez Sr/Thiim    NGT Porsche           2m09.401s
58. GTE A  Aguas/Kauffman/Waltrip         AF Corse Ferrari      2m05.617s
59. GTC    Bullitt/Cumming/Estre          JDX Porsche           2m09.317s
60. GTC    Avenatti/Faieta/Wagner         Competition Porsche   2m10.852s
61. GTC    Dumoulin/Keen/MacNeil          Alex Job Porsche      2m07.308s
62. GTC    Sofronas/Villeneuve/Welch      GMC Porsche           2m09.461s
63. P1	   Dyson/Smith/Kane               Dyson Lola            1m56.089s
64. P2	   Curtis/Fogarty/Pappas          Black Swan Lola       1m56.347s

Audi kept up its pre-race Sebring form by topping the weekend’s opening practice session.

Romain Dumas, in the No.3 R18 he will shared with Loic Duval and Timo Bernhard, set the pace with a 1m48.626s – a shade slower than the fastest time during testing, but enough to finish more than one second clear of the field.

Perhaps surprisingly given Audi’s almost total lockout of the front three in testing, it was the ALMS-entered No.6 Muscle Milk HPD of Lucas Luhr, Klaus Graf and Simon Pagenaud which carried the fight to the lead Audi.

Graf’s best lap of 1m49.762s was enough for second, just over three tenths of a second ahead of Marcel Fassler in the No.1 R18 he will share with Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer.

The third R18 of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello could only manage fifth, more than 2.5s down on the overall pace. The trio had previously topped the times in two of the four tests.

In its absence, the No.13 Rebellion Racing Lola B12 scooped fourth with a 1m51.105s.

The car will be shared by Andrea Belicchi, Harold Primat and Jeroen Bleekemolen.

Across in LMP2 the ALMS-entered No.055 Level 5 Motorsports HPD of Scott Tucker, Christopher Bouchut and Joao Barbosa set the pace.

The No.25 ACR-Delta ORECA-Nissan was second fastest, and hence top of the WEC P2 entries. Robbie Kerr, John Martin and Tor Graves will share the car.

ALMS-entries also led the way in GTE-Pro, with Oliver Gavin’s No.4 Corvette C6 leading the No.56 RLL BMW M3 of Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Jonathan Summerton.

The No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 of Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander was the highest WEC entry in third.

Ferrari’s 458 accounted for the fastest runner in the GTE-Am class, with the No.58 Luxury Racing car of Pierre Ehret, Anthony Beltoise and Francois Jakubowski finishing on top.

Times to follow…

Audi dominated pre-race testing at Sebring, topping all four sessions in the build up to opening round of the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship.

The German manufacturer made good on its tag as heavy favourite – bestowed upon it following Peugeot’s 12th hour withdrawal from the championship – by locking out the top three in all but one session, when the Muscle Milk HPD managed to break into third.

The No.2 R18 shared by Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello set the overall best time, a 1m47.187s, in the afternoon session on Monday.

While the No.1 and No.3 R18s were able to get within 1.2s of that benchmark, the next nearest challenger – Lucas Luhr, Klaus Graf and Simon Pagenaud’s Muscle Milk – was a further 1.4s down the road.

The second ALMS LMP1 car, the Dyson Racing Lola, was fifth fastest, just ahead of Nick Leventis, Danny Watts and Jonny Kane in the No.21 Strakka HPD, which steps up the P1 ranks this year following two successful seasons in P2.

Across in LMP2 the pace was set by the Level 5 Motorsports HPD of Scott Tucker, Luis Diaz and Ryan Hunter-Reay. A 1m52.055s put the trio more than one second clear of the rest of the field.

The fastest WEC LMP2 car was the pre-season favourite No.49 Pecom ORECA-Nissan, which set a 1m53.527 on the final afternoon of the test.

In GTE Pro, WEC and ALMS entries shared the honours over the four sessions, with the WEC No.59 Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 of Frederic Makowiecki, Jaime Melo and Jean-Karl Vernay setting the outright best time, a 2m00.830s.

The No.51 AF Corseand No.77 Felbermayr Porsche 911 were among its chief rivals in the WEC entries, while in ALMS the two RLL BMW M3s were among the main pacesetters.

The No.58 Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 was the fastest of the GTE Am entries.

After a break on Wednesday, there will be three practice sessions on Thursday – including a mandatory night session – before a final practice and then qualifying on Saturday.

The 2012 Sebring 12 Hours then commences at 10.30 local time on Saturday 17 March.

Carlin’s Antonio Felix da Costa led the way on day two of GP3 testing at Barcelona.

Da Costa’s time of 1m37.934s came in the morning session, with Daniel Abt going fastest for Lotus in the afternoon.

MW Arden duo Matias Laine and Mitch Evans – Monday’s pacesetter – were da Costa’s closest rivals in session one, followed by Auto GP champion Kevin Ceccon, who was fourth for Trident despite bringing out the red flags with a quick spin.

Ceccon was quickest of the newcomers, as series returnees Marlon Stockinger (Status) and Conor Daly (Lotus) completed the top six, with Jenzer’s rookie duo Robert Visoiu and Patric Niederhauser next up.

