The German-based Kodewa team will be campaigning a pair of Lola LMP2 Coupes in this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Lola LMP2 race cars are designed and built in Huntingdon UK and will be powered by an engine provided by the Lotus Group.

The Lola B12/80 LMP2 Coupes will sport a traditional black and gold livery, which was first made famous back in the 1970′s. The famous color scheme will be a nice contrast to the classic blue and orange Gulf Oil scheme that will be seen on the other Lola LMP2 cars this season.

“We have had a very successful winter at Lola with eight LMP cars having been ordered. We believe that new entries in sports cars are recognising the technical capabilities and iconic brand of Lola. It is pleasing that Kodewa, sponsored by Lotus, has chosen Lola to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the Le Mans 24 hours, this year,” said Martin Birrane, Executive Chairman of Lola.

Lola has experienced great success recently taking the 2011 Le Mans Series and American Le Mans Series manufacturers titles. Lola was also the first gasoline-powered LMP car to finish last years Le Mans 24 Hours. We’ll see the new race cars in action at the first race of the 2012 season at the Sebring 12 Hours race on March 17th.

Audi is out to steal Toyota‘s thunder in the World Endurance Championship this year.

The German automaker announced today that it will run two hybrid LMP1 cars for the first time in their team of four during the 24 hours of Le Mans.

Details were scarce in the release, but we know that the cars will be officially released at the end of the month. Their first race debut will follow on May 5 at the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Despite running the hybrid cars, Audi isn’t relying on them. Instead the R18 TDI that raced last year will remain the staple.

“The first test results are very encouraging and we are intrigued to see just how this technology performs in combination with our ultra lightweight technology on the race track at Le Mans. As before, we still, however, see potential with the conventional drive – just as our colleagues do in production development,” head of Audi Motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich said.

It seems that the engineers at Audi are putting some stock in Toyota’s strategy because developing and running those cars is no small feat.

“To develop the hybrid technology for Le Mans is at least as ambitious and challenging as our diesel project was in its early stages,” Ullrich said.

Audi won 10 of the total Le Mans races since 2000, so the fact that they’re putting money into a hybrid LMP1 means there’s probably something significant to be gained.

You might be familiar with the sound a Le Mans car makes while whipping around the track, but this year Toyota is going to change all that.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Japanese giant is entering in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, set to start this June. Yesterday we reported a story revealing some of the mechanical details behind the TS030 hybrid, Toyota’s strategic play to work back into the Le Mans good books.

The hybrid, they hope, will trump the diesel competition this year. Their car will feature a 3.4-liter naturally-aspirated V8 paired with Toyota’s hybrid drivetrain, which will take advantage of a capacitor system instead of the lithium ion batteries found in production cars.

Until today we had only seen still photos and ready specs, but thanks to a fresh post on YouTube, we get a chance to hear what the car sounds like on the road. You don’t see or hear anything interesting for the first 30 seconds of the video, but it ends with the TS030 Hybrid turning onto the track and launching. As you probably imagine, the difference between the electric motors and the V8 is striking. You can watch the video below.

GALLERY: Toyota TS030 Hybrid

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Toyota spilled more details on Tuesday of its plan to run a hybrid at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

Last week we reported that the Japanese automaker would be entering such a vehicle, but there were no details on the powertrain or the plan surrounding the car itself. That changed when the company issued a release detailing their plans to run not one, but two of their hybrid contenders in the Le Mans for the first time in more than a decade.

The first of the two cars will make its race debut at the Six Hours of Spa race in May. Perhaps the most interesting information to come from Toyota today are the details behind their hybrid LMP1 entry.

It will sport a 3.4-liter normally-aspirated V8, paired with a capacitor system instead of batteries, which will store energy through the car’s regenerative braking system. Essentially, that means the hybrid will store power while slowing down and use it for a significant acceleration boost while returning to speed.

