ALMS 2011 thread

[MOTV8]

ALMS: Peugeot Takes Sebring Pole

Team Peugeot Total will start Saturday's 59th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring from the pole following a commanding performance by Stephane Sarrazin. The reigning European-based Le Mans Series champion turned an impressive 1:46.671 lap time in his new diesel-powered coupe, outpacing the LMP1 competition by over a second.

The No. 1 Audi Sport Team Joest R15 plus plus of Romain Dumas settled for second, while the Marc Gene-driven Peugeot put both of the French Lion's new prototypes inside the top-three.

Signatech Nissan scored the LMP2 class pole, thanks to Soheil Ayari’s 1:53.816 lap time in his No. 26 Oreca 03 Nissan. The Frenchman, who will share the wheel of his new cost-capped prototype with Lucas Ordonez and Franck Mailleux, outpaced the No. 055 Level 5 Motorsports Lola B11/40 Honda of Luis Diaz by over three seconds.

While there’s three Ferrari F458 Italias in action this weekend, one of the tried-and-trusted F430 GTs stole the GT class pole. Gimmi Bruni put the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari on the top spot with a 2:01.561 lap time, edging out the No. 04 Corvette Racing C6.R of Oliver Gavin by 0.182 seconds.

Bruni, who will share his Prancing Horse with Giancarlo Fisichella and Pierre Kaffer, is one of five ILMC GT-class competitors that will be kicking off the seven-round global sportscar championship this weekend.

Gavin’s 2:01.743 lap put the Corvette as the highest of the ALMS season regulars, ahead of the two BMW Team RLL-entered BMW M3s qualified by Dirk Werner and Dirk Muller, respectively.

The top eight in GT were separated by less than one-second.

Richard Lietz scored the inaugural pole for the new GTE-Am class, turning a 2:02.942 in his No. 63 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The reigning Le Mans Series champion was 0.558 seconds quicker than the No. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F430 GT of Nic Jonsson, who was second.

Dane Cameron scored the LMPC class pole, thanks to a 1:55.234 lap time in his Genoa Racing Oreca FLM09.

In GTC, Alex Job Racing’s Leh Keen scored his second series pole in only his second start. It was a remarkable comeback for the defending Sebring class winners, which suffered an accident on Thursday and was forced to revert to a backup Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Keen’s 2:07.373 lap time edged out the No. 077 Magnus Racing Porsche of Craig Stanton by only 0.022 seconds. Reigning GTC champions Black Swan Racing were third, thanks to Damien Faulkner’s 2:07.433 lap time.

Now, some eye candy from yesterday and last night....

[P51tj]

Top 8 within a second, damn that is close and surprising!

[MOTV8]

Got up to watch the first 5 minutes streamed on ESPN3.com, Gavin has already taken the #4 Vette to about a 4 second lead in GT, the fast Ferrari 430 in second, followed closely by both BMWs, another Ferrari (458) and a Lizard Porsche.

[Two Fangs]

Watching it on the X-Box, the Lambo just broke down, creating the first full course caution of the race.

[Ted Y]

Watching it on the X-Box, the Lambo just broke down, creating the first full course caution of the race.

Did they try hitting it with sledgehammers?

[Two Fangs]

ha ha ha Not yet. I am sure the driver wouldn't mind giving the car a little Chinese justice.

[Two Fangs]

Looks like a wheel failure on the Lambo, the rim broke away from the hub.

[MOTV8]

Ouch! I hate dem Lizards.

[Shifty]

Ouch!

I hate dem Lizards.

[Desertdawg]

WTF, ESPN3 will not stream to Qwest connections....

[Shifty]

WTF, ESPN3 will not stream to Qwest connections....

[MOTV8]

WTF, ESPN3 will not stream to Qwest connections....

*Snort

Sorry, at least Gila Bend even has the interweb.

Two hours to go, Vettes sit 3rd and incredibly, 5th after the the #4 has made up those laps they lost repairing the Lizard-damage. The bad news...both Bimmers are a lap ahead of the #3. Hopefully they break or we get a break with the flags and run 'em down.

In fact the #2 Bimmer just got a puncture!

Dawg, you can check live timing and scoring at ALMS.

[MOTV8]

Bimmer, Bimmer, Vette, Vette, etc...

[Desertdawg]

I guess I'll be waiting for your blurbage then... I do like reading what you post Dean, it's almost like I watched it.

[MOTV8]

I guess I'll be waiting for your blurbage then... I do like reading what you post Dean, it's almost like I watched it.

The tape delay is condensed to three hours, and its on ABC today...

There's no way to blurble about everything that went down in 12 hours, like there was even a dust devil or microburst that ripped a canopy from the infield and carried across the track at one point, but here's the summaries:

2011 Sebring 12 Hours: Oliver Gavin ALMS Race Recap

Today’s Twelve Hours of Sebring, the opening round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series promised much for Oliver Gavin and the Corvette Racing team. Starting from second on the ultra-competitive GT grid, the British driver drove an exceptional race but was ultimately denied a podium place through incidents which befell his No. 4 Corvette C6.R. He finished fourth behind two BMWs and the sister No. 3 Corvette of Olivier Beretta, Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia.

"The start was good," smiled Olly, "and I managed to get past Gimmi Bruni’s Ferrari and stay in front for a little while. On our qualifying tyres the car wasn’t very settled, plus any amount of dust on the track and our performance started to suffer, so Gimmi got up alongside me. He gave me a couple of taps as he went by but that was fine! After we’d fitted some different tyres, I had some good track fights with the BMWs and with Jaime Melo in the Risi Ferrari - it reminded me a lot of Le Mans and was good fun. I thought we were in a cracking position."

Unfortunately, after handing the car over to Jan Magnussen, it was involved in an incident with two other cars. Running third at the restart after a caution period, contact in Turn 17 with Patrick Long's Porsche caused both cars to spin. The following Ferrari F458 of Johannes van Overbeek then spun, colliding with the Corvette and damaging its right rear suspension. The Ferrari subsequently retired, while Magnussen manhandled the Corvette to the pits for repairs. Six minutes later, the Corvette crew had him back on track, albeit two laps down to the GT leader. To add insult to injury, the Corvette was penalized for crewmembers working on the car while the pits were closed, losing yet another lap.

