Zoom Time to test the improvements

Larbre Competition is set for this weekend's official Le Mans 24 Hours Official Test Day having confirmed its driver line-up for the race.

The French squad has been granted an entry to the race for one of their Saleen S7Rs which will be piloted by sportscar star Christophe Bouchut and FFSA GT Championship frontrunners Patrick Bornhauser and David Hallyday.

Multiple FIA GT and Le Mans Series champion Bouchut, who took overall victory on his Le Mans debut with Peugeot in 1993, will race at La Sarthe with Larbre for a fourth time, having scored a memorable GT1 podium finish and taken pole position at last year's race.

Bornhauser makes his third Le Mans 24 Hours appearance, all of them being with Larbre. The Frenchman, a four-time FFSA GT Champion, finished fifth in class in the team's Aston Martin DBR9 in 2007. He has experience of the Saleen and, alongside co-driver Bouchut, leads the French GT championship this year and finished second in class with the team at the opening round of this season's Le Mans Series in Barcelona.

Hallyday, son of legendary French pop star Johnny Hallyday, visits La Sarthe for the third time, but a first with Larbre. He is also currently racing the Saleen in the FFSA GT championship, where he is a former class champion, with the team. He finished second recently at Ledenon, and has Le Mans experience in a GT1 Corvette in 2007 and an LMP Courage C65 in 2003.

Team Principal Jack Leconte said: "Christophe and Patrick have both been very strong driving together took an excellent second place in their other international outing during the LMS at Barcelona. David has also got good experience of the car and although we will be facing a GT1 class full of strong opposition, we will do our best to compete against them."

"The Saleen has benefited from some important engine developments since last year and a lot of work to improve reliability. We've also have new exhausts and a new brake cooling system. After the weekend we'll see exactly where we are in comparison to the manufacturer teams, always a good reference point in this business," Leconte stated.

The drivers now head to Le Mans this weekend for the Official Test Day where all three will get their first opportunity to drive the American-built, Ford-powered car at the legendary circuit.

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