The economic turmoil has claimed another victim

Embassy Racing has announced today that the doors to its two car Le Mans Series racing efforts have been closed to business.

Jonathan France has taken the decision to redirect his finances due to the global economic downturn and is no longer prepared to meet the financial commitments required to keep a motor racing team functioning at the highest level.

Rumour is rife regarding who will run Porsche RS Sypders in the Le Mans Series in 2009.

Victory at Silverstone but Second in the Championship

Team Modena Gallery from Silverstone Team Modena went into the final round of the Le Mans Series at Silverstone knowing that only a win would secure them the Teams and Drivers LM GT1 class titles in the five-race championship, and even then the championship leader only had to score one point to claim the crown. The team did all it could, the Aston Martin was right on the pace all weekend and Antonio Garcia and Tomas Enge drove flawlessly in the 1000km race to win by a lap - but the French run Corvette declined to challenge the DBR9 and cruised home to take third and enough points to win the titles by six points.

Following a period of three years of fruitful cooperation together, and by common accord, Paolo CATONE and Peugeot Sport have decided not to extend the contract between them which extended until the end of 2008. Indeed, Paolo Catone wishes to give a new direction to his career.

The LMS season may be over but Charouz Aston Martin are keeping busy

Yamamoto And Primat Tested Charouz LMP1 Car

Formula 1 test driver Sakon Yamamoto and Harold Primat tested Charouz Racing System prototype at Brno this week. They shared the Aston Martin powered LMP1 prototype. The Japanese driver of the ING Renault F1 team ran in both dry and wet conditions. Primat drove only on Wednesday when the track was dry.

Fans of Liz Halliday have the opportunity to own one of the dual sportswoman's race suits, signed by the California-born racing driver and equestrian.

Halliday, who is now based in the UK, has donated one of her racing suits to be sold off at a charity auction with all proceeds going to Mencap -- The leading UK charity for people with a learning disability and their families. The suit was previously worn by Liz during the 2007 Le Mans 24 Hours where she raced for Del Bello Racing in the LMP2 category and led the class before gearbox problems forced retirement in the early hours of the morning.

Luc Alphand Adventures won the GT1 title at Silverstone

Ferrari
Guillaume Moreau
Ryan Lewis
Lola Cars
Strakka
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Horag Racing won the Michelin Energy Challenge and a guaranteed spot at Le Mans

The fifth and final round of the 2008 Le Mans Series at Silverstone, Great Britain, today saw HORAG RACING clinch the "Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge" to earn itself a guaranteed entry for next year's Le Mans 24 Hours .

Audi celebrates their Le Mans Series success

Audi
Peugeot
Charouz
Porsche
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The Van Merksteijn Porsche was again the class of the P2 field

Van Merksteijn
Horag
RML
Speedy Sebah
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Team Modena celebrates their GT1 win

Team Modena
Strakka
Zytek
Saulnier
Quifel ASM
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Team Modena and Enge won GT1

Spyker
James Watt Automotive
Michelin
Tomas Enge
Harold Primat
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The wraps come off the Peugeot 908HY!

For details on the car see >this story!

The Charouz Aston Martin scored a podium, taking advantage of some the difficulties from the diesel runners

Audi recorded its first win in the 2008 Le Mans Series at the fifth and final race, the Autosport Silverstone 1000kms. By so doing, the German manufacturer claimed the teams' and manufacturers' titles, while with fourth place on the road, Alexandre Premat and Mike Rockenfeller won the drivers' title.

Audi took a surprise win at Silverstone - their first of the year in the LMS

Silverstone: Race Results

Peugeot are again on Pole

Peugeot
Audi
Charouz
Van Merksteijn
Quifel ASM
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The Spykers showed encouraging speed in qualifying

James Watt Automotive
Spyker Squadron
Tomas Enge
Michelin
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Audi are still Peugeot but have closed the gap

Peugeot locked out the front row of the grid for the fifth and final race of the 2008 Le Mans Series at Silverstone. Stephane Sarrazin set a new qualifying record of 1m30.359s to beat his team-mate Nicolas Minassian by one hundredth of a second. Minassian recovered from a collision with Xavier Pompidou's Speedy Racing Lola which damaged the rear of the 908 Hdi FAP in which he, and co-driver Marc Gene, have won twice to lead the series.

Peugeot Sport will profit from the final round of the 2008 Le Mans Series at Silverstone to unveil a 908 HDi FAP demonstration car equipped with hybrid power featuring a kinetic energy recovery system. The 908 HY will be shown in a new, specific silver-grey livery and will provide a foretaste of what Peugeot’s next endurance racing challenger could resemble, although its use will depend on the regulations that will govern LMP1 cars from 2009.

SPIRIT OF THE 2009 RULES

The 2009 endurance season will be marked by the application of new equivalence that prefigure the new regulations for the years 2010 and 2011.

The Sports Committee was charged by the ACO President, Jean-Claude Plassart, to propose the regulations to the ACO Director Committee. The Sports Committee made up of Mrs Remy Brouard, Pierre Fillon, Jacques Leseur and Daniel Poissenot.

The Peugeots lead the times in qualifying

Silverstone: Qualifying Times

Lienhard (left) will retire after a long and distinguished career

Sunday's 1,000 Kilometers of Silverstone will not only bring the 2008 Le Mans Series (LMS) to an end, but it will also mark the last race for Horag Racing driver Fredy Lienhard.

Lienhard, of Niederteufen, Switzerland, has told his fellow teammates that he will retire from the cockpit of the Lista Office LO Porsche RS Spyder following Sunday's race, which falls on his actual 61st birthday.

The #21 Epsilon Euskadi Judd was competitive in practice 1, posting the fastest time of a petrol car and matching the slower Audi

Silverstone: Practice 1 Times

With all the hype surrounding Petit Le Mans entries, it seems we could be in for more news.

Van Merksteijn can enjoy Silverstone, having already wrapped up the P2 crown

Pescarolo
Charouz
Van Merksteijn
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Modena still have a slim hope of taking the GT1 Class Title

Quifel-ASM
Saulnier
Tomas Enge

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Fresh from his ALMS duties, Ryan Lewis will race for Creation in the Le Mans Series

Ryan Lewis is back in the UK this week, preparing to compete in the ‘Autosport 1000km of Silverstone', the final round of the 2008 Le Mans Series. The British driver who only made his sportscar debut a few weeks ago in the American Le Mans Series has teamed up with Creation AIM for the UK round of the Le Mans Series this weekend.

Peugeot are aiming for their second Le Mans Series Championship in two years

Peugeot
Audi
Porsche
Modena
Harold Primat
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After Eco Racing announced their intention to race at the Silverstone 1000km and at Petit Le Mans, people were getting excited at the prospect of seeing the Radical LMP1 on track and to see what this car could do.

JWA’s #93 Aston Martin Vantage GT2 will make its LMS debut at Silverstone

Eccleshall, Staffordshire -- James Watt Automotive (JWA) is pleased to confirm that it will utilise this weekend's 'Autosport 1000km of Silverstone', Round 5 of the 2008 Le Mans Series, to officially launch its 2009 activities, using the 'home' event for the much anticipated debut of the team's #93 Aston Martin Vantage GT2 entry. The Staffordshire-based squad will field the car in the GT2 class in the Le Mans Series season finale with Tim Sugden, Alan van der Merwe and Michael Outzen sharing driving duties, Friday 12th -- Sunday 14th September.

After RML released the best kept secret - see this story so to complete this story, here are some pictures...

The shakedown of the new Lola was successful for RML

Just seventeen days after competing in round four of the 2008 Le Mans Series at the Nurburgring, RML was testing their LMP2 sports prototype again at Snetterton in Norfolk. At first glance, perhaps there is nothing significant or even surprising about that fact, but pause to consider that the car on test was both the same car, and yet a totally new one.

RML and AD Group will contest the final round of this year’s Le Mans Series with a comprehensive upgrade of the MG Lola EX265 LMP2 sports prototype. In collaboration with Lola Cars of Huntingdon, the team is to carry out a final shakedown test of the fully revised EX265C at Snetterton on Wednesday, where regular drivers Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos will assess their first experience of the new closed-cockpit configuration.