Le Mans 2011 Larbre Competition Corvette 50

Larbre Compétition is a French

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

team founded in 1988 by Jack Leconte. Based at the

Circuit du Val de Vienne Circuit du Val de Vienne is a motor racing circuit located in Le Vigeant, France. Opened in 1990, the circuit is operated by Les Deux Arbes, a group under the auspices of Jack Leconte and Jacques Nicolet Jacques Nicolet (born 5 April 1956 i ...

Le Vigeant Le Vigeant () is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vienne department The following is a list of the 266 communes of the Vienne department of France ...

, Larbre has had considerable success in the

Porsche Carrera Cup Porsche Carrera Cup (sometimes abbreviated PCC) is a number of one-make racing by Porsche premier series competed with, initially Porsche 911 Carrera Cup, then later Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The cars are specifically built by Porsche for one-m ...

French GT Championship The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the ''Championnat de France des Circuits'' (formerly called ''Super Série FFSA'' and ...

, and international

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

. Previously working with major automobile manufacturers like

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

, and

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

, Larbre ran one of the factory

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

squads in the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

where they won the 2006 GT1 class championship. For 2008 Larbre chose to enlist

Saleen S7 Saleen Automotive, Inc., commonly known as Saleen (/səˈliːn/), is an American manufacturer of specialty high-performance sports cars and high-performance automotive parts. Saleen is headquartered in Corona, California, US. On June 26, 2013 Sal ...

-Rs for the

and

FFSA GT Championship The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the ''Championnat de France des Circuits'' (formerly called ''Super Série FFSA'' and ...

. The team continued with the GT1 Saleens during the 2009 LMS season, but ACO denied an entry from them for the

2009 24 Hours of Le Mans The 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: 24 Heures du Mans 2009) was the 77th Grand Prix of Endurance, an endurance auto race run over 24 hours. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France, and was organised by the Automobile Club ...

. For 2010 Larbre competed once again with the 10-year-old

-R in the Le Mans Series, with drivers

Fernando Rees Fernando Rees (born January 4, 1985) is a retired Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, ...

Gabriele Gardel Gabriele Gardel (born 22 October 1977 in Milan, Italy) is a Swiss racing driver. He is the 2005 FIA GT Champion. Career Complete chronology: * 1995: Formula Ford, best finish: 4th. * 1996: Italian F3, Italian runner, best driver under 21 ( ...

and

Patrice Goueslard Patrice Goueslard (born 26 November 1965) is a French racing driver. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans each year from 1999 until 2010, having initially made his debut at the event in 1994. His best finish in the event came in 2006, when ...

. In 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans the team took the last LMGT1 class win with the aging Saleen S7-R, as well championship victories from both Le Mans Series and Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. In 2011 the GT1 class got axed from ACO-sanctioned racing, and the old GT2 category (renamed as GTE) became the premier GT class. The team entered a

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R The Chevrolet Corvette C6.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing. It is a replacement for the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Corvette C5-R racing car, app ...

into the GTE-Am division of the

and

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

. The team won the GTE-Am category of the

2011 24 Hours of Le Mans The 79th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''79e 24 Heures du Mans'') was an 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars. The race was held from 11 to 12 June 2011 at the Circuit de ...

with the Corvette and also took the second place with Porsche GT3 RSR. They also won the ILMC GTE-AM championship and thus became the first team to win a professional championship with a GT2-spec Corvette C6.R. In 2012 and 2013, Larbre competed in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

with two GTE-Am class Corvette C6.Rs. For 2014, Larbre competed in the first race of the European Le Mans Series season, the 4 Hours of Silverstone, with

Keiko Ihara Keiko Ihara (井原慶子, ''Ihara Keiko'') (born July 4, 1973) is a Japanese race car driver. She was a former race queen, a model who appears in a swimsuit or other fashionable apparel at race circuits, before deciding to become a racing driver ...

and

Gustavo Yacamán Gustavo "''El Tigrillo''" (English: Ocelot) Yacamán Aristizabal (born February 25, 1991) is a Colombian racing driver from Santiago de Cali. Yacamán began his career in open-wheel racing, but switched to sports car endurance racing in 2012. He ...

driving a

Morgan LMP2 The Pescarolo 01 is the first sports prototype racing car built entirely by French team Pescarolo Sport. It is designed to meet the LMP1 and LMP2 regulations for Le Mans Prototypes in the Le Mans Series as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and ...

. The team also competed in the

as an ELMS entry with the addition of

Ricky Taylor Ricky Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American racing driver, most notably in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours o ...

. For 2015, Larbre is currently competing with a

Chevrolet Corvette C7.R The Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing between 2014 and 2019. It is a replacement for the Corvette C6.R racing car, using the C7 generation Chevrolet C ...

in the GTE-Am class of the

with drivers Gianluca Roda, Paolo Ruberti,

Kristian Poulsen Kristian Poulsen (born 18 November 1975) is a Danish auto racing driver, who currently competes in touring car racing. Career He made his debut in the FIA World Touring Car Championship in 2008 with a part season. For 2009 he will compete a ful ...

, and Nicolai Sylvest. The team continues in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2016, again with a Corvette C7.R racing in GTE-Am. The driver lineup consists of Yatuka Yamagishi, Pierre Ragues, and Paolo Ruberti.

Achievements

* 24 Hours of Le Mans :1993 - LMGT class winner

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and origin ...

Carrera RSR :1994 - LMGTS class winner

Carrera RSR :2010 - LMGT1 class winner

Saleen Saleen Automotive, Inc., commonly known as Saleen (/səˈliːn/), is an American manufacturer of specialty high-performance sports cars and high-performance automotive parts. Saleen is headquartered in Corona, California, US. On June 26, 2013 Sal ...

S7-R :2011 - LMGTE-AM class winner

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctive ...

C6.R GT2 :2012 - LMGTE-AM class winner

C6.R GT2 * FIA GT Championship :2000 - N-GT class team champion

Porsche 911 GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

-R :2001 - GT class team champion

Chrysler Viper GTS-R The Chrysler Viper GTS-R (also known as the Dodge Viper GTS-R when raced in North America) was a successful racing variant of the Dodge Viper developed in conjunction with Chrysler of North America, Oreca of France, and Reynard Motorsport of the ...

:2002 - GT class team champion

* Spa 24 Hours :2001 - Overall winner

:2002 - Overall winner

* Le Mans Series :2004 - LMGTS class team champion

Ferrari 550 The Ferrari 550 Maranello (''tipo'' F133) is a front-engine V12 2-seat grand tourer built by Ferrari from 1996 to 2001. The 550 Maranello marked Ferrari's return to a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout for its 2-seater 12-cylinder model, 23 y ...

-GTS Maranello :2006 - LMGT1 class team champion

Aston Martin DBR9 The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winn ...

:2010 - LMGT1 class team champion

S7-R * Intercontinental Le Mans Cup :2010 - LMGT1 class team champion

S7-R :2011 - LMGTE-AM class champion

C6.R GT2 * Championat de France FFSA GT : 1997 Champion de France FFSA GT Porsche GT2 : 2003 Champion de France FFSA GT Chrysler Viper : 2008 Champion de France FFSA GT Saleen S7-R : 2010 Champion de France FFSA GT Porsche 911 GT3

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larbre Competition French auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 1988 1988 establishments in France 24 Hours of Le Mans teams European Le Mans Series teams FIA GT Championship teams FIA World Endurance Championship teams Porsche Supercup teams American Le Mans Series teams