"That was really the undoing of our race," said Olly. "We lost all that time fixing the car and the penalty was a double whammy. We fought back well though and had good pace in the car and we were chipping away at the gap but couldn’t quite make that jump to get in front of the BMWs to get ourselves back on the same lap. We needed another caution period really.

"After we changed tire compounds I thought we'd have a shot at the podium, but it was perhaps a bit too early. This was one of the wildest 12 hours I've ever raced and we were almost there but the BMWs are so quick. I think they’re going to be the car to beat this year."

I agree, late in the race when the vettes turned up their pace, the Bimmers just went even quicker turning low 2:03 laps. The Ferraris, while quick, had pit issues and seemed to beat the hell out of their drivers...Vilander came in and wouldn't get back in the car to finish his stint even though one of his co-drivers was already sidelined with a bad back from the notorious Sebring bumps. The 458s could do well at the shorter races this year I guess.

2011 Sebring 12 Hours: ALMS Race Recap

Peugeot won again at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, this time the Team ORECA Matmut taking victory in America’s greatest sports car race and the opening round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.

Loic Duval took the checkered flag by 31.868 seconds in his Peugeot 908 HDi FAP over Highcroft Racing’s Simon Pagenaud in a classic fight that saw the top three cars finish on the lead lap. Duval, who won with Nicolas Lapierre and Olivier Panis, took a late splash of fuel to ensure he could make it to the end of the race and the first race of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.

"It was strategy to make the splash," Duval said. "After that, the car was perfect and I was able to keep the gap between us. I think we didn’t expect to be in this position. We were building and building and at the end the car was perfect."

Team owner and ORECA founder Hughes de Chaunac was in tears during the final lap - ones of joy. This was the first time he brought his team to Sebring since sweeping the GTS podium in 2000 with the factory Dodge Viper program. Saturday’s victory was especially popular given the ‘I Love U.S. Racing’ stickers on the car.

"It’s a historic result for us," de Chaunac said It’s a race that we built step by step. We finished just in front of the manufacturers. We avoided any mistakes. It was a perfect job from the team and these three drivers. It was not easy because I asked them to be quick and patient. We won because we did not make any mistakes.

Pagenaud, David Brabham and Marino Franchitti drove Highcroft’s HPD ARX-01e for the first time this week and appeared on the verge of its first Sebring victory. But Pagenaud finished second, and held off the highest-finishing Peugeot 908 factory entry of Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy.

The other factory Peugeot was involved in an early-race crash with the No. 2 Audi R15 Plus prototype at Turn 17 that effectively ended both cars’ chance at winning. The No. 1 Audi lost two left-rear tires on consecutive laps earlier.

"It was a great race. Everything went very well," Lapierre said. "The plan was to stay on the same lap until three or four hours into the race. Then we started to push. We were quite fortunate that the pace car didn’t come out anymore after we decided to push."

BMW Motorsport won a hard-fought GT battle for the manufacturer’s first win at Sebring since 1999 when it took an overall victory. Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Andy Priaulx led a 1-2 finish in class for the German marque, which won the GT team and manufacturer championships in 2010.

The winning car came back from an early tap and spin with one of the JaguarRSR entries and a left-front flat tire. Given some of the other attrition that went on in the class and the fact that the top six cars in class ran on the same lap deep in to the race, getting both cars to the finish - never mind a 1-2 finish - was an accomplishment in and of itself.

Five cars led the class at one point, a preview of what’s to come the rest for the 2011 season.

The car of Augusto Farfus, Dirk Werner and Bill Auberlen placed second but was leading until a tire puncture in the final third of the race pushed it back into third place. Werner passed Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner with 35 minutes remaining to make it a 1-2 for the M3 GTs.

"The car was really good," said Hand, who set the class’ fastest race lap. "When I got in the car Monday, I thought, "This is a great race car, we are in the sweet spot, we are in the window.’ When it is comfy, I can go quick and do it for a long time. BMW Team RLL worked really well together in the office season and built two brand new race cars. They make everything better and that is what they did. The Dunlop tires were strong out of every stint and I had some great teammates to get along with too."

Milner placed third in the Corvette C6.R that he drove with Olivier Beretta and Antonio Garcia.

Level 5 Motorsports won its LMP2 debut with a victory for the entry of team owner Scott Tucker, Luis Diaz and Ryan Hunter-Reay. The team won at Sebring in LMP Challenge last year and moved up to P2 after taking the LMPC championship in 2010.

"We just got our cars last Saturday. This whole week was a big test session," said Tucker, who won the LMPC driver’s championship last year. "I’ve got to hand it to Luis and Ryan. We had a small issue and went down a bunch of laps, but these guys pounded it out. It really worked out for us today."

Hunter-Reay crossed the finish line ahead of the class pole-sitting Signatech Nissan ORECA-Nissan. Both cars had their share of trouble but a trip back to the paddock and penalties in the pitlane doomed the Signatech entry. Class pole-sitter Soheil Ayari, Franck Mailleux and Lucas Ordonez came home second in class.

Oak Racing’s Pescarolo-Judd of Andrea Barlesi, Frederic Da Rocha and Patrice Lafargue were third in class.

It was the first ALMS victory for Hunter-Reay, and second each for Tucker and Diaz; the latter won in P2 for Lowe’s Fernandez Racing and Acura in 2009.

"It’s amazing how hard these guys worked. I was watching the guys put the cars together on Saturday. From then until now, the car did a 12-hour race," said Hunter-Reay. "For me growing up in Florida, winning Sebring is dream come true," he added. "This place is very special to me. This is a big deal for me and the car was a lot of fun to drive. It’s a great win for Level 5 and starts the season off right."

"It was a huge effort from Level 5 today," Diaz added. "We worked very hard during the week to setup the car. We didn’t have the speed on the straights, but the engineers gave us a great car in the corners and the Honda was very reliable as always. Ryan drove great at the end with some amazing laps. I’m very thankful to have these great teammates and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season."

Krohn Racing won handily in GTE-Am with its Ferrari F430 GT. Tracy Krohn crossed the checkered flag well ahead of the Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. It marked the team’s first victory in the American Le Mans Series and first for drivers Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Michele Rugolo.

"In the last 36 hours, we haven’t had a single mechanical issue with the car," Krohn said. "That’s a tribute to our drivers and team prep. That car doesn’t have a scratch on it. I don’t think anybody put two wheels off the whole day."

