ALMS: Sebring 2010

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McNish disappointed to miss Sebring

Allan McNish has admitted he is disappointed that Audi will not be racing at this season's Sebring 12 Hours, an event it has won for nine of the last ten years.

Audi did not mention Sebring when it announced its 2010 programme last month as it did not feel it had time to convert its R15 to the revised Le Mans regulations ready for the mid-March race. A bid to run an interim car in the American Le Mans opener was vetoed by main rival Peugeot just before Christmas.

"Sebring has historically been the Le Mans preparation for us," said McNish on stage at AUTOSPORT International.

"Even though it is part of the ALMS, even when we were doing the full championship over there, it was a separate crew, separate team, of engineers, mechanics who ran Sebring because it was linked to Le Mans and it was our Le Mans preparation.

"This year because of the late change of the ACO regulations, we basically had to dump quite a lot of our development work and start again, which means the car is not going to be ready in time for that particular race. We had the option to run an interim car, but one of the competitors basically did not agree to that, so we are not in a position to do anything about it.

"It is disappointing because I think the 180,000 fans who front up at Sebring got a titanic battle in the last few years and would have had again in 2010."

Audi is still expected to hold an endurance test at Sebring even though it will not contest the race itself.

Although Audi beat Peugeot at Sebring last year, the French squad turned the tables in the Le Mans 24 Hours and ended Audi's winning streak. But McNish says his team has learned from that loss and will be harder to beat in 2010.

"It's actually quite an exciting programme this year because we obviously have the fourth year of the direct head-to-head banging session with our French friends," he said.

"We have an updated car and we've understood quite a lot of the reasons that we missed it all at Le Mans. That loss has fired everybody up quite considerably. It has been quite a good thing for everybody, a shake and reminder."

As well as Le Mans, Audi will also contest the new Intercontinental Cup, which kicks off with the AUTOSPORT 1000km at Silverstone, and the Spa round of the Le Mans Series.



Autosport

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Aston Martin to enter Le Mans, Sebring


Lola Aston MartinAston Martin will enter its factory LMP1 team in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours and next month's Sebring 12 Hours.

The British constructor had been expected to sit out the 2010 season while developing a new car for 2011, but will now take two LMP1 cars to Le Mans and one car to the American Le Mans Series opener at Sebring, the next round at Long Beach and the LMS season opener at Paul Ricard in April.

AUTOSPORT magazine revealed last week that Mexican driver Adrian Fernandez was working on a deal to race an Aston in the ALMS, and the former Champ Car racer and reigning ALMS LMP2 champion will join the team's line-up for the programme.

Stefan Mucke, Darren Turner, Harold Primat and Chris Buncombe have all been retained, with Aston Martin Racing due to announce a sixth driver in the coming weeks.

The team is also set to enter selected races this season after Le Mans, but the details are still to be confirmed.

"We are looking forward to a great season of racing and we hope to have another strong showing at Le Mans," said team boss George Howard-Chappell. "I'd like to welcome Adrian to the team, I'm sure with his experience he will be a great addition to our driver line-up."

Aston Martin will also have an increased GT programme in 2010, supporting two teams in the GT1 World Championship and one in the FIA GT2 series. Works drivers Mucke, Turner and Tomas Enge racing in the new GT1 series.

Autosport

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ALMS announces 35 entries for Sebring 12 Hours

Just a few days after the Sebring Winter Test the American Le Mans Series announced the provisional entry list for the 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. 35 cars have been entered for this years race, which will be held on March 20th.

As Sebring will be run to ACO regulations there will be an LMP1 and LMP2 class. Peugeot will be the top favorite to win this year, the French manufacturer will send two cars to Florida. Gené, Wurz and Davidson will race the #07 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP and Lamy, Bourdais and Minassian will be in the #08 entry. From the five remaining LMP1 teams Aston Martin Racing is probably the best. Primat, Buncombe and Fernandez are the three drivers entered for the race in the car that was fastest at the test, but also crashed heavily.

Drayson Racing will also be in for a fight to become the best of the non-diesel cars. To get the best possible result Paul Drayson and Jonny Cocker are joined by sportscar ace Emanuele Pirro in the Lola Judd. Autocon Motorsports and Intersport Racing will also be entering their Lola B06/10s. The seventh and final LMP1 car on the list is the Creation Autosportif CA10, no drivers are announced for this potential entry. Missing on the list is the Corsa Motorsports Zytek…

Three cars are entered in the LMP2 class. 2010 ALMS champion Patrón Highcroft Racing will be at Sebring with the new HPD ARX-01c for Brabham, Pagenaud and Marino Franchitti. At the test days earlier this week this car was the fastest LMP2. The opposition in LMP2 will come from the Muscle Milk Team Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder (Picket/Graf/Maassen) and the Dyson Racing Team Lola Mazda of Dyson, Smith and Meyrick.

