Panoz LMP07 - Racing History

Racing History

The LMP07 was announced by Panoz at the 2000 Petit Le Mans, with a presentation model on display. The first working chassis would be completed in time for the final race of the season in December. Running at the Race of a Thousand Years on 31 December 2000 at the Adelaide Street Circuit in Australia, the LMP07 lasted a mere two laps before the alternator failed and the car was forced to retire.

Following off-season testing, the second chassis would make its debut at the first race of the 2001 season, competing alongside two older LMP-1s. The LMP07 would finish third behind two Audi R8s and a lap ahead of the best LMP-1 Roadster-S. With the performance capabilities of the LMP07 shown, both chassis fully replaced the LMP-1s for the 12 Hours of Sebring. However neither car would finish, suffering from mechanical problems early in the event.

When the American Le Mans Series season moved to Europe, the LMP07s were able to fix their mechanical problems and both cars finished at Donington Park. The cars would only manage sixth and eighth places however, with a privateer LMP-1 Roadster-S taking fifth. Problems would once again hit the team at Jarama, as the lone finishing car could manage a mere 14th place. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the cars once again suffered problems and both would be retired in the first few hours of the event. Both cars were also slow in comparison to their contemporaries, managing to record only the 19th and 21st fastest times in qualifying, nearly ten seconds slower than the Audis.

Following the performance troubles of the LMP07, most notably at Le Mans, Panoz decided that the cars need to be reworked in order to remain competitive as well as durable. Panoz made the decision to bring back the LMP-1 Roadster-S, completing the season with the older cars while work continued on the LMP07s. By the end of the year, it was decided that it would be easier to upgrade the existing LMP-1s instead of attempting to fix the LMP07s. The three chassis built were therefore sold off to privateer teams for their own use.

MBD Sportscar would purchase two chassis for the 2002 season, adapting the new Mugen V8 to the chassis. Debuting at Sebring, the two cars would continue their difficulties, including one car catching fire. For the rest of the season, although the cars were more reliable, the LMP07-Mugens would only be able to finish better than the factory upgraded LMP01 Evos on one occasion. One MBD entry would also run the 24 Hours of Le Mans but once again fail to finish. MBD Sportscar would abandon the series soon after Le Mans, leaving them to finish seventh in the team championship. The LMP07s would be retired from competition with no other teams wishing to purchase the cars.