Good news
"24 Heures du Mans, a flood of entries! 88 for 55 places jeudi 31 janvier 2008 - 17h29
The 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours is already a huge success before the race has even begun! The closing date for entries was 23rd January and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest received no fewer than 88 forms, an increase of 16% in relation to 2007 when the number of cars allowed to start went up to fifty-five. In January, entries flooded in to the ACO for the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours: 88 entry forms were received. In 2007, the number was 76.
Of course, the 21 official selections according to their results in the series run under the Le Mans banner have to be subtracted from this number, which means that 67 entries will be chasing the remaining 34 places on the grid as 55 cars are allowed to start. No matter how you look at the figures, it is a huge success. This is proved by the wide variety of projects in all categories, which only serves to drive home the fact that the strategic options and the regulation choices made by the ACO are the right ones.
- Examining the entries in detail provides more information: 26 in LM P1, 15 in LM P2, 22 in LM GT1 and 25 in LM GT2.
Never have there been so many LM P1 prototypes out to show their mettle in the Le Mans 24 Hours. The GTs too are in good health and all the signs point to tooth-and-nail battles in every category!
- The ACO Selection Committee looks like it’s going to have a tough job on its hands as it has to respect the following parameters: 55 places maximum (plus 8 reserves), an attractive starting grid for the spectators plus a high level of competition worthy of the great endurance races.
The list of the lucky entrants selected should be announced at the end of February.
- A tiny leak!
According to the Selection Committee all the requests are of an extremely high quality, and 4 different makes want to race closed prototypes in the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours."
http://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans...D_2517_gb.html