2008 Le Mans Series

The 2008 Le Mans Series was the fifth season of ACO's Le Mans Series. It was a series for Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring style cars broken into 4 classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. It ran from 6 April to 14 September 2008 with five rounds taking place.

Schedule[]

The 2008 schedule remained largely unchanged from that of 2007, except for Circuit de Catalunya replacing Circuit de Valencia for the Spanish round. A large gap was built into the schedule between May and August to better allow teams to prepare for and recover from the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[1]

An additional race was announced at a later date, with a 1000 km event in Shanghai. This event however would not replace the Mil Milhas Brasil round, but was instead to be a stand-alone event as a precursor to a new Asian Le Mans Series planned for 2009. Points for the Le Mans Series would not be awarded but class winners would gain automatic entry to the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[2] The race was cancelled and was later rescheduled be held on 8 November 2009, because of conflicts with the 2008 Summer Olympics schedule.^[3]

Rnd	Race	Circuit	Date
-	LMS Official Test	Paul Ricard HTTT	2 March 3 March
1	1000 km of Catalunya	Circuit de Catalunya	6 April
2	1000 km of Monza	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza	27 April
3	1000 km of Spa	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	11 May
4	1000 km of Nürburgring	Nürburgring	17 August
5	1000 km of Silverstone	Silverstone Circuit	14 September

Season results[]

Rnd	Circuit	LMP1 Winning Team	LMP2 Winning Team	GT1 Winning Team	GT2 Winning Team	Results
		LMP1 Winning Drivers	LMP2 Winning Drivers	GT1 Winning Drivers	GT2 Winning Drivers
1	Catalunya	#7 Team Peugeot Total	#34	#72 Luc Alphand Aventures	#96	Results
		Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené	Jos Verstappen Peter van Merksteijn	Luc Alphand Guillaume Moreau Patrice Goueslard	Rob Bell Gianmaria Bruni
2	Monza	#8 Team Peugeot Total	#31	#59	#91	Results
		Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	John Nielsen Casper Elgaard	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Allan Simonsen Richard Westbrook
3	Spa	#7 Team Peugeot Total	#34	#72 Luc Alphand Aventures	#96	Results
		Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené Jacques Villeneuve	Jos Verstappen Peter van Merksteijn	Olivier Beretta Guillaume Moreau Patrice Goueslard	Rob Bell Gianmaria Bruni
4	Nürburgring	#8 Team Peugeot Total	#34	#59	#96	Results
		Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Jos Verstappen Jeroen Bleekemolen	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Rob Bell Gianmaria Bruni
5	Silverstone	#1 Audi Team Joest	#34	#59	#96	Results
		Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Jos Verstappen Peter van Merksteijn	Antonio García Tomáš Enge	Rob Bell Jaime Melo

Teams Championships[]

Points were awarded to the top eight finishers in the order of 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. Unlike the American Le Mans Series, where teams with multiple entries scored the points of their highest finishing entry in each race, teams with multiple entries did not have their cars combined and each entry number was scored separately in the championship. Cars which failed to complete 70% of the winner's distance were not awarded points.

The top two finishers in each team championship earned automatic entry to the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.

LMP1 Standings[]

Pos	No	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Rnd 5	Total
1	#2	Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi R10 TDI	Audi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	8	8	8	6	5	35
2	#7	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	10	4	10	8	0	32
3	#1	Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi R10 TDI	Audi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	4	3	5	5	10	27
4	#8	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	1	10	0	10	0	21
5	#10	Charouz Racing System	Lola B08/60	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	6	1	0	4	8	19
6	#16	Pescarolo Sport	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	5	0	4	0	6	15
7	#15	Creation AIM	Creation	AIM (Judd) YS5.5 5.5 L V10	-	5	3	2	4	14
8	#17	Pescarolo Sport	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	3	6	0	1	3	13
9	#6	Team Oreca-Matmut	Courage-Oreca	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	0	0	6	0	0	6
10=	#5	Team Oreca-Matmut	Courage-Oreca	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	0	0	-	3	2	5
10=	#18		Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	2	2	0	0	1	5
12	#20	Epsilon Euskadi	Epsilon Euskadi ee1	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	0	0	2	0	0	2
13	#4	Saulnier Racing	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	0	0	1	0	0	1
-	#14	Creation AIM	Creation	AIM (Judd) YS5.5 5.5 L V10	0	0	-	0	0	0
-	#3	Scuderia Lavaggi	Lavaggi LS1	AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8	0	-	0	0	-	0
-	#21	Epsilon Euskadi	Epsilon Euskadi ee1	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	-	-	-	0	0	0
-	#19	Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport	Lola B06/10	AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8	0	-	-	-	-	0

LMP2 Standings[]

