ALMS 2011 thread

[MOTV8]

Dawg can't count backwards anyway... Half thru the morning 2 hour practice..so far quickest GT times: Joerg Burgermeistermeister in the Lizard at 1:21.326 Followed by two Bimmers, another Porch, a Ferrari, a Porch, then the vettes. Best vette time so far was 1:22.274. Oops, Auberlen in a Bimmer just went fastest...1:21.198. 40 minutes of practice left. Qualifying later.

[Shifty]

Fargin iceholes...

[MOTV8]

Okay, that's better. Jan must've said fcuk this, 'cause he turned a 1:21.278. Noob Milner went 1:21.537. They sit 5th and 6th currently. Giant Icehole Patrick Long has quickest time....1:20.264. For now. Hate that douchebag.

[Shifty]

Giant Icehole Patrick Long has quickest time....1:20.264. For now.

Hate that douchebag.

Thar dood is a freshly plopped pile of steamy goat turd...

[MOTV8]

I nominate that for post of the day.

Practice blurb and hijack Larbre blurb from Spa.

Smith tops ALMS practice at Long Beach

After a practice session dominated by Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing, Guy Smith threw down the fastest lap for Dyson Racing on Friday morning in practice for Saturday's American Le Mans Series race at Long Beach. The Englishman set a time of 1:16.780 in Mazda-powered Lola that he will share with Chris Dyson in Saturday's race.

Smith was just 0.286sec quicker than Lucas Luhr in the Muscle Milk Lola-Aston Martin coupe. The German, a winner here with Audi Sport in 2008, will drive with Klaus Graf.

The battle was even closer in GT, where Flying Lizard Motorsports' Patrick Long set the class' fastest lap on his final pass at 1:20.264 in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR that he will share with Joerg Bergmeister. The top four cars were within 0.816sec, and for a time the top nine cars were separated by less than a second.

Long and Bergmeister have won the last two years in class. The American Porsche factory driver was 0.258sec quicker than Joey Hand in one of BMW Team RLL's BMW M3 GTs. He will drive with Dirk Mueller, the pairing having won at Sebring with Andy Priaulx.

Gunnar Jeannette went quickest in LMPC for CORE autosport at 1:19.089 in the ORECA FLM09 he will share with Ricardo Gonzalez. Last year's LMPC co-winner was 0.324sec quicker than Alex Figge in PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports' entry, and Elton Julian – Jeannette's co-driver last year – was 0.829sec behind the CORE car.

Christophe Bouchut was quickest in LMP2 for Level 5 Motorsports at 1:20.261. The Frenchman was more than two seconds clear of teammate Luis Diaz in the second Level 5 entry.

Jeroen Bleekemolen returned to Black Swan Racing and promptly set the fastest GT Challenge lap – a 1:23.853 in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry he will share with team owner Tim Pappas. Bleekemolen was just 0.554sec quicker than Magnus Racing's Craig Stanton – a Long Beach resident. Leh Keen was third for Alex Job Racing, 0.78sec behind Bleekemolen.

Qualifying is set for 8 p.m. Eastern time Friday evening. You can stream it live on ESPN3.com, unless you drive an orange car or live in Gila Bend.

Boom.

60 cars on provisional Spa 1000 KM entry list

Posted By Marcel ten Caat On April 14, 2011 @ 22:05 In ILMC, Le Mans Series | 16 Comments

After the opening rounds at Sebring and Le Castellet a stunning 60 cars are on the provisional entry list for the 1000 KM of Spa-Francorchamps. 18 LMP1, 12 LMP2, 14 LM GTE Pro, 11 LM GTE Am and 5 FLM cars are set to race in round two of the Le Mans Series and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup on Saturday May 7th.

With the 1000 KM of Spa-Francorchamps being the final test before the 24 Hours of Le Mans both Audi and Peugeot will bring three works cars. The six works entries will be joined by two Aston Martin AMR-One’s, the Sebring winning Oreca Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, two Rebellion Racing Lola’s and two OAK Racing Pescarolo’s as well as the Pescarolo Team Pescarolo Judd, the Quifel-ASM Team Zytek, the Hope Racing Oreca SwissHyTech Hybrid, the MIK Corse Zytek 09 Hybrid and the Guess Racing Europe Lola B09/80 Coupé.

Not (currently) on the list are the Kronos Racing Lola-Aston Martin and the Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-01e.

