CHRYSLER comes to Le Mans this year with 4 private Viper GTS-R's. The factory Oreca team has moved on to LMP900 and left the privateers to carry the mark. Paul Belmondo Racing has received two entries #55 and #56. The team ran pretty good last year and has had a good start in the FIA-GT this year so with a Viper they cannot be counted out. An entry for the French team #57 Equipe De France FFSA that runs the French GT Championship is surprising sort of but we know how the ACO likes French teams. By the way all the Viper teams are of French origin. The leading contender for Viper should come from #58 Larbre Comp. GTS-R. Larbre have a ton of experience at Le Mans and the reigning N-GT champion in the FIA-GT promises to give the Corvettes and Saleens a run for it.

SALEEN comes back to La Sarthe with the brand new S7R that is hot off a win in the Sebring 12 Hours. The factory Saleen/Allen Speedlab team has received two entries #59 and #60 in which will be the debut race for the factory running the S7R. Sebring winners Konrad Motorsports #61 are hoping to repeat their Sebring performance and come into this years race with years of endurance racing experience. The RML Ltd #62 out of Ray Mallocks camp adds one more very strong car to the Saleen brigade. Mallock has been doing lots of development work on the S7R and is another team with plenty of Le Mans experience.

CORVETTE comes back to Le Mans in 2001 as the pre-race favorite based on their all out run last year and an impressive overall victory in the Rolex 24. The team has all the tools to take the laurels on Sunday afternoon including an all-star driver lineup but the reliability problems again faced at Sebring could worry some of the heads at GM. They also have to go out and beat a brigade Saleens and Vipers so this class promises to be one of the hottest races at the 2001 24 Hours.