The car will also benefit from a new carbon fiber LMP1 chassis that was developed and assembled at Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) in Cologne, Germany.

Toyota will not, however, compete in all the FIA races. Instead, they want to use those they participate in to build up a strong racing platform for the future.

“Of course we would love to win Le Mans; that is the dream for all competitors in this race. But we are realistic and we know we need to develop and to learn in order to compete with some very strong competition. Our target this year is to show the performance level of our car and particularly the THS-R powertrain,” Yoshiaki Kinoshita, racing team president, said.

The decision hasn’t been made about who will man the second car, but we do know that the first car’s team includes 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Alex Wurz, last year’s 12 Hour of Sebring winner Nicolas Lapierre and former F1 driver Kazuki Nakajima.

GALLERY: TS030 Hybrid

Peugeot announced its withdrawal from Le Mans effective immediately.

While the diesel Peugeot 908 prototype won the 2009 24 hours of Le Mans outright, and has also earned 14 victories out of the 16 races in 2011, Peugeot has decided to terminate its endurance racing program in order to place greater emphasis on its sales operations amid decreasing profits and a trying European economy.

In hopes to turn things around for 2012, upcoming new model releases include the Peugeot 208, 3008 HYbrid4, RXH 508, 508, and 4008 Hybrid4, each playing a role in Peugeot’s strategy to globalize the brand and position itself upmarket.

While Peugeot’s absence from endurance racing will be missed, motorsport fans can look forward to the upcoming return of Toyota and its new LMP1 hybrid program for 2012. What’s more, Porsche engineers are hard at work developing their new prototype for Le Mans 2014.

The dominating diesels will have a fuel economy foe at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, thanks to a new hybrid race car from Toyota. Set to compete in the top-tier LMP1 class later this year, the first photos of the hybrid electric drive prototype have hit the net, thanks to a tweet by Toyota UK PR boss Scott Brownlee.

No details have yet been provided on the powertrain, but it’s expected the car will utilize a generous hybrid drivetrain that will not only add power but also supplement power through regenerative braking, allowing the car to drive further with fewer pit stops – the strategy that has allowed diesels from Audi and Peugeot to block out all the top podium spots in endurance racing.

Running the racing operation for Toyota will be ORECA Racing, a team that has been racing at Le Mans for 35 years and which has achieved a first place finish in every category it has ever competed in.

Toyota’s three-man team scheduled to pilot the new hybrid racer at this year’s endurance classic includes 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Alex Wurz, last year’s 12 Hour of Sebring winner Nicolas Lapierre and former F1 pilot Kazuki Nakajima.

GALLERY: Toyota Hybrid Le Mans Race Car

[Source: Autohebdo]

A rare combination of Hollywood and racing history, the Gulf livery racing suit that Steve McQueen wore for the movie Le Mans was sold in a California auction for a steep $800,000. After fees and taxes are taken into account, the total sum is actually $984,000.

With the exception of an automobile, this is the most expensive piece of racing memorabilia ever sold.

From the text of the Profiles in History auction catalog, “When principal filming of Le Mans was completed, Solar Productions donated this suit to the British newspaper, The Observer, for a special La Mans-themed contest in 1971.”

“By answering 3 Le Mans history questions correctly, 12 year-old Timothy Davies of Wolverhampton, England was chosen as the winner and presented with the suit by racing driver Richard ‘Dickie’ Attwood, winner of the 1970 Le Mans race and driver of the Porsche 917K Gulf car during driving sequences in the film.”

[Source: SpeedTV]

Porsche has put to motion an international Youth Development Programme to foster young drivers as the German automaker prepares an expansion of its racing involvement and its entry into the LMP1 class at Le Mans for 2014.

Beginning with the coming 2012 racing season, two young drivers will receive the title “Porsche Juniors” and will receive Porsche support in the Carrera Cup Deutschland series. Porsche will provide these young talents with a large portion of the season’s budget and will allow them to choose a team to work with. In addition, a Junior Coach will assist the two drivers with their physical training outside the circuit as well as mentoring within.

