Goh go to Le Mans 1000km

The Japanese Goh Team will run an R8 for Seiji Ara and Tom Kristensen. The squad is a Le Mans regular and the new driver pairing of Ara and Kristensen won them the recent Spa 1000km race.

"It was fantastic working together with Team Goh at Spa," said five-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Kristensen. "The team makes me feel as if I have stepped back in time to my seasons in Japan, of which I have very good memories. Overall victory is obviously our goal at Le Mans."

Starters for the race on the Bugatti circuit are limited to 50 cars and the event seems certain to attract at least that many entries. The Prototype entry also features the Racing for Holland Dome squad and Pescarolo Sport's Courage team. A factory Courage is also expected to enter.

The British Taurus Lola team and Fred Goddard Racing, which runs a Reynard-Judd, have already submitted entries. Team Nasamax also plan to be there with their bio-ethanol racer.

The Bugatti circuit's completely different characteristics from the track used in the 24 hours mean that the Audi may not be able to destroy the opposition as effectively as in the June race. But given their crushing performance at Spa, the announcement of an R8 presence may not be entirely pleasing to the other entrants!

Meanwhile, Audi has admitted that the appearance of the R8's successor may be delayed until 2005. Although the R9 is already under development, Audi sport boss Wolfgang Ullrich has said a late début is a possibility.

"That is one scenario that could happen," said Ullrich. "We are working on a new car, but when, where and how it races has yet to be decided."