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Things happen at five in the morning at Le Mans. Execs make mistakes too; let their guards down, say things their PR's need to 'clarify' later, which is how we came to find out just exactly what's going on at Aston Martin Racing and at Jaguar.

Aston first. You'll notice another car in the pictures. It's not pretty, but it is effective. It's an LMP1 car, the same class as the winning Audis
 and losing Peuegot diesels (and let's face it, the
908s should have won, but didn't for all the reasons Richards made clear). Only it's not a diesel, and is instead powered by the same six-litre V12 engine that powers the DBR and indeed the DB9. Sort of.

In the LMP1 car, thanks to a large air intake,
it produces an extra 50bhp, around 650bhp, under
a new rule implemented this year by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, who so jealously guard their 24-hour race. It cops a lot of flak, but Richards sees
it as no more demanding than the NASCAR authorities, loathed by purists but custodians of the world's most successful series outside of F1.

The rule change worked well for Aston Martin - behind the diesels, the LMP1 was the fastest car in the field. And there's the first problem with Aston Martin elevating the programme from semi-works (the LMP1 car is a Lola chassis run by Czech former racer, Antonin "Tony" Charouz); Aston Martin could not race a diesel car. It just couldn't.

So the ACO needs to decide how much it wants Peugeot 
to win for 'la gloire de la France'. If it further limits the all-conquering diesels next year, then the 'works' Aston LMP1 moves closer...

But that's not the only problem. As we've said,
the Charouz ain't pretty, and an Aston Martin LMP1 car would need to take your breath away, which is why the still-secret prototype has been designed by Marek Reichman, the same suave Brit who designs Aston's road cars. His prototype is currently residing with the race team, which is now testing whether the car can be simultaneously pretty and aerodynamically efficient.