A GT1 racer built on the Saleen S7, raced across North America and Europe from 2000 and crowned in the GT1 category at Le Mans in 2010.
Built on the Saleen S7 between 2000 and 2007, this GT1 racer competed in FIA GT, Le Mans and American Le Mans events. Its best moment came in 2010, when a Larbre Competition car took the GT1 class at Le Mans, the first time an S7R had done so.
The Saleen S7R's breakthrough came late. Roughly ten years after the first car was completed, one of them won the GT1 class outright at Le Mans in 2010. Getting there meant a decade of customer racing on two continents and, from 2006, chassis built by ORECA in France.
Where did the Saleen S7R come from?
The Saleen S7R was a GT1-class Gran Turismo racing car built on the Saleen S7. The first one was completed at the end of 2000, and production ran until 2007. Ray Mallock Ltd. built the first car in Britain under Saleen's direction, while ORECA in France took over from 2006 and built the last examples.
The first car went to the United States for its debut at Laguna Seca Raceway, a round of the American Le Mans Series run by Saleen-Allen Speedlab. It finished 26th. Customer chassis followed for 2001, and three teams took them into different championships: Fordahl Motorsports in Grand-Am, Ray Mallock in the European Le Mans Series and Konrad Motorsport in both European and American events.
The 2010 Le Mans result gave the S7R its first outright GT1 category win, after a decade of racing.
How quickly did the S7R start winning?
The car was competitive almost from the start. In 2001 Konrad Motorsport finished sixth overall and took a class win at the Sebring 12 Hours, while Ray Mallock won four European Le Mans Series races and the title by a single point. At Le Mans, Saleen Allen-Speedlab's entry finished 18th overall and third in its class.
Fordahl Motorsports collected seven class wins in Grand-Am and finished second in that championship. Konrad then added two more class wins in the American Le Mans Series. The Corvette factory team proved too strong, and Konrad finished second in the championship in the S7R's first season.
What were the S7R's key results by season?
| Season | Event | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-2002 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Saleen Allen-Speedlab | 18th overall, third in class |
| 2001 | Sebring 12 Hours | Konrad Motorsport | Sixth overall, class win |
| 2001 | European Le Mans Series | Ray Mallock | Champion, four race wins |
| 2001 | Grand-Am Sports Car Series | Fordahl Motorsports | Second, seven class wins |
| 2002 | British GT Championship | Graham Nash Motorsport | Champion, nine race wins |
| 2002 | Spanish GT Championship | Graham Nash Motorsport | Champion, four race wins |
| 2007 | Le Mans Series | ORECA | GT1 driver and team titles, four class wins |
| 2007 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | ORECA | Tenth and 16th overall |
| 2010 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Larbre Competition | GT1 category win |
Did the Saleen teams stay in North America?
Not for long. Konrad Motorsport won no races in the American Le Mans Series in 2002 but held on to second place in the standings. That same year Park Place Racing won four races and the Grand-Am title. Park Place then left the Grand-Am series in 2003, which meant no Saleen team ran a full North American season that year.
Which Saleen teams raced in Europe in 2003 and 2004?
Konrad Motorsport took its S7R into the FIA GT Championship in Europe for 2003, and Graham Nash Motorsport followed. The two teams finished sixth and eighth that year. In 2004 Ray Mallock returned to racing after a year away and entered as a third Saleen team, while Konrad ran a second car for the new Vitaphone Racing team.
Michael Bartels and Uwe Alzen won three races that season and finished fourth in the championship. Dominique Dupuy's team won two races in the French GT Championship with its own S7R. ACEMCO Motorsports bought two new cars for the American Le Mans Series and finished second there, behind the Corvette works squad that kept winning.
Why did the 2005 season go badly for the Saleens?
Money trouble hit two of the main Saleen teams in 2005. Konrad Motorsport and Graham Nash Motorsport both struggled, and each scored only a few points in the FIA GT Championship. The money problems also showed in race results, and the two teams managed only a handful of points between them in the championship.
Vitaphone Racing had by then parted company with Konrad and changed cars, swapping the Saleen for two Maserati MC12s. In the American Le Mans Series ACEMCO finished second once more, but it could not get into the fight for race wins with Corvette Racing. Dominique Dupuy's three wins in the French GT Championship were the only victories the S7R recorded that season.
When did ORECA take over S7R production?
From 2006 onwards ORECA in France built the last S7R chassis, including improved versions meant to make the car more competitive. Saleen's owner, Steve Saleen, wanted the new cars to lift the S7R's performance and give customer teams better support. ORECA built two more chassis in 2007, and one went to the Italian team Racing Box.
How did ORECA's S7Rs win titles in 2006 and 2007?
ORECA's drivers Stephane Ortelli and Soheil Ayari won two Le Mans Series class races in 2006 and took third in the series. The following year they added four more class wins and secured the GT1 driver and team titles. The French GT Championship title was successfully defended as well.
Zakspeed had a quieter season. Jaroslav Janis, Sascha Bert and Andrea Montermini scored two FIA GT wins for the team in 2006, which finished fourth in the championship. Zakspeed then became insolvent before the 2007 season began.
ACEMCO Motorsports had already dropped the American series in 2006 to race only at Le Mans, where its car finished eleventh overall, the best Saleen result at the event so far. It too had to withdraw from motorsport in 2007 and sold its S7Rs.
How did the S7R win at Le Mans in 2010?
In 2010 Larbre Competition's S7R won the GT1 category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, beating the private Aston Martin DBR9, Corvette C6.R and Ford GT1 entries. Two GT2 cars still completed more laps than the Saleen over the race.
The Le Mans Series opened at Paul Ricard, where the Austrian Atlas car never appeared, so Gabriele Gardel, Patrice Goueslard and Julien Canal took the GT1 class win unchallenged. At Spa-Francorchamps the Saleens could not get the better of the Ford GT1 and finished off the podium. Larbre's Saleen then won its class in each of the two rounds that followed, and at the final race in Silverstone it started alone. Throughout the season, though, cars from the lower GT2 class beat the Saleens.
What did Larbre and PK-Carsport do with the S7R in 2008 and 2009?
Larbre Competition ran one S7R in the 2008 Le Mans Series opener and finished second in its class. A calendar clash with the French GT Championship then kept the car out of the next rounds, and Larbre concentrated on the FIA GT and French GT series, winning the French title. The team's S7R finished 28th at Le Mans that year.
The Belgian team PK-Carsport moved from a Corvette C5-R to an S7R for 2008. The team's best day came at San Luis, the season finale, where Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin won. After leaving the FIA GT Championship, Larbre concentrated entirely on the Le Mans Series in 2009, won a class at the 1000 km race at the Nurburgring and still lost the series title to Luc Alphand Aventures.
Why did the S7R leave Le Mans after 2010?
The S7R was barred from the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Le Mans Series from 2011, when new regulations and a revised class structure applied to every GT1 car. Its final eligible season was 2010, the year in which lower-class GT2 cars had beaten it.
Who raced the S7R in the FIA GT Championship in 2009?
The S7R stayed in the FIA GT Championship in 2009 regardless. K plus K Motorsport from the Czech Republic and the Austrian Full Speed Racing team each ran two of the cars, and Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp opened the season with a win at Silverstone in the K plus K entry. Autoracing Club Bratislava also made guest appearances in one round each of the Le Mans Series and the FIA GT Championship, without reaching the finish in either race.
