Could Holden stars get Le Mans chance?

Some of the stars of the V8 Supercar world could get the chance to try their hand at something different if ambitious plans by a British GT championship team come to fruition.

Emotional Engineering, headed by Aussie Allen Orchard, runs a Holden Monaro (badged as a Vauxhall in the UK) in the championship for drivers Matt Griffin and Mark Cole, but the team has its sights set on a much bigger prize in sportscar racing.

Speaking to Crash.net, Orchard admitted that part of the reason for forming the team, which enters its second season of GT racing with the Monaro in 2005, was a desire to go to the Le Mans 24 Hours, and he would be thrilled to get some of the Holden V8 Supercars drivers involved if the team did compete at La Sarthe in the future with the big Australian car.

"Have you been bugging my phone!?" he said when asked if a Le Mans challenge was on the horizon. "That is absolutely what we want to do and one of the main reasons why we started this company was to take a car to the Le Mans 24 Hour. It's a great race, fits in well marketing-wise with our sponsors, and is really a dream for all of us.

"Anyone from the V8 Supercar grid would be fantastic [to bring in as a driver]. They're obviously very used to peddling these kind of cars and around circuits like Bathurst, so Le Mans would be quite enjoyable for them."

Orchard also admitted that there is a possibility that some of the Holden drivers could head to the UK to do something during the course of the season - although he refused to be drawn on who those drivers might be.

"When I was in Australia at Christmas chatting with the boss of Holden Motorsport we tried to identify a couple of guys who we could bring over from a marketing standpoint," he said, "but it's just so hard because their season is so big and conflicts with ours. However there are a few guys who are just sitting idle and we do have plans afoot to bring over a couple of guys from Australia to do some stuff this year.

"They're from the Holden camp but I can't really say anymore because there are still a few bits and pieces that we need to sort out and I'd hate to say something that didn't happen."

The Monaro has already proved itself as an endurance race winner at Bathurst, only time will tell if it can prove itself on the greatest stage of all.