2003 1000 km of Le Mans

thumb|Map of the Bugatti Circuit The 2003 1000 km of Le Mans was a one-off sports car event run under the organization of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) in preparation for the Le Mans Endurance Series that began in 2004. It was run on 9 November 2003 at the Bugatti Circuit near Le Mans, France. Development The ACO, having previous helped in the creation of the American Le Mans Series with the running of the 1998 Petit Le Mans, as well as a failed attempt at a Japanese sportscar series with the 1999 Le Mans Fuji 1000km, created the 1000 km of Le Mans as an experimental event to gauge the desire for teams to participate in a European-based endurance sportscar series under Le Mans rules. Previously, the FIA Sportscar and FIA GT Championships had run primarily in Europe, but were not running as a combined series, one concentrating on prototypes and the other grand tourers, and featured mostly sprint or middle-distance races. Don Panoz, creator of the American Le Mans Series, had attempted to create a European series to combine the two types of sportscars with the European Le Mans Series, but had failed to gain enough entrants. The ACO, weary of the same occurrence, decided to hold a single race to see how much participation there would actually be. Although officially run under the Le Mans Endurance Series name, this did not count towards any championship. In order to help bolster the number of entrants, the ACO promised winners in each of the four race classes automatic invitations to the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unlike the usual 24 Hours of Le Mans run in June at the 13 km Circuit de la Sarthe, the 1000 km of Le Mans ran on the 4.3 km Bugatti Circuit which did not use closed public roads. Official results Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 75% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).November 2003 Le Mans 1000 Km - Provisional Result https://www.dailysportscar.com/archive/subscribers/majors/2003/lemans1000km/lemans1000provresult.htm 30 July 2023 DailySportsCarLe Mans 1000 Kilometres 2003 https://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Le_Mans-2003-11-09.html 30 July 2023 Racing Sports Cars Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps Engine 1 LMP900 5 JPN Audi Sport Japan Team Goh DNK Tom KristensenJPN Seiji Ara Audi R8 Michelin 208 Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 2 LMP900 2 FRA Pescarolo Sport FRA Stéphane SarrazinFRA Franck LagorceFRA Sébastien Bourdais Courage C60 Evo Michelin 205 Peugeot A32 3.2L Turbo V6 3 LMP900 8 NLD Racing for Holland NLD Jan LammersGBR Andy Wallace Dome S101 Dunlop 204 Judd GV4 4.0L V10 4 LMP675 13 FRA Courage Compétition BEL Wim EyckmansRUS Roman RusinovITA Enrico Muscioni Courage C65 Michelin 197 JPX 3.4L V6 5 GTS 88 GBR Care Racing GBR Jamie DaviesGBR Darren Turner Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello Michelin 195 Ferrari F133 5.9L V12 6 GTS 80 GBR Care Racing NLD Peter KoxGBR Tim Sugden Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello Michelin 194 Ferrari F133 5.9L V12 7 LMP675 18 USA Intersport Racing USA Jon FieldUSA Duncan DaytonUSA Larry Connor Lola B01/60 Goodyear 191 Judd KV675 3.4L V8 8 GTS 86 FRA Larbre Compétition FRA Christophe BouchutBEL Vincent VosseFRA Sébastian Dumez Chrysler Viper GTS-R Michelin 190 Chrysler 356-T6 8.0L V10 9 LMP900 9 GBR Taurus Racing GBR Phil AndrewsGBR Justin KeenITA Giovanni Lavaggi Lola B2K/10 Dunlop 190 Judd GV4 4.0L V10 10 GT 47 GBR Cirtek Motorsport AUT Philipp PeterAUT Klaus EngelhornITA Andrea Montermini Ferrari 360 Modena GTC Pirelli 189 Ferrari F131 3.6L V8 11 GT 39 DEU Freisinger Motorsport FRA Stéphane OrtelliFRA Stéphane DaoudiRUS Alexey Vasilyev Porsche 996 GT3-RS Dunlop 189 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 12 GT 38 GBR PK Sport Ltd. GBR Robin LiddellFRA Jean-Philippe Belloc Porsche 996 GT3-RS Pirelli 188 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 13 GT 36 GBR Sebah QM Automotive FRA Xavier PompidouFRA Emmanuel Collard Porsche 996 GT3-R Dunlop 186 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 14 GT 33 FRA Bernard Jubin FRA Sylvain NoëlFRA Christophe Tinseau