The class battle went back and forth between the Krohn Ferrari and the Proton Porsche all day as the two cars were the only ones to lead. The Ferrari took advantage for good with a little more than two hours to go when the Porsche ran into problems and went back to the paddock for repairs.

That gave Krohn the victory and class championship lead in the GTE-Am class of the ILMC.

"It’s a dream come true," Jonsson said. "The guys did a fantastic job over the winter when we decided to go ILMC with the Ferrari. We have a fantastic engineering staff. The crew has been flawless. The Proton Porsche have good drivers, so they’ll be stiff competition on the European tracks."

Genoa Racing won in LMP Challenge from the pole position as Dane Cameron won by 44.314 seconds in his ORECA FLM09 over CORE autosport’s Ryan Dalziel.

Genoa won for the first time in the class after running the full season in 2010. Cameron drove with Jens Petersen and Michael Guasch.

"The car was fantastic. For me it was great because this was the first time I had ever driven the car (at Sebring)," Guasch said. "I knew if I could run with these guys we would have a fantastic package. We came in and had a good shot at it but you never want to be that confident. We were up in the top-10 overall, so it was not bad."

The winning Genoa car led the race in big chunks - 143 laps in the middle of the race, and Cameron led the final 70 laps. He ended where the car started: out front.

"I would say qualifying is more of an ego boost; it is such a long race, where you start is irrelevant," he said. "We had the fastest car in the field going into the race. I don’t think we had any penalties, mistakes, no contact, none of that stuff. The team prepared such a solid car for us and we just went about our day."

In GT Challenge, Black Swan Racing opened the defense of its 2010 class championship with its first victory at Sebring. Damien Faulkner beat TRG’s Spencer Pumpelly across the finish line by 68 seconds to win with Tim Pappas and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen in the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry.

The battle in class was one between any of four cars - Black Swan, TRG, Magnus Racing and NGT Motorsport.

"The team was fantastic all week and we have kept our heads up and they haven’t had much sleep," Faulkner said. "We had fantastic pit stops, and were faster then our rivals at that point."

The Black Swan Porsche didn’t lead until just shy of the eight-hour mark. But it only fell out of the lead for four laps over the next four hours.

"The guys did such a good job," Pappas said. "We just got our car 10 days ago from Germany, so it has been a big push to get it ready. "But here we are it is fantastic."

Pumpelly, Alain Li and Duncan Ende wound up second, a position it held for a great majority of the final four hours. NGT Motorsport’s Porsche of Henrique Cisneros, Carlos Kauffmann and Sean Edwards placed third in class.

"I am happy with the win. It is pretty hard out there in the dark and it was warm during the day," Bleekemolen said. "We had a problem with the brakes; it was hard to go straight. But it is great to be out here of course."

Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida

Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Fla.

Saturday’s race results

1. (5) Nicolas Lapierre, France; Loic Duval; Olivier Panis, France; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (1, LMP1), 332.

2. (7) David Brabham, Maidenhead; Marino Franchitti, Edinburgh, Scotland; Simon Pagenaud, Montmorrillon; HPD ARX-01e (2, LMP1), 332.

3. (1) Franck Montagny, Grandvaux; Stephane Sarrazin, Ales; Pedro Lamy, Lisbon; Peugeot 908 (3, LMP1), 332.

4. (4) Allan McNish, Monte Carlo; Dindo Capello, Canelli; Tom Kristensen, Monte Carlo; Audi R15+ TDI (4, LMP1), 327.

5. (2) Mike Rockenfeller, Monte Carlo; Timo Bernhard, Dittweiler; Romain Dumas, Ales; Audi R15+ TDI (5, LMP1), 326.

6. (10) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire; Jay Cochran, Palm Beach, FL; Lola B09 86/Mazda (6, LMP1), 324.

7. (8) Neel Jani; Jeroen Bleekemolen, Monte Carlo, ; Nicolas Prost; Lola B10/60 Coupe (7, LMP1), 320.

8. (3) Alexander Wurz, Monte Carlo; Marc Gene, Barcelona; Anthony Davidson, Brackley, Northamptonshire; Peugeot 908 (8, LMP1), 315.

9. (12) Michael Guasch, Pleasant Hill, CA; Jens Petersen, Dusseldorf; Dane Cameron, Sonoma, CA; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 312.

10. (25) Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Andy Priaulx; BMW M3 GT (1, GT), 312.

11. (13) Frankie Montecalvo, Highlands, NJ; Ryan Dalziel, Orlando, FL; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 312.

12. (24) Dirk Werner, Kissenbrück; Augusto Farfus; Bill Auberlen, Redondo Beach, CA; BMW M3 GT (2, GT), 312.

13. (30) Olivier Beretta, Monte Carlo; Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; Antonio Garcia, Barcelona; Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 (3, GT), 312.

14. (23) Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings; Jan Magnussen, Roskilde; Richard Westbrook, London; Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 (4, GT), 311.

15. (22) Gianmaria Bruni, Rome; Giancarlo Fisichella , Rome; Pierre Kaffer, Salenstein; Ferrari F430 (5, GT), 311.

16. (27) Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield; Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Marc Lieb, Ludwigsburg; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (6, GT), 310.

17. (52) Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Seth Neiman, San Francisco, CA; Marco Holzer; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT), 306.

18. (14) Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Ricardo Gonzalez, Monterrey; Rudy Junco Jr., Monterrey; Oreca FLM09 (3, LMPC), 305.

19. (36) Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX; Nic Jonsson, Buford, GA; Michele Rugulo, Italy; Ferrari F430 GT (4, GTE-AM), 302.

20. (17) Luis Diaz, Mexico City; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Ryan Hunter-Reay, Boca Raton, FL; Lola Honda (5, LMP2), 300.

21. (46) Damien Faulkner, Ireland; Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Haarlem; Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 299.

22. (50) Duncan Ende, Los Angeles, CA; Spencer Pumpelly, Mason Neck, VA; Alain Li; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 299.

23. (56) Sean Edwards; Henrique Cisneros, Miami, FL; Carlos Kauffmann, Miami, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 296.

24. (51) Nick Ham, Evergreen, CO; Carlos Kauffmann, Miami, FL; Sean Edwards; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, GTC), 295.

25. (49) Dion von Moltke, Coral Gables, FL; Jim Norman, Tampa, FL; Peter Ludwig, New Paltz, NY; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (5, GTC), 295.