LM P1

007 – ILMC – Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin AMR-One – Stefan Mücke-Darren Turner-Christian Klien

009 – LMS – Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin AMR-One – Andy Meyrick-Harold Primat-Adrian Fernandez

1 – ILMC – Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R18 TDI – Timo Bernhard-Romain Dumas-Mike Rockenfeller

2 – ILMC – Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R18 TDI – Dindo Capello-Tom Kristensen-Allan McNish

3 – LMS – Audi Sport North America – Audi R18 TDI – Marcel Fässler-Andre Lotterer-Benoit Tréluyer

5 – ILMC – Hope Racing – Oreca-SwissHyTech Hybrid – Steve Zacchia-Nicolas Marroc-TBA

7 – ILMC – Peugeot Sport Total – Peugeot 908 – Alexander Wurz-Marc Gené-Anthony Davidson

8 – ILMC – Peugeot Sport Total – Peugeot 908 – Franck Montagny-Stéphane Sarrazin-Nicolas Minassian

9 – LMS – Peugeot Sport Total – Peugeot 908 – Sébastien Bourdais-Simon Pagenaud-Pedro Lamy

10 – ILMC – Team Oreca Matmut – Peugeot 908 HDi FAP – Nicolas Lapierre-Loïc Duval-TBA

12 – ILMC/LMS – Rebellion Racing – Lola B10/60 Coupé-Toyota – Nicolas Prost-Neel Jani

13 – LMS – Rebellion Racing – Lola B10/60 Coupé-Toyota – Andrea Belicchi-Jean Christophe Boullion

15 – ILMC – OAK Racing – OAK Pescarolo Judd – Matthieu Lahaye-Guillaume Moreau-Pierre Ragues

16 – LMS – Pescarolo Team – Pescarolo Judd – Emmanuel Collard-Christophe Tinseau-Julien Jousse

18 – LMS – Guess Racing Europ – Lola B09/80 Coupé Judd – Philippe Hazebrouck-Wolfgang Kaufmann-TBA

20 – LMS – Quifel-ASM Team – Zytek 09SC – Miguel Amaral-Olivier Pla

23 – LMS – MIK Corse – Zytek 09 Hybrid – Maximo Cortes-Ferdinando Geri-Giacomo Piccini

24 – ILMC – OAK Racing – OAK Pescarolo Judd – Jacques Nicolet-Richard Hein

In LMP2 there will be eleven entries, three from the ILMC and eight from LMS. Signatech Nissan, Level 5 Motorsports and OAK Racing will run in ILMC, while RML, Pecom Racing, Race Performance, Greaves Motorsport, Strakka Racing, RLR msport, Extreme Limite AM Paris, Boutsen Energy Racing and TDS Racing will race for the Le Mans Series points.

26 – ILMC – Signatech Nissan – Oreca 03 Nissan – Franck Mailleux-Lucas Ordonez-Soheil Ayari

33 – ILMC – Level 5 Motorsports – Lola Coupé HPD – Scott Tucker-Christophe Bouchut-Joao Barbosa

35 – ILMC – OAK Racing – OAK Pescarolo Judd – Andrea Barlesi-Frederic Da Rocha-Patrice Lafargue

36 – LMS – RML – HPD ARX-01d – Mike Newton-Tommy Erdos-Ben Collins

39 – LMS – Pecom Racing – Lola B11/40 Judd – Luis Perez Companc-Matias Russo-Pierre Kaffer

40 – LMS – Race Performance – Oreca 03 Judd – Michel Frey-Ralph Meichtry-Thor-Christian Ebbesvik

41 – LMS – Greaves Motorsport – Zytek Z11SN Nissan – Karim Ojjeh-Gary Chalandon-Tom Kimber-Smith

42 – LMS – Strakka Racing – HPD ARX-01d – Nick Leventis-Danny Watts-Jonny Kane

43 – LMS – RLR msport – MG Lola EX265 Judd – Barry Gates-Rob Garofall-Simon Philipps

44 – LMS – Extreme Limite AM Paris – Norma M200P Judd – Fabien Rosier-Jean-Marc Luco-Maurice Basso

45 – LMS – Boutsen Energy Racing – Oreca 03 Nissan – Dominik Kraihamer-Nicolas de Crem

46 – LMS – TDS Racing – Oreca 03 Nissan – Mathias Beche-Pierre Thiriet-Jody Firth

In LM GTE Pro a nice mixed field of 14 GTE cars. Six Ferrari F458 Italia are on the list. Two of them entered by AF Corse, one each for JMW Motorsport and Hankook Team Farnbacher, while Luxury Racing will enter two cars for the first time. BMW Motorsport will race its two BMW M3, with Lotus Jetalliance set to give its two Lotus Evora GT2 their race debut. ProSpeed Competition, IMSA Performance Matmut and Team Felbermayr-Proton will all run a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR and Jota will bring the sole Aston Martin Vantage.

