| Author | Message | ||
| J R K (Kenyon)
Junior Member Username: Kenyon Post Number: 231 Registered: 10-2002 |
Mixed Fortunes at Sebring 12 Hrs 17.3.03 Some mixed fortunes but also honourable results came from the eight Ferraris entered for the ALMS Sebring 12 Hour race. Highlight was the second place in the GTS class for the Veloqx Prodrive 550 but lowlight must have been the frightening accident which left 360 driver Kevin McGarrity nursing two broken legs. A race of attrition and some good, hard competition on the track benefited the Veloqx Prodrive team as second place in the GTS class was claimed by the Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello of Kelvin Burt, Anthony Davidson and Darren Turner. The Britons overcame brake problems early in the race and the loss of Kelvin Burt through illness towards the last quarter of the event to take second place on the podium place behind the class-wining Corvette of Johnny O�Connell, Ron Fellows and Franck Freon. No 88 retired with clutch problems Kelvin Burt said afterwards: �I wish I felt better so I could enjoy our 2nd place a bit more. I started feeling nauseous early this afternoon and it got worse and worse so I went to see the circuit doctor who diagnosed a stomach virus. My last stint finished about 7pm, and up until then I�d really enjoyed the whole event, despite the problems we had with our car. � The teams second 550, driven by Jamie Davies, Tomas Enge and Peter Kox, did not enjoy such good fortune. The car was retired at 7.20pm with a terminal clutch problem. They had been running in a strong 3rd place in class when the problem arose. Jamie Davies told the story: �When I first went out the grip of the car felt good and it was fine but after about five laps I heard a noise and thought it might be the engine but there were no alarms showing so I carried on. As I carried on, I thought I was imagining it, but it felt as though the car was going fractionally slower on the straights. I couldn�t understand it because I was pushing quite hard in the cooler conditions, attacking in the corners and the car felt good, but the laps times just weren�t there. Towards the end, as I was coming out of the hairpin, the car jumped and the clutch jarred and started slipping and it just got worse. That was the end basically.� The Olive Garden-sponsored 550 of the Rafanelli team also retired. McGarrity was lucky to escape this The two JMB 360GTs were quick, but not quick enough to deal with the Porsches. Fourth in the GT class was the end result for Babini/Pescatori/ Gregoire whilst the Manfredini/Garbagnati/Earle car soldiered on through various troubles to be classified 12th in class. One of the Risi 360GTs driven by Kelleners/Borcheller/Lazzaro qualified quickest of the 360s but retired after just 39 laps whilst the Franchitti/Bennett/ McGarrity car fell victim to the accident mentioned above when Kevin McGarrity was tapped from behind and hit a retaining wall head-on. The final Ferrari, the ACEMCO team's 360GT driven by Zacharias/Lewis/Davis, retired after 233 laps.        |