Five LMPC cars will fill up the gap left by the GT1 cars. Five different teams will be racing at Sebring, in what will be the first ever LMPC race. Joel Feinberg and Kyle Marcelli are confirmed in the Primetime Race Group car, while familiar names like Andy Wallace (Genoa Racing), Christophe Bouchut (Level 5 Motorsports, with Scott Tucker), Gunnar Jeanette and Elton Julian (Green Earth Team Gunnar, with Christian Zugel) will also be on the grid. The fifth car is the Intersport Racing FLM09 for Mitch Pagery, Brian Wong and David Ducote.

Perhaps the most interesting class at Sebring will be the GT2 category. Fourteen cars, nine teams, six manufacturers will make up the GT2 grid. Corvette Racing will enter its first Sebring 12 Hours as a GT2 manufacturer and Magnussen, O’Connell, Garcia (in the #3) and Beretta, Gavin and Collard (in the #4) will be aiming for nothing less than a class win at Sebring. Unfortunately for Corvette and fortunately for the fans there are more teams with that exact same aim. BMW Rahal Letterman Racing will again run 2 BMW E92 M3s. Compared to 2009 the line-ups have changed though. In the #90 Dirk Müller will be joined by Joey Hand and Andy Priaulx, while the #92 will have Bill Auberlen teaming up with Tommy Milner and Dirk Werner.
Other candidates for victory are the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3 RSR #45 of Bergmeister and Long and the Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT3 #62 of Jaime Melo, Gianmaria Bruni and Pierre Kaffer.
Outsiders could well be the #01 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari of Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek.
The GT2 grid is completed by the #02 Extreme Speed Motorsports car of Brown/Cosmo, the #61 Risi Ferrari of Krohn/Jonsson/van der Poele, the Black Swan Racing Porsche #54 of Pappas/Bleekemolen/Lazzaro, the #44 Lizards car of Law/Neiman, the #40 Robertson Racing Ford GT of the Robertsons and David Murry, the Team Falken Tire Porsche of Henzler and Sellers. Making its debut, but not expected to be a frontrunner yet, is the Jaguar XKRS of Gentilozzi, Goossens and Dalziel.

Completing the entry list are the GTC Porsches. Six cars are entered for the season opener at Sebring. Alex Job Racing and The Racers Group will be making a return to the ALMS at Sebring. Bill Sweedler, Romeo Kapudija and Jan-Dirk Lueders are in the #23 AJR Porsche, with Juan Gonzalez and Butch Leitzinger confirmed in the second AJR car, the #81. GMG Racing will enter 1 car, for Bret Curtis, James Sofronas and Andy Pilgrim. The three other cars (TRG #63, WERKS II/P7 Racing #69 and #88 Velox Motorsports) will be driven by Henri Richard/Pat Flanagan, Robert Rodriquez/Galen Bieker and Shane Lewis/Jerry Vento.

Planetlemans

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ALMS Sebring Int'l Raceway Feb 23, 2010 Lola B09 60 Aston Martin - Winter Testing -


Frontstretch-ALMS Sebring Winter Test 2010

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BMW Previews M3 GT's Assault On Sebring

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Corvette Racing Series Episode 1: Prep For Sebring

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12 Hours of Sebring: Peugeot on the Le Mans trail

For the third year running, Team Peugeot Total will be travelling to the United States to use the punishing 12 Hours of Sebring as part of its preparations for its main objective in 2010: a repeat of last June’s win in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The American classic provided an exciting, drama-packed show in 2009 when the Peugeots and Audis were never split by more than a handful of seconds. With three hours remaining, the N°8 908 HDi FAP was challenging hard for the lead when it was forced to pit after picking up a slow puncture. When the chequered flag came down, it missed out on first place by a mere 22 seconds… after 12 hours of racing!

This year, Audis has chosen not to attend the event, but the new regulations promise to make the petrol – powered cars – including the Aston Martins – a far more competitive threat.

