ALMS: Sebring 2011

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Aston in race against time for Sebring


Aston Martin Racing chief David Richards is still optimistic that the company's new LMP1 contender will be ready for a debut in the Sebring 12 Hours, but admitted that it would only be a single-car entry and that the project is currently a "race against time".

Richards said construction of the car is progressing well, with the engine running on the dynamometer for the first time today.

"As we sit here today, by this afternoon the new engine for the car will run for the very first time on the dynos down at Prodrive," he said on stage at AUTOSPORT International.

"We have started with a clean sheet of paper and designed a brand new race engine specifically with the purpose of winning Le Mans.

"The first chassis was delivered from our composites operation to the race team about a week ago, and they've started building it. The bodywork is not yet finished.

"It's a bit of a race against time to be quite honest with you. The target date was to run the car in the first week of February, then ship it out to America to continue testing at Sebring, then stay in America for further development work and race at Sebring in March. We can only manage one car for that [racing at Sebring].

"It's a very demanding track and if you can manage 12 hours around Sebring on a bumpy airfield circuit made out of concrete, you can normally last 24 hours at Le Mans."

He suggested that Aston will race regularly in the second half of the season once Le Mans is out of the way.

"After Le Mans we'll have more cars in circulation, we'll have more mileage under our belts and we'll be doing a few more races in the States and in the Le Mans Series as well,"

Aston's new Le Mans programme was contingent on race organiser the Automobile Club de l'Ouest ensuring the latest rules would allow petrol engines to take on the diesels that have dominated since 2006. Richards is satisfied that the recently-announced ACO rule tweaks will have the desired effect.

"They've made the commitment now in the regulations to balance the performance of the petrol and the diesel engines," he said. "There was always the intent there before but it was never in black and white, and now it's article 19, I think, in their regulations and they are very committed to ensuring that takes place."

Autosport

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ORECA takes surprise Sebring win

Loic Duval celebrates ORECA's Sebring victoryThe ORECA Peugeot squad beat the factory cars to claim victory in the Sebring 12 Hours on Saturday.

ORECA's first-generation 908 HDi driven by Nicolas Lapierre, Loic Duval and Olivier Panis came out on top in a three-way battle through the final hours of the opening round of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.

Duval crossed the line 31 seconds ahead of Highcroft's HPD ARX-01e and a further 12s ahead of the #8 factory Peugeot.

"We didn't expect to be that quick and that lucky today," said Duval. "At the end of the day it is a great achievement for ORECA."

The new 908 shared by Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy looked well placed for victory until the start of the 10th hour. A lap was lost when the car needed a new nose section and more seconds disappeared when Lamy, who had just taken over the car, spun on his out-lap.

Highcroft driver Pagenaud fought off a late charge from Montagny in the Peugeot to claim a surprise second place for the petrol-powered HPD. The car, co-driven by David Brabham and Marino Franchitti, did not run for the first time until one week before the race yet remained in the frame throughout the 12 hours.

The two Audi R15+ TDIs, which both needed repairs after on-track incidents, ended up fourth and fifth. The fourth-placed car driven by Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello was the fastest car on the track for much of the final third of the race on the way to making up two of the seven laps lost to repairs earlier on.

The second factory Peugeot, in which Marc Gene had lost time after colliding with Capello, ended up a distant eighth behind the Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda and the Anglo-Swiss Rebellion team's Toyota-engined Lola coupe.

LMP2 honours went to the Level 5 Lola-Honda driven by Luis Diaz, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Scott Tucker. It took over the lead when the Signatech ORECA-Nissan encountered gear selection problems for the second time in the race.

BMW claimed a one-two in the GTE class with the M3 driven by Andy Priaulx, Dirk Muller and Joey Hand taking the victory. They triumphed by 37s over the sister car driven by Augusto Farfus, Dirk Werner and Bill Auberlen, which had to fight back from a delay caused by a puncture with just over a couple of hours to go, finishing 11s ahead of the best of the Chevrolet Corvettes.

Provisional results: 12 hours/332 laps:

Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time/Gap
1. LMP1 Lapierre/Duval/Panis ORECA Peugeot 12h00m28.423s
2. LMP1 Brabham/Franchitti/Pagenaud Highcroft HPD + 31.868s
3. LMP1 Montagny/Sarrazin/Lamy Peugeot + 44.502s
4. LMP1 Capello/Kristensen/McNish Audi + 5 laps
5. LMP1 Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller Audi + 6 laps
6. LMP1 Dyson/Smith/Cochran Dyson Lola-Mazda + 8 laps
7. LMP1 Prost/Jani/Bleekemolen Rebellion Lola-Toyota + 12 laps
8. LMP1 Wurz/Gene/Davidson Peugeot + 17 laps
9. LMPC Petersen/Cameron/Guasch Genoa ORECA + 20 laps
10. GT Priaulx/Muller/Hand BMW + 20 laps
11. LMPC Bennett/Montecalvo/Dalziel Core ORECA + 20 laps
12. GT Farfus/Auberlen/Werner BMW + 20 laps
13. GT Beretta/Milner/Garcia Corvette + 20 laps
14. GT Gavin/Magnussen/Westbrook Corvette + 21 laps
15. GT Fisichella/Bruni/Kaffer AF Corse Ferrari + 21 laps
16. GT Bergmeister/Long/Lieb Flying Lizard Porsche + 22 laps
17. GT Law/Neiman/Holzer Flying Lizard Porsche + 26 laps
18. LMPC Jeannette/Gonzalez/Junco Core ORECA + 27 laps
19. GTE Am Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Ferrari + 30 laps
20. LMP2 Tucker/Hunter-Reay/Diaz Level 5 Lola-Honda + 32 laps
21. GTC Pappas/Faulkner/Bleekemolen Black Swan Porsche + 33 laps
22. GTC Enda/Pumpelly/Li TRG Porsche + 33 laps
23. GTC Cisneros/Kauffmann/Edwards NGT Porsche + 36 laps
24. GTC Ham/Blackett/Cumming JDX Porsche + 37 laps
25. GTC Von Moltke/Ludwig/Norman TRG Porsche + 37 laps
26. GT Robertson/Robertson/Said Robertson Doran Ford + 38 laps
27. LMPC Lux/Julian/Zugel Genoa ORECA + 38 laps
28. GT Ortelli/Mackowiecki/Deletraz Luxury Ferrari + 40 laps
29. GTC LeSaffre/Davis/Faieta Kelly Moss Porsche + 41 laps
30. LMP2 Mailleux/Ordonez/Ayari Signatech ORECA-Nissan + 42 laps
31. LMP2 Barlesi/da Rocha/Lafargue OAK Pescarolo-Judd + 45 laps
32. GTC Potter/Stanton/Marsh Magnus Porsche + 50 laps
33. LMP2 Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa Level 5 Lola-Honda + 52 laps
34. GTC Sweedler/Keen/Wong Alex Job Porsche + 53 laps
35. GT Brown/Cosmo/Bell Extreme Speed Ferrari + 64 laps*
36. GT Melo/Vilander/Salo Risi Ferrari + 66 laps*
37. GT Murry/Lazzaro/Braun Robertson Doran Ford + 71 laps*
38. GT Jones/Moran/Wilden RSR Jaguar + 76 laps
39. GTE Am Lietz/Roda/Ried Proton Porsche + 80 laps

* Not running at chequered flag

Not classified:

LMPC Nicolosi/Boon/Lueders Performance Tech ORECA 246 laps*
GT Miller/Rast/Maassen Miller Porsche 231 laps
GTE Am Ehret/Lynn/Wills CRS Ferrari 226 laps
LMP1 Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues OAK Pescarolo-Judd 222 laps
GT Henzler/Sellers/Ragginger Falken Porsche 220 laps
LMPC Moro/Mowlem/Lombard WRO ORECA 203 laps
LMPC Dobson/Lewis/Richard PR1 Mathiasen ORECA 185 laps
LMP1 Pickett/Graf/Luhr Muscle Milk Lola-Aston 151 laps
LMP1 Nicolet/Hein/Yvon OAK Pescarolo-Judd 111 laps
GTC Curtis/Sofronas/Seyffarth GMG Porsche 87 laps
LMPC Marcelli/Drissi/Mitchell Intersport ORECA 86 laps
GT Sharp/van Overbeek/Farnbacher Extreme Speed Ferrari 49 laps
GTE Am Bornhauser/Canal/Gardel Larbre Corvette 37 laps
GT Junqueira/da Matta/Servia RSR Jaguar 35 laps*
GT James/Leuenberger Panoz 19 laps
GT Pastorelli/Schwager West Lamborghini 10 laps
GTE Am Giroix/Goethe/Wainwright Gulf Aston Martin 5 laps

Autosport

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So the Oreca Nissan placed 2nd in LMP2 class
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