Le Mans Series: Valencia Preview

Last year, Le Mans Series and Team LNT raced at the Spanish circuit Jarama. This year, the series opts for Valencia - and that’s where we are this coming weekend 5th/6th May.

The Panoz Esperantes have never raced there before, but have tested there on occasions - an advantage that some other teams do not have.

Following Monza and the retirement of the #82 car it was feared there would only be one Team LNT entry; Valencia just cannot accommodate the number of cars Monza could, so it was down to stricken cars at the end of round 1 to reduce the field.

Fortunately for Team LNT, entry changes have given the #82 car a place on the grid - not so fortunate for those teams who had to make the decision to miss Valencia.

Another entry change in Team LNT’s garage sees Tom Milner coming straight from the American Le Mans Series race at Houston to race the Orange Panoz for the first time. He replaces Lucas Lasserre for this round to give the American some mileage before the Le Mans 24 hour race next month.

A fourth place for Tom Kimber-Smith and Danny Watts at Monza will hopefully be improved upon following a successful test at Estoril last week. As part of the Pirelli Development programme, mileage was made in tyre development and car setup in a bid to narrow the current gap between the Esperantes and Ferrari 430s.

Follow the race live on Motors TV if you can. Coverage starts at 12:15pm.

Timetable (local times):

Friday 4th May

13:45 - 14:45 - Free Practice 1
16:45 - 17:45 - Free Practice 2

Saturday 5th May

09:50 - 10:50 - Free Practice 3
13:25 - 13:45 - Qualifying LMP1 / LMP2
13:50 - 14:10 - Qualifying LMGT1 / LMGT2

Sunday 6th May

09:00 - 09:20 - Warm-up
13:30 - 19:30 - Race