Peugeot Sport’s Technical Director Bruno Famin recalls that Team Peugeot Total’s mission in Sebring will above all be of a technical nature: “Contesting the 12 Hours of Sebring has three major advantages for us. To begin with, the temperature is likely to be between 25 and 30°C, which is very similar to what we can expect at Le Mans in June. Sebring serves as first class training, too, with regard to race strategy; there are generally a high number of safety car interventions and the amount of traffic on the track can be likened to Le Mans. Traffic means having to overtake and, whenever a driver strays off the ideal line, the tyres tend to pick up a significant amount of dust and debris, which in turn results in less grip for the next two or three laps. Last but not least, Sebring is the year’s longest race after Le Mans. It tends not to push the engines too hard, but the suspension faces a gruelling test because the surface is so uneven. Sebring provides us with an opportunity to explore the limits of certain mechanical components. That could spell problems for us, but we do it with Le Mans in mind. If what we see calls for modifications, we will have sufficient time to make amends before Le Mans… where we have no intention of taking any risks at all!”

Team Peugeot Total will remain in Sebring after the race for a further two days of testing.

Peugeot Sport’s Director Olivier Quesnel profited from Peugeot Sport’s pre-2010 season press conference to point out that the two 908 HDi FAPs will race at Sebring sporting new livery which incorporates Peugeot’s new brand identity. “Le Mans is our main objective, so not only does that dictate running a certain number of test sessions, but it also entails taking part in selected races, such as Sebring, in order to put the team in a stress situation and prepare the drivers for the demanding challenge ahead. This applies particularly to Anthony Davidson who will be making his debut with us,” notes Olivier Quesnel.

“The 2009 race at Sebring was a very close-run thing. This time round, if we succeed in carrying on the momentum of our wins at Le Mans and in the Petit Le Mans without jeopardising our work programme, a victory would be a great way for Team Peugeot Total to the kick off the new season.”

The only difference in the liveries of the two cars – which will sport their now traditional race numbers in the USA – will be the colour of their mirrors. They will be driven by:

908 HDi FAP n°07 ( blue mirrors) :
Anthony DAVIDSON (GBR) - Marc GENE (ESP) – Alex WURZ (AUT)

908 HDi FAP n°08, (red mirrors) :
Sébastien BOURDAIS (FRA) – Pedro LAMY (POR) - Nicolas MINASSIAN (FRA)

Planetlemans

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Peugeot favored in Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring

After falling just 22 seconds short of victory in the 2009 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida, Peugeot Sport has its sights set clearly on completing the hat trick of sports car endurance victories this year.

The French manufacturer won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and then captured the rain-shortened Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta last year following the disappointment at Sebring. This year, Peugeot Sport returns to Sebring with a powerful two-car entry and is heavily favored to win the 58th annual sports car classic in central Florida, sanctioned by the American Le Mans Series presented by Patron Tequila.

"Even if our main competitor, Audi, will not race the 12 Hours of Sebring, it's going to be a tough race as usual," says driver Marc Gene. "The heat, the conditions of the circuit, the numerous overtakings always make the race very demanding. After our win in Le Mans, Alex (Alexander Wurz) and me would be very pleased to add a victory in such a great race, one of the three great endurance races which each driver dreams to win in his career."

This is the fourth and final year of the Peugeot Sport factory effort with the diesel-powered 908 HDl FAP prototype, and extensive modifications have been made to conform to new rules for the 2010 season issued by the ACO, sanctioning body for Le Mans. Among the 2010 issues: a smaller restrictor and reduced turbo pressure, resulting in a loss of 40 horsepower. A new car will be developed to match the 2011 regulations.

So the focus is entirely on completing the triple crown of sports cars with a victory at Sebring International Raceway. One thing is certain: The Peugeots will be lightning-quick again. Last year, Sebastien Bourdais set an all-time Sebring fastest race lap record at 128.997 mph, which was 2 mph quicker than the pole-winning lap. And Bourdais' record came on lap 331, very late in the 12-hour event.

Last year, the two Peugeots combined to lead 57 percent of Sebring's 383 laps, but when the No. 08 Peugeot had to pit with a slow leaking tire on lap 359, the No. 1 Audi R15 TDI took over and led the rest of the way. Unfortunately, Audi is not entered in this year's race, so a new challenger must emerge from the largest Sebring field in five years.

"Sebring is a great and classical endurance race that every driver wants to win," Bourdais says. "In 2009 we have lost the win for 22 seconds after suffering a slow (tire) puncture. So in March, I do wish to win with my new teammates Nic Minassian and Pedro Lamy."

Peugeot's Sebring lineup will have Bourdais, Lamy, and Minassian in the No. 07 Peugeot HDl FAP and Gene, Wurz and Anthony Davidson in the No. 08 car. The diesels are whisper quiet, with little engine noise to betray their overtaking moves in the corners.