26. (35) Boris Said, San Diego, CA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT/Elan (8, GT), 294.

27. (18) Christian Zugel, Holmdel, NJ; Eric Lux, Jacksonville, FL; Elton Julian, Santa Monica, CA; Oreca FLM09 (6, LMPC), 294.

28. (29) Jean-Denis Deletraz; Stephane Ortelli, Monte Carlo; Frederic Makowiecki; Ferrari F458 Italia (9, GT), 292.

29. (48) Peter Lesaffre, Rye, NH; Andrew Davis, Lilburn, GA; Bob Faieta, Tujunga, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (6, GTC), 291.

30. (11) Franck Mailleux, France; Lucas Ordonez, Spain; Soheil Ayari, Aix-les-Bains; Oreca 03 Nissan (7, LMP2), 290.

31. (21) Andrea Barlesi; Frédéric Da Rocha, Paris; Patrice Lafargue, Nantes; Oak Pescarolo Judd (8, LMP2), 287.

32. (45) Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Matthew Marsh, Welwyn; John Potter, Salt Lake City, UT; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (9, GTC), 282.

33. (53) Christophe Bouchut, Paris; Joao Barbosa, Portugal; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Lola Honda (10, LMP2), 280.

34. (44) Leh Keen, Dublin, GA; Brian Wong, Newport Beach, CA; Bill Sweedler, Westport, CT; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (11, GTC), 279.

35. (28) Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, FL; Rob Bell, Northamptonshire; Ed Brown, Las Vegas, NV; Ferrari F458 Italia (10, GT), 268.

36. (26) Jaime Melo, Milan; Mika Salo, Monte Carlo; Toni Vilander, Kankaanpaa; Ferrari F458 Italia (11, GT), 266.

37. (34) Anthony Lazzaro, Atlanta, GA; Colin Braun, Ovalo, TX; David Murry, Atlanta, GA; Doran Ford GT (12, GT), 261.

38. (41) PJ Jones, Torrance, CA; Rocky Moran, Ladera Ranch, CA; Kenny Wilden, Burlington Ontario; Jaguar XKR (13, GT), 256.

39. (32) Richard Lietz, Ybbsitz; Christian Ried, Schoeneburg, Germany; Gianluca Roda, Como; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (14, GTE-AM), 252.

40. (54) Jan-Dirk Lueders, Barrington Hills, IL; Anthony Nicolosi, Palm Beach, FL; Jarrett Boon, Phoenix, AZ; Oreca FLM09 (7, LMPC), 246.

41. (42) Bryce Miller, Summit, NJ; Sascha Maassen, Lontzen; Rene Rast, Minde; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (15, GT), 231.

42. (43) Pierre Ehret, Tegernsee; Roger Wills, Timaru; Shaun Lynn; Ferrari F430 (16, GTE-AM), 226.

43. (9) Mattieu Lahaye; Guillaume Moreau; Pierre Ragues; Oak Pescarolo Judd (17, LMP1), 222.

44. (33) Bryan Sellers, Braselton, GA; Wolf Henzler, Nuertingen; Martin Ragginger, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (18, GT), 220.

45. (19) Johnny Mowlem, London; Olivier Lombard, Poissy; Luca Moro, Amsterdam; Oreca FLM09 (8, LMPC), 203.

46. (15) Ryan Lewis, Indianapolis, IN; Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Ken Dobson, Carmel Valley, CA; Oreca FLM09 (9, LMPC), 185.

47. (6) Greg Pickett, Crystal Bay, NV; Klaus Graf, Dornham; Lucas Luhr, Monte Carlo; AMR/ Lola Coupe B08 62 (10, LMP1), 151.

48. (16) Richard Hein; Jean-Francois Yvon, Le Mans; Jacques Nicolet; Oak Pescarolo Judd (11, LMP1), 111.

49. (47) James Sofronas, Newport Beach, CA; Jan Seyffarth, Querfurt; Bret Curtis, Valencia, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (12, GTC), 87.

50. (20) Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, CA; Rusty Mitchell, Midland, TX; Oreca FLM09 (12, LMPC), 86.

51. (31) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Dominik Farnbacher, Ansbach; Ferrari F458 Italia (19, GT), 49.

52. (40) Gabriele Gardal, Milan; Patrick Bornhauser; Julien Canal, Le Mans; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (20, GTE-AM), 37.

53. (38) Bruno Junqueira, Brazil; Oriol Servia, Beverly Hills, CA; Cristiano da Matta, Belo, Horizonte; Jaguar XKR (21, GT), 35.

54. (39) Ian James, Phoenix, AZ; Benjamin Leuenberger, Switzerland; Panoz Abruzzi (22, GT), 19.

55. (55) Nicky Pastorelli, Rijswijk; Dominik Schwager, Eisenhofen; Brett Sandberg; Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 (23, GT), 10.

56. (37) Fabien Giroix, Saint-Maur; Michael Wainwright; Roland Goethe; Aston Martin Vantage (24, GTE-AM), 5.

First cars out...Aston, Lambo, Panoz, Jag. Don't know what happened to the Larbre team running last years Vette. Maybe their PR hack will type something up.

Edit, just got CR's release:

Corvette Racing Finishes Third and Fourth in Season-Opening Sebring Race

Corvettes Overcome Incidents and Accidents in 12-Hour Endurance Test

SEBRING, Fla. - Corvette Racing raced around the clock to finish third and fourth in the GT class in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the season-opening round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series. The No. 03 Compuware Corvette C6.R driven by Tommy Milner, Olivier Beretta, and Antonio Garcia completed 312 laps and finished third, 49.294 seconds behind the class-winning BMW. The No. 04 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, and Richard Westbrook was fourth across the finish line with 311 laps.

The Sebring 12-hour was a test of determination for the Chevrolet team. The No 3 Corvette C6.R started ninth on the grid and finished on the podium; the No. 4 Corvette C6.R overcame a three-lap deficit after an accident at the two-hour mark.

"Today's result was absolutely a team effort," said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President for Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. "In endurance racing you have to work as a team every minute, and Corvette Racing did that. We have more work to do, but this team never gives up."

The No. 04 Corvette C6.R made a fast start as Oliver Gavin started second on the GT grid and passed the pole-winning Ferrari 430GT on the first lap.

