This morning's practice: Penske 1 & 2 Audi 5 & 9 (ouch) GT2 . . . 1 and 13 overall. Enge - PWL Ferrari 2 and 14th overall. Salo - Risi Ferrari 7. #61 Risi Ferrari GT1 is a joke - only entries are the Corvettes. Tight road course is more favorable to the P2's in lieu of P1's. Glad to see that Audi is staying despite all the turmoil. Qualifying later . . . Carol
You going Carol. I'm not crazy about street courses. But I'll try one next week. My wife had been bugging me to go to Vegas. So I told her to make the arrangements for Apr. 7-9. I haven't told her it's Champ Car and Vintage F1 yet. She will laugh, throw something at me, then go shopping.
Qualifying complete. Penske P2 cars 1 and 2 on the grid. P1 Audi at 3rd. Then 3 P2 Acuras. Ferraris 1-2 in GT2, Peterson then Risi. Tight street course, watch out for those evil Porsches.
It's been a long time since every prototype has outqualified all the GT cars.... 1 7 P2 1 Romain Dumas Pit 2 0.000 0.000 1:03.039 1:03.039 102.79 2 1 42:15.622 42:15.622 Porsche RS Spyder Penske Racing Michelin -- 2 6 P2 2 Ryan Briscoe Pit 5 0.150 0.150 1:17.207 1:03.189 102.55 3 1 35:43.271 35:43.271 Porsche RS Spyder Penske Racing Michelin -- 3 1 P1 1 Allan McNish Run 7 0.376 0.226 1:03.620 1:03.415 102.18 4 2 1:16.095 36:15.060 Audi R10/TDI Audi Sport North America Michelin -- 4 15 P2 3 Adrian Fernandez Pit 8 0.393 0.017 1:03.432 1:03.432 102.16 8 1 35:06.559 35:06.559 Lola B06/43 Acura Lowe`s Fernandez Racing Michelin -- 5 26 P2 4 Bryan Herta Run 3 0.707 0.314 1:03.746 1:03.746 101.65 3 2 30.488 41:14.343 Acura ARX-01A Andretti Green Racing Michelin -- 6 9 P2 5 David Brabham Pit 8 0.768 0.061 1:03.873 1:03.807 101.56 7 0 0.000 0.000 Acura ARX-01A Highcroft Racing Michelin -- 7 2 P1 2 Marco Werner Pit 6 1.100 0.332 1:18.064 1:04.139 101.03 3 1 34:57.666 34:57.666 Audi R10/TDI Audi Sport North America Michelin -- 8 20 P2 6 Guy Smith Pit 6 1.337 0.237 1:04.376 1:04.376 100.66 7 0 0.000 0.000 Porsche RS Spyder Dyson Racing Team Michelin -- 9 16 P2 7 Butch Leitzinger Pit 5 1.806 0.469 4:40.301 1:04.845 99.93 5 1 3:40.875 3:40.875 Porsche RS Spyder Dyson Racing Team Michelin -- 10 12 P1 3 Chris McMurry Pit 5 5.497 3.691 1:39.075 1:08.536 94.55 3 1 35:56.430 35:56.430 Lola EX257 AER Autocon Motorsports Dunlop -- 11 37 P1 4 Clint Field Pit 6 5.805 0.308 1:31.634 1:08.844 94.13 4 2 2:13.420 37:25.916 Creation CA06/H001 Judd Intersport Racing Kumho -- 12 8 P2 8 Jamie Bach Pit 8 5.952 0.147 1:08.991 1:08.991 93.93 8 0 0.000 0.000 Lola B07/40 Mazda B-K Motorsports Kumho -- 13 4 GT1 1 Olivier Beretta Pit 3 6.492 0.540 1:09.531 1:09.531 93.20 3 1 5:05.129 5:05.129 Chevrolet C-6R Corvette Racing Michelin -- 14 3 GT1 2 Johnny O`Connell Pit 3 7.173 0.681 1:10.709 1:10.212 92.29 2 0 0.000 0.000 Chevrolet C-6R Corvette Racing Michelin -- 15 31 GT2 1 Tomas Enge Pit 5 8.986 1.813 1:12.081 1:12.025 89.97 4 0 0.000 0.000 Ferrari F430 GT Petersen/White Lightning Michelin -- 16 62 GT2 2 Jaime Melo Pit 6 9.207 0.221 1:40.824 1:12.246 89.69 2 1 6:25.936 6:25.936 Ferrari F430 GT Risi Competizione Michelin -- 17 71 GT2 3 Robin Liddell Pit 7 9.699 0.492 1:33.748 1:12.738 89.09 4 1 6:00.186 6:00.186 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Tafel Racing Michelin -- 18 73 GT2 4 Dominik Farnbacher Pit 4 9.898 0.199 1:12.937 1:12.937 88.84 4 0 0.000 0.000 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Tafel Racing Michelin -- 19 45 GT2 5 Joerg Bergmeister Pit 4 10.178 0.280 1:32.232 1:13.217 88.50 3 1 5:08.081 5:08.081 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Flying Lizard Motorsports Michelin -- 20 44 GT2 6 Lonnie Pechnik Pit 7 10.399 0.221 1:31.032 1:13.438 88.24 4 1 5:53.304 5:53.304 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Flying