In the afternoon, Jenzer’s Maxim Zimin and Manor’s Tio Ellinas were second and third behind Abt, followed by Tamas Pal Kiss for Atech CRS, Visoiu and da Costa.

Abt’s session-topping performance in the afternoon made up for some mileage lost to an oil leak in the morning, when he was the cause of one of the red flags. Atech CRS’ Ethan Ringel prompted stoppages in both sessions – spinning into the gravel in the morning and stopping on track later on, while Trident’s Vicky Piria caused the final red flag of the day with a late spin.

Testing resumes at Silverstone next month.

Morning session:

Pos  Driver                  Team       Time       Gap

 1.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Carlin     1m37.934s

 2.  Matias Laine            MW Arden   1m37.993s  + 0.059s

 3.  Mitch Evans             MW Arden   1m38.154s  + 0.220s

 4.  Kevin Ceccon            Trident    1m38.239s  + 0.305s

 5.  Marlon Stockinger       Status     1m38.283s  + 0.349s

 6.  Conor Daly              Lotus      1m38.322s  + 0.388s

 7.  Robert Visoiu           Jenzer     1m38.391s  + 0.457s

 8.  Patric Niederhauser     Jenzer     1m38.452s  + 0.518s

 9.  Aaro Vainio             Lotus      1m38.469s  + 0.535s

10.  William Buller          Carlin     1m38.471s  + 0.537s

11.  David Fumanelli         MW Arden   1m38.542s  + 0.608s

12.  Tamas Pal Kiss          Atech CRS  1m38.593s  + 0.659s

13.  Tio Ellinas             Manor      1m38.603s  + 0.669s

14.  Maxim Zimin             Jenzer     1m38.692s  + 0.758s

15.  Dmitry Suranovich       Manor      1m38.955s  + 1.021s

16.  Antonio Spavone         Trident    1m38.977s  + 1.043s

17.  Alex Brundle            Carlin     1m39.129s  + 1.195s

18.  Yann Zimmer             Status     1m39.153s  + 1.219s

19.  Fabiano Machado         Manor      1m39.318s  + 1.384s

20.  Vicky Piria             Trident    1m39.348s  + 1.414s

21.  Kotaro Sakurai          Status     1m39.419s  + 1.485s

22.  Daniel Abt              Lotus      1m39.492s  + 1.558s

23.  Ethan Ringel            Atech CRS  1m39.785s  + 1.851s

24.  Robert Cregan           Ocean      1m40.601s  + 2.667s

25.  John Wartique           Atech CRS  1m40.930s  + 2.996s

26.  Carmen Jorda            Ocean      1m41.997s  + 4.063s
Afternoon session:
Pos  Driver                  Team       Time       Gap

 1.  Daniel Abt              Lotus      1m38.760s

 2.  Maxim Zimin             Jenzer     1m39.027s  + 0.267s

 3.  Tio Ellinas             Manor      1m39.058s  + 0.298s

 4.  Tamas Pal Kiss          Atech CRS  1m39.321s  + 0.561s

 5.  Robert Visoiu           Jenzer     1m39.354s  + 0.594s

 6.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Carlin     1m39.379s  + 0.619s

 7.  Mitch Evans             MW Arden   1m39.635s  + 0.875s

 8.  Kotaro Sakurai          Status     1m39.646s  + 0.886s

 9.  Marlon Stockinger       Status     1m39.690s  + 0.930s

10.  Fabiano Machado         Manor      1m39.791s  + 1.031s

11.  Patric Niederhauser     Jenzer     1m39.946s  + 1.186s

12.  Conor Daly              Lotus      1m40.014s  + 1.254s

13.  Dmitry Suranovich       Manor      1m40.016s  + 1.256s

14.  William Buller          Carlin     1m40.076s  + 1.316s

15.  Matias Laine            MW Arden   1m40.329s  + 1.569s

16.  Alex Brundle            Carlin     1m40.344s  + 1.584s

17.  Aaro Vainio             Lotus      1m40.638s  + 1.878s

18.  Antonio Spavone         Trident    1m40.902s  + 2.142s

19.  David Fumanelli         MW Arden   1m40.977s  + 2.217s

20.  Kevin Ceccon            Trident    1m41.012s  + 2.252s

21.  John Wartique           Atech CRS  1m41.075s  + 2.315s

22.  Robert Cregan           Ocean      1m41.197s  + 2.437s

23.  Ethan Ringel            Atech CRS  1m41.582s  + 2.822s

24.  Vicky Piria             Trident    1m42.192s  + 3.432s

25.  Carmen Jorda            Ocean      1m42.878s  + 4.118s

26.  Yann Zimmer             Status

Nissan has signed up as a partner in the DeltaWing project and will supply the engine for the radical lightweight Le Mans 24 Hours contender.

Nissan will provide the DeltaWing’s 1.6-litre direct injection turbocharged powerplant, which will be badged after the Japanese manufacturer’s DIG-T (Direct Injection Gasoline – Turbocharged) technology. The 300bhp engine has already run in the car during the first shakedown of the DeltaWing at Buttonwillow in California earlier this month.