"The Ferrari went wide and I got by him," Gavin said. "Once the Ferrari's tires came in, he started to catch me - any amount of dust on the track and our performance started to suffer. Then with new Michelins after the first pit stop, we were back in the hunt and could race anybody."

Gavin handed off to Jan Magnussen at 1:48 under a full-course caution, but the Dane encountered misfortune as soon as racing resumed. Running third at the restart, contact in Turn 17 with Patrick Long's Porsche caused both cars to spin. The following Ferrari F458 of Johannes van Overbeek then spun, colliding with the Corvette and damaging its right rear suspension. The Ferrari subsequently retired, while Magnussen manhandled the Corvette to the pits for repairs. Six minutes later, the Corvette crew had him back on track, albeit two laps down to the GT leader.

"I got a better run going onto the straight, and Long moved to the right to block me," Magnussen said. "No big deal, I went around him on the outside. I think he was bouncing over the bumps, and bounced into the side of my car. I can't be upset with him, but I was upset at the situation."

Long was subsequently penalized for avoidable contact, and the Corvette was penalized for crewmembers working on the car while the pits were closed, losing yet another lap.

Meanwhile the No. 03 Corvette methodically moved up from its ninth starting spot. Olivier Beretta handed off to Tommy Milner, who showed his stuff in his first stint as a Corvette Racing driver. The 25-year-old raced former Formula 1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella hard, and took the yellow Corvette from seventh to third in GT.

"Most of my teammates have driven Formula 1 cars, and it makes the race that much more fun when you have the best drivers in the world," said Milner. "I was able to settle into a rhythm, find the balance, and push from there. Maybe I was a little too racy for my first stint, but I wanted to settle in and get the nerves out."

Richard Westbrook also showed his mettle in his first start with Corvette Racing in the No. 04 Corvette C6.R. "Everyone at Corvette Racing wants to do so well - it's Chevrolet's 100th anniversary, and we really want to put in a great performance," Westbrook said. "Unfortunately Jan had contact in the second stint, but we kept pushing - there was nothing else we could do."

The race settled down in the middle stages as the six Corvette drivers cycled through their rotations. The No. 03 Corvette maintained its pace with the frontrunners on the lead lap, while savvy pit stop strategy and speed brought the No. 04 Corvette to within a lap of the leaders.

Shortly after seven hours, Milner pitted the 03 Corvette for a new windshield after the tearoffs had blown off, leaving a layer of sticky adhesive. After falling back to sixth, he charged back through the GT field to third at the end of his stint.

"That was probably the hardest I've had to work in a race car to see out of the windshield," Milner reported. "The crew changed the entire window in nothing flat, and that was great because the car was really, really good. When the sun went down, it definitely picked up grip."

As the sun set at Sebring, the race pace quickened. Antonio Garcia turned in a strong performance to pull the No. 03 Corvette as high as third on the cooling track.

"The car was getting better and better throughout the race," said the Spaniard. "I was racing with a Porsche in the first half of my stint and worked the tires hard getting by him, but at the end I ran decent lap times with worn tires. We were in the fight, running as close as we could to the front, and we had to be able to fight for a good position at the finish."

After 10 hours of racing, Beretta had the No. 03 Corvette in second, and Gavin was back on the lead lap in the No. 04 Corvette when the class leader pitted.

"The traffic was very bad sometimes," said Beretta. "If you were in a good spot you could go quick, if not you just tried to survive, not make a mistake, and use your brain."

Gavin drove a double stint in the late hours before handing the No. 04 Corvette off to Magnussen for the final run to the checkered flag.

"Today was a real uphill battle after the accident took us out of contention for the victory," Gavin said. "After we changed tire compounds I thought we'd have a shot at the podium, but it was perhaps a bit too early. This was one of the wildest 12 hours I've ever raced. I'm proud to be part of the Chevy team, and proud to bring the car back to within a lap of the leader. Jan and Richard drove brilliantly today, with a bit more luck we might have won."

"We didn't have the ultimate speed to match the BMWs and Ferraris today, but we did have execution and we did have strategy," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "When you combine those in an endurance race, it's going to show, and that's what this team did. This is a solid foundation for the season, and a result we can be proud of."

Corvette Racing’s next event is the American Le Mans at Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif., on Saturday, April 16.

Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring GT Results (Top 10):

Pos./Drivers/Car/Laps

1. Priaulx/Mueller/Hand, BMW M3 GT, 312

2. Farfus/Auberlen/Werner, BMW M3 GT, 312

3. Beretta/Garcia/Milner, Corvette C6.R, 312

4. Gavin/Magnussen/Westbrook, Corvette C6.R, 311

5. Fisichella/Bruni/Kaffer, Ferrari F458 Italia, 311

6. Bergmeister/Long/Leib, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 310

7. Law/Neiman/Holzer, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 306

8. Robertson/Robertson/Said, Doran Ford GT, 294

9. Ortelli/Makowiecki/Deletraz, Farrari F458 Italia, 292

10. Brown/Cosmo/Bell, Ferrari F458 Italia, 268

[Desertdawg]

Well at least the porch driver got his hand smacked... I'll take a 3rd and 4th!

[MOTV8]

This posted just today from Larbre...eh, they're french.

2011 Sebring 12 Hours: ALMS Race Recap - Larbre's American Adventure Ends Early

Round one of the ACO’s new endurance championship, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, got underway last weekend with the Twelve Hours of Sebring. The classic American race was the first of this season’s seven events and attracted an impressive and varied entry list of 54 cars which included last minute Jaguar and Panoz entries.

Weather conditions were perfect throughout the week preceding the event with blue skies and average temperatures of 29 degrees. Twelve hours of testing - the same number as the race itself - during the week allowed Larbre Competition’s drivers, mechanics and engineers time to fine-tune the team’s #50 Corvette C6 ZR1 and find the correct race setup.

Despite a small engine issue on the Tuesday, there were no new problems to report ahead of the race unit’s installation before official scrutineering.

Gabriele Gardel was selected to set the car’s time during Friday qualifying. With 12 hours of racing ahead, he took a cautious approach on his way to fourth fastest of the GTE/AM class runners, mirroring the team’s own conservative tyre compound choice which had one eye on ensuring a consistent pace early in Saturday’s race.

Indeed, that strategy paid off when Gabriel climbed up to second during the opening hour on Saturday despite the congestion created by 54 cars jostling over just 5.7kms of circuit.