Lizard Motorsports Michelin -- 21 21 GT2 7 Joey Hand Pit 6 10.401 0.002 1:14.171 1:13.440 88.24 4 0 0.000 0.000 Panoz Esperante GTLM Panoz Team PTG Yokohama -- 22 54 GT2 8 Terry Borcheller Pit 6 11.361 0.960 1:14.785 1:14.400 87.10 3 0 0.000 0.000 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Team Trans Sport Yokohama -- 23 22 GT2 9 Ross Smith Run 10 14.583 3.222 1:17.942 1:17.622 83.48 5 0 0.000 0.000 Panoz Esperante GTLM Panoz Team PTG Yokohama -- 24 61 GT2 10 Jose Maria Lopez -- -- ?.??? ?.??? -- ?.??? .08 -- 0 0.000 0.000 Ferrari F430 GT Risi Competizione Michelin -- 25 18 GT2 11 Ralf Kelleners -- -- ?.??? 0.000 -- ?.??? .08 -- 0 0.000 0.000 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Rahal Letterman
Hi Michael - nope not in St Pete this weekend - have a very major fencing project about to commence for my big horses and cows and we were planning on clearing two existing fence lines but over 6.5" of rain has put a damper on that project. Will be going to a good portion of the ALMS races so willl definitely catch up with you at Road America or Petit? Ya'll have fun in Vegas - perhaps she might like the racing?? I wondered why the #61 (painted red this weekend instead of green) was withdrawn, well it seems it was "a tad" bit destroyed in the front end . . .like big time wrecked. Don't know who was driving it, but one of the drivers this weekend (as I recall) was the one who wrecked the Krohne DP last weekend after meeting a Ferrari. Anyway here's a link to a couple self-explanatory photos: http://www.imsaracing.net/2007/events/stpete/Pit%20Notes/page01.pdf wonder if it and the RLR Porsche got together as that car didn't qualify?? Allan hit the wall between turn 8 & 9 during qualifying (darn he had pole) - photos of his and Dindo's Audi #1 don't look too bad but the photos really didn't show the hit side. I'm not really fond of these street circuits and I do think you are correct in your comment about wach out for the P cars - namely Penske after a dismal show at Sebring. I was really glad to see Audi decide to stick it out in the series . . . I was hoping that it wasn't going to be another Corvette-Aston situation where Aston said screw it. ***nice ad on Speed for the ALMS race tomorrow*** shows Jaime and Jorg and the PWL Ferrari spinning. Tomorrow 4:05 our time I'll be on T&S and Globecast Radio on the laptop then in front of the tv at 7 pm (times CDT). Have a good weekend - enjoy the racing. Carol
I just read this about the #61: The provisional grid is set with twenty four cars. Only the Rahal-Letterman Porsche did not set a time and will have to start at the back of the grid. The news from Risi is the tub of the #61 is damaged and will not return this weekend. The car will most likely be sent to their frame shop in Houston for repairs. We've seen the frame shop at FoH - it is absolutely amazing what they can do with that awesome looking piece of machinery - they are the only ones in the US authorized by Ferrari for frame work. Get it fixed and ready for Long Beach in a couple weeks!!! Carol
Hey Doc, thanks for all the times. Carol, I had my wife sleeping in a van full of racing motorcycles that reeked of fuel 30 years ago. I've also had her to hospitality where Gene Hackman and Mario tried to steal her. She's seen it all. She will be fine in Vegas. I'm just not telling about the race till we get there. I look forward to the Vintage F1 as much as the, who knows what to expect, Champ race. Back to St. Pete. I saw the Penske P2 cars win at Mid-Ohio in May 2006. But that didn't count IMO. The R10 had went back to Germany to prepare for LeMans and Champion pulled a display R8 out for 2 races. And as we have seen you can't count the Acuras out. Go Risi!
