ACO reveals future rules plans

The organising body of the French race has given more details of its plans for the LMP1 category, which will be exclusively for closed-top cars from 2011.

Daniel Poissenot, deputy general manager of the ACO said: "The LMP1 cars are dream cars that are built to win the race overall. We want them to have more recognition with their brand though."

The ACO wants the bodywork of the cars to have a closer resemblance to the road cars of the manufacturers, in particular at the front of the car.

"At the moment it is hard for the spectators to recognise which car is which, they are too similar," Poissenot added.

The performance of the LMP2 cars is also being reviewed, and from 2008 the cars in the second prototype class will be 50 kilograms heavier than they are at present, in a bid to create a greater gap between LMP1 and LMP2.

The ACO wants to reduce the costs in all classes, but it is still paying particular attention to the GT classes, where it believes that technology is making costs too high.

"We want to reduce costs in GT2 in particular," Poissenot added. "We want to make their performance closer to road cars, and it is essential to reduce the costs, particularly regarding electronics."

The ACO also outlined plans to make Le Mans more environmentally friendly, including working with Shell to create bio-fuels and bio-diesel for the future.

The organisers also admitted that they are currently looking into kinetic energy recovery, which has also been considered in Formula One.

President of the ACO, Jean Claude Plaasart said: "We have to look at energy recuperation, in particular with the rear wheels and the rear brakes, and the study is ongoing."