Dear Ultimatecarpage.com visitor,

The first practice session of this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans is about to get under way. Unlike most other editions, there has been no test day so this will be the very first time many of the cars will hit the legendary track. Although some costs may have been cut, it has not made life any easier for the teams or us reporters looking ahead to the big race. With some well educated guesswork, we have nevertheless compiled a class by class preview.
As has been the case for some years now, the grid is divided in two prototype and two grand touring classes. The fastest machines and the most likely candidates to score the overall the outright wins are the cars in the LMP1 class. More specifically the works Audis and Peugeots that will go head to head for the third year in a row. The German team will race the brand new R15 TDI against the well sorted 908 HDI Fap. It looks certain to be another closely disputed race with perhaps a surprising winners. Hot on their heels will be the Aston Martin team, who celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their Le Mans win back in 1959.
In the 'smaller' LMP2 class things are a little more straightforward with one of the Porsches most likely to grab the win. The two examples entered finished first and second last year.
By far the smallest class is GT1 with only six cars. The only works effort is Corvette Racing, who most likely will be giving their superb Corvette C6.R a farewell victory.
Quite possibly the most difficult class to call is GT2 with its age-old Porsche vs Ferrari battle. On both sides there are several good teams that are quite capable of taking the win.
A more detailed rundown of the classes as well as a link to every single type of car entered in the race can be found in our exclusive preview. It also includes a twenty-shot gallery with the first images from the track and scruteneering. For a more technical look at the Le Mans race, we strongly recommend the technical preview from our friends at Racecar Engineering.
We will be on the track the coming days and will provide a full qualifying report on Friday and a well illustrated look at the race early next week.

Enjoy the links:

2009 24 Hours of Le Mans preview

Le Mans Tech Preview | Le Mans 2009 | Sportscar Racing | Racecar Engineering

Regards,
Wouter Melissen