Andy Palmer, executive vice-president of the Nissan Motor Company, said: “As motor racing rulebooks have become tighter over time, racing cars look more and more similar and the technology used has had less and less relevance to road car development. Nissan DeltaWing aims to change that.”

Nissan joins an existing group of partners in the DeltaWing programme. They are: Duncan Dayton’s Highcroft Racing squad, which will run the car at Le Mans in June; Ben Bowlby, the originator of the DeltaWing concept and the designer of the car; Dan Gurney’s All-American Racers organisation, which has built the car; American Le Mans Series founder Don Panoz; and Michelin, which is supplying bespoke tyres for the project.

Long-time Nissan factory driver Michael Krumm, who won last year’s FIA GT1 World Championship with the Japanese manufacturer, has joined the DeltaWing driver line-up for Le Mans. Marino Franchitti was the first nominated driver and undertook the shakedown in the US.

The car has been awarded ‘Garage 56′ at Le Mans, which has been reserved for an experimental vehicle pioneering new technology. It will run as #0 and will race outside the official classification.

The aim of the lightweight car is to achieve a level of performance between an LMP1 and P2 car with 300bhp, almost half the power output of a P1 car. The target weight for the DeltaWing is 475kg, which compares with the 900kg minimum of P1 and P2 machinery.

The DeltaWing will be demonstrated in public for the first time during this week’s Sebring 12 Hours event.

Antonio Spavone will graduate to the GP3 Series this year after signing for championship newcomer Trident Racing.

Spavone, 17, joins his fellow Italian Vicky Piria in the line-up, having tested for the team at Estoril last month and again at Barcelona on Monday.

“I’m incredibly happy to have this great chance in such an important series like GP3,” Spavone said.

“After the first test at Estoril the support I hoped for finally materialised. As I had been really satisfied with the job done with Trident Racing in Portugal, it’s been a logical step for me to sign with them for a full-time assault.

“I know there will be plenty of work to do and I’ll face some very experienced drivers. My goal is to clinch a top 10 spot as fast as possible. I expect to grow stronger at each race and battle for points in the second half of the championship.”

The third spot at Trident has yet to be filled. Auto GP champion Kevin Ceccon drove for the team at Barcelona on Monday while Yuki Shiraishi has also tested this year.

Mitch Evans set the pace on the first day of GP3′s pre-season test at Barcelona.

The MW Arden driver got down to a 1m38.609s in the morning session, which was enough for him to end the day more than one tenth clear of the rest of the field.

Manor’s Tio Ellinas came closest to toppling Evans, the Cypriot also setting his fastest time in the morning running.

Lotus GP’s Daniel Abt ended the day third fastest, just 0.066s down the road from Ellinas. Abt then set the pace in the slower afternoon session, during which he was the only driver to dip below the 1m29s mark.

David Fumanelli and Mattias Laine completed a strong test for Arden, runners-up in the 2011 teams’ championship, by finishing fourth and seventh fastest respectively in the morning. Laine then improved his time in the afternoon, in which he ended second fastest behind Abt.

Carlos Sainz Jr.(Lotus GP) was another who improved in the final minutes of the day, the Spaniard getting down to a 1m39.087s.

Trident Racing’s Kevin Ceccon also improved in the afternoon, the Italian ending the day eighth fastest overall.

Times to follow…

Aston Martin Racing managing director John Gaw has targeted a top five finish at the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Sebring.

Gaw expects the GTE class to be highly competitive, with over 20 cars battling against Aston Martin’s V8-powered Vantage for class honours.

The team boss also expects the Vantage’s performance to improve as the season progresses, as he said that everyone in the team was eagerly anticipating the Sebring season-opener.

“Everyone in the team is eager to get back into competition. Indeed, many were at Sebring when Aston Martin Racing won on its debut with the DBR9 back in 2005,” Gaw said.

The Vantage GTE will arrive at Sebring on the back of a three day test at the Road Atlanta circuit in Georgia where the team’s works drivers, Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Adrian Fernandez all covered significant mileage in the new car.

Turner said a strong first impression had left him confident for the year ahead.

“I think everyone has been pleasantly surprised with initial performance and reliability, he explained, “which bodes well for Sebring and the season ahead.”

Adrian Fernandez is the only driver from the trio not to have raced a GT car before, but he has raced at Sebring and feels confident that he will be on the pace of his new teammates after the successful test at Road Atlanta.

Carmen Jorda and Robert Cregan will compete for Ocean Racing Technology in the team’s maiden season in GP3.

The Portuguese squad, which also races in GP2, announced on 7 March that it would take over from Tech 1 Racing for the 2012 season.

23-year-old Jorda competed in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo last year. She has previously raced in Indy Lights with Andersen Racing, in the LMP2 class of the 2009 Le Mans Series and has experience in both F3 Spain and the Euro F3 Open series.

She is the second woman to sign for a GP3 team, following Vicky Piria’s agreement with Trident Racing.

“I am delighted with this agreement, especially because Ocean is an experienced team in GP2,” Jorda said.

“I think we can develop and work well together. I’m sure they will help me to improve my performance. I am eager to test the car, that I am sure is very different from the Indy Light that was used to.

