Team ORECA Matmut stunned the establishment to win at Sebring. Can they do likewise at Le Mans? Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

This is the ninth in a 24 Hours of Le Mans preview series. Check back to michelinracingusa.com for more features and posts in the coming days.

The factory Audi and Peugeot teams are of course the favorites to capture the overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but as we learned at Sebring, one of the non-works cars could steal the victory.

Sebring winners Team ORECA Matmut hold the best chance to spring a secondary upset with their tried and true Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, the only one of the Audis or Peugeots that has previously completed a 24-hour race distance. The Hughes de Chaunac-led team nearly snatched a podium last year and the trio of Olivier Panis, Nicolas Lapierre and Loic Duval are primed to repeat their heroics of earlier in 2011.

The seven diesel-powered entries have a leg up on pace over the petrol-powered ones, but alas there’s any number of teams that could still figure into the equation.

Aston Martin Racing has had various engine issues to sort out on its new AMR-ONE open-top prototype since rolling out its new car at Paul Ricard in April. This year’s Le Mans for AMR will likely serve as much of a trial session for its two cars to gain more laps and running than challenging for a podium position.

Rebellion Racing was the fastest petrol-powered prototype in Le Mans qualifying. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

Rebellion Racing campaigns a pair of Lola B10/60 Toyotas that see that manufacturer back at Le Mans for the first time in a dozen years, and the team has captured the unofficial pole for petrol-powered cars. French sports car legend Henri Pescarolo returns after a year’s absence with the Pescarolo Sport Judd entry. Fellow French squad OAK Racing has two OAK Pescarolo Judds entered while singleton entries from the Kronos Lola Aston Martin, Quifel-ASM Zytek and Hope Racing Swiss HyTech Hybrid teams round out the P1 class.

P2 features three ILMC entrants among its 11 cars. Five have Judd BMW powerplants with three Nissans and three HPDs apiece for the newer, smaller, production-based engines. In years past the class has been a battle to survive to the checkered flag and often rewards the last team standing – given the new regulations for 2011 this is unlikely to change.