THIS IS ONE HELLUVA A RACE SO FAR . . . this makes F1 look like a track day!!! Marino did one heck of a pass on the Penske Porsches, Allan ran into one of them - took his stop and go penalty - Marino has damage and is still keeping a 3 second lead. Porsche #7 in pits, #6 now in pits - damage to rt side? or rt side electrical problems this is an absolutely fantastic race - can't wait to watch it on Speed at 7 pm our time - meanwhile the T&S and Globecast radio is awesome - F1 needs to take a lesson or two - car # 6 was overheating Carol FOUR cars abreast on the straight - the Audi took off like a rocket - GO AUDI, GO ALLAN The Ferrari is currently in second but this street circuit is really more geared for the Porsche GT2 cars. Allan just turned a 1:05.2 - he's in the lead taking about 3-4 seconds per lap lead. Definitely this is one to watch tonight.....can you tell I'm excited??
This is not Formula 1 where the blue flags tell someone to move over, this is REAL racing was the comment by Hindy on his commentary. Jamie did an unbelievable pass on Bergmeister (a lap down) - shades of Sebring. Ya'll are missing one helluva a GT2 Ferrari F430 race. Carol
Looks like the Audis have been sandbagging to me. I think they can go a full second quicker per lap than any of the P2 cars if they push...
Wow - two races in a row for the PWL Ferrari - the great thing is that Tomas got out without any problems. No one seems to know what happened with the Ferrari . . . .Glad that Tomas is okay as he also drives for Scuderia Ecosse. Hard hit for Tomas on driver's side. Interesting enough Hindy said that turns 4-9 were going to be problems and I do believe he was definitely correct. John in going to give an update about the odd accident for Enge. Looks like car was out of control, hit wall at an acute angle, front wheel pulled off and angled thur door. . . . Carol Stuart . . .looks like there's only two of us watching T&S on IMSA.
I'm on the west coast, so it comes on TV just about the time the race is over. I've been watch T&S on and off. Too bad about the 2nd Ferrari
Just hope that all is well with Tomas - they said he was taken to the hospital. Trying to do two things at once here . . . watching ESPN HD with NHRA from Houston on (we had tickets to there this weekend but obviously didn't head south . .) they said Eric's problem was due to tire vibration .. lots of racers honoring Eric with tributes on their race cars . . . so sad, we saw him in Ennis for the O'Rilley Fall Nationals last year. back to ALMS . . . UPDATE ON TOMAS . he's awake and alert ...thank goodness. Carol
Wow. Just watched the race on Speed... all I have to say, is that the competition is this hot all season long (hopefully with fewer busted cars) it will be AMAZING racing. Congrats to Melo & Salo on their second consecutive #1, and I'm glad to hear that Enge was lucid on the way to the hospital - hopefully he comes out with only some bumps&bruises. I'm going to have to be sure to record Long Beach in two weeks, because I'm sure I'll be busy at homestead with GA. Too much racing going on to pay attention to everything!
Wow, that was intense. While it was fun to watch, so many cars had accidents of one sort or another. You think the teams like racing there? Very hard on equipment (and drivers, like Enge)...
I believe Enge was planning on driving at LeMans. Has anyone heard about his condidtion this morning?
This is from the PWL website: Tomas Enge in Stable Condition After Serious Accident at St. Petersburg Grand Prix 03/31/07 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 31, 2007 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing driver Tomas Enge (a native of the Czech Republic living in Monaco) is in stable condition at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Fla. following a serious accident on lap 87 of the Sports Car Challenge at St. Petersburg. Enge suffered serious trama, the extent of which is not known at this time, but was awake and alert during the rescue process. Despite a fire that erupted after the car made hard contact with the outside wall in Turn Four of the 14-turn, 1.8-mile street course, he sustained no burns. He will undergo further tests and reviews over the course of the night. The exact cause of the accident is under review but mechanical failure is not believed to be a factor. Enge, who started from the class pole, was leading at the time of the incident. The No. 31 MMPIE/PAWS/Petersen Holdings/Michelin Ferrari F430 GT, sustained heavy driver-side damage, both front and rear. The car also suffered substantial fire damage on the right side. Minor damage was found on passenger-side, front fender as well. Additional information will be made available by the American Le Mans Series Media Department and Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing as it becomes available. The team finished 10th in GT2 class at the conclusion of the event.
Carol, made it home for the last hr. and watched the rest this AM. Thanks for the call. Great racing. The walls certainly bunched them up. This series certainly dodged the bullet of the loss of teams in P1 and GT1. An exciting start to a great season. Hope Tomas is ok. I'll dig a pic of him out. That was scary. Hurt and pinned against the wall with a fire behind you. Ron, I don't think any Safer Barriers are being used on temporary circuits. Today you can watch Danica bounce off those same walls from the 11th spot while Marco starts 2nd.
