Toyota and Mercedes favourites for Le Mans

Just as F1 is becoming the preserve of works engine deals and factory teams, so Le Mans is likely to be dominated by big-money manufacturer entries.

Toyota are favourites with their rapid GT-One, but the AMG run Mercedes have been the kings of GT racing for a couple of seasons and will provide serious opposition.

BMW are keen to forget the disasters of their 1998 campaign, and with better preparation and the mighty Schnitzer outfit running the cars, they will be in contention for victory.

Experienced sportscar entrants Dave Price Racing are running modified '98 spec cars, but have a rather unbalanced driver line-up.

Audi and Nissan are both dark horses. Audi's two-pronged attack has disappointed so far, but recent tests have been more encouraging.

The Nissan effort is more low-key than in recent years, factory team NISMO are running a new sports-racer designed by G-Force, but they could be outpaced by the works-supported Courage-Nissan.

Star of the show could be the Panoz team. The new LMP Spyder has had little testing, but is quicker than its ungainly looks suggest.

The specialist constructors are also represented. The best of the privateers should be the DAMS Lola, fast but fragile in the ISRS.

Fellow Lola runner Kremer and Konrad also have both the experience and the driving strength necessary to surprise.

ISRS pacesetters JB Ferrari will struggle against the factory outfits, as will Philippe Gache's Solution-F team, Europe's leading R&S runners.

Further down the field, the all-conquering ORECA Chrysler team will be almost impossible to beat in GTS, as will Porsche Supercup stars Manthey Racing in the new LMGT class.