LM GTE Pro

51 – ILMC/LMS – AF Corse – Ferrari F458 Italia – Giancarlo Fisichella-Gianmaria Bruni

55 – ILMC – BMW Motorsport – BMW M3 – Augusto Farfus-Jörg Müller

56 – ILMC – BMW Motorsport – BMW M3 – Andy Priaulx-Uwe Alzen

58 – ILMC – Luxury Racing – Ferrari F458 Italia – François Jakubowski-Anthony Beltoise-TBA

59 – ILMC – Luxury Racing – Ferrari F458 Italia – Stéphane Ortelli-Frédéric Makowiecki-Jean-Denis Deletraz

64 – ILMC – Lotus Jetalliance – Lotus Evora – Oskar Slingerland-Martin Rich-TBA

65 – ILMC – Lotus Jetalliance – Lotus Evora – Jonathan Hirschi-James Rossiter-Johnny Mowlem

66 – LMS – JMW Motorsport – Ferrari F458 Italia – Rob Bell-James Walker

71 – LMS – AF Corse – Ferrari F458 Italia – Jaime Melo-Toni Vilander

75 – LMS – ProSpeed Competition – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR – Marc Goossens-Marco Holzer

76 – LMS – IMSA Performance Matmut – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR – Patrick Pilet-Wolf Henzler

77 – LMS – Team Felbermayr-Proton – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR – Marc Lieb-Richard Lietz

79 – LMS – Jota – Aston Martin Vantage – Sam Hancock-Simon Dolan

89 – LMS – Hankook Team Farnbacher – Ferrari F458 Italia – Dominik Farnbacher-Allan Simonsen

A further eleven cars will take part in the LM GTE Am category. Larbre Competition will bring its Corvette, while Krohn Racing (Ferrari), Gulf AMR Middle East (Aston Martin), AF Corse (Ferrari), CRS Racing (Ferrari) and Proton Competition (Porsche) complete the ILMC field. IMSA Performance Matmut, Kessel Racing, AF Corse, CRS Racing and Team Felbermayr-Proton complete the field with their Le Mans Series entries.

LM GTE Am

50 – ILMC – Larbre Competition – Corvette C6-ZR1 – Patrick Bornhauser-Julien Canal-Gabriel Gardel

57 – ILMC – Krohn Racing – Ferrari F430 – Tracy Krohn-Niclas Jönsson-Michele Rugolo

60 – ILMC – Gulf AMR Middle East – Aston Martin Vantage – Fabien Giroix-Roald Goethe-Michael Wainwright

61 – ILMC/LMS – AF Corse – Ferrari F430 – Piergiuseppe Perazzini-Marco Cioci-Stéphane Lémeret

62 – ILMC – CRS Racing – Ferrari F430 – Pierre Ehret – Shaun Lynn-Roger Wills

63 – ILMC – Proton Competition – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR – Christian Ried-TBA

67 – LMS – IMSA Performance Matmut – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR – Raymond Narac-Nicolas Armindo

70 – LMS – Kessel Racing – Ferrari F430 – Michael Broniszweski-Philipp Peter

72 – LMS – AF Corse – Ferrari F430 – Robert Kauffman-Rui Aguas-TBA

82 – LMS – CRS Racing – Ferrar F430 – Klaas Hummel-Adam Christodoulou-Phil Quaife

88 – LMS – Team Felbermayr-Proton – Porsche 997 GT3 RSR – Horst Felbermayr Sr-Horst Felbermayr Jr-Bryce Miller

In Formula Le Mans the five Le Mans Series teams will once again compete against each other. All five teams that raced at Le Castellet will return, with mostly unchanged line-ups (as of now).

FLM

91 – LMS – Hope Racing – FLM Oreca 09 – Luca Moro-Zhang Shan Qi-TBA

92 – LMS – Neil Garner Motorsport – FLM Oreca 09 – John Hartshorne-Steave Keating-Phil Keen

93 – Genoa Racing – FLM Oreca 09 – Jens Petersen-Elton Julian-Christian Zugel

95 – Pegasus Racing – FLM Oreca 09 – Mirco Schultis-Patrick Simon-TBA

99 – JMB Racing – FLM Oreca 09 – Manuel Rodrigues-Jean-Marc Menahem-TBA

It's one second hand C6.R ZR1 vette against 59 euros.

Elwood: It's 1000 miles to Spa, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.