Porsche 996 GT3-RS Pirelli 186 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 15 LMP675 24 FRA Rachel Welter FRA Olivier PortaFRA Richard BalandrasJPN Yojiro Terada WR LMP01 Michelin 185 Peugeot 2.0L Turbo I4 16 GT 30 GBR Scuderia Ecosse GBR Tim MullenGBR Marino FranchittiCAN Chris Niarchos Ferrari 360 Modena GTC Pirelli 185 Ferrari F131 3.6L V8 17 GT 46 GBR DeWALT-Racesports Salisbury GBR Michael CaineGBR Richard StantonGBR Bob Berridge TVR Tuscan T400R Dunlop 182 TVR Speed Six 4.0L I6 18 GT 49 GBR Morgan Motor Company GBR Adam SharpeNZL Neil Cunningham Morgan Aero 8R Dunlop 178 BMW (Mader) 4.5L V8 19 GT 45 GBR DeWALT-Racesports Salisbury GBR Amanda StrettonBEL Fanny DuchateauUSA Liz Halliday TVR Tuscan T400R Dunlop 175 TVR Speed Six 4.0L I6 20 LMP675 12 FRA PiR FRA Pierre BruneauFRA Marc Rostan Pilbeam MP84 Dunlop 173 Nissan (AER) VQL 3.0L V6 21 GT 40 DEU Seikel Motorsport GBR Johnny MowlemITA Alex CaffiITA Gabrio Rosa Porsche 996 GT3-RS Yokohama 173 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 22 LMP900 7 GBR Fred Goddard ZAF Earl GoddardGBR Martin ShortGBR Warren Carway Reynard 01Q Dunlop 172 Ford (Nicholson-McLaren) 4.0L V8 23 GTS 66 DEU Konrad Motorsport DEU Wolfgang KaufmannCHE Toni SeilerAUT Franz Konrad Saleen S7-R Dunlop 170 Ford 7.0L V8 24 GT 32 NLD System Force Motorsport NLD Peter van Merksteijn Sr.NLD Frans Munsterhuis Porsche 996 GT3-RS Pirelli 169 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 25 GT 42 NLD Spyker Automobilien BEL Patrick van SchooteDEU Norman Simon Spyker C8 Double-12R Dunlop 169 Audi 4.0L V8 26 GT 41 DEU T2M Motorsport FRA Georges ForgeoisGBR Paul DanielsBEL Wim Coekelberghs Porsche 996 GT3-RS Michelin 165 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 27 LMP675 25 FRA Gerard Welter FRA Jean-René de FournouxFRA Bastien BrièreFRA William David WR LMP02 Michelin 163 Peugeot 3.4L V6 28 GT 34 FRA Noël del Bello FRA Jean-Luc Maury-LaribièreFRA Patrick CaternetUSA Philip Collin Porsche 996 GT3-RS Michelin 161 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 29 LMP900 4 GBR Lister Racing GBR Jamie Campbell-WalterGBR Nathan KinchNLD Tom Coronel Lister Storm LMP Dunlop 144 Chevrolet LS1 6.0L V8 NC GT 48 FRA Olivier Baron FRA Bruno HouzelotFRA Denis CohignacFRA André-Alain Corbel Porsche 996 GT3-R Pirelli 125 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 DNF LMP675 15 FRA Didier Bonnet Racing FRA Renaud DerlotCHE Roland Bossy Debora LMP200 Michelin 141 BMW (Mader) 3.4L I6 DNF LMGTP 10 USA JML Team Panoz MCO Olivier BerettaBEL David Saelens Panoz Esperante GTR-1 Michelin 126 Ford (Élan) 6L8 6.0L V8 DNF GT 35 FRA XL Racing FRA Gilles VanneletFRA Bernard RousselotFRA Gaël Lesoudier Ferrari 550 Maranello Pirelli 84 Ferrari F133 5.5L V12 DNF LMP675 14 GBR RML BRA Thomas ErdosGBR Mike NewtonGBR Chris Goodwin MG-Lola EX257 Dunlop 65 MG (AER) XP20 2.0L Turbo I4 DNF LMP900 6 USA Intersport Racing USA Clint FieldUSA Rick SutherlandCAN John Graham Riley & Scott Mk III C Dunlop 23 Ford (Roush) 6.0L V8 DNS GT 31 GBR RJ ColeGBR Xero Competition GBR Ricky ColeIRL Peter Le BasGBR Paula Cook Chevrolet Corvette LM-GT Dunlop - Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8 DNS LMP900 3 GBR Team Nasamax CAN Robbie StirlingZAF Werner LupbergerFRA Romain Dumas Reynard 01Q Dunlop - Cosworth XD 2.7L Turbo V8(Bio-Ethanol) Statistics Pole Position - #5 Audi Sport Japan Team Goh - 1:27.775 Distance - 869.44 km Average Speed - 144.952 km/h Post-Race Following a successful turn out from a large number of European teams, as well as a handful of American and Japanese teams, the event was considered a success. With this, the ACO pushed forward with their development of the Le Mans Endurance Series, debuting in 2004. This move would also lead to the demise of the FIA Sportscar Championship, as prototype teams chose instead to participate in LMES. Since this event, the LMES has not returned to Le Mans as part of their regular schedule, although many LMES participants race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. References External links Racing Sports Cars - 2003 1000km of Le Mans Le Mans Category:European Le Mans Series Category:2003 in European sport Category:November 2003 sports events in France