If the young drivers deliver results, they will advance to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup series, the fastest international one-make series, for their second year. On top of financial support, the sophomores will receive fitness testing with constantly adapting training plans plus media training to fulfill sponsor obligations. Also, Porsche will select new Porsche Junior prospectives to fill in the newly vacated spot in the Carrera Cup Deutschland.

According to Hartmut Kristen, the Head of Porsche Motorsport, “With our long term Youth Development Programme, we continue the extremely successful tradition of the Porsche Junior Team. For us, supporting talented youngsters is an investment in the future. In line with our LMP1 project, we want to expand our driver lineup. After all, aside from our works commitment in prototype racing, we don’t want to neglect our GT racing activities and we also want to support our customer teams with works drivers in the future.”

Heavily involved with supporting young drivers since 1997, Porsche Junior alums include Timo Bernhard, Marc Lieb and Patrick Long. Time will tell whether Porsche will find its Le Mans winning driver for its 2014 return.

Toyota has announced its three-man tea of pro racers, who will pilot the brand’s hybrid LMP1 car in the 2012 Le Mans and other races. The list includes former F1 driver and winner of the 2009 24 Hours of Le mans (under Peugeot) Alex Wurz, Team Oreca pilot and last year’s 12 Hours of Sebring winner Nicolas Lapierra and former F1 racer Kaxuki Nakakima.

“I can’t wait to get started and I am fascinated by the new challenge of competing with a hybrid car. It is the future of racing so I am very excited that Toyota comes in with this technology,” said Alex Wurz, one of Toyota’s new drivers.

He, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakakima will start training early in the new year, though it already sounds like their team spirit is coming together.

“Alex is a two-time Le Mans winner so he is a great benchmark for us, but he is also able to build a strong team spirit. I believe the choice of drivers is very good and I am looking forward to working together as a team,” Lapierre said in a press release.

While Wurz brings Le Mans experience to the table, all three drivers are familiar with World Endurance Championship racing.

“Le Mans will be a new experience for me but it is one that I am very much looking forward to. The challenge of Le Mans is famous throughout motorspot so  I can’t wait to race there for the first time. Obviously it is a new experience but I am familiar with endurance racing thanks to my time in Japanese Super GT and this will help me to adjust,” Nakajima said.

Today’s announcement comes after Toyota telling the press late last month that they plan to partner with ORECA Racing Group in developing their new hybrid LMP1 class car.

The decision came after Toyota’s previous solo endeavor at Le Mans failed. Toyota hopes for more success after pairing with championship-winning ORECA. Toyota will contribute the hybrid powertrain while ORECA plans to develop the chassis for their 2012 entrant.

More than just one of the stars of TV’s Grey’s Anatomy, Patrick Dempsey is also an accomplished race car driver, who knows all too well the dangers of motorsports. With this weekend’s tragic accident at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, claiming the life of Dan Wheldon, Dempsey is joining a growing number in the tight knit racing community who are raising funds to support the two-time Indy 500 winner’s family.

IndyCar driver Graham Rahal is spearheading an auction to help raise funds for Wheldon’s two sons, two-year old Sebastian and infant Oliver. Initially a helmet auction, it has since expanded with the latest driver to lend a hand being Dempsey, who has donated the racing suit he wore this summer when he drove Mazda‘s 1991 Le Mans winning 787B race car around the famed Circuit de La Sarthe. He even signed the thing.

Dempsey has long been involved with Mazda and currently owns Dempsey Racing, which competes in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series with two RX-8 race car.

Official details of the auction are expected to be announced in the coming days. Those who want to help can also donate to the Dan Wheldon Family Trust fund at the Fifth Third Private Bank, , 251 N. Illinois St., Suite 1000, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

GALLERY: Mazda 787B Race Car