Level 5 Motorsports has announced plans to contest this year's American Le Mans Series' Le Mans Prototype Challenge class. Based in Madison, Wis., Level 5 will compete in the full nine-round championship with ORECA's FLM09 prototype, starting at Sebring next month. Former Le Mans 24 Hours winner Christophe Bouchut and team owner Scott Tucker will be the drivers.

Level 5 expects to take delivery of its FLM09 today and is the sixth team to purchase an ORECA-built racer.

“We are excited to be racing at Sebring this year in the new Le Mans Prototype Challenge class,” said team manager David Stone. “The new LMPC class has certainly been intriguing since it was announced last year. The number of cars continues to increase each week, which should make for some great competition.”

New for 2010, the FLM09 has a minimum weight of 900kg (1,984lbs) and produces approximately 430hp. The FLM09 features a full carbon fiber chassis, carbon brakes, and an Xtrac sequential gearbox with paddle shifting. All LMPC cars will race on single-supply Michelin tires.

Already, Tucker has spent considerable time behind the wheel of an FLM09. He posted two second-place finishes at Paul Ricard in the Le Mans Winter Racing Series despite never having set foot inside the car.

“The car is an impressive proven racing package,” Tucker said. “Carbon brakes, paddle shift Xtrac gearboxes…all the boxes are checked. Everyone on the team has been pleasantly surprised at the growing field of cars and the job the American Le Mans Series' management has done. We are looking forward to the strong competition at Sebring and throughout the year.”

Level 5's Bouchut and Tucker placed third overall at this year's Rolex 24 at Daytona, racing a BMW Riley in association with NPN Racing. The team's Wisconsin headquarters houses a 60,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art racing, engineering and fabrication facility with a full-time staff of more than 20.

“The aims of this season are to be as competitive as we can,” Bouchut said. “With Scott, we make a very homogenous and solid team, which will be a vital factor.”