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Le Mans Series: Runners and riders

The European sportscar season begins at Paul Ricard this weekend with an eight-hour race. Gary Watkins takes you through the contenders for success in each class this year

Gary Watkins Apr 9, 2010, 5:13 PM

LMP1 - The contenders

Signature moves up from an old Courage-ORECA to one of Aston Martin Racing's coupes for its second season in sportscars. That's a smart move. Switching away from the Michelins around which the AMR car was developed is probably not.

#008 Franck Mailleux (F)/Pierre Ragues (F)/Vanina Ickx (B)*

Mailleux, who didn't make the expected impression in '09, leads a line-up that is unlikely to set the world on fire.

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Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.