Sebring 12 Hour ***spoiler***

Qualifying certainly was entertaining. Caught some of it on IMSA live timing and wondered why the list was like it was for qualifying . . .here's the answer courtesy of PlanetLeMans> > >

First off -> CONGRATULATIONS TO JAIME AND RISI for another pole!!

* * *

Just after three o’clock in the afternoon in Florida the track went green for the qualifying session for the 56th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The qualifying session was interrupted by a red flag after almost 38 minutes into the session and was not restarted. This meant Peugeot secured the pole on its very first attempt.

LMP1 - Peugeot clinches Sebring pole on first attempt

Lucas Luhr was the first driver to go faster than last years qualifying record as he set a 1:44.291. One lap later McNish improved his team mates lap time but it was the Peugeot of Stéphane Sarrazin that was even quicker, setting a 1:43.117. Moments after the Frenchman had set the provisional pole position the red flag came out when the B-K Motorsport Lola went off at Turn 1.

LMP2 - Crazy qualifying hands Dyson the LMP2 pole

The LMP2 qualifying session was marred by the B-K Motorsport accident. Ben Devlin, who was driving the car at the time of the incident, was groggy but uninjured. At the moment the red flag came out only the two Dyson Racing Porsches, the B-K Lola and the Barazi-Epsilon Zytek had completed a lap and it as Guy Smith who had been quickest at that point, setting a 1:46.145. As a result of the accident the Penske, Andretti-Green, Horag, Highcroft and Fernandez teams did not set a time and will all be starting from the back of the grid.

LMGT1 - Corvette 1-2 once again

Jan Magnussen clinched the pole position in the GT1 category. The Dane took the #3 Corvette C6.R around the circuit in 1:56.539, almost four tenths of a second ahead of team mate Oliver Gavin in the #4 Corvette. The Bell Motorsport Aston Martin DBR9, driven by Antonio Garcia, was third fastest in 2:00.385. Both Corvettes only completed three timed laps which were enough to secure the class pole.

LMGT2 - Risi Competizione on GT2 pole position

As soon as the track went green most cars went out to set a quick time. Bergmeister in the #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3 RSR was the first driver to go below the existing track record on his first flying lap (2:01.318). His lap time was quickest for about ten minutes, but then it was Jaime Melo in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 430 GT who recorded a 2:00.945. Several others tried to beat his time, but they all fell short. When the checkered flag came out for the GT cars Melo had secured the class pole position, with Richard Lietz (#46 Lizards Porsche) in second place and Dirk Werner (#87 FarnbacherLoles Porsche) in third. Two cars did not set a time. The Robertson Racing Ford GT-R experienced a small fire on board, nothing too serious though luckily, while the Corsa Motorsports Ferrari 430 GT did not take part in qualifying due to tyre problems.

* * *

This will make for a VERY interesting start with the torque of the diesels on the first two rows - a drag race for sure. Even though Jon is over 2 minutes behind the 908, he is one fast driver and will be on row two next to Audi #2. Based on qualifying, I truly believe the GT2 class barring any unforseen circumstances is all Risi #62 and Flying Lizards #45 or #46. All in all, 12 hours is a long time and ANYTHING can happen. Off to Sebring early in the morning.

Carol

It's getting even better now - still not sure but it appears a combo of qualification times will determine grid - someone just reported Dyson on front row. All hell is going to break loose at the start!!! Audi #1 was fastest in most sessions - yipee maybe that will mean Allan and Dindo have the pole.

Here's the reason for the red flag - slightly used Mazda http://www.endurance-info.com/2008_ALMS/01_Sebring/Lola_Mazda_5.jpgand another http://www.endurance-info.com/2008_ALMS/01_Sebring/Lola_Mazda_1.jpg

 

I'm glad Devlin is alright. I'm also glad it wasn't Bonilla who crashed the car, as he's one of those drivers who had to make it the hard way. I'd hate to see his season marred by mistakes.

 

After the accident today the grid was determined based on cumulative times - here's the top ten - it's going to be one heck of a start for sure!!!