Pos	No	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Rnd 5	Total
1	#34	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	10	8	10	10	10	48
2	#31		Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	6	10	6	6	4	32
3	#27		Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	3	6	8	0	8	25
4=	#35	Saulnier Racing	Pescarolo 01	Judd DB 3.4 L V8	4	4	5	8	0	21
4=	#25	Ray Mallock Ltd.	MG-Lola EX265 MG-Lola EX265C	MG (AER) XP21 2.0 L Turbo I4	5	5	3	3	5	21
6	#40		Lola B05/40	AER P07 2.0 L Turbo I4	0	2	0	4	6	12
7	#33	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	Lola B08/80	Judd DB 3.4 L V8	8	0	0	0	0	8
8	#41		Zytek	Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8	1	0	4	0	2	7
9	#45	Embassy Racing	Embassy	Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8	0	1	0	2	3	6
10	#46	Embassy Racing	Embassy	Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8	0	0	0	5	0	5
11=	#44		Lola B05/40	Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4	0	3	0	0	1	4
11=	#26	Team Bruichladdich Radical	Radical	AER P07 2.0 L Turbo I4	2	0	2	0	0	4
13	#32	Barazi-Epsilon	Zytek	Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8	0	0	0	1	0	1
-	#37	WR Salini	WR	Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8	0	0	0	0	0	0
-	#30		Lucchini	Judd XV675 3.4 L V8	0	0	-	-	-	0

GT1 Standings[]

Pos	No	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Rnd 5	Total
1	#72	Luc Alphand Aventures	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0 L V8	10	8	10	8	6	42
2	#59		Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	0	10	6	10	10	36
3	#55		Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT	Lamborghini 6.0 L V12	6	5	8	0	8	27
4	#61	Strakka Racing	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	-	-	5	-	5	10
5	#50	Larbre Compétition	Saleen S7-R	Ford 7.0 L V8	8	-	-	-	-	8
6	#73	Luc Alphand Aventures	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0 L V8	0	6	0	0	-	6

GT2 Standings[]

Pos	No	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Rnd 5	Total
1	#96		Ferrari F430 GT2	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	10	0	10	10	10	40
2	#77	Team Felbermayr-Proton	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	8	3	8	8	8	35
3	#90		Ferrari F430 GT2	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	5	8	0	0	6	19
4	#99	JMB Racing	Ferrari F430 GT2	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	3	6	4	5	0	18
5	#76	IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	6	0	3	6	0	15
6	#85	Snoras Spyker Squadron	Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	Audi 4.0 L V8	4	0	0	4	5	13
7=	#94	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	Audi 4.0 L V8	0	5	5	0	1	11
7=	#98	JMB Racing	Ferrari F430 GT2	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	0	4	2	2	3	11
9=	#91		Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	0	10	0	0	0	10
9=	#88	Team Felbermayr-Proton	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	0	0	6	0	4	10
11=	#75	IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	2	0	0	3	0	5
11=	#95		Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6	1	2	1	1	0	5
13	#93		Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2	Aston Martin 4.5 L V8	0	-	-	-	2	2

Drivers Championships[]

Points were awarded to the top 8 finishers in the order of 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. Drivers who did not drive for at least 45 minutes do not receive points.

LMP1 Standings[]

Alexandre Prémat and Mike Rockenfeller won the LMP1 title, despite not winning a race.

Pos	Driver	Team	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Rnd 5	Total
1=	Alexandre Prémat	Audi Sport Team Joest	8	8	8	6	5	35
1=	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport Team Joest	8	8	8	6	5	35
3=	Nicolas Minassian	Team Peugeot Total	10	4	10	8		32
3=	Marc Gené	Team Peugeot Total	10	4	10	8		32
5=	Allan McNish	Audi Sport Team Joest	4	3	5	5	10	27
5=	Rinaldo Capello	Audi Sport Team Joest	4	3	5	5	10	27
7=	Stéphane Sarrazin	Team Peugeot Total	1	10		10		21
7=	Pedro Lamy	Team Peugeot Total	1	10		10		21
9=	Jan Charouz	Charouz Racing System	6	1		4	8	19
9=	Stefan Mücke	Charouz Racing System	6	1		4	8	19
11	Jean-Christophe Boullion	Pescarolo Sport	5		4		6	15
12	Stuart Hall	Creation AIM		5	3	2	4	14
13=	Harold Primat	Pescarolo Sport	3	6		1	3	13
13=	Christophe Tinseau	Pescarolo Sport	3	6		1	3	13
15	Jacques Villeneuve	Team Peugeot Total			10			10
16	Emmanuel Collard	Pescarolo Sport	5		4			9
17	Robbie Kerr	Creation AIM		5	3			8
18=	Olivier Panis	Team Oreca-Matmut			6			6
18=	Nicolas Lapierre	Team Oreca-Matmut			6			6
18=	Romain Dumas	Pescarolo Sport					6	6
18=	Jamie Campbell-Walter	Creation AIM				2	4	6
22=	Bruce Jouanny	Creation AIM		5				5
22=	Soheil Ayari	Team Oreca-Matmut				3	2	5
22=	Stéphane Ortelli	Team Oreca-Matmut				3	2	5
22=	Vanina Ickx		2	2			1	5
26			2	2				4
27=	Loïc Duval	Team Oreca-Matmut				3		3
27=	João Barbosa		2				1	3
29=	Duncan Tappy			2				2
29=	Ángel Burgueño	Epsilon Euskadi			2			2
29=		Epsilon Euskadi			2			2
32=	Jacques Nicolet	Saulnier Racing			1			1
32=		Saulnier Racing			1			1
32=	Richard Hein	Saulnier Racing			1			1
32=							1	1

