95 . Advanced Engineering Pecom RT Ferrari F430 GT . Matias Russo . . Luis Perez Companc . Gianmaria Bruni http://www.fiagt.com/teaminfo.php?teamname=Advanced%20Engineering%20Pecom%20Racing%20Team
A rumour is circulating of a late boost to the entry list for the 12 hours, and for the whole ALMS season. The GT3 Porsches will race in the 12 hours race. Maybe. Autocon Lola raised eye-brows by being fastest through the speed trap, just bumping the Pug.
If you are referring to the Patron GT3 Challenge - they are scheduled to run today and tomorrow at Sebring. Race Round 1 is late this afternoon and Race Round 2 tomorrow 3:05 - 3:35 pm. Carol
Peugeot topped the time sheets again in the final free practice session on Wednesday afternoon. Under a cloudy sky the cars went out again to prepare for this weekends Sebring 12 Hours at 2.45 pm. The session had only just started when the red flag came out after the Primetime Race Group Dodge Viper stalled out on the track at Turn 1. All cars returned to the pit lane for several minutes while corner works removed the stranded car. The track soon went green again. At the front Audi and Peugeot battled it out again, with first McNish and then Kristensen in the Audi R15 TDI on top. But then Stéphane Sarrazin in the #08 Peugeot managed to squeeze in an even faster laps with four minutes on the clock, a lap time not to be improved by anyone else. In LMP2 the second of the Dyson Racing Lolas was not yet ready to go out on the track so the #16 Lola Mazda and the Fernandez Acura were the only ones out. Guy Smith eventually set the fastest lap time. After missing the opening session of the day the #45 Lizards Porsche 997 GT3 RSR was out again and in quite a good shape. Up until ten minutes before the end of the session the fastest lap time in GT2 belonged to the Lizards, but then Dirk Werner went for it again and posted the fastest time of the day in the GT2 class, over six tenths of a second ahead of the Lizards car. The Risi Competizione #62 was again third fastest. Once more VICI Racing did not take part in the session. It is expected though that they will be racing here at Sebring with two 2008 spec RSRs, both not equipped with airco. Wednesday Afternoon Practice Session Result: 1 - #08 Team Peugeot Total - Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - 1:44.719 2 - #2 Audi Sport North America - Audi R15 TDI - 1:44.933 3 - #1 Audi Sport Team Joest - Audi R15 TDI - 1:45.894 4 - #66 de Ferran Motorsports - Acura ARX-02a - 1:46.461 5 - #9 Patrón Highcroft Racing - Acura ARX-02a - 1:46.872 6 - #16 Dyson Racing Team - Lola B09/86 - 1:50.802 7 - #15 Lowes Fernandez Racing - Acura ARX-01b - 1:51.148 8 - #37 Intersport Racing - Lola B06/10 - 1:53.069 9 - #12 Autocon Motorsports - Lola B06/10 - 1:54.193 10 - #3 Corvette Racing - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R - 1:56.907 11 - #4 Corvette Racing - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R - 1:57.069 12 - #87 Farnbacher Loles Racing - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 2:02.591 13 - #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 2:03.258 14 - #62 Risi Competizione - Ferrari F430 GT2 - 2:03.303 15 - #95 Advanced Engineering Pecom Racing Team - Ferrari F430 GT2 - 2:03.710 16 - #90 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team - BMW E92 M3 - 2:03.737 17 - #21 Panoz Team PTG - Panoz Esperante - 2:03.948 18 - #92 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team - BMW E92 M3 - 2:04.721 19 - #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 2:05.089 20 - #11 Primetime Race Group - Dodge Viper GT2 - 2:05.100 21 - #28 LG Motorsports - Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 - 2:05.192 22 - #40 Robertson Racing - Doran Ford GT - 2:05.512 23 - #007 Drayson Racing - Aston Martin Vantage GT2 - 2:06.735 24 - #61 Risi Competizione - Ferrari F430 GT2 - 2:09.329
Fingers crossed Jaimie Mello's flight has no delays and he gets in in time! Listening to Hindie here in Oz Its 2:00 AM here.
I read about that elsewhere - looks like Maurizio Mediani is there if Jaime doesn't make it. Qualifying should be good. Carol
Yes. As I understand it, if Maurizio drives in Qualifying he's required to race and would displace JM. Ingoldstat look as fast as always. The new car seems as fast as it looks. Will be interesting to see how the 908s qual and race. Less dramatic driving than last season? I am SO ready for some good racing! Go #62!
