MULTIMATIC LEADS 10TH PANOZ ASSAULT AT LE MANS 24 HOUR
Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz has its sights set on providing the Panoz marque with its first ever victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 10th assault on the classic French endurance race by the American manufacturer.
The original Panoz GTR1 hit the track for the first time in France in 1997 with two cars entered by David Price Racing and a single entry by the French-squad, DAMS.
Unfortunately, none of the three entries made it to the finish. Andy Wallace, James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger (236 laps); Frank Lagorce, Eric Bernard and Jean-Christophe Boullion (149 laps) and Perry McCarthy, Doc Bundy and current Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz squad member David Brabham (145 laps) were the first drivers to compete at La Sarthe for the American marque.
The best ever Panoz result is shared by the Panoz Motor Sports entry of Johnny O'Connell, Hiroki Katoh and Pierre-Henri Raphanel who finished 5th in 2000 and Gunnar Jeannette, Max Papis and Olivier Beretta who scored the same result for JML Team Panoz in 2003.
Other drivers who have competed at Le Mans with the Panoz brand over the past 10 years include Jamie Davies, Christophe Tinseau, Jan Magnussen, Max Angelelli, Mario Andretti, Toshio Suzuki, Masahiko Kageyama, Masami Kageyama, Takeshi Tsechiya, Mashahiko Kondou, Akira Iida, John Nielsen, Klaus Graf, Mauro Baldi, Gary Formato, Bill Auberlen, David Donohue, Bryan Herta, David Saelens, Scott Maxwell, Benjamin Leuenberger, Patrick Bourdais, Jean-Luc Blanchemain, Roland Berville, Robin Liddell, Bryan Sellars and Mario Franchitti.
For this year's 10th anniversary assault in the GT2 class, Tom Milner becomes the 43rd driver to compete at Le Mans for Panoz, joining Scott Maxwell and Gunnar Jeannette. European squad, Team LNT will also enter a single Panoz Esperante GTLM for Lawrence Tomlinson, Richard Dean and Tom Kimber-Smith.
Multimatic is competing at Le Mans for only the third time. In 2000, the team won on debut in the LMP675 class with Scott Maxwell, John Graham and Greg Wilkins aboard a Lola B2K/40. That victory earned Multimatic the honour of being the first and only Canadian team to ever win a class at the event.
Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz enters next week's event after a troubled day on Sunday - setting the fourth fastest time of the day despite engine problems. The team's proposed race engine will now be fitted to the car for qualifying starting next Wednesday while the current power-plant is on its way to the US for repairs – ready to be returned to France for use in the race.
"Multimatic is very proud to lead the charge for Panoz on its 10th assault on Le Mans," Multimatic Motorsports Vice President and Technical Director, Larry Holt said.
"The Panoz brand has become a crowd favourite in France over the years and we would love to give the fans something to cheer about with a podium finish next week.
"We were very happy with the speed and balance of the car at the test day and the guys at Elan Power Products are out to leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of the engine problems we faced.
"I remain very confident we have the car and the drivers to be extremely strong in the race. Le Mans is a significant challenge but a victory in the GT2 class is certainly our target. If everything falls into place, a repeat of our Sebring win is not out of the question."
Statistics TIMETABLE (local time):
Tuesday, June 13:Scrutineering1:30-2:00pm local time7:30-8.00am Toronto timePanoz Esperante #77
Wednesday, June 14:Qualifying 7:00-9:00pm / 10:00-12:00 midnight local time 1:00-3:00pm / 4:00-6:00pm Toronto time
Thursday, June 15:Qualifying 7:00-9:00pm / 10:00-12:00 midnight local time 1:00-3:00pm / 4:00-6:00pm Toronto time
Friday, June 16:Drivers Parade6:00pm local time12:00noon Toronto time
Saturday, June 17:Race start5:00pm local time11:00am Toronto time
Sunday, June 18: Race Finish5:00pm local time11:00am Toronto time
LAST YEAR AT LE MANS
#77 Panoz Motor SportsBill Auberlen/Robin Liddell/Scott MaxwellQualified: 36th Finish: DNF – Engine, 27 lapsFastest lap: 4:09.317Qualified: 4:07.027Test Day: 4:05.059
#78 Panoz Motor SportsBryan Sellers/Marino Franchitti/Patrick BourdaisQualfied: 39th Finish: DNF – Driveline, 185 lapsFastest lap: 4:10.133Qualified: 4:09.262Test Day: 4:13.734
