Pescarolo's Worst Fears Are About to Become Reality

If you were following what was going on in the Le Mans racing community over the last years you might remember Le Mans legend Henri Pescarolo criticizing the A.C.O. for the inclusion of diesel prototypes in the LMP1 category. Back in 2006 Henri wrote an open letter explaining why it is unfair to have diesel fueled prototypes compete in the same category with traditional gas prototypes. He demonstrated that the superior torque provided by diesel engines make it impossible for a gas prototype to compete.

Later on, Henri Pescarolo expressed concerns about his – and other privateers – ability to recruit sponsors given this new situation. For a few years now, both Audi and Peugeot, two extremely wealthy factory teams, participate at Le Mans with diesel prototypes. They afford to hire exceptional drivers so they’ve got the talent and the cars. And if Audi and Peugeot enter three cars each, and they don’t screw up, it’s very likely they snatch the first six places in the race. This means that the best a privateer like Pescarolo can hope for is seventh place, maybe sixth of fifth if one or two diesels abandon. And that’s a place they have to compete with Aston Martin Racing for. This is a huge problem for Pescarolo and the like, because it hurts their ability to attract sponsors. Sponsors tend to give money to teams with chances to win. If from the start on, no matter how good you are, you can only do seventh, who’s going to give you money? When Pescarolo was fighting the big factory teams with equal arms – in terms of engine technology – he was always in the top and sponsors – and as such money – could always be found. Well, things have changed.

Today, Pescarolo Sport is in pretty bad shape. The sponsors problem and the economic / financial crisis hurt the team pretty badly. After surviving for one season by forming a joint venture with Sora Group, the team has failed to raise more funds, despite excellent results last season: second in Le Mans Series and a first place in the Asian Le Mans Series at Okayama. The press reports that negotiations with a Luxembourg based investment group to raise money for the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans are about to fail and Pescarolo Sport might have to give up the two invitations it was awarded by the ACO.

If this is true and Pescarolo Sport has to give up their Le Mans participation, it would be a shock to many. We really hope they will be able to recover and find the funds to keep racing.