Jake: Hit it.

[MOTV8]

Okay..anyone watch qualifying? I had to watch my Blackhawks lose instead...

Spoiler alert....Mags turned up the wick!

Smith beats Graf to Long Beach pole

Dyson Racing's Guy Smith backed up his practice pace to take pole position for round two of the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach in a depleted LMP1 field. The 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours winner was 0.452sec faster in the Lola-Mazda coupe than his nearest challenger, the Muscle Milk Lola Aston Martin driven by Klaus Graf.

Despite these two cars being the only runners in the 15 minute qualifying session, the battle between them was close enough to suggest that the race at the front could be heated.

“I think I did a 16.7 or 16.8 in the morning practice, and my engineers wanted to see me down in the 14s and I didn't think it was possible,” said Smith. “Credit goes to our engineers. The track is changing all the time and they did a great job. There was so much rubber that went down so you're guessing as to what will happen.”

The real attention in the event is likely to be focussed on the intensely competitive GT class however. Fresh from its Sebring 12 Hours victory, BMW forged to the top again in qualifying as Joey Hand saw off challenges from Jan Magnussen's Chevrolet Corvette, Bill Auberlen (BMW) and Patrick Long - whose Porsche in the hands of Jorg Bergmeister had been quickest in practice. Hand's advantage over the Dane was eventually just 0.047sec.

The fastest Ferrari in class was that of Johannes van Overbeek in the Extreme Speed Italia 458, which lines up sixth behind Wolf Henzler's Porsche.

Gunner Jeanette was third fastest overall and took pole for the LMPC class with the CORE Autosport team.

Jeroen Bleekemolen meanwhile took the top spot in the GTC class with his Black Swan Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time

1. LMP1 Graf/Luhr Muscle Milk Lola-Aston 1m14.001s

2. LMP1 Dyson/Smith Dyson Lola-Mazda 1m14.453s

3. LMPC Jeannette/Gonzalez Core ORECA 1m17.736s

4. LMPC Marcelli/Drissi Intersport ORECA 1m18.124s

5. LMPC Figge/Maroney PR1 Mathiasen ORECA 1m18.286s

6. LMPC Lux/Julian Genoa ORECA 1m18.690s

7. GT Muller/Hand BMW 1m19.090s

8. GT Gavin/Magnussen Corvette 1m19.137s

9. GT Auberlen/Werner BMW 1m19.447s

10. GT Bergmeister/Long Flying Lizard Porsche 1m19.463s

11. GT Henzler/Sellers Falken Porsche 1m20.065s

12. GT Sharp/van Overbeek Extreme Speed Ferrari 1m20.167s

13. GT Brown/Cosmo Extreme Speed Ferrari 1m20.176s

14. GT Miller/Maassen Miller Porsche 1m20.646s

15. GT Beretta/Milner Corvette 1m20.724s

16. GT Junqueira/da Matta RSR Jaguar 1m20.924s

17. LMPC Bennett/Montecalvo Core ORECA 1m21.387s

18. GT Jones/Gentilozzi RSR Jaguar 1m22.244s

19. GTC Pappas/Bleekemolen Black Swan Porsche 1m23.179s

20. GTC Sweedler/Keen Alex Job Porsche 1m23.853s

21. GT Pastorelli/Schwager West Lamborghini 1m23.906s

22. GTC Enda/Pumpelly TRG Porsche 1m24.134s

23. GTC Potter/Stanton Magnus Porsche 1m24.362s

24. GTC Curtis/Sofronas GMG Porsche 1m24.651s

25. GTC Von Moltke/Gaughan TRG Porsche 1m24.878s

26. GT Law/Neiman Flying Lizard Porsche 1m25.543s

27. GTC Ham/Blackett JDX Porsche 1m25.743s

28. GT Melo/Vilander Risi Ferrari 1m48.071s

29. LMPC Nicolosi/Boon Performance Tech ORECA no time

30. LMP2 Tucker/Bouchut Level 5 Lola-Honda no time

31. LMP2 Tucker/Diaz Level 5 Lola-Honda no time

Eat it, Lizards.

-and....

ALMS: Long Beach Friday Notebook

Corvette Racing heads to Le Mans Test, ALMS Interested in Austin, Regulations update...

CORVETTE RACING HEADS TO LE MANS TEST — While Corvette Racing isn’t officially entered for next weekend’s Le Mans Test Day, that doesn’t mean the factory GM squad won’t be represented. The core of the Pratt & Miller squad, including its four full-season drivers - Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner and Olivier Beretta - will be behind the wheel of Larbre Competition’s Corvette C6.R for the Easter Sunday test.

