Arena Motorsport - Sports Car Racing

Sports Car Racing

In 2001, Arena ran the Gulf branded Audi R8 in the European Le Mans Series and at Le Mans for Johansson Racing. The drivers Stefan Johansson, Patrick Lemarié and Tom Coronel were unsuccessful at Le Mans but the team did win the European Le Mans Series championship that year.

In 2003, Arena chose to enter sports car racing, being chosen to represent Audi Sport UK. The team would run an Audi R8 at the 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans. A driving team of Mika Salo, Jonny Kane, and Perry McCarthy were able to take sixth place at Sebring, but the team's fortune at Le Mans turned sour as Frank Biela mistakenly missed his pit stop and ran out of fuel early in the race.

For 2004, Arena initially planned to run a privateer Dome prototype at Le Mans, but the plan did not come together and their entry was withdrawn. A second attempt in 2005 with a new Zytek also did not occur. Finally, in 2007, Arena was able to purchase a Zytek 07S, with plans to enter the full Le Mans Series season as the factory squad in LMP1 with Tom Chilton and Hayanari Shimoda.

Arena's 2007 effort would suffer mechanical setbacks early, with the team struggling to finish races due to throttle cable linkage failures. The team was also forced to withdraw from Le Mans when a heavy accident during testing damage the car so badly that repairs could not be completed in the two weeks prior to the race. Arena was however able to finish in eighth place at the Nürburgring, earning them their first points of the season.

Le Mans Series results
Year Class Car Drivers Wins Poles Fast laps Points T.C.
2007 LMP1 Zytek 07S-Zytek 2ZG408 4.0L V8 Tom Chilton
Max Chilton
Hayanari Shimoda		 0 8 8th*
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year Class No Tyres Car Drivers Pole Fast
lap		 Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2003 LMP900 52 M Audi R8-Audi 3.6L Turbo V8
with Audi Sport UK		 Frank Biela
Perry McCarthy
Mika Salo		 no no 28
(DNF)		 46th 15th
12 Hours of Sebring results
Year Class No Tyres Car Drivers Pole Fast
lap		 Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2003 LMP900 9 M Audi R8-Audi 3.6L Turbo V8
with Audi Sport UK		 Mika Salo
Jonny Kane
Perry McCarthy		 351 no no 6th 4th
European Le Mans Series results
Year Class Car Drivers Wins Poles Fast laps Points T.C.
2001 LMP900 Audi R8-Audi 3.6L Turbo V8
with Johansson Motorsport		 Stefan Johansson
Guy Smith		 1 2 2 115 1st

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