The final free practice session ahead of the American Le Mans Series Qualifying session had 26 cars taking to the track in order to fine tune set-ups. VICI Racing was still unaccounted for, while the #07 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP had been repaired and returned to the track for the 55 minutes long session. At 10.45 am the Audis were the first to roll on to the Sebring International Raceway and they were still first when the checkered flag came out almost one hour later. Mike Rockenfeller posted the fastest lap of the session, setting a 1:45.678. Only the other Audi R15 TDI was able to keep up with the #1 R15, yet already at 0.152s behind. Acura took third and fourth fastest in the session, the de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a at six tenths of a second and the Patrón Highcroft Racing car at almost eight tenths behind the Audi. Peugeot, with both cars on track, ended in fifth and sixth place. The two Peugeots were still within a second of the Audis though. In LMP2 the second Dyson Racing Lola Mazda completed its first four laps, bringing the number of LMP2 cars to three. Adrian Fernandez in the Lowes Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b was the fastest in the LMP2 category. His fastest time took him within 3 seconds of the Audis and almost three seconds ahead of the #16 Dyson Lola. Porsche took a 1-2 in the GT2 category with the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3 RSR #45 lapping the 3.700 miles long circuit in 2:02.654. The Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche came closest to beating the time set by Jörg Bergmeister but as timer showed 0:00 it was still a quarter of a second behind. Advanced Engineering Pecom Racing Teams Ferrari F430 GT2 was the best non-Porsche by taking third place. So far the weekend has gone quite well for the FIA GT team. BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team #90 and the Risi Ferrari #61 had some close calls. The BMW spun backwards into the tyres at Turn 5, while the Ferrari spun without hitting anything at Turn 3. In GT1 the #3 Corvette C6.R was over a second quicker than the #4. Jan Magnussen set the fastest time, a 1:57.431.
De Ferran Motorsports will be on pole position for Saturdays Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida. Scott Dixon in the Acura ARX-02a set the fastest lap time in todays qualifying session. The expected battle between Audi and Peugeot was fought out on the track, but on a last lap attempt the Acura team beat them all. At 2.45 pm it was time for the GT1 and GT2 cars to get their qualifying session underway. The two Corvettes were the first ones out, closely followed by the two Flying Lizard Porsches. On its first lap out the #92 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team BMW E92 M3 came to a halt in Turn 1, briefly bringing out the yellow flag on the finish straight, it returned to the pit lane on the same lap. Jan Magnussen was the quickest of the two Corvettes on their first flying lap, but a lap later Oliver Gavin had already posted a faster lap time (1:57.882). Four laps completed the Corvettes returned to the pit. Meanwhile in GT2 Dirk Werner in the #87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche set the fastest time (2:03.051), with Bergmeister and Bruni chasing the German. The Primetime Race Group Dodge Viper came onto pit lane with steam coming from the engine compartment, but it soon returned to the track. 18 minutes into the session David Murry surprised anyone by putting the Robertson Racing Ford GT in fifth place. Mika Salo improved his time moments later, but was still half a second away from the top three, his team mate Tracy Krohn in the #61 Ferrari spun his car, throwing away any chance of improving his grid position Towards the end of the GT session provisional pole sitter Dirk Werner suddenly slowed on the track and cruised back to the pit lane with an unknown problem. With two minutes remaining in the session most cars were in the pit lane and it became clear that nobody would improve the times set by Gavin and Henzler. Next up were the LMP cars. The two Acura ARX-02a cars and both Dyson Racing Mazdas were out as soon as they could, while both the Peugeot and Audi team waited in the pit lane. Scott Dixon was the first to post a flying lap, setting a 1:49.370, but David Brabham improved it only one lap later (1:49.335). On his fourth lap Dixon posted a much quicker time, more towards the times shown in practice, when he set a 1:46.553. The LMP2 Acura had also joined the track and on its first flying lap it was two second quicker than the Dyson Lola, 1:49.686. With fifteen minutes remaining the #1 Audi with Mike Rockenfeller onboard went out and as he passed the line after completing his first flying lap his time was good enough to secure provisional pole. It didnt last long as Dixon almost instantly improved the fastest time to 1:45.570. Tom Kristensen aborted his second flying lap after being held up by one of the Dyson cars. Eleven minutes remained when the #08 Peugeot went out on its hunt for pole position. Mike Rockenfeller did continue and improved his time again. The 1:45.551 was good enough for provisional pole again. Christian Klien spun the #07 Peugeot at Turn 3, just when Bourdais set the second fastest time of the session, 0.008s behind the Audi! On his next lap Bourdais went into the pit, leaving the track open for other attempts by Dixon and Klien.
Well done Gil's team: I knew he had his act together when he was my teammate in Formula Ford in England 21 years ago but getting his team to that level within a year is perhaps even more impressive than his driving career. Hats off to a good guy and his group! I'll be rooting for Bourdais however but as long as the Uber panzers from Ingolsdtadt get beaten I'll be happy. best regards, Marc