But the team’s hard work would ultimately go unrewarded when, ten laps before the end ofGabriel’s second stint, an engine electrical failure forced him to park at the side of the circuit. Understandably the Val de Vienne-based squad were extremely disappointed not to begin their season with a class podium.

Jack Leconte: "Retirement came as a bitter blow because we have been preparing for this race over the past two months with great dedication and attention to detail. You have to go back five years to an LMS race at Spa to find the last time we retired with a mechanical failure. Perhaps our unstinting commitment and preparation had made us a little forgetful of motorsport’s uncertainty. But we will accept it and move on. We are already preparing for the second ILMC round at Spa-Francorchamps on 7 May with great care being taken to ensure we bounce back into championship contention.

"Before this we will participate in the Le Mans 24 Hours’ official test day on 24 April where we will receive support from the technical staff of General Motors as well as their factory drivers Oliver Gavin, Tom Milner and Olivier Beretta. "As soon as we arrive back in Europe we will not waste a moment in order to return to where we belong."

Patrick Bornhauser: "Everything started well during the long Sebring week. The first tests on Monday were very encouraging and offered us hope of a good result in the race. "That contrasted with the middle of the week when we had to replace the engine, before ending on a sour note following the retirement in the race.

"Nevertheless, I will always remember Sebring’s exceptional atmosphere and organisation. The spectators are probably as numerous as those at the Le Mans 24 Hours, but an impression of liberty stands out much more; there’s greater freedom of movement for everyone and spectators are much closer to the track.

"The race’s organisation is a model in itself. All is perfectly oiled. The only downside concerns the track’s condition which doesn’t seem to have been renovated for a long time. The American dream was definitely alive and well."

Julien Canal: "Sebring is an iconic circuit but unlike any other around the world, which I experienced for the first time at the Winter Tests. The atmosphere and passion of the spectators is second to none. The week beforehand went well and I was able to get in the groove early running with a race setup which helped my understanding of this tricky track.

"Unfortunately, I did not get a chance behind the wheel during the race following the car’s engine issue which our technicians quickly analysed. I still have a lot of hope for the 2011 season and remain confident for the rest of the ILMC championship. See you in Spa."

Gabriel Gardel: "As usual, Larbre Competition made meticulous preparations all week. The team and engineers worked really hard in order to allow us to fight at the highest level. The atmosphere and organisation were also perfect. It is only the first race of the season and I know that the team are going to succeed. For many years, we have more often won with Larbre than we have lost! We are going to put everything in place for the coming 6 Hours of Spa and I know that we will have the best car, especially with the support of General Motors."

2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup calendar:

Le Mans official test day 24th April

Round 2: Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours (BEL) 7th May

Round 3: Le Mans 24 Hours (FRA), 11&12 June

Round 4: Imola 6 Hours (ITA) 3rd July

Round 5: Silverstone 6 Hours (GBR) 11th September

Round 6: Petit Le Mans (Road Atlanta, Georgia, USA) 1st October

Round 7: Shanghai 6 Hours (CHN) 12th November

[MOTV8]

Episode 3 posted: Inside the GT Fight - Sebring aka "Die, you Flying Lizard fcuks!"

I'm putting Patrick Long in this year's Dead Pool, especially since he just beat the vettes that run in SCCA this past weekend. Hate that a-hole.

[Shifty]

Sumbitch...

[MOTV8]

Just posted, teh ALMS Long Beach preview.

Corvette Racing's Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin took GT1 victories in 2007 and 2009, so we're due again. I personally believe Jan will be looking to put Patrick Long or Joerg into a wall somewhere.

The race will be telecast in its entirety on the Web at ESPN3.com starting at 7:15 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will then provide television coverage from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 17.

[MOTV8]

Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner: The Long and Short of Long Beach

by CORVETTE RACING on APRIL 11, 2011

Corvette Racing New Guy’s Guide to the First Street Race of the Season

LONG BEACH, Calif., April 11, 2011 – Sebring and Long Beach are the yin and yang of the American Le Mans Series. Last month's season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is the longest event on the ALMS schedule; the upcoming two-hour American Le Mans Series at Long Beach on April 16 is the shortest. The distance between the former bomber base in central Florida that hosts the Sebring enduro and the glittering bayside circuit in Southern California is measured not only in miles but also in culture and style. Long Beach is a street race, a beach party, and a celebration of spring.

With only a single two-hour practice session before qualifying and the race, the Long Beach schedule is as compressed as a beachfront condo. The ALMS drivers will be first out on the green track on Friday morning, and will end the day with qualifying. They won't see the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary course again until they take the green flag at 4:30 p.m. PT on Saturday.

So does Corvette Racing new guy Tommy Milner feel any pressure going into his second race with the series' most successful sports car team? Hardly.

"I'm excited about going to Long Beach and getting back in the Corvette," said Milner, who will share the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R with co-driver Olivier Beretta, a two-time winner in the GT1 class at Long Beach. "Sure it's a short weekend, but Corvette Racing was strong there last year and I'm looking forward to seeing how the C6.R works for me."

Milner had an up-close view of the Corvette C6.R's performance last year on the Long Beach circuit. His former team elected not to change tires during his pit stop, a move that vaulted Milner from fifth to first. But as his used tires lost their grip, Milner lost his grasp on victory. First he was passed by eventual race winner Patrick Long, and then by Corvette driver Jan Magnussen, who was on fresh rubber. Magnussen was also on a mission as he moved up from sixth to second in the closing laps, and Milner had to settle for his second consecutive third-place finish in Long Beach.

"Long Beach is all about track position," Milner explained. "Obviously pace is important, but track position is crucial because it's so difficult to pass there. By not changing tires, I ended up in front for quite a few laps. Pat Long gave me a little push and moved me out of the way, and by the time Jan got to me, I was done. Jan still had a hard time getting by me in a car that was a lot faster than mine. This time I think I'll have the faster car and I won't have to be defending!"

Although Milner professes his love for high-speed tracks, he appreciates the charms of America's most celebrated street course. "There is something about really hustling a car in the narrow confines of a street track and pushing the envelope right up to the wall that is a lot of fun," said the 25-year-old racer from Lake Mary, Fla. "One of my favorite corners in Long Beach is the Fountain Turn because you can almost trim the hedge around the fountain with the right fender."

