Saleen: Four years, three cars and 24 vital hours.

For almost four years, Steve Saleen and his Speedlab team have been looking toward the future and eyeing their strategic return to the world's greatest sportscar race.

With slightly less than six weeks to go before the green flag drops on this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, preparations for the return of the Saleen name to the legendary Sarthe circuit are now fully engaged. Last weekend's sparkling performance at the race's all-important 'pre-qualifying' event are proof positive that Saleen and his experienced troops will bring a potent and powerful weapon into their upcoming French invasion.

The Saleen effort at this year's 69th running of Le Mans is centred around the dramatic new Saleen S7R, a race-prepared version of the company's new American supercar. Facing a highly-competitive field of powerful GTS-category entries, the #60 factory entered BASF/HCI Saleen Speedlab S7R driven by Oliver Gavin, Terry Borcheller and Franz Konrad set the pace for Sunday's session, with the highly regarded Gavin quickest around the 8.4-mile circuit, at 3min 54.448secs. Second quickest GTS time of the day went to another S7R, this one entered by Saleen technical partner Ray Mallock [RML] and driven by Ian McKellar, Johnny Mowlem and Bruno Lambert. A third Saleen piloted by endurance race veterans Walter Brun, Toni Seiler and Charlie Slater placed their Konrad Motorsports entry fifth in overall class standings.

Saleen's 2001 Le Mans effort is no doubt bolstered by the S7R's stunning GTS class win at March's prestigious American Le Mans Series-sanctioned 12 Hours of Sebring.

The sleek and powerful car currently leads the European Le Mans Series [ELMS] after the inaugural race at Donington Park last month, and is in second place in the Grand-Am Rolex Sportscar series in the GTS category too.

The first time Saleen and the Speedlab took on the world's most prestigious sportscar race, they did it with only two cars and very little development time. While the team was happy for the 1997 opportunity to represent America in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the desire to return with a full-fledged effort was a continuous inspiration for Saleen and his growing automotive company.

"Taking an all-American team to that race four years ago was one of the greatest moments in our long racing history, but we left feeling like there was still unfinished business at Le Mans," Saleen, the creator and inspiration for the S7, explained, "This weekend's performance marked a very satisfying return to France for all of us, and it allowed the team to continue the wonderful momentum that the S7 and S7R projects have enjoyed since their introduction last year."

This year's 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled for 16-17 June.