With the Jack Leconte-led Larbre squad taking part in the French GT Tour series race in Nogaro that weekend, coupled with the tight and expensive turnaround it would require for Corvette Racing’s chassis to be flown from Long Beach to Le Mans, it made perfect sense to utilize Test Day under a joint effort with the French squad.

“When the stars aligned themselves and Larbre wasn’t going to be able to be there, and we looked at the costs of shipping one of these things over and all of the logistics to make that happen, it just made some sense to look into what opportunities may be there,” explained Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan.

Larbre’s car, chassis No. 1, which ran as the No. 3 Corvette in ALMS competition last year, was sent to Pratt & Miller’s Michigan base immediately after Sebring to be prepped for Le Mans. It was then air-freighted to France.

“[The test] is really not important at all if nobody was going,” Fehan said. “But when you give your competition a full day at Le Mans to test new stuff, you might as well not show up. It’s that serious. That’s how important laps are around that place. If everyone else is going, you have to go.”

While Level 5 Motorsports and Robertson Racing are the only American teams that will be officially represented next week, Risi Competizione will be playing a supporting role with French outfit Luxury Racing. Team manager Dave “Beaky” Sims said that four Risi crew members, including an engineer and data technician, will help run one of the team's cars. Sims said it’s possible the entire Risi team could return in June to crew that entry.

ALMS INTERESTED IN AUSTIN — Could the American Le Mans Series join Formula One and MotoGP in hosting a race at the new ‘Circuit of the Americas’ facility in Austin, Texas? While there hasn’t been any dialogue yet between the series and track promoters, ALMS President and CEO Scott Atherton told SPEED.com that there’s a “great level of interest.”

“It goes without saying that it would be a natural and ideal fit,” Atherton said. “Our cars would play exceptionally well in that environment. I know in historical examples, any time there’s a new Formula One venue that opens, typically they like to host a world-class caliber event of some description before the Formula One race comes to town. In our opinion, we would fit that bill perfectly.”

The 20-turn, 3.4-mile circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke, is set to open next year at a price tag of $250 million. Full Throttle Promotions’ Tavo Hellmund has expressed interest in adding further world-class events to the schedule.

Atherton, however, mentioned there could be another possibility in Texas, as efforts are underway for a revival of the Houston Grand Prix, which ran as a joint Champ Car/ALMS race in 2006-2007.

“The opportunity for Houston to come back online has always been there,” Atherton said. “I think it could potentially be another venue similar to this - a combination American Le Mans Series and IndyCar weekend. We would embrace that.”

REGULATIONS UPDATE — Weight breaks, restrictor changes, balance of performance adjustments. The amount of adjustments going on behind the scenes at the ACO and IMSA can get a bit overwhelming at times. So here’s a Cliff Notes version of the changes since last month’s Twelve Hours of Sebring:

• The ACO has given HPD’s new LMP2 power plant a larger restrictor, following data it collected at Sebring and the Le Mans Series season-opener at Paul Ricard. The twin-turbo V6 gets a 1.2mm larger restrictor, which translates to an 8-9 percent increase in diameter, depending on a grandfathered LMP2 chassis or a new cost-capped car.

• IMSA has given the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR a 25kg weight break, while larger restrictors go to the LMP1 Lola-Mazda (3.6 percent larger diameter), Doran Ford GT (8 percent) and Lamborghini Gallardo (4 percent). E10-fueled cars in GT will carry 10kg of ballast to counteract teams utilizing E85, which carry 20 liters of additional fuel (90 liters vs 110 liters).

• Corvette Racing’s 15kg weight penalty, which was handed out mid-season last year for an engine-related question, has been rescinded following the ACO’s GT manufacturers meeting last month at Sebring. However, with the team electing to run E10 again this weekend (in light of Le Mans where E85 is not allowed), the two Corvette C6.Rs will only be 5kgs lighter this weekend. Corvette plans to switch back to E85 starting at Lime Rock.

Bonus eye candy from today:

The Lizard view....

[Desertdawg]

The Lizard view....

What a perfect picture to show just how wide those fenders are.. The tail lights are in the stock position and the fenders are what? Another 10 inch's per side ???

[Shifty]

It's about time CR gets to lose a little "baby fat", you could always tell they were heavy plowing into hard rights contested...

[MOTV8]

30 minutes to go, Mags sitting second behind Mueller's Bimmer, Ferraris 3rd & 4th....

[MOTV8]

Patrick Long in 13th, 14 laps behind...