“I’ll be a rookie in the championship but I’m sure I’ll improve race by race. I must thank all those who helped me build this project”

Irish racer Robert Cregan meanwhile sat out both the 2009 and 2010 seasons before joining Matt Stone Racing for the junior 2011 Australian V8 Dunlop series.

Cregan, who tested for Tech 1 at the recent Estoril test, said: “I have already tested a GP3 car, but I also know that the first race will be hard and I have to learn a lot.

“The test next week will be very important. I trust in my ability to adapt to this new reality and hope to gradually improve. I think I will be able to run in the top five in the short term.”

Ocean will make its GP3 debut in the forthcoming test at Barcelona on 12-13 March.

Jack Clarke will move into the European Le Mans Series in 2012, driving a Boutsen Ginion-run ORECA Nissan.

Clarke has spent the past three seasons competing in Formula 2. He scored three podiums in 2010, and recorded his first win at Brands Hatch in last year’s championship.

In addition to driving the ORECA in LMP2 – the highest category in ELMS – Clarke will also race a McLaren MP4-12C in this year’s Blancpain series.

“I am really excited for this opportunity,” Clarke said. “I can see that there is a great future in sportscar racing with manufacturers like Audi, Porsche and Toyota either competing or waiting in the wings.

“My step father, Julian Bailey, made a great career in this category and I am excited to be following in his footsteps.

“There will be some fantastic races across the two championships, all the ELMS races are six hours and at some of the best tracks in Europe and I am looking forward to racing in the Spa 24 hours race in a McLaren.”

Clarke will get his first taste of the ORECA at the official ELMS test at Paul Ricard on March 9.

Former Le Mans 24 Hours winner Stefan Johansson will return to the wheel of a prototype in this month’s Sebring 12 Hours.

The US-based Swede, who won Le Mans with the Joest Porsche team in 1997, has signed to drive one of the Gulf Racing Middle East squad’s Lola-Nissan B12/80 LMP2s in the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship on March 17.

Johansson is hopeful that the drive will lead to a full-time seat with the team in the WEC.

Johansson, who will share the Gulf Lola with Ivory Coast driver Frederic Fatien and sometime British Formula 3 racer Keiko Ihara, said: “I’ve been looking to get back in a prototype for a while, so this is great news. It’s a bit last-minute, but I think it’s like that for a lot of teams.

“The deal is only for Sebring at the moment, but the intent is there to do the full season. That would get me back to Le Mans; I didn’t want to miss another one.”

Johansson last raced a prototype when he made a one-off in last year’s Petit Le Mans enduro at Road Atlanta but undertook a full season in the American Le Mans Series in a Ginetta-Zytek run by Corsa Motorsports in 2009.

The last of his 14 Le Mans starts came at the wheel of an Epsilon-Euskadi LMP1 coupe in 2008.

Former Le Mans Series champion Jan Charouz has completed the line-up in the other Gulf Lola. The Czech will drive with team boss Fabien Giroix and ex-Formula Palmer Audi regular Maxime Jousse.

Ocean Racing Technology will take over from Tech 1 Racing in the GP3 Series from the 2012 season.

The Portuguese squad, which also races in GP2, has reached an agreement with Tech 1 Racing that will see Ocean making its debut in the series this year.

Ocean, led by Jose Guedes and Tiago Monteiro, will be on track for the first time next week at Barcelona for the official pre-season test.

“We are very happy to welcome Ocean Racing Technology to GP3,” said series boss Bruno Michel. “They become the fifth team involved in both of our Series along with Lotus GP, Arden Motorsport, Carlin and more recently Trident Racing.

“It is a great opportunity for the Portuguese Ocean’s team. This new season is set to be another thrilling one.”

British racing car constructor Lola has taken the wraps of its 2012 LMP1 contender.

The Lola B12/60, which will make its debut with Mazda power in the hands of Dyson Racing at the Sebring 12 Hours on March 17, is distinguished from its predecessors by heavily revised front-end aerodynamics.

The car also incorporates the wide front tyres now used by the majority of the LMP1 field and a shark’s fin, which is mandatory from 2012.

Lola boss Martin Birrane said: “After a detailed aerodynamic development study over the autumn/winter period, our LMP1 car has effectively had a re-design for the 2012 season.

“Our customers share Lola’s vision and technical thirst for continuous improvement, so we believe that all our entries in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the American Le Mans Series this year will again be competing for further silverware with the new-look Lola B12/60.”

The first of two B12/60s ordered by Dyson left for the US at the weekend and will be given at test at Sebring this Saturday. Dyson will run a solo car in the WEC opener for Guy Smith, Chris Dyson and Steven Kane.

The Anglo-Swiss Rebellion Racing squad, which is running two cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship, will run its bespoke 2011 aero set-up at Sebring before switching to the 2012 bodywork for the second round of the series at Spa in May.

Audi motorsport chief Wolfgang Ullrich believes diesel technology’s recent domination of sportscar racing happened because his team and Peugeot did too good a job, not because the rules favoured diesel power.

The balance between alternative engine types has been a contentious topic in Le Mans racing ever since Audi’s first diesel LMP1 emerged in 2006, and diesels have been further restricted this year, when Audi will enter both the latest version of its diesel R18 and a new hybrid.