"We have a fantastic car, the Peugeot 908 HDI FAP, which after four years of competition, is very reliable and so fast." says Gene. "Since last year, our engineers have carried on working on the performance of the 908 in each field."

With the absence of the Audi diesels, Peugeot is the class of the LMP1 field. The V12-powered No. 009 Aston Martin Lola B09 60, with defending Sebring LMP2 champion Adrian Fernandez among its driver lineup, was quickest in the first Winter Test session and could challenge for overall victory along with the leading P2 entry, the No. 1 Patron Highcroft Racing Honda Performance Development ARX-01c of David Brabham, Simon Pagenaud and Marino Franchitti.

Interestingly, Brabham co-drove the winning Peugeot at Le Mans last year with Gene and Wurz and could upset Peugeot's triple crown dream. But no one will be surprised if Peugeot Sport wins at Sebring this time.
Peugeot Sport will enter three factory cars at Le Mans, but currently does not plan on competing at Petit Le Mans on Oct. 2.

TBO

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Black Swan Racing to skip Sebring 12 Hours

Observant viewers will have noticed that the Black Swan Racing Porsche 997 GT3 RSR had suddenly disappeared from the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida entry list earlier this week.

Today team owner/driver Tim Pappas confirmed that the #54 Black Swan Racing car that had been entered for himself, Anthony Lazzaro and Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen has indeed been withdrawn. Instead of kicking off the season at Sebring the team will focus on additional testing and tire development with tire partner Dunlop, before making its race return to the series.

Pappas made it very clear though that the withdrawal of the car for the opening round of the 2010 American Le Mans Series does not mean the cancellation of the program for 2010. “Quite the opposite”, said Pappas. “Despite a strong first outing at the Winter Test, Black Swan needs more work before its ready for competition in American Le Mans. Except for Bleekemolen, Black Swan was not in competition in 2009, so we have had lots of work to do behind the scenes to prepare and unfortunately, we just haven’t gotten everything done on time to feel confident for Sebring.”

Planetlemans

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Field unhurt in huge testing crash

Intersport driver Jon Field escaped unscathed from a horrendous accident in pre-race testing at Sebring on Monday.

The American's Lola rolled several times in the violent crash between Turns 9 and 10.

The car was destroyed in the accident, but the central safety cell remained intact and landed upright.

Field was able to extricate himself from the wreckage and after initial checks at the circuit's medical centre, he was taken to Highlands Regional Medical Centre for further observation. He was released with a clean bill of health last night, and could yet race in Saturday's Sebring 12 Hours using Intersport's spare car.

No official results were released from the test, but unofficial timings put the two factory Peugeots on top ahead of Aston Martin Racing.

Autosport

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Sebring 12H - Monday Test Session Report

The 58th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida week got underway today with eight hours of testing at the Sebring International Raceway. Four hours were reserved for the LMP cars and the GT cars could also test for four hours.

Despite not being an officially timed session most cars did take part in the sessions. At the end of the day Team Peugeot Total had set the fastest session times, the #07 in 1:45.084 and the #08 in 1:45.122. Third fastest was the Aston Martin Racing Lola Aston Martin, with Stefan Mücke replacing Chris Buncombe in the line-up.

There was bad luck for the Intersport Racing Lola B06/10 AER of Jon Field during the session. Between Turn 9 and Turn 10 Field lost control of his car and his car flipped several times before coming to a halt. Jon Field was taken to the Highlands Regional Medical Center in Sebring for observation. Despite their car being totally destroyed in the accident, pictures of which can be seen here http://www.americanlemans.com/index_news.php?n=14567, the team was positive about building up the spare car in time for the race weekend.

As expected the Patrón Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-01c was the quickest in the LMP2 class at Sebring. Risi Competizione set the fastest time in GT2, while TRG and Intersport Racing clocked the fastest afternoon times in GTC and LMPC.

On Tuesday the American Le Mans Series will be back in action for two one-hour sessions. One at 11:20 am and the second one at 3:20 pm.

Planetlemans

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Sebring 12H - Tuesday Afternoon Session Report

The final practice session on Tuesday afternoon was again a one-hour session interrupted several times by a red flag. The loss of track time meant most teams were out on the track at the same time, leaving no room for error. The #08 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, which missed most of the morning session due to technical issues, eventually posted the fastest time.

A few minutes into the session the #4 Corvette Racing car spun at Turn 16, before rejoining. However shortly afterwards the session was red flagged for the first time. After a long break the cars got back on the grid, only to see a red flag a few minutes later when the #44 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3 RSR spun between Turn 4 and Turn 5. Unable to restart the car the rescue vehicles were sent out to clear the track and soon after the green flag was waved once more.

