Sun, sand and spectacle . . .

The Le Mans Series scored something of a coup in 2009 by being the first major championship to stage an event at the new Autodromo do Algarve. Not only was it the Series' first visit to the impressive facility, just a few kilometres inland from the popular tourist destinations of Portimão and Lagos, but it was also the first "night race" in Le Mans Series history. It was a tremendous success, at least among the drivers and teams who took part.

If there were any complaints, they revolved solely around the timing of the 2009 race, which took place on the first weekend in August. As a result, the Algarve 1000 Kilometres became the most expensive meeting of the year, with sky-high hotel bills, difficulties with flights and connections, and a shortage of hire cars. This year the ACO has addressed some of these issues by moving the date forward, and our contacts in the region tell us that they've also tackled the other major gripe - a lack of spectators - by promoting the race heavily in the seaside resorts. Let's hope it works.

This year's race will be another night race, starting at five o'clock on the Saturday afternoon, and running through to around eleven. There has been one down-side to staging the event just a few weeks after the Le Mans 24 Hours, and that is a marked drop in entries. It was inevitable, we suppose, but just 33 cars are listed on the official entry list*. RML's category; LMP2, remains strongly represented, with eight of the regulars in attendance, as well as seven of the Formula Le Mans Orecas. The highly competitive GT2 category also sees a strong grid of 12, but LMP1 is down to just four cars and GT1 just two.

(* As of Wednesday 14th July, this figure is down to 31, with two further withdrawals)

LMP1
Hopes that Peugeot would want to make amends for their disappointing run at Le Mans, and perhaps go for a Le Mans Series title, appear to have been unfounded, and the factory will be missing the Portuguese race. Indeed, Peugeot Sport’s Director Olivier Quesnel has suggested that the 908 diesels won't appear again until Silverstone in September, and their UK appearance will be the first stage in a planned challenge for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Further races are then planned for Petit Le Mans (America) at the end of September, and Zhuhai (China) in November.

Having swept the board at Le Mans, Audi will also be giving the Algarve a miss. So too will Beechdean Mansell. After Nigel's disappointing seventeen-minute departure from the 24 Hours, there had been some conjecture that the Ginetta-Zytek squad might call it a day, but a press release a few days ago suggests that the family Mansell will be back for Round 4 in Hungary. Having given Our Nige a prominent billing on the official poster (see right ) the ACO must be disappointed that he'll not be tackling the Algarve Rollercoaster, but both car and passenger suffered more from the headlong appointment with the Armco than the TV pictures might have suggested, and each needs extra time-out to recover.

That leaves the Oreca Matmut Peugeot 908 (pictured above at Spa in May) as the obvious favourite for outright victory in the Algarve. The team's second car, the AIM-powered prototype, is another absentee, but competition will come from three Lolas: two Rebellion B10/60s, and a singleton Aston Martin for Signature Plus.

LMP2
With such a poor showing from LMP1, numerically at least, the Algarve may offer the best chance all year for one of the LMP2 runners to take a step on the overall podium. Having won the class at Le Mans, Strakka Racing's Danny Watts, Nick Leventis and Jonny Kane must have a fair tilt at that honour. The team's HPD ARX-01c finished fifth overall in the 24 Hours. RML has the experience, of course, having been the first in LMP2 ever to finish in such lofty circles when Mike and Tommy took third at Spa in 2007. With the RML Lola HPD on the podium in ever race so far this year, and currently leading the LMP2 title race as well, the #25 car must be in with a chance.

The major change for Mike and Tommy in the #25 as they arrive in Portugal will be the third name on the cockpit door. Andy Wallace, who was back in action in the ALMS last weekend (finishing fourth in class, 8th overall at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah) has completed his three-race stint with RML. His seat is taken for the Algarve by former Ascari works driver, and 2003 ASCAR champion Ben Collins. There's more information here about Ben's appointment, and have a look too at his Driver Biography.

The competition in LMP2 will be as tough as ever in Portugal, and several teams will be aiming for a good result. Miguel Amaral and his co-drivers in the #40 Quifel ASM (#40) will be eager to exploit local knowledge and shine in their home race. They're defending champions this year, and won at the Algarve in 2009. Oak Racing enters two Pescarolos again, and declared strong intentions in a press release before this weekend's race, pulling no punches in their intent to claim a "double podium".

KSM, now without the "K", has had a much better season in 2010, having also abandoned the Mazda AER engine. A finish at Le Mans, and strong runs earlier in the year, suggest that there's life yet in the older open-topped Lolas. Regrettably, just two days before the Algarve event was scheduled to begin. Hardy Schiller announced that the #39 Lola would be missing the Portuguese race due to a lack of "suitable drivers". Also, sadly, no sign yet of Team RLR with the MG Lola EX265, but fingers crossed that the former RML Lola will make an appearance next month in Hungary.

