ALMS (LE MANS) - LAMY RELISHES RETURN TO PROTOTYPES AT LE MANS

Pedro Lamy, a former works driver for Aston Martin, is back in prototypes with Peugeot. Photo: Andrew Hall

Although a bulk of his motorsport career has been in GT, Touring and open-wheel cars (including 32 Formula 1 starts), Pedro Lamy came into his new position as a factory Peugeot driver with a tremendous amount of experience.

The Portuguese pilot compiled an extensive prototype experience from 1998-2003 with strong efforts in cars such as Mercedes, ORECA's Chrysler prototype and BMW's V12 LMR, which he raced twice in the American Le Mans Series in 1999.

For Le Mans, he teams with Stephane Sarrazin and Sebastien Bourdais as Peugeot tries to end Audi's dominance at Le Mans with diesel power of its own.

"It is easy to jump in the Peugeot and drive it well," Lamy said. "But I enjoyed driving the BMW, which was the winning car at Le Mans in 1999. The aerodynamic detail is the biggest difference. The tires also have gotten better since then. If you started comparing them side by side, there would be a large difference."

40 HOURS OF LE MANS: The 24 Hours of Le Mans? It's more like closer to 40 hours or more, says Corvette Racing's Dan Binks. When you factor in the Saturday warmup, the lead-up to the world's most famous auto race, the 24 Hours itself, postrace and tearing down the cars Sunday, it makes for a long two days.

"The preparation is the big key. Any team can run a 24-hour race," said Binks, crew chief for the No. 63 Corvette C6.R. "But you still have to be ready and our team is. We have gearboxes ripped apart and ready to go in, the same with all of our spares. We've done this enough times where we've gotten pretty good at it."

That's safe to say. The Corvette factory squad is going for its sixth class win in seven seasons at Le Mans including the last three by Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen. The opposition is both talented and deep with entries from Aston Martin, Saleen and Ferrari, not mention other Corvettes. That puts experience at a premium and no one has more of it than Corvette Racing.

"We go to Le Mans to compete against the world's best, and this year is going to be our most challenging yet," said Johnny O'Connell, who will share the No. 63 Corvette with Ron Fellows and Jan Magnussen. "We've got to be mistake-free and just keep running, running, running. The other teams might have speed on us but about the 18th hour they're going into uncharted territory. We've been there before, and that's our strength. We've got the heart, the experience, and the right people. Corvette Racing just never gives up."

Adrian Fernandez explains that the length of the Le Mans circuit makes it difficult to compare Lola and Zytek prototypes. Photo: Andrew Hall

LOLA VS. ZYTEK: Adrian Fernandez, can you compare your Lola-powered Acura in the American Le Mans Series to the Zytek prototype at Le Mans?

"This is a different track than anything we race in America so it's difficult to compare the two," Fernandez said. "You're doing speeds here that you don't do in America. Plus the track is very smooth; there are no bumps. The sight differences and seating positions are nothing that you don't get used to. There are different spaces to look at. I don't want to say either is better than the other."

Fernandez is at Le Mans as preparation for a hopeful entry next year for Lowe's Fernandez Racing and Acura.

AROUND THE PADDOCK: With the factory Zytek withdrawn in P1, Stefan Johansson moved into one of the works Courage entry with Jean-Marc Gounon and Guillume Moreau. Johansson of course has experience with Courage as Highcroft Racing's Acura-powered entry in the American Le Mans Series was originally a Courage before being morphed into an Acura ARX. ... Liz Halliday is back in a prototype at Le Mans with Noel Del Bello's AER-powered Courage LC75. He recorded her first laps in Wednesday's first session after the car crashed before she could get in it 10 days ago at the Test Day.