Once again all the teams went out when the track was reopened and most of them were able to complete a few laps.

In the end it was the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #08 of Lamy, Bourdais and Minassian that posted the fastest time, a 1:46.232. The Aston Martin of Fernandez, Mücke and Primat was second fastest, 0.345s behind the Peugeot. In third place, almost a second behind the Peugeot the Drayson Racing Lola.

Quickest LMP2 car was the Patrón Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-01c, 2.304s slower than the #08 Peugeot, while the Dyson Racing Lola Mazda was a second and a half slower than the #1. The Green Earth Team Gunnar Oreca FLM09 of Zugel, Jeanette and Julian was the fastest car in the LMPC category.
Fastest this session in GT2 was the Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari F430 GT2, less than a tenth ahead of the Risi Competizione #62 and six tenths of a second ahead of the #3 Corvette. The Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of Leitzinger, Juan Gonzalez and Keen posted the fastest session time in GTC.

Planetlemans

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Intersport to miss Sebring after crash

Intersport has withdrawn its Lola from this weekend's Sebring 12 Hours following Jon Field's huge crash in testing on Monday.

The team will continue to run its LMPC class entry, but will not attempt to prepare another LMP1 car for this weekend, instead focusing on returning for the next round of the American Le Mans Series in Long Beach next month.

"First and foremost, we are relieved that Jon was able to walk away from the wreck without injury," said team manager Brian Alder.

"It is a tribute to IMSA safety regulations and the construction of the Lola to see our driver walk away from such a horrific crash.

"With Jon on the mend, we will channel our focus for the 12 Hour to the team's LMPC car. We will also be busy with our IMSA Lites entries. We're very confident and enthusiastic about the teams competitiveness in those programmes.

"Jon and Clint Field will return to Long Beach with our LMP1 car in April. Not starting Sebring is disappointing and significant as it ends Jon's streak of 13 consecutive 12 Hours of Sebring starts."

Intersport has traced the accident's cause to a problem in the right rear suspension, which sent the Lola off the road. It then rolled several times before coming to rest. Field was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, but released with a clean bill of health later that evening.

Autosport

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Tuesday Test Session Report

The first official American Le Mans Series Test Session took place on Wednesday afternoon. Twenty-eight cars went out for practice. The predicted rain for Wednesday did fall, albeit very light rain early in the morning. By the time the track went green for the LMP1, LMP2 and LMPC cars the conditions had improved and the sun was shining at the Sebring International Raceway.

With the Aston Martin Racing Lola Aston Martin not taking part in the session due to planned maintenance (e.g. replacing the gearbox) the two Peugeots were dominating their 1.5 hour long session. The #07 Peugeot was quickest by the time the checkered flag was shown for the LMP cars, with Marc Gené setting a 1:45.811. Its sister car was 0.337s behind in second place, the fastest time recorded by Pedro Lamy.

While the Autocon Lola and Level 5 Motorsports Oreca FLM09 spun and stalled briefly at Turn 10, the session was briefly interrupted by a red flag when the Autocon car, with Tony Burgess in the car, stopped on the track. After restarting the teams, LMP and GT, got back on track. An hour and a half after the session had started the LMP cars were shown the checkered flag and only the GT cars stayed out.

Marino Franchitti has posted the fastest lap in the LMP2 class, putting the Patron Highcroft Racing car in third overall, eight tenths of a second ahead of the Drayson Racing Lola Judd. Muscle Milk Team Cytosport and Dyson Racing Team were second and third in class.

By the time the LMP cars had gone in the two Chevrolet Corvettes had already set their fastest laptimes in GT2. The #3 of Jan Magnussen was quickest, posting a 2:01.837, teammate Oliver Gavin was 0.183s slower in the #4 Corvette. Risi Competizione’s Pierre Kaffer was third fastest, 0.431s behind the Corvette of Jan Magnussen. Best of the Porsches today was the Team Falken Tire, Wolf Henzler posting a 2:02.369.

In the GT Challenge it was the #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of Bill Sweedler, Romeo Kapudija and Jan-Dirk Lueders that was quickest. But the car also caused the red flag some minutes before the official end of the session. Race control decided to end the session and brought out the checkered flag shortly after the red flag had been shown. Velox Motorsports and TRG were second and third in class.

The two Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari’s and the two BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team BMW E92 M3s did not take part in the session either.

Planetlemans