Larbre Competition will run a brace of Saleens in next year's Le Mans Series, having agreed terms with former rival ORECA for the supply of two Ford-powered S7Rs.
The French team ran Aston Martin DBR9s in this year's series, falling short of the GT1 class title at the final round despite an audacious attempt to switch car numbers to keep the battle with Luc Alphand Aventures alive at the Mil Milhas. Even though the result would have no bearing on the outcome of the championship, the Larbre car took the class win, with Steve Zacchia, Fernando Rees, Gregor Fisken and Roland Berville finishing nine laps clear of the Alphand team and in sixth place overall.
Despite enjoying success with the AMR-prepared DBR9, however, team boss Jack Leconte will shift focus again in order to maintain Larbre's ethos to always compete with what he feels are the best-performing cars, hence the move to Saleen.
The link with ORECA won't be a first for Larbre, the two French concerns having already worked successfully together in the past, achieving titles in the 2001 and 2002
FIA GT World Championships with the Dodge Viper GTSR.
No drivers have yet been named to the project, which will encompass the French GT FFSA Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours as well as the Le Mans Series. Larbre is also working on an entry for the Spa 24 Hours.