Ullrich believes the diesel advantage was accentuated in recent seasons because no major manufacturers were running petrol engines – making it impossible to judge how much of Audi and Peugeot’s superiority was down to their status as the sport’s largest teams, and how much due to them running diesels.

“The ACO and FIA are faced with a very difficult task here,” said Ullrich. “The more different technologies there are in the game the more difficult it becomes to correlate them all.

“The biggest problem is that the Audi and Peugeot diesel cars were in a class of their own over the last few years – and not just because the TDI is the world’s most efficient engine, but also because no other competitor developed an LMP1 car with a gasoline engine to a similar level of detail and know-how.

“For this reason the diesel was trimmed again for the 2012 season, so that from our point of view the diesel is now at a real disadvantage on paper.

“We are, however, prepared to face this challenge and are convinced that the ACO and FIA will make the right decisions for the future. As far as the hybrid issue is concerned we can easily assess the pros and cons through our two-pronged approach, since the base of the R18 ultra and R18 e-tron quattro really is identical.

“The hybrid system alone makes the difference. The ACO and FIA will receive particularly meaningful data from us.”

He added that Audi still believed there was more to come from the conventional diesel engine, and that the R18 ultra remained the best bet for Le Mans victory.

“Quite simply, the TDI engine invented by Audi is still the most efficient drive in the world,” said Ullrich. “We’ve also proved this at Le Mans since 2006. It’s not a coincidence that turbo diesel engines are unbeaten there for six years now, even though the diesel cars were repeatedly limited.

“We are convinced that the TDI has even more potential. This is why Audi not only supports the hybrid in motorsport and production, but in parallel also the further development of the conventional drive.

“The combination of TDI and hybrid is, however, without doubt particularly interesting and very promising. This is exactly what the new Audi R18 e-tron quattro stands for.”

Jenzer Motorsport will promote Patric Niederhauser into its GP3 Series line-up for 2012.

The 20-year-old from Switzerland has driven for Jenzer throughout his two-year car racing career so far, mainly in Formula Abarth in Italy – where he finished runner-up in 2010 before claiming last year’s title and second in the European standings.

Jenzer had already announced that Niederhauser’s 2011 team-mate Robert Visoiu would make the same step from Formula Abarth to GP3 with it. Both men tested Jenzer’s GP3 machinery during the winter.

The team took Nico Muller to top four places in the GP3 championship standings for the past two seasons.

Level 5 Motorsports will retain Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz as Scott Tucker’s team-mates for its American Le Mans Series LMP2 campaign this year.

The team was the only regular ALMS LMP2 entrant last season, but faces tougher competition this year with several newcomers joining the field. Level 5 will enter a pair of new HPDs for the ALMS and Le Mans 24 Hours.

Joao Barbosa and IndyCar driver Ryan Hunter-Reay will again join the line-up for the ALMS season-opening Sebring 12 Hours.

Tucker is set to drive both his team’s cars as usual, with Bouchut his regular partner in the #055 and Diaz joining him in the #95.

Level 5 team manager David Stone said: “We’re happy to have Christophe, Luis, Joao and Ryan back with Level 5 for 2012.

“They’re all good, top guys and while there could have been some other choices, I don’t think there could have been any better choices to join Scott in the HPDs.

“It’s good to have the continuity and working relationship with the same crew and we’re all looking forward to the season.”

Former DTM driver Oliver Jarvis will undertake a mixed programme in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the FIA GT1 World Championship with Audi this year. He talks to AUTOSPORT about the coming season.

Q. What are your thoughts on the switch from the DTM to the your dual programme in 2012?

Oliver Jarvis: Straight up, I have been trying to move into sportscars since I first came to Audi. I’ve been on record as saying that several times. I’m looking forward to the season because I have the prototype programme and I’m doing the GT1 world championship, which will be something new to me. I watched some of the races last year, and there were quality drivers and some great racing, so it is going to be interesting.

Q. Was a full year in the WEC ever a possibility?

OJ: I’d have loved to do the full WEC but I have to be realistic. This is my first proper year driving prototypes and I know I’m not going to jump straight into a full-time drive, especially when Audi only has two cars [contesting the full season]. Don’t forget that out of the 12 Audi Le Mans drivers, nine have won Le Mans. What I’ve got this year offers a really good balance.

Q. Do you have aspirations to return to the DTM?

OJ: I enjoyed the DTM and would be happy to go back, but I see this as a positive. The fact that I am able to dovetail joining the prototype squad with another championship is good.

Q. What are your impressions of the R18 LMP1 so far?

OJ: I tested last year at Paul Ricard and did the recent Abu Dhabi test. I still need a few more test days to acclimatise. An LMP1 is different to a DTM car, because it is such a big step up in terms of cornering speeds.

Q. What do you know about Vincent Vosse’s WRT team with which you will contest the GT1 world championship?

OJ: I don’t know much about the team except for what I’ve been told by other Audi drivers. Eki [Mattias Ekstrom] and Timo [Scheider] drove for WRT at the Spa 24 Hours last year and they were extremely complimentary. It is a relatively new team, but it is already at an extremely high level.