LMP2 Standings[]

Jos Verstappen won the LMP2 title as part of Van Merksteijn Motorsport.

Pos	Driver	Team	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Rnd 5	Total
1	Jos Verstappen	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	10	8	10	10	10	48
2	Peter van Merksteijn	Van Merksteijn Motorsport	10	8	10		10	38
3=	John Nielsen		6	10	6	6	4	32
3=	Casper Elgaard		6	10	6	6	4	32
5=	Fredy Lienhard		3	6	8		8	25
5=	Didier Theys	Horag Racing	3	6	8		8	25
5=	Jan Lammers		3	6	8		8	25
8=	Pierre Ragues	Saulnier Racing	4	4	5	8		21
8=	Matthieu Lahaye	Saulnier Racing	4	4	5	8		21
8=	Mike Newton	Ray Mallock Ltd.	5	5	3	3	5	21
8=	Thomas Erdos	Ray Mallock Ltd.	5	5	3	3	5	21
12=	Olivier Pla			2		4	6	12
12=	Miguel Amaral			2		4	6	12
14	Jeroen Bleekemolen	Van Merksteijn Motorsport				10		10
15=	Andrea Belicchi	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	8					8
15=	Xavier Pompidou	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	8					8
15=	Steve Zacchia	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	8					8
18=	Karim Ojjeh		1		4		2	7
18=	Claude-Yves Gosselin		1		4		2	7
20	Warren Hughes	Embassy Racing		1		2	3	6
21=	Darren Manning	Embassy Racing				5		5
21=	Joey Foster	Embassy Racing				5		5
21=			1		4			5
21=	Jonny Kane	Embassy Racing				2	3	5
25=	Jean de Pourtalès			3			1	4
25=	Hideki Noda			3			1	4
25=		Team Bruichladdich Radical	2		2			4
25=		Team Bruichladdich Radical	2		2			4
25=	Marc Rostan	Team Bruichladdich Radical	2		2			4
30							2	2
31=	Mario Haberfeld	Embassy Racing		1				1
31=	Juan Barazi	Barazi-Epsilon				1		1
31=		Barazi-Epsilon				1		1
31=	Fernando Rees	Barazi-Epsilon				1		1

GT1 Standings[]

Guillaume Moreau and Patrice Goueslard won the GT1 title for Luc Alphand Aventures.

Pos	Driver	Team	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Rnd 5	Total
1=	Guillaume Moreau	Luc Alphand Aventures	10	8	10	8	6	42
1=	Patrice Goueslard	Luc Alphand Aventures	10	8	10	8	6	42
3=	Antonio García			10	6	10	10	36
3=	Tomáš Enge			10	6	10	10	36
5=	Peter Kox		6	5	8		8	27
5=	Roman Rusinov		6	5	8		8	27
7=	Olivier Beretta	Luc Alphand Aventures		8	10			18
7=	Luc Alphand	Luc Alphand Aventures	10			8		18
9=	Peter Hardman	Strakka Racing			5		5	10
9=	Nick Leventis	Strakka Racing			5		5	10
11=	Christophe Bouchut	Larbre Compétition	8					8
11=	Frédéric Makowiecki	Larbre Compétition	8					8
11=	Patrick Bornhauser	Larbre Compétition	8					8
14=		Luc Alphand Aventures		6				6
14=		Luc Alphand Aventures		6				6
14=		Luc Alphand Aventures		6				6
17	Darren Turner	Strakka Racing					5	5

GT2 Standings[]

Rob Bell won the GT2 title for Virgo Motorsport.