The scarcity of track time in Long Beach doesn't daunt the determined young driver. "At Sebring you have all the time in the world to practice, and when you get to the race you still wish you had one more practice session," he laughed. "It's the same at Long Beach – I always wish I had another session, but I'll go into the race feeling confident that I have a good car. That comes down to working with your team and engineers to get exactly what you want out of the car.

"Since I joined Corvette Racing, we've always been able to get a car that's comfortable to drive and quick early on, so I don't have any concerns about the short schedule in Long Beach," Milner noted. "The first hour is almost a throwaway because there's not much grip and the way the car behaves changes dramatically throughout the session. We have to be methodical about how we make changes, and not get too carried away with how the car is handling initially. The track will come to us."

While many of his contemporaries will be partying in Long Beach, Milner is going to be all business in his first street race with Corvette Racing.

[MOTV8]

The blurbs are cranking up....

A different challenge at Long Beach

The landscape has changed drastically from Sebring

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The script for the 59th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida might have come straight from the creative minds of Hollywood. It featured a non-stop display of intense fighting in every class, and ended up with a storybook overall win where David beat Goliath. The ORECA name is well known to ALMS fans from its dominating championships with the bright red Dodge Vipers, but taking on the corporate might of both Audi and Peugeot factory teams was a challenge of a different magnitude.

The term “dark horse” seemed totally accurate for this team and its chances of a win, as well as for the brand new HPD ARX-01e from Highcroft Racing. Highcroft in fact, had only just finished building their car, and it seemed almost impossible that a new, unproven car like this could even finish this grueling event. Yet after 12 hours of flat out racing, it was these two cars, slashing through the night and finishing scant seconds apart, to soundly defeated both Audi and Peugeot. The tears on the pit stand at ORECA and the excited looks of satisfaction at Highcroft, spoke volumes.

The GT battle was no less exciting and indeed might have been even better. With works and factory-backed entries from BMW, Corvette, Porsche and Ferrari - along with a number of excellent independent teams - this was a class war that promoters and fans alike dream of. In the end, BMW Motorsport came through despite an unexpected early pit stop to change a cut tire, battling back with a combination of superb driving and brilliant pit stops, to take the win 1-2 over the Corvette team. But at any given point it was any of a half-dozen cars battling for the lead.

And now … to Long Beach – a race track not only 3,000 miles away but equally as distant in so many respects.

For example, Turn 1 at Sebring has a 125 mph entry into one of the widest corners of any ALMS venue – maybe 100 feet at the start and tapering down to perhaps 40 at the exit. Slide a little wide here and you may only scare yourself as you still have some luxury of a grass verge to bounce along.

Turn 1 at Long Beach is almost a hairpin by contrast – at the end of a 170 mph straight there is only one safe, very narrow line through its 25-foot width, and only at less than 50 mph. With the constant temptation of attempting a late-braking pass at the end of the straight - perhaps the best passing spot on the track - contact here is frequent and often ends up with both vehicles hard against the concrete walls. One inch wrong at Sebring, and it doesn’t matter. One inch wrong at Long Beach and you’re missing a wheel.

Long Beach also puts a whole different challenge on the crews. Yes, Sebring is without question the most physically demanding race in the world, breaking parts that would otherwise last a full season. Accuracy of preparation, however, is a key for Long Beach. Where the crews can arrive at Sebring days in advance and have the luxury of test days to fine tune their cars, Long Beach is a street circuit that can’t be shut down to allow that luxury. Teams have only one day of practice and qualifying and must take extra thought and care to get close to the right setup before the car even rolls out of the trailer so that not one precious session is lost. The team that has only to “fine tune” is the team that has a much better chance of winning.

Of equal importance is the ability of the drivers to immediately “get with it.” Sessions at Long Beach, as at every street circuit, are always short. And should an incident cut the sessions even shorter, it’s of critical importance that the driver shake off any rust and get valuable setup information back to the crew on just what the car needs to be even better. At Sebring, being at the back of the grid for the start means only that you must exercise extra care winding your way through the field as you’ve got 12 hours to win. At Long Beach, being at the back of your class means your chances of victory go down considerably, and you might be forced into making high-risk passes – not the ideal thing when concrete walls are just waiting for your visit.

One of the things that fans can most appreciate watching at Long Beach is the surgical precision of some drivers. There are certain drivers in the world - Allan McNish comes to mind - who are just flat-out amazing when throwing their cars through the concrete canyons. During the Race of a Thousand Years at Adelaide Australia in 2000 and driving the famous “Crocodile” Audi R8, Allan put on a performance that will forever stay in the memories of those who saw it. The Scot was in serious pain that day, having thrown out his back (with one of his teammates suggesting that it was from getting the sheep out of his hotel room…), but refused to consider not racing. Literally lifted into the Audi on the grid, he focused through his pain and drove with astonishing skill and intensity to win the final race of the season. Yes, it was one for the ages.

On a proper circuit, it takes a true fan to see when the driver is using 100 percent of what a car can give. On a street circuit - when the car exits corners under full power, tires grappling for that last bit of traction, and slides to within fractions of inches of the walls - it’s breathtaking for all of us. Drivers who have this extra little bit of feel, this level of excellence really show it on the streets.

The factory Audi and Peugeot teams won’t be with us at Long Beach but make no mistake, this IS a very special race for everyone. A “home track” for Greg Pickett and his Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing beauty, he would like nothing more than to watch his two hot-shoes Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf take victory. But to do that, this team must first beat the very fast Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda, a car that should be blindingly quick on this track … and with its smaller, lighter engine, even more nimble through the twisty bits.

But once again, I think the battle of the day will be within the GT ranks. The “Ultimate Driving Machines” will want to do two in a row, but it may have been only a spin that stood in the way of a Corvette victory and a small electrical problem that kept Ferrari out of Victory Circle. Even Porsche, never far off the pace at Sebring, will now be even closer with their recent 50-pound weight reduction.

Ladies and Gentlemen…let the battles begin!

Long Beach is also where Boris Said and the LG vette tried on a real flame job...

[MOTV8]

Today's teh same, only different...

ALMS: Long Beach Preview

Stars and cars of the American Le Mans Series gear up for the first of two street races in 2011...

John Dagys | Posted April 14, 2011

While the 59th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring served as the official kickoff of the season, the American Le Mans Series gets into the full swing of things with this weekend’s street fight in Long Beach.