[FNBADAZ06]

Well, a podium finish for CR....even though it was a 2nd place to the Rahal BMW. Mag's brings it home

[Shifty]

As happy as I am for teh Mags, I gotta give teh Joey Hand props for that nice pass that vaulted him into teh lead...

[MOTV8]

Third to first was slick. Teh Hand guy has won everything this year, Daytona...Sebring....Le Mans would be the ultimate hattrick, except a vette won't let that happen.

Muscle Milk and BMW take ALMS wins

By Matt Beer Sunday, April 17th 2011, 01:35 GMT

The Muscle Milk Lola-Aston Martin was a dominant overall winner of the American Le Mans Series' two-hour Long Beach race, while Joey Hand and Dirk Muller came out on top for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan-run BMW squad in the ultra-competitive GT field.

Lucas Luhr attacked and passed the polesitting Dyson Lola-Mazda during the opening lap, and although Chris Dyson stayed on the Aston-powered car's tail at first, Muscle Milk was soon striding away, with Luhr able to hand over to team-mate Klaus Graf with a comfortable lead, which Graf extended to a minute before the race ended under yellow following a GTC crash.

In GT, Hand made an early break by passing a couple of LMPC tailenders to give himself a buffer over the chasing pack. But this disappeared when Paul Gentilozzi crashed his Jaguar to bring out the first caution of the event five minutes in.

Shortly after the restart, Bill Auberlen in the second BMW lost third in class to Patrick Long's Flying Lizard Porsche, and was passed by several more cars while wrong-footed. As he tried to regain momentum, Auberlen tangled with Tommy Milner's Corvette and spun in the fountain section. It took a painfully long time to get the car turned and ready to resume - and just as he pulled away, Auberlen inadvertently badly blocked his class-leading team-mate, who was about to put him a lap down.

That allowed Corvette's Oliver Gavin and Long's Porsche to pass the BMW, but Hand reclaimed the lead shortly afterwards with an amazing third-to-first move as the leaders lapped the GTC traffic.

Long struck back a few laps later, repassing the BMW, only to then slide into the wall while dicing with Scott Sharp's Extreme Speed Ferrari, which had just pitted.

With Long's Porsche too badly damaged to continue, Mueller was left with a relatively peaceful run to the finish ahead of the Gavin/Jan Magnussen Corvette. Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander brought the Risi Ferrari through to third from the back of the grid after a qualifying incident. Further back, Bruno Junqueira and Cristiano da Matta achieved a breakthrough sixth in the RSR Jaguar.

Gunnar Jeanette and Ricardo Gonzalez (Core) defeated Intersport's Tomy Drissi and Kyle Marcelli to take LMPC honours and third overall. The Black Swan car of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Bill Pappas clinched the GTC win again.

I think ESPN2 or somebody has teh race on tomorrow so I'm gonna record it just for the Lizard v. wall ownage....

[MOTV8]

Two pm, on ESPN2.

2011 Long Beach: Oliver Gavin ALMS Race Recap

Olly Gavin, team-mate Jan Magnussen and their Corvette C6R survived two hours of close combat to finish second in the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach, the second round of the series. The BMW of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand was first across the line, the race finishing under yellow caution flags, and the Corvette was followed home by the Risi Ferrari. The great points finish takes the British/Danish pairing to second in the GT Drivers’ points standings.

Not even Los Angeles' notorious rush hour could rival the traffic on the historic 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary course. With 29 starters on the concrete-lined circuit, close calls and contact were commonplace, although only two full-course cautions slowed the race. Gavin started the No. 4 Corvette second on the GT grid and held that position through the opening segment, which was interrupted by a lengthy full-course caution after only five minutes of racing. When the action resumed, Olly took the lead with an opportunistic move.

"The start was crazy, with lots of bumping and banging and cars spinning in strange places," he explained. "It took the first caution for everyone to get back together, and then the LMPC cars were getting in the way. It all started when the Bill Auberlen’s BMW behind me disappeared. On the next lap he was facing in the wrong direction on the track at the fountain turn! The other BMW, the GT race leader, went the wrong way, I went the right way, and I got myself into the lead.

"I was struggling with a couple of settings on the car," continued Olly, "and losing a lot of traction; the rear was getting very nervous but I just about held everyone off until Pat Long got by me. I tried to control everyone behind me but people were going everywhere. In the end both the BMW and Porsche got by me and I had Scott Sharp’s Ferrari in front of me, nearly a lap down. Unfortunately he was driving over-defensively and that backed me up to everyone else. By this time my rear tires were worn out and I was trying to just about to keep the car on the road, but at our pit stop we changed a couple of things for Jan and that made it competitive again."