Q. What are your aspirations for Le Mans this year?

OJ: I have to be realistic. First I want to finish, then to be competitive and ultimately to finish on the podium. That would be fantastic.

Loic Duval was announced as an Audi driver for the Le Mans 24 Hours on the confirmation of its sportscar programme this week.

He talks to AUTOSPORT about the drive and his plans for the future.

Q. What does it mean to finally get a full factory drive at Le Mans?

Loic Duval: This is the kind of opportunity that I have been looking for for some time. All drivers want to race for a factory team.

Q. How close did you come to signing with Peugeot prior to its withdrawal from sportscar racing?

LD: I did test and we did talk, but they weren’t able to offer what I was looking for. At the same time I contacted Audi, because it was the manufacturer I really wanted to be with. Audi is Audi, you only have to look at their record to understand why. Some of my friends helped me. I know Andre [Lotterer] and Benoit [Treluyer] very well from Super GT. We are all good friends and they know what I can do.

Q. Is Super GT a good training ground for racing at Le Mans?

LD: The cars are fast – quicker than a DTM car, I think – and the racing is very close. Plus you have the slower GT300 cars, which makes getting past the traffic very important. You learn good skills in Super GT, which I think we have seen at Le Mans in over the past couple of years.

Q. How important do you think your victory with ORECA at Sebring last year was in Audi’s decision to sign you?

LD: For sure, Sebring last year helped, but I think Audi looked at a lot of my other performances, such as Le Mans 2010 [when he recorded fastest lap].

Q. Does your move from Honda to Toyota for Super GT this year give us a hint to your future plans in Europe.

LD: I had to make a move for my career. I have to think of my future and keep my options open. Toyota could be a possibility for next year, but for the moment I am an Audi driver.

Q. Do you have a preference for 2013?

LD: I have answered that question already: Audi is Audi.

Loic Duval has revealed that he turned down a offer from Peugeot to join Audi for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.

The 29-year-old Frenchman, who was announced as part of Audi’s 12-driver Le Mans line-up on the launch of its 2012 sportscar programme last night, confirmed that he tested for the factory Peugeot squad at the end of last summer and was in detailed talks with the French manufacturer.

Duval, who raced a semi-works Peugeot 908 HDi for the French ORECA team in 2010-11, said: “I did test and we did talk, but they weren’t able to offer what I was looking for. At the same time I contacted Audi, because it was the manufacturer I really wanted to be with. You only have to look at their record to understand why; Audi is Audi.”

He said that he hoped to remain with Audi for next year, despite switching from Honda to Toyota for this year’s Super GT Series in Japan.

Audi Sport boss Dr Wolfgang Ullrich said: “Loic was an obvious choice for us. He has had some great results and, as always with a team put together by Dr Ullrich, personality is very important as well. He will fit very well with the team.”

Duval will make his Audi debut in the Sebring 12 Hours, driving an uprated R18 TDI together with former Le Mans winners Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas. They will drive an R18 ultra, the conventional turbodiesel car, at the 24 Hours.

American Conor Daly will race with the Lotus GP team during this year’s GP3 championship.

Daly, who had first tested for the team at Jerez in December, joins German Daniel Abt and Finn Aaro Vaini in the team’s line-up for the 2012 season.

The American last worked with Lotus GP at Estoril last month, where he was fifth fastest over the two days of the test.

“I am very pleased to be with the Lotus GP team in 2012,” said Daly. “The team has had an incredible history of success and has certainly been the team to beat in GP3.

“The goal in the off-season was to try and put myself in the best position to try and win the championship this season and I have no doubt that I’ve got the best chance to do so with Lotus GP.

“I was fortunate enough to test with the team for the first time at the end of 2011 and was extremely happy with what I was able to learn. I now look forward to learning more during pre-season testing from the team and my new teammates. I have to thank everyone who made this happen and I can’t wait to get the 2012 season rolling!”

Lola’s new LMP2 car ran for the first time at a shakedown test in France on Thursday.

The B12/80, which will compete in the World Endurance Championship this year under Lotus branding, was driven at the Chambery airfield in France.

Mirco Schultis and Thomas Holzer – both signed to the Kodewa team that will run the cars – undertook the driving duties, with the pre-Sebring test scheduled to continue on Friday.

Frenchman Loic Duval has joined Audi’s 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours line-up.

The winner of last year’s Sebring 12 Hours with ORECA’s semi-works Peugeot will share a conventional R18 ultra with Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas in the French classic. The 29-year-old’s programme also includes the FIA World Endurance Championship opener at Sebring later this month and the Spa 6 Hours in May.

Other newcomers to Audi are Italian Marco Bonanomi, who was test and reserve driver last year, and former DTM driver Oliver Jarvis. The Briton, whose Le Mans seat was confirmed last month, will share an R18 ultra with Bonanomi and former Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller.

The rest of Audi’s four-car Le Mans line-up, which will also contest the Spa WEC round, has a familiar look.

The winning partnership of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler has been kept together, while Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello will again share a car.

Only McNish and Lotterer have so far been confirmed for the WEC races after Le Mans. Audi has said that their team-mates will be drawn from Sebring line-up.