As they've demonstrated in the previous two rounds, the stock Oreca Formula Le Mans cars can be expected to mix it with the slower LMP2 cars, and one in particular is sure to be up there and battling. The #44 DAMS entry (right) will be driven by Warren Hughes and Jody Firth. Warren, who drove with RML in 2005, usually races with Quifel ASM in the longer events like Paul Ricard and Le Mans, but there's no vital need for a third driver in the standard six-hour events, such as Spa and the Algarve. Instead he partners former team-mate from his Embassy and Team WFR days, Jody Firth, as the latter prepares for a serious return to prototypes in 2011.

The final absentees from the regular list include Race Performance (Radical SR9) and Racing Box (usually two Lola coupés).

Full LMP2 entry list for the Algarve:

	LMP2
24		Oak Racing	FRA	D	Pescarolo - Judd	Matthieu Lahaye (FRA) Jacques Nicolet (FRA)
25		RML AD Group	GBR	D	Lola HPD Coupé	Tommy Erdos (BRA) Mike Newton (GBR) Ben Collins (GBR)
35		Oak Racing	FRA	D	Pescarolo - Judd	Richard Hein (FRA) Guillaume Moreau (FRA)
36		Pegasus Racing	FRA	D	Courage-Oreca LC75 AER	Julien Schell (FRA) Frederic Da Rocha (FRA)
39		KSM Withdrawn	GER	D	Lola B08/47 Judd	Jean de Pourtales (FRA) Hideki Noda (JPN) Jonathan Kennard (GBR)
40		Quifel ASM	PRT	D	Ginetta-Zytek 09S	Miguel Amaral (PRT) Olivier Pla (FRA)
41		Team Bruichladdich	GBR	D	Ginetta-Zytek 09S	Karim Ojjeh (SAU) Tim Greaves (GBR) Thor-Christian Ebbesvik (NOR)
42		Strakka Racing	GBR	M	HPD ARX -01c	Nick Leventis (GBR) Danny Watts (GBR) Jonny Kane (GBR)
	Formula Le Mans
43		DAMS	FRA	M	Formula Le Mans	Andrea Barlesi (BEL) Alessandro Cicognani (ITA) Gary Chalandon (FRA)
44		DAMS	FRA	M	Formula Le Mans	Jody Firth (GBR) Warren Hughes (GBR)
45		Boutsen Energy Racing	BEL	M	Formula Le Mans	Dominik Kraihamer (AUT) Nicolas de Crem (BEL) Bernard Delhez (BEL)
46		JMB Racing	MCO	M	Formula Le Mans	Peter Kutemann (NLD) Maurice Basso (CHE) John Hartshorne (GBR)
47		Hope PoleVision Racing	CHE	M	Formula Le Mans	Steve Zacchia (CHE) Luca Moro (ITA) Olivier Lombard (FRA)
48		Hope PoleVision Racing	CHE	M	Formula Le Mans	Christophe Pillon (CHE) Vincent Capillaire (FRA) Nico Verdonck (BEL)
49		Applewood Seven	FRA	M	Formula Le Mans	Damien Toulemonde (FRA) Mathias Beche (CHE)

LMGT
As the once-glorious GT1 category heads towards the sunset of its days, just two cars appear in the Algarve, and they're both RML-designed Saleen S7-Rs. Larbre finally gave the venerable Saleen a long-overdue Le Mans win last month, and is now hoping to add an LMS title to that haul as the class draws to a close. They'll be faced by Austrian outfit Atlas eFX (left) with a similar chassis. At least we may have a race, but the cars only have to go the distance to be assured of silverware.

Not so GT2, where twelve cars will battle it out in what is always an entertaining and close contest. Bizarrely, we are still awaiting confirmation (as of July 11th) of the official result from June's 24 Hours, where both the first and second-placed GT2 cars; the #77 Felbermayr Porsche and the #89 Hankook Farnbacher Ferrari, remain under investigation by race officials. The ACO hasn't given any indication of what the issue may be, or a reason for the delay. The #95 AF Corse Ferrari finished third at La Sarthe, and may yet be elevated to the winner's step if the ACO's deliberations end in exclusion for the others. All three will be in the Algarve, but certainly won't be alone in any scramble for the podium. The #91 CRS Racing Ferrari 430 (right) will be another strong competitor, as will AF Corse's #96 (with Bruni and Melo) and the IMSA Matmut #76 Porsche.

For medium resolution images of most of the cars entered, please see the All Teams Gallery:

Support Race?
Over the years the Le Mans Series has enjoyed a broad variety of support races. The Classic Endurance Series has long shared the billing, but the fabulous noise of those giants of the past will be absent from the Algarve. Other worthies have appeared on the raceday schedule, including Peugeot Spyders, one-make Porsche races, international Radical cup, the World Series by Renault single-seaters, and even Formula 3, but the ACO has excelled themselves for the Algarve. Sharing the stage with some of the finest sportscars in the world will be . . . . the Portuguese Ford Transit Trophy.

This really is one of the most unusual choices for a Le Mans Series support race - for any sportscar or GT race, come to that. The Trophy raced around the narrow street circuit at Vila Real last month, and there's plenty of on-board footage in this YouTube video to suggest that White Van Man has little to fear from the Ford Transit Trophy.