The opening two rounds of 2011 couldn’t be more different than one another. Twelve hours vs. two hours. Airfield circuit vs. street circuit. Joint ILMC/ALMS entry vs. ALMS-only. Yet, with 31 cars on the grid, there’s still plenty of storylines heading into Saturday’s Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach.

With a sparse prototype field of only four LMP1 and LMP2 cars combined, the battle for top honors in GT is likely to take center stage this weekend, and quite possibly, for the remainder of the regular season.

BMW Team RLL will be looking to pick off where it last left off, following last month’s 1-2 finish for the factory squad. While the Bobby Rahal-led squad has yet to master a street course in ALMS competition, they nearly pulled it off last year thanks to a bold move to leave Tommy Milner out on the same tires.

While Milner and co-driver Bill Auberlen settled for a third-place result after its BMW M3 GT faded in the closing stages, strategy could again play a key role in the outcome of the race, despite the race’s length increasing from 100 minutes to two hours. The option of remaining on the same set of tires for the duration, though, appears to have disappeared as a result.

However, the battle could still be won and lost in the pits. With drivers not allowed to drive more than one hour and ten minutes in the car, and each driver required to complete a minimum of 30 minutes, two-car teams such as BMW Team RLL and Corvette Racing could opt for split strategies to cover all of their bases.

In addition to the factory BMW and Corvette squads, defending race winners Flying Lizard Motorsports will also likely put up a fight with its No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. (A fight with a wall, I say!) Drivers Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long eeked out a win here last year, the first of four during the season that propelled them to the GT drivers’ championship.

After crashing out early and battling electrical issues at Sebring, Ferrari’s two lead F458 Italias will be looking for a reversal of fortunes this weekend. The freshly rebuilt Extreme Speed Motorsports’ Prancing Horse of Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek could be a contender, as well as the Rosso Red machine from Risi Competizione, which always shouldn’t be counted out of the mix, especially in the hands of Jamie Melo and Toni Vilander. (Pansies, teh lot.)

Other GT class entries to keep an eye on include Team Falken Tire’s Porsche, which showed an impressive turnaround at Sebring and the Yokohama-shod Paul Miller Racing entry, again led by former factory driver Sascha Maassen. Jaguar RSR’s pair of Jaguar XKR GTs and the West Racing Lamborghini complete the 14-car field. (AKA, also-rans)


While a GT entry is unlikely to score top honors overall, a podium finish could be in the cards, especially if attrition takes its toll at the head of the field.

Muscle Milk AMR head in as favorites for LMP1 honors, despite recording their first DNF in ALMS competition last time out. The screaming V12-powered Lola-Aston Martin proved to be quick on the streets last year in the hands of the factory AMR squad, nearly pulling off the win in the hands of Adrian Fernandez and Harold Primat.

With team owner Greg Pickett electing to put German Lucas Luhr in his place at the wheel of the No. 6 entry this weekend, anything but a win for Luhr and co-driver Klaus Graf would be considered a disappointment.

Dyson Racing’s Lola B09/86 Mazda will be Muscle Milk AMR’s only competition in LMP1, with Chris Dyson and Guy Smith looking to build on their solid sixth place finish at Sebring, stacked amongst the mights of the factory Audis and Peugeots.

Level 5 Motorsports is sure to win LMP2, with the team’s pair of Lola-Hondas also the only entries in class. While Scott Tucker will handle driving duties of both the open and closed-top machines, an overall victory could be in the cards if both Muscle Milk and Dyson run into trouble.

And depending on how things shake out, an LMPC car or two could also be thrown into the mix. Sebring winners Genoa Racing, with a single-car effort for Elton Julian and Eric Lux, head in as one of the class favorites, as well as the two-car CORE autosport squad, which scored a podium finish in their series debut last month.

While six Oreca FLM09s are expected to take the green flag, seven Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars make up the GTC division. Likely contenders include defending class champions Black Swan Racing, TRG, Magnus Racing and GMG Racing from nearby Santa Ana.

Track time will come at a premium this weekend, as teams will only have a single two-hour practice Friday morning prior to qualifying later in the day. The Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach will get the green flag Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PST for two hours of action-packed racing around the historic street course.

...and from CR:

FEHAN TO SPEAK AT LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE

Addressing engine technology, energies, auto industry and career

Doug Fehan, program manager of the most successful race team in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón, will speak Thursday to students at Long Beach City College’s Alternative Transportation Technology Center from noon to 1 p.m. The event is held in partnership with the Long Beach Clean Cities Coalition.

Fehan, who directs operations for Corvette Racing, will deliver a presentation to aspiring alternative fuels technicians from LBCC and Cabrillo High School. The presentation will focus on engine technology, alternative fuels, future of the auto industry and career opportunities.

Fehan and Corvette Racing are in town for the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach race that is part of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend. The race is Saturday 16 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Corvette Racing has been a dominant force in GT racing the last decade. It has won a record 72 times since the Series’ inception in 1999, including eight consecutive GT1 season championships from 2001-2008. It has also captured more wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – six – than any other current ALMS full-season entrant.

In 2008, Corvette Racing championed competition on alternative fuels, racing on cellulosic E85 (85 percent ethanol). It won the inaugural Green Challenge™ at Petit Le Mans in 2008, a fuel efficiency and environmental competition created in concert with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2009, it won the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge GT trophy at four races. The MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge, in concert with the EPA and DOE, measures and scores cars each race for teams that score best in overall performance and fuel efficiency with the smallest environmental footprint.

A strong advocate of alternative fuels and technology developed on the race track that transfers to consumer cars, Fehan is among the first to emphasize that GM has more alternative fuel cars on the road – 3.5 million – than any other automobile manufacturer in the world.

As an extension of Fehan’s presentation, a group of students will be the guests of several American Le Mans Series teams at the track Friday.

This year’s race will be telecast by ESPN2 from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 17. Live video and radio coverage will be available on americanlemans.com and ESPN3.com starting at 7:15 p.m. ET/4:15 p.m. local time. Visit the American Le Mans Series' schedule page for information on tickets and area accommodations.

[Desertdawg]

In addition to the factory BMW and Corvette squads, defending race winners Flying Lizard Motorsports will also likely put up a fight with its No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. (A fight with a wall, I say!)

Now that would make for a great race..

[Shifty]

We need teh ALMS event "countdown to green flag" counter...