A SMALL piece of history was made at Le Mans recently when the DeWalt Morgan Aero V8 took to the track in preliminary test sessions for the 2002, 24-hour race.

The moment marked the return of Morgan to Le Man 40 years after Christopher Lawrence scored a famous class win in a Morgan Plus 4.

The Morgan's first public appearance in France was greeted in celebrity fashion, mobbed by hundreds of well-wishers. Many Morgan fans had made a special trip to France to see the car roll out for its test.

Their joy was somewhat shortlived when, what Morgan described as an engine failure, stopped the car after just 90 minutes.

Despite the setback, team chief and lead driver Richard Stanton said he was satisfied with early results of the test.

He said: "A lot of development work has been done. The decision was taken to go to Le Mans in February, and this was our first real chance to shake down the car and the team in the environment in which they will be working in next month.

"The Morgan car is really beginning to show what it is capable of.

"We were very keen for all three drivers, myself, Steve Hyde and Richard Hay, to get some laps in at Le Mans, and in the time we had today we showed that we can put in a competitive performance when it comes to qualifying for the race itself.

"Doing well at Le Mans is above all a team effort, and the team spirit is superb. By the time of the race, I think we will have the makings of a very credible effort."

He said the DeWalt Morgan team was looking forward to a two-year campaign at Le Mans.

"We plan tyo run this year, learn, and come back next year for a really good try," he said.