Full Audi 2012 line-up

Sebring 12 Hours

 #1 Marcel Fassle/Andre Lotterer/Benoit Treluyer   Audi R18 TDI

 #2 Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish  Audi R18 TDI

 #3 Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas/Loïc Duval   Audi R18 TDI
Spa 6 Hours and Le Mans 24 Hours

 #1 Marcel Fassler/Andre Lotterer/Benoit Treluyer  Audi R18 e-tron quattro

 #2 Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish  Audi R18 e-tron quattro

 #3 Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas/Loïc Duval  Audi R18 ultra

 #4 Marco Bonanomi/Oliver Jarvis/Mike Rockenfeller  Audi R18 ultra
Remaining WEC rounds

 #1 Andre Lotterer , Audi R18 e-tron quattro*

 #2 Allan McNish , Audi R18 ultra*

Audi has revived the quattro name for its new hybrid Le Mans 24 Hours challenger.

The hybrid version of the German manufacturer’s turbodiesel LMP1 coupe will be known as the R18 e-tron quattro. It takes the name because its hybrid systems recover kinetic energy and return it to the track through the front axle.

The R18 e-tron quattro follows in a line of successful Audi four-wheel-drive competition cars from the original Audi Quattro World Rally Championship winner of the early 1980s to its A4 quattro Super Tourer of the late 1990s.

The car was unveiled in Munich on Wednesday evening together with the conventional 2012-spec version, which has been christened the R18 ultra.

Audi Sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich said: “To develop hybrid technology for Le Mans is at least as ambitious and challenging as our diesel project was in the early stages. The first results are very encouraging and we are intrigued to see just how this technology performs.”

The R18 e-tron, which will also race in the new FIA World Endurance Championship, becomes a four-wheel-drive car within certain limits laid down in the Le Mans rulebook. The regulations allow 500kJ (approximately 70bhp) of stored energy to be transfered to the wheels between two braking ‘events’ at speeds above 120km/h (75mph).

The rules allow energy retrieval on only one axle. The advantages of choosing the front wheels include improved traction and greater efficiency during the recovery process.

Audi has chosen to use a flywheel or accumulator for energy storage rather than batteries or the super-capacitors favoured by rival Toyota.

Christopher Reinke, Audi Sport’s technical project leader LMP, said: “A high power density is crucial during energy recuperation. The accumulator must be capable of absorbing and lot of energy within a few seconds during the braking stage.”

The flywheel has been developed by Williams Hybrid Power, which also produced the unit in sister marque Porsche’s 911 GT3-R Hybrid.

The 2012 Audis will not race until the second round of the WEC at Spa in May. A revised version of last year’s R18 TDI will be used in the Sebring 12 Hours series opener on March 17 when the German manufacturer enters three cars.

Audi will run its full four-car Le Mans line-up of two R18 e-tron quattros and two R18 ultras at Spa. It will run one of each at each WEC round after the 24 Hours.

Bertrand Baguette will move into sportscar racing full-time this year after joining the OAK Racing squad for its World Endurance Championship campaign.

The 26-year-old Belgian will drive the team’s lone LMP1 OAK Pescarolo-Judd along with experienced sportscar driver Guillaume Moreau – who stays with OAK for a fourth season – and Dominik Kraihamer.

Baguette has raced sporadically in IndyCar for the past two years and led the 2011 Indianapolis 500 near the finish, but also made two appearances in the GT1 World Championship last season in a Marc VDS-run Ford.

He believes his single-seater experience – which includes the 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 crown – will allow him to make a seamless transition to sportscars.

“I am delighted to be joining OAK Racing’s LMP1 squad for this year’s World Endurance Championship. Being as the cars share many similarities with single-seaters I’m sure I will be able to put my experience to good use.

“Moreover, I am thrilled to be contesting prestigious events like Sebring, the Le Mans 24 Hours and of course Spa, where I will be racing in front of my home fans.”

OAK’s LMP2 Morgan-Judd will be driven by former Olivier Pla, a former Le Mans Series champion in the category, Matthieu Lahaye and team owner Jacques Nicolet.

Martin Plowman will move to sportscar racing for 2012 having signed for Conquest’s new American Le Mans Series LMP2 programme.

The 24-year-old Briton will share Conquest Endurance’s Morgan-Judd with sportscar regular David Heinemeier Hansson.

Plowman made three IndyCar appearances with Sam Schmidt Motorsports last year, and caught Conquest team boss Eric Bachelart’s eye in the process.

“When we announced the expansion of our operation with the formation of Conquest Endurance in December, I knew we had a lot of work to do to be ready for Sebring,” said Eric Bachelart, Conquest Endurance team owner. “Finding drivers was on high on that ‘to do’ list.

“Martin really impressed me in his three starts in the IZOD IndyCar Series last season, so I am very happy to have him join Conquest.

“David’s solid racing resume, combined with his off-track success, tells me he is a focused individual who will complement Martin in the cockpit.”

The Risi Ferrari team will miss this year’s American Le Mans Series and World Endurance Championship opener at Sebring next month.

Team boss Giuseppe Risi said the double ALMS GT champion squad and three-time Sebring 12 Hours class winner had not been able to put a satisfactory programme together in time.