The vans are based on the Transit 260S, and they even retain the standard 2.2TDCi turbodiesel engine, albeit uprated to 180PS from 140PS. Aside from that, and some upgraded brakes and suspension, there's little to differentiate between these and any regular stripped-out Transit you might see on the streets, although some boast nifty rims and colourful paintwork.

The Ford Transit Trophy will have two races; one on the Friday evening starting at 18:45, and the second on Saturday morning at 11:15. If this kind of thing really rocks your boat, then check out the website here.

The Circuit

Ahead of last season's first-ever Le Mans Series "night race" and the inaugural Algarve 1000 Kilometres, we produced an in-depth review of the new Autodromo do Algarve in association with Dailysportscar. The two-page review not only investigated the background to the new circuit, but also included a corner-by-corner analysis by several top drivers, including our own Thomas Erdos.

That article, which was subsequently reviewed by another Portuguese website and is now widely quoted, can still be explored here by following these links:

For background into the development of the new circuit, click here.
For detailed analysis of the circuit, from a driver's perspective, click here.
For a high resolution plan of the circuit, to download and print, click here.

Ahead of this year's race the ACO published their own "lap of the track" in association with Oliver Pla, lead driver with the local favourites, Portuguese LMP2 squad Quifel ASM. The LMS race will use a slightly shorter version of the track and will miss out Turn 2 on the diagram above (click for an enlargement), so Oliver's account gives turn numbers that are one less than those given on the plan. "The Algarve circuit is fantastic because it is different from most new tracks," says Olivier. "It has a good mixture of high speed and slow corners with a few blind turns and it winds up and down all the way. The track is interesting and very demanding."

His "lap" begins as he heads down the main pit straight: "You accelerate hard from the start line, which goes slightly downhill. You brake hard and change down quickly from sixth gear to third for the first right-handed corner. This corner is tricky first because it is bumpy, but also because you have to carry the speed through the very short straight. The second corner is high speed which is taken flat out then hard on the brakes for the first hairpin, taken in first gear."

"You have to accelerate very early in this right-hander because it is uphill to blind turn 4 and flat-out till the next left-handed hairpin. The track is bumpy on that part so the car moves a lot. Braking is very difficult because the track turns sharply downhill and you brake very late, although the entrance is blind." This brings the driver round the VIP tower, at the heart of the track.

"Uphill again for a long straight with a flat-out left-hander… and you can’t see the exit! You come quickly down the hill which can be flat-out in qualifying into double-apex turn 7 and 8, which is off-camber. It’s very important as it influences the following short but steep hill. It goes down and up again after turn 9 taken in fifth gear. The straight leads you to the most difficult corner - double-apex right-handed turn 10. You have to brake late, but as you cannot see where the track goes, it is hard to find a point of reference. You can’t miss your braking. The track drops down again with a flat-out left-hander before you jump on the brakes for an uphill left-hander taken in second gear. Quick squirts of power before you jump on the brakes for the double-apex right-handed turn 13. This corner is also tricky because it is off-camber and you must accelerate as soon as you can to carry the speed all the way down the hill towards the last corner. It is taken in fifth gear and flat-out, but this can be very tricky because when you turn your wheels, you can’t see if there is a car around the corner. Then you are back to the start-finish line which is very bumpy as well.”

If Oliver's account is based on recent experience - and it seems likely that it is - then it is slightly disheartening to think that the surface irregularities that were so widely criticised in 2009 and caused problems for a number of teams last year are still a prominent feature of the track. Nevertheless, the overwhelming impression of nearly all hose who visit the Autodromo is very positive, and everyone will be looking forward to the thrilling spectacle and tremendous racing opportunities it offers.

Last year's race was notable for having not one single safety car period. Let us hope for the same uninterrupted excitement in 2010.

Weekend Schedule

Media Coverage

TV: The situation as regards TV coverage of the le Mans Series goes from paltry to worse. After blanket and comprehensive coverage of the Le Mans 24 Hours last month, which was excellent, it's back to normal for the Le Mans Series in Portugal.

Just one half-hour slot is awarded to Round 3 of the 2010 Series, and (at the time of writing) there is no planned schedule for any highlight or follow-up programming. The situation is dire, to say the least:

• 22:30 - 23:00 Grid and Start on British Eurosport (30 minutes)

Further details can be checked online at Eurosport, if you can figure out how the website functions.

You can also check the Le Mans Series website for a roundup of coverage here.

Radio & On-line: As always, you can depend on Radio Le Mans to pull out all the stops and give the Le Mans Series the kind of in-depth coverage it deserves. John Hindhaugh, Graham Tyler, Eve Hewitt and the rest of the team will be motoring down through France and Spain to ensure RLM is on-site to broadcast to the world, via the Internet, and also on local FM. Radio Le Mans will begin with Free Practice on Friday, and continue with all Saturday's action, and on into the night. Articles and features about the Le Mans Series, including season previews and interviews, are also available as podcasts from the RLM website. Click the button below for access.