Pos	Driver	Team	Rnd 1	Rnd 2	Rnd 3	Rnd 4	Rnd 5	Total
1	Rob Bell		10		10	10	10	40
2=	Marc Lieb	Team Felbermayr-Proton	8	3	8	8	8	35
2=	Alex Davison	Team Felbermayr-Proton	8	3	8	8	8	35
4	Gianmaria Bruni		10		10	10		30
5=	Pierre Kaffer		5	8			6	19
5=	Pierre Ehret	Farnbacher Racing	5	8			6	19
7		JMB Racing	3	6	4	5		18
8		JMB Racing	3	6	2	5		16
9=		IMSA Performance Matmut	6	3		6		15
9=	Richard Lietz	IMSA Performance Matmut	6	3		6		15
11=	Ralf Kelleners	Snoras Spyker Squadron	4			4	5	13
11=	Alexey Vasilyev	Snoras Spyker Squadron	4			4	5	13
13=	Anthony Beltoise		5				6	11
13=	Andrea Chiesa	Speedy Racing Team Sebah		5	5		1	11
13=	Benjamin Leuenberger	Speedy Racing Team Sebah		5	5		1	11
11=		JMB Racing		4	2	2	3	11
17=				10				10
17=	Allan Simonsen			10				10
17=	Richard Westbrook			10				10
17=	Jaime Melo						10	10
17=		Team Felbermayr-Proton			6		4	10
17=		Team Felbermayr-Proton			6		4	10
17=	Christian Ried	Team Felbermayr-Proton			6		4	10
24		JMB Racing		4	2		3	9
25	Peter Dumbreck	Snoras Spyker Squadron	4			4		8
26	Tim Sugden			2	1	1	2	6
27=	Iradj Alexander	Speedy Racing Team Sebah			5			5
27=	Tom Coronel	Snoras Spyker Squadron					5	5
27=		IMSA Performance Matmut	2			3		5
27=		IMSA Performance Matmut	2			3		5
27=	Jean-Philippe Belloc	IMSA Performance Matmut	2			3		5
27=	Markus Palttala		1	2	1	1		5
27=			1	2	1	1		5
34=		JMB Racing		4				4
34=	Alain Ferté	JMB Racing			4			4
36		JMB Racing					3	3
37=		JMB Racing				2		2
37=	Alan van der Merwe						2	2
37=							2	2
40	Mikael Forsten		1					1

Confirmed entries[]

LMP1[]

• Oreca purchased Courage Compétition on 14 September 2007.^[4] Oreca ran two Oreca-Courage LC70s in 2008, with Judd engines replacing AER units. Olivier Panis was one of the team's drivers.^[5]
• Audi announced their intentions to run in the LMS in 2008, pending a marketing agreement for the series which Audi finds favorable. The two-car team was run by Joest Racing.^[6]
• Epsilon Euskadi planned to enter two EE1 coupes in the 2008 season.^[7]
• Creation Autosportif was due to switch to new AIM-built engines in 2008, while also running two cars.^[8]
• On 10 January 2008, Aston Martin announced that it would be moving into the LMP1 category. Using the same engine as the GT1-class DBR9, the prototype was a Lola B08/60 coupe. Charouz Racing System ran the car with assistance from Prodrive, with drivers Tomáš Enge, Jan Charouz, and Stefan Mücke.^[9]
• Swiss Spirit, now under the control of Phoenix Racing, planned a return for their Audi-powered Lola.^[10]

LMP2[]

• Caspar Elgaard and John Nielsen formed Team Essex, running a Porsche RS Spyder in 2008.^[11]
• Van Merksteijn (VM) Motorsport entered an RS Spyder in the series,^[12] driven by Dutchmen Jeroen Bleekemolen, Peter van Merksteijn Sr. and Jos Verstappen.^[13]
• Swiss Horag Racing competed with an RS Spyder, with regular drivers Fredy Lienhard and Didier Theys.^[14]
• Welter Racing returned to the series with an all-new prototype. The WR was powered by a Zytek V8 for the first time.^[15]
• On 23 October 2007, Pescarolo Sport merged with Saulnier Sport to form Pescarolo Automobiles. Besides Pescarolo Sport's two-car LMP1 effort, Pescarolo Automobiles also had an LMP2 team run by Saulnier.^[16]
• Embassy Racing constructed their own cars in 2008, known as the Embassy WF01.^[17] The cars will be powered by Zytek engines,^[18] and Warren Hughes, Jonny Kane and Joey Foster were to be drivers.^[19]
• Speed Racing Team and Sebah Automotive planned a joint campaign with a new Lola B08/80 under the Speedy Racing Team Sebah banner.^[20]
• Racing Box moved to LMP2 with the purchase of a Lucchini-Judd.^[21]

GT1[]

• Larbre Compétition were no longer be a factory-backed Aston Martin squad, instead moving to a pair of Oreca-supported Saleen S7-Rs.^[22]

GT2[]

• Spyker built new coupes (Laviolettes) for the GT2 class, both for their own team as well as replacements for the Speedy Racing Team.^[23]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2008 in Le Mans Series.

• Le Mans Series
• Mariantic - Le Mans Series 2008 News
• Endurance-Info (French)
• Planetlemans.com