1 Capello/Kristensen/McNish (Audi R10 TDI), 1m 43.195s
2 Minassian/Sarrazin/Lamy (Peugeot), 1m 44.271s
3 Luhr/Rockenfeller/Werner (Audi R10 TDI), 1m 45.090s
4 Dumas/Bernhard/Collard (Porsche), 1m 45.220s
5 Maassen/Long/Briscoe (Porsche), 1m 45.999s
6 Fernandez/Diaz (Acura/Honda), 1m 46.029s
7 Franchitti/Leitzinger/Lally (Porsche), 1m 46.348s
8 Herta/Fittipaldi/Andretti (Acura/Honda), 1m 46.632s
9 Field/Field/Berry (Lola), 1m 47.358s
10 Smith/Dyson (Porsche), 1m 47.567s

Carol

 

With all that bodywork ripped off it looks like a F1 car in the 2nd pic! Have fun in Sebring!

 

Times ended up being disallowed since the P1 cars had less than 10 minutes in the session. So here it is!

56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
presented by Fresh from Florida
Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Fla.
Saturday's lineup
1. Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Allan McNish, Scotland; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 1:43.195, 129.076
2. Nicola Minassian, England; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Peugeot 908 (P1), 1:44.271, 127.744
3. Lucas Luhr, Germany; Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 1:45.090, 126.749
4. Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Emmanuel Collard, France; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:45.220, 126.592
5. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Ryan Briscoe, Australia; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:45.999, 125.662
6. Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:46.029, 125.626
7. Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:46.348, 125.249
8. Bryan Herta, Valencia, CA; Christian Fittipaldi, Miami, FL; Marco Andretti, Nazareth, PA; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:46.632, 124.916
9. Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:47.358, 124.071
10. Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:47.567, 123.830
11. David Brabham, Australia; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Stefan Johansson, Sweden; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:47.819, 123.540
12. Fredy Lienhard Sr., Switzerland; Didier Theys, Belgium; Jan Lammers, The Netherlands; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:48.522, 122.740
13. Juan Barazi, Switzerland; Michael Vergers, England; Jean Ravier, France; Zytek 07S (P2), 1:49.820, 121.289
14. Ben Devlin, England; Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, FL; Raphael Matos, Brazil; Lola B07 46 Mazda (P2), 1:49.966, 121.128
15. Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Tony Burgess, Canada; Creation CA07-002 Judd (P1), 1:53.851, 116.995
16. Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 1:56.269, 114.562
17. Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Max Papis, Italy; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 1:56.547, 114.289
18. Terry Borcheller, Vero Beach, FL; Chapman Ducote, Miami, FL; Antonio Garcia, Spain; Aston Martin DBR9 (GT1), 2:00.730, 110.329
19. Jaime Melo, Brazil; Mika Salo, Finland; Gianmaria Bruni, Italy; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:01.184, 109.916
20. Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Dirk Müller, Germany; Robert Bell, UK; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:01.800, 109.360
21. Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Marc Lieb, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:01.831, 109.332
22. Allan Simonsen, Australia; Jim Tafel, Alpharetta, GA; Pierre Ehret, Santa Rosa, CA; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:02.227, 108.987
23. Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Patrick Pilet, France; Richard Lietz, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:02.238, 108.968
24. Dirk Werner, Germany; Marc Basseng, Germany; Bryce Miller, Hoboken, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:02.594, 108.651
25. Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, FL; Marc Goosens, Belgium; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (GT2), 2:03.630, 107.741
26. Uwe Alzen, Germany; Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Nathan Swartzbaugh, La Habra Heights, LA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:03.861, 107.540
27. Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Panoz Esperante Ford (GT2), 2:03.931, 107.479
28. Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Alex Davison, Australia; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:04.081, 107.349
29. Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX; Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Eric van de Poele, Belgium; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:04.933, 106.617
30. Paul Drayson, London, UK; Jonny Cocker, UK; Tim Sudgen, England; Aston Martin DBRS9 (GT2), 2:04.938, 106.613
31. Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Johnny Mowlem, England; Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:05.666, 105.995
32. Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Dodge Viper Competiton Coupe (GT2), 2:06.004, 105.711
33. Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; David Murry, Cumming, GA; Doran Ford GT-R (GT2), 2:06.527, 105.274
34. Miroslav Konopka, Slovakia; Mauro Casadei, Italy; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:14.059, 99.359

 

Thank god its racing season. Saturday is going to be an all motorsports event for me. Watching Sebring at a real fun brew pub with the a Porche club, then home to watch the F1 race with my dog. Now once baseball starts again, I'll be all set.