Hand's BMW and Patrick Long's Porsche subsequently got around the Corvette, but Long soon encountered the wall and the Porsche eventually retired. As green-flag pit stops began shortly after the one-hour mark, Gavin handed over the No. 4 Corvette to Magnussen.

"I’m really very happy with second place, and to get the opportunity to bet some more points. Jan was able to show the potential of the car and I think we should have really been able to fight the BMWs but right now I still think they’re managing us."

WTF does he mean by "managing us?"

[Shifty]

Manhandling....I'm starting to hate teh Bimmers almost as much as teh Porches...I thinks CR needs to go back to teh E85 to lose that extra 45kg penalty. If you've been studying it, teh Bimmers seem to be able to walk away on teh straights, and still hold their own in teh corners. I think it's time to look at smaller air restrictors for those ass-clowns...

[MOTV8]

Tehy gave the Bimmers some kinda huge aero concession last year btw, but I gotta say I'm totally surprised by their Dunlop tires.

I watched the replay and holy schikeys, I knew Mags was gonna take a Porsche out, but I didn't realize it would be the black one! He flat rearended Miller, I couldn't believe there wasn't a penalty!

From CR....

Corvette Racing at the ALMS Long Beach Street Race

by CORVETTE RACING on APRIL 17, 2011

The American Le Mans Series at Long Beach proved to be another tough battle in the GT class. Long Beach is often referred to as a street fight and that description was apt for describing the multiple lead changes and some shocking mistakes made by drivers during the two hour race. ESPN 2 carries the replay Sunday at 5:00 pm EST. Hit the jump for the results.

Corvette Racing Takes Second and Fifth in Streets of Long Beach

Gavin and Magnussen Finish on GT Podium, Milner and Beretta Charge from Back of the Grid

LONG BEACH, Calif., April 16, 2011 – Corvette Racing survived two hours of close combat to finish second and fifth in the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin took the second spot on the GT podium in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R when the race finished under caution. Tommy Milner and Olivier Beretta fought their way from the back of the grid at the start to fifth at the finish in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R. The BMW of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand was first across the stripe under the yellow flag.

Not even Los Angeles’ notorious rush hour could rival the traffic on the historic 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary course. With 29 starters on the concrete-lined circuit, close calls and contact were commonplace, although only two full-course cautions slowed the race. Gavin started the No. 4 Corvette second on the GT grid and held that position through the opening segment, which was interrupted by a lengthy full-course caution. When racing resumed he took the lead with an opportunistic move.

“I had a very eventful stint with lots of bumping and banging and cars spinning in strange places,” Gavin said. “The start was pretty standard, everyone got a bit strung out, and then the LMPC cars were getting in the way. It all started when the BMW behind me disappeared. On the next lap he was turned around at the fountain turn! The race leader went the wrong way, I went the right way, and I got myself into the lead.”

Hand’s BMW and Patrick Long’s Porsche subsequently got around the Corvette, but Long soon encountered the wall and the Porsche eventually retired. As green-flag pit stops began shortly after the one-hour mark, Gavin handed off the No. 4 Corvette to Magnussen.

“I was pushing absolutely as hard as I could, and I was cutting the margin,” said Magnussen, who ran the fastest lap of the race in GT and trimmed the BMW’s lead to six seconds before the race-ending caution period. “There was a lot of traffic, and in a race like this you have to take so many chances. After the race I had a walk around the car and looked at all the places where I’d tapped the walls. It’s a shame we weren’t closer at the finish, we could have had a good fight.”

Milner was on a mission when the race began, moving from 14th in class to fourth before the pit stop sequence put Beretta behind the wheel of the No. 3 Corvette. The car was moved to the back of the grid at the start after a post-qualifying change of tires.

“I got lucky with the first yellow flag because we’d just cleared all of the Challenge cars and LMPC cars,” Milner said. “The car was great, and although it was a little banged up, it was still quick. That’s just street racing – everyone gets bunched up.”

Beretta brought the No. 3 home in fifth after a relatively uneventful run. “I’m happy for the team – we got our second podium in two races which is really important,” Beretta said. “Tommy did a good stint, he was very clever, and the car was quite fast. Then it was just using my brain to keep the position and put the points in the pocket.”

Gavin and Magnussen are now second in the unofficial GT class points standings with 36 markers, and Beretta and Milner are third with 31. Mueller and Hand lead with 50 points.

“When you can leave Long Beach with two cars intact, you’ve accomplished something,” said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. “The fact that we were able to finish second and fifth make this a very satisfying day. Now it’s on to Le Mans!”

Corvette Racing’s next event is the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France, on June 11-12, 2011.

American Le Mans Series at Long Beach GT Results (Top 10):

Pos./Drivers/Car/Laps

Mueller/Hand, BMW M3 GT, 81

Gavin/Magnussen, Corvette C6.R, 81

Melo/Vilander, Ferrari F458 Italia, 81

Henzler/Sellers, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 80

Beretta/Milner, Corvette C6.R, 80

Junqueira/Da Matta, Jaguar RSR, 79

Auberlen/Werner, BMW M3 GT, 79

Law/Neiman, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 78

Brown/Cosmo, Ferrari F458 Italia, 77

Pastorelli/Schwager, Lamborghini Gallardo LP, 75

Patsy Long totally whined on TV after his day-ending brain fart into the wall, tried blaming Scott Speed!

[Shifty]

And teh announcers praised him for "owning it" ....

[Desertdawg]

Yeah I couldn't believe he didn't just admit to blowing the corner and running it into the wall... Awesome move by Hand.

[MOTV8]

[/sniff] Ahh....the smell of b.o., fromage, and pomme frites is in the air....

Le Mans - Sunday Test Day

FRIDAY, 22 APRIL 2011

This Sunday will see teams and drivers begin their preparations for Le Mans as they take to the circuit de la Sarthe for the official test day.

The test day returns this year having been absent in 2009 and 2010 for economic reasons. From 2005 to 2008 it was organized shortly before race week, not since 2004 has it been held in April.

With the introduction this year of new technical regulations the test will be crucial for teams to try to understand how their cars will perform on this unique circuit and try to find a competitive set-up for the race. 56 cars are scheduled to take to the circuit and due to the advanced scheduling of the test this year (7 weeks before the race on June 11th-12th), teams will have a little extra time to work on their cars should any unforeseen problems occur.

Organisers have confirmed one withdrawal in the prototype class, the Signatech Nissan team who will now only run one car in LMP2 with Soheil Ayari behind the wheel. This development will now allow first reserve team Extrême Limite AM Paris team to start the race, the team will run a Norma M200P chassis powered by a Judd-BMW engine in LMP2 with Fabien Rosier as the nominated driver.

This now places Belgian team Kronos Racing at the top of the races reserve list. If another car is unable to start the race, the Lola-Aston Martin of Vanina Ickx will take it's place and will also be present at Sunday's test Day.

Although Peugeot has withdrawn its 908 Hybrid4, two hybrid cars will run on Sunday, the Oreca Swiss HY Tech-Hybrid entered for the race and a Zytek 09H hybrid, from Italian team Mik Corse which will test in race conditions. Other new cars tolook forward to include the Audi R18, Peugeot 908, Aston Martin AMR-ONE, Ferrari F458 Italia, and Corvette C6-ZR1 to name but a few.

On Friday, Audi unveiled a new carbon fibre Le Mans livery for the factory R18. Audi are keen to promote their lightweight technology so the R18's will displaying matt black carbon fibre bodywork and if that doesn't spell it out enough the rear fin will be sporting the companies new tagline, "Audi ultra lightweight technology."

"The Audi R18 TDI is equipped with many innovative solutions," says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich proudly. "It was built for regulations specifically targeting future technologies - and with the background enabling these technologies to be introduced into road going cars in the future. This is what makes sport prototypes so interesting for Audi. That we will now see the first impact of Audi ultra lightweight technology at Le Mans demonstrates just how motorsport and production line development go hand in hand at Audi. I’m convinced that ultra will be mentioned in one breath with terms like quattro or TDI in a few years."

Archrival Peugeot meanwhile announced that they will have no less than 10 drivers set to take turns behind the wheel of the three official 908s at the test day.

Sébastien Bourdais, Anthony Davidson, Marc Gené, Pedro Lamy, Nicolas Minassian, Franck Montagny, Simon Pagenaud, Stéphane Sarrazin and Alexander Wurz will be in for a long day's work. They will be joined by 23 year old French driver Jean-Karl Vernay who joins the squad as reserve driver. "We were looking for a reserve driver”, said Olivier Quesnel, Peugeot Sport Director. “We looked at a few of the discipline’s rising stars with a good track record and decided to offer a test to Jean-Karl Vernay this week. He has raced in a driver development series, in similar fashion to Sébastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud, in the United States in Indy Lights. He is young and fