Quick, picture the LMP2 RS Spyder that gave Porsche a long row of wins. Likely you just saw one of the vivid yellow Penske cars. But the racing successes did not all come in a yellow wrapper; deprived of the chance for an overall win at Le Mans in 2008 by the addition of 50 kg of weight and a reduction in fuel capacity by a sanctioning body not eager to see the LMP1 cars challenged, the invited Penske cars remained in the states.
This left the field open for two European teams to battle it out between themselves, and the white and purple van Merksteijn Spyder pictured here and a bright blue Essex example stepped into the gap, content (I suppose) to let the big diesel Audis and Peugeots duke it out for overall while they wiped out the rest of the LMP2 class.
In the grummy-weather 24-hours that comprised the race, these two went back and forth for the class lead, with the Dutch car finally prevailing over the Essex machine, which suffered ongoing problems. The third placed LMP2 contender, a Pescarolo Judd finished some 14 long laps behind.