Mark

 

Race day, partly cloudy, 87 deg F (30 deg C), windy with a 10% chance of rain. Still finding some pics from last year.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ready to start. I looked for Carol on the grid walk. No see but I'm sure she was there.

 

these sound/video issues are ruining the race on speed.

 

unequivocally hard to watch....

 

Listening to americanlemans.com

I saw the Devlin/B-K crash from behind the T1 worker station. Bad deal. Hard hit. Flying for a long time...

 

What happened with the Mazda?

Ben helped me out with some local knowledge last year at Mid-Ohio.

 

They said on lemansradio that they worked all night to rebuild the car then discovered a fuel leak in warmup this morning. So they are in the paddock tearing it apart again.

 

ALMS Sebring Live Timing

In case you aren't sure who is leading what, or who is behind who...

Listen to Radio Le Mans

 

http://gms.speedtv.com/ONLINE/

Here is the link for Speed On Board pass. Its free and if you click on feed 1 which the helicopter feed it has the speed commentators.

Ive also been watching the #2 onboard as he decides to test the Audi's offroad capabilities. You can right click the buttons for the other feeds and click 'open in new window' to watch multiple feeds at once.

 

Not sure. All through practice, the LMP2 cars have been just unbelievable through T1. The level of commitment, especially from Marco, Bryan and the Dyson cars, has been remarkable. I was not surprised to see the radar trap speed story by Marshall Pruett indicate the LMP2 cars are quickest through the T1 segment from turn in to track out.

Ben had just turned a 1:48.001, fastest lap of the week for the new B-K Lola/Mazda, when upon turn-in (braking from nearly 165 mph!?!?), the car snap rotated left. Didn't look like pilot error.

Left front hit the inside concrete wall (normally going around 130 mph+ at the apex) hard for a car length and the car caught air under the right side. Car rolled about 150 degrees right side high perpendicular to the direction of travel, went 15-25 feet in the air off the ground and flew into the tire wall on the outside near the exit of the corner.

Car bounced off the tires, went up in the air and landed right side up on top of the tires facing the apex. Ben's head was upright, but he didn't move for 10-15 seconds and we were all screaming at the flaggers to call for a red flag due to the fact that there was a TON of debris (including the nose, shards of carbon fiber fenders) spread over 200 yards of T1 across the entire width of the track and for them to send rescue for Ben. After a few moments, he unbuckled, stood up in the seat and stepped out of the car onto the tire wall. It moved the jersey barriers back a foot and snapped the top cable of the retaining fence. That's why they called the session.

Lynne was asking me this morning if the capabilities of these cars have "outgrown" the track. Considering the proximity of the fans to the circuit at the points where the speed of the cars is so great that they might as well be airplanes, there might be some changes... At least there should be some changes...

Saw the car back out in warm-up (on Live Timing, got home last night) with Bonilla in it, but sorry to hear about the cell leak. That's a major pain to get to as the car needs to be "split" to access it.

With all the drama on and off the circuit this early in the race, wouldn't surprise me to see an LMP2 car win overall. The Acuras are a stunning piece of kit...

 

# 07 Peugeot 908 in pit lane right now during second caution:

http://www.peugeot-sport.com/EN/

Live timing: http://www.imsaracing.net/2003/lt/ltc.html

Live radio: http://radiolemans.com/ (check "LISTEN LIVE" on the left)

ALMS website not working well due to hits like last year

http://www.americanlemans.com/

Tire manufacturers in ALMS:

Speedtv.com video

Pictures of the race

http://www.speedadmin.mindcomet.net/gallery/view/820741/36191/?KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=750&width=844

 

Melo is terrible.

Got what he deserved. Too bad he took out that porsche with him.

 

Jaime is going to have bad fallout from this. After last year and now this... and I'm a big supporter of the Risi effort!

 

Ferrari v. Porsche and they both lose...

 

What happened to Melo I was gone from my TV

 

+ 1, still at the office.

 

At restart he went to deep into a corner. Was cut off by a P2 - Went into the grass - Then across track and hit
a Porsche Super hard. Broke steering on both sides and also took out the Porsche.

 

On a restart Melo optimisticly dove to the inside of a P1 car went into the grass out of control into the P-car that was Rahal's last year? It was an ugly move on Melos part. Both out.

 

The Ford GT at 20 laps down in 8th not real competitive but it sure looks good. Better if the livery wasn't so plain. I think they said it hadn't been on track til last Monday.