“Unfortunately the current economic climate has not allowed us to approach the 2012 season as we would have wished,” Risi said.

“None of us want to go into an event such as Sebring feeling less than 100 per cent ready and prepared, and we aren’t at that point.

“Risi Competizione, racing with Ferrari, has been a stalwart of the series for the last decade and we fully recognise the extremely high level of competition it supports. To race a Ferrari is to enter into a partnership with history and legend. The standards are so high that commitment must be total and complete.

“Risi Competizione knows better than many what it takes to win the 12 Hours of Sebring, and I feel that, right now, we wouldn’t be representative of our best.”

A statement from the team said the door was open to Risi rejoining the ALMS later in the season.

The focus on the new car, with which Aston Martin Racing will contest the FIA World Endurance Championship, has been on improving reliability and serviceability, according to AMR managing director John Gaw.

“Our first target for this project was to produce a reliable car,” he explained. “We have also strived to make the car easier to service. We have new subframes front and rear, which, for example, mean the engine can be changed much more quickly because we no longer have to take the car apart.”

Other improvements are revised aerodynamics, including a new rear wing, a new rollcage and heavily reworked version of the Vantage’s cross-plane crank V8 engine. AMR opted to put development of the flat-plane crank V8 used by its customers at the opening races of 2011 on hold for durability reasons.

Gaw said: “We have been pretty serious about this. The Vantage has always been a customer car, but now I would describe it as a factory car. We have incorporated lessons learned from the DBR9 GT1 and our LMP1 cars.”

A 2011-spec car fitted with the new engine was tested at Guadix in Spain earlier in the year. The first definitive 2012 Vantage GTE was shaken down at the MIRA proving ground this Tuesday before a day’s testing at Donington Park on Wednesday.

The car is due to run for three days at Road Atlanta before making its race debut in the hands of Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Adrian Fernandez at the opening FIA World Endurance Championship round at Sebring on March 17.

The move marks a return to production-based sportscar competition for the factory Aston programme after three years in prototypes ended with 2011′s unsuccessful AMR-One project.

Aston regulars Darren Turner, Adrian Fernandez and Stefan Mucke will drive the one-car full-season WEC entry. A second car will be added for Le Mans.

Aston Martin chairman David Richards believes the return to GT racing is the right move for the manufacturer at this time.

“It’s great to be returning to our core motorsport activity; production-based GT racing,” he said. “It formed the basis for Aston Martin’s return to competition when the DBR9 GT1 racer was launched in 2004, and it was in GT racing that we achieved our famous victories at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008.

“The GT category is also now the most competitive class in world sports car racing and with the new FIA World Endurance Championship the GTE class will, I believe, offer the closest fought and most exciting spectacle.

“We will see many premium sportscar brands competing with great sounding racing cars based on their production models, which all the fans can relate to.”

Holzer, 26, who will drive the team’s Lotus-engined Lola B12/80, has won races in German Formula BMW and F3 and made occasional appearances in the ADAC GT Masters series last year.

His co-drivers in the championship – which features the Le Mans 24 Hours – will be veteran Mirco Schultis, who took last year’s LMPC title in the Le Mans Series, and Italian GT racer Luca Moro.

The WEC begins with the Sebring 12 Hours in March.

Warren Hughes will return to the European Le Mans Series with the new Murphy Prototypes squad this year.

The 43-year-old Briton, will drive the team’s Nissan-engined MG-ORECA in the top category – LMP2 – with his long-time co-driver Jody Firth. The pair won last year’s SPEED Euroseries in a WFR-run Wolf.

They will be joined by a third driver if the Murphy – which has brought on board RLR MSport to run the car – gains an entry for the Le Mans 24 Hours. Currently the car is third reserve on the LMP2 entry list.

Both Hughes – a racewinner in both the GT1 World Championship and the British Touring Car Championship – and Firth will have their first taste of the MG-ORECA at the official ELMS test at Paul Ricard on March 9.

Aaro Vainio set the pace on the second and final day of GP3 testing at Estoril to leave the Portuguese circuit with the fastest time of all.

The Finn’s 1m30.466s lap came half an hour into the morning session and was around a second faster than Nico Muller’s pace-setting time of the previous day.

MW Arden driver Mitch Evans had set the initial benchmark before Lotus driver Vainio knocked him off the top spot. Nobody else was able to get on terms with him for the rest of the day; Manor’s Tio Ellinas – fastest in the afternoon – coming closest with an effort 0.107s adrift.

For a second day in a row Antonio Felix da Costa was third fastest for Carlin. Evans and Lotus driver Conor Daly completed the top five.

Tamas Pal Kiss kept up his strong form with the sixth best time for Atech CRS while Jenzer pair Patric Niederhauser and Matheo Tuscher were impressively seventh and eighth.

Daniel Abt (Lotus) and Marlon Stockinger completed the top 10, the Status driver setting the fourth quickest time in the afternoon to leap up the overall order.

There were two red flags in the morning, both brought out by incidents for Trident’s Vicky Piria. Day one pace-setter Muller was only 17th overall after switching from Trident to Tech 1.

Times to follow…