Preview: LMES Monza 1000km.

After a dummy run on Le Mans' Bugatti circuit late last season, the inaugural Le Mans Endurance Series kicks off in earnest this weekend, with the first of four scheduled 1000km races taking place at Monza.

The historic Italian autodromo will play host to the usual array of Le Mans classes, and will provide a first competitive glimpse into the re-modelled profile of the prototype categories, with the former LMP675 and LMP900 machines now lumped together so that a new breed of LMP-2 cars can run in their own class. GTS and GT complete the mix, with the expected battles between Porsche, Ferrari and Saleen already pre-empted by FIA GT competition.

The Monza round is the only one of the LMES schedule that precedes Le Mans' 24-hour spectacular in June and, as such, the entry has been swollen by teams eager to get extra running under their belts before the big race. The list of competitors stands at an impressive 42 cars, with a high quota of prototypes leading the way.

Audi is expected to lead the way in the new LMP-1 category, having dominated at La Sarthe prior to Bentley's winning run in 2003, and continued to rule the roost in the similar American Le Mans Series, where it controlled the podium at Sebring.

Heading the list of entries is the impressive Audi UK Team Veloqx operation, which fields the two cars it took to a 1-3 finish in America. Shorn of a couple of drivers used to cement that result in the 12-hour US event, the two silver-and-purple cars will be piloted by Sebring winners Allan McNish and Pierre Kaffer and Johnny Herbert and Jamie Davies. McNish and Herbert set the pace in the recent Le Mans Pre-Q test and, despite the Englishman being a late replacement for the originally-tabled Guy Smith, Sam Li's outfit looks a good bet for victory.

Standing in its way, however, will be the more experience Audi Sport Team Goh operation, which won the Le Mans 1000km trial last year and also triumphed in the similar Spa event before that. Headed up by multiple Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, the team also features 2003 24 Hours victor Rinaldo Capello and promising Japanese star Seiji Ara, who partnered the Dane to both 1000km wins in 2003.

With Jan Lammers' Racing for Holland equipe not making the trip to Italy, opposition to the three Audi R8s is expected to come from a brace of Zytek-engined entries, one fielded by the engineering company itself and the other by the ambitious Creation Autosportif operation.

The 'works' Zytek proved to 'best of the rest' at Le Mans during testing last month and, having signed David Brabham to partner Andy Wallace behind the wheel this weekend, lacks nothing in driving talent. The Australian, who will partner Wallace and one other at the 24 Hours in June, reckoned that, with a little more pace down the long straights, the rebadged 04S could be a match for anything.

The Creation entry is still running under its former identity as a DBA4, but also showed its potential during testing at La Sarthe. Former F3000 racewinner and Champ Car hopeful Nicolas Minassian is hoping that the blue machine will allow him a chance to return to the spotlight, and will be partnered by former Lister 'factory' driver Jamie Campbell-Walter, who joined Creation's FIA GT line-up earlier in the season. Maybe not as potent as the Wallace-Brabham combination, this pair could still be one to watch on Sunday...

Henri Pescarolo will be hoping that a little of his Le Mans luck and magic will rub off in the shorter races, and runs a rebadged Courage C60 with Judd power for Frenchman Emmanuel Collard and one other. The car has proven its potential in both long-distance and comparative sprint events, but is likely to need misfortune for those at the front before it becomes an LMES racewinner.

The rest of the leading prototype class features a selection of cars from Dome and Dallara as well as another Zytek, this time run by the small Team JOTA operation. Martin Short will hope that his former ORECA Dallara, now run by the Rollcentre concern, can continue to show the sort of promise it exhibited at Sebring, while the similar Spinnaker Clandesteam car will be looking for a fair wind to help with its 24 Hours preparation.

The class could also see a couple of Lolas in the field, with the RML running a former LMP675 version and Taurus Sports hoping to bring its bigger diesel-engined example after a difficult day at the recent Le Mans test. Nasamax's rebadged Reynard completes the LMP-1 entry, running on 'green' bio-ethanol fuel.

The LMP2 category feature smaller manufacturers such as Pilbeam and Tampolli as well as Courage and Lola, with a multi-national entry that includes the US-based Intersport team, which makes an early appearance in Europe ahead of the 24 Hours.

Intersport's Lola will face stiff opposition from the European side of the Atlantic, however, with the Courage 'factory' effort being backed up by a similar C65-JPX entry from prototype convert Paul Belmondo Racing. The Randaccio and PIR Competition teams which make up the class entry are expected to fight with the American Lola for 'best of the rest' status.

If the new LMP-2 category is a little thinly populated, the same cannot be said for the combined might of GTS and GT, which feature almost half of the total entry. In the former, ex-FIA GT champions Larbre Competition will get a first competitive outing with the potent Ferrari 550 Maranello, and will range the Prodrive-built machine against the likes of fellow newcomer Barron Conner Racing, which field two 575 GTCs. The Larbre entry will be crewed by Christophe Bouchut, Pedro Lamy and Tristan Gommendy, and appears to be slight favourites of a BCR crew comprising US veteran Danny Sullivan, John Bosch and reigning FIA GT champion Thomas Biagi. The second BCR entry features Mike Hezemans alongside Jean-Denis Deletraz and relative unknown Ange Barde.

Providing non-Ferrari variety in GTS will be the AB Racing/Vitaphone Saleen of Uwe Alzen and Michael Bartels, which finally broke the marque's FIA GT duck at Magny-Cours last week, and the similar car fielded by Graham Nash Motorsport. Finally, and still an unproven quantity, there is the Pagani Zonda, which will be fielded by Phillipe Alliot's Force One team, albeit with the veteran Frenchman likely to be on pit-wall rather than behind the wheel. Hezemans' former team-mate Anthony Kumpen heads the Pagani's driving strength, alongside French duo Bruno Besson and David Hallyday.

The GT class is expected to boil down to the now traditional Porsche V. Ferrari head-to-head, with reigning FIA GT class champions Freisinger Motorsport coming up against Ferrari teams JMB and AutoPalace. The German squad, which features Stephane Ortelli and Roman Dumas in its lone entry, is expected to be too strong for the rest, despite the likes of single-seater convert Jaime Melo and sportscar regular Stephane Daoudi sharing the JMB 360 Modena.

Also expected to be trailing in Freisinger's wake are Porsches from Seikel, Autorlando, Sebah and the Japanese Choroq team, but the German operation could find itself up against the US-based Racers' Group, which fields a similar GT3 RSR for Scandinavian duo Thorkild Thyrring and Lars Nielsen alongside US prot?g? Pat Long. Thierry Perrier's Perspective racing line-up could also surprise, having attracted Dutch ace Peter Kox to co-drive the experienced Ian Khan and Nigel Smith.

UK team Cirtek, meanwhile, sits on the fence with a foot in both the Porsche and Ferrari camps, the former to be shared between promising Briton Adam Jones and experienced German Sascha Maassen.

Providing variety in the class are two TVR 400Rs from the Chamberlain Synergy and Racesports Salisbury teams, and the T2M Porsche, which fields Wolfgang Kaufmann alongside to female drivers, promising Belgian Vanina Ickx and Japanese hot-shoe Keiko Ihara, who makes her European debut this weekend.