Engines could be weakest link for MG at Le Mans

The Chamberlain-run team was plagued by engine trouble during official testing at the La Sarthe track in May, but had hoped to solve the problems with a revised ignition system which was tested at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium last week.

In spite of the revisions, the two-litre twin turbo engine in the MG EX257 suffered two head gasket failures during an endurance run at the Ardennes track.

Advanced Engine Research builds the engines for the Hertfordshire-based team and some development parts are due to be tested this week. A spokesman for the engine builder said: "There was a manufacturing problem with the gaskets."

Jonny Kane completed much of the MG running during last month's official test, but Warren Hughes set the benchmark time at Spa last week with a best lap of 2m10.4s, ahead of Kevin McGarrity.