With the relaxing of the engine rules for Le Mans Style series, rumour has been heating up on who may use the 7.0 litre Chevrolet unit that is currently been used in the GT1 car.
A differently tuned engine may be able to be used in LMP1 cars, similar to how Charouz run an Aston Martin engine in their Lola.
Naturally, General Motors would approve any use of their engines and, therefore, would only approve the best teams. According to rumour, these are the front running squads:
General Motors themselves - with the continual assistance from Pratt & Miller, GM could move up to LMP1 to have some competition. Whether this will happen in 2009 and whether they will build their own car, at considerable cost to a struggling car maker is unclear at the current time.
Pescarolo - the team is struggling and need some kind of boost to get back to their 2006 form. They could be introducing a new car as their current one is getting old and the partnership with Saulnier is maturing now. This could occur.
Luc Alphand - this team has old links with GM and are a very professional squad, a move to P1 with a customer chassis could happen.
The FMSC View
Nothing is confirmed yet but after the rules announcement at Le Mans and GM's reactions to them, it would be surprising if at least one of the above three options did not happen. Naturally, we will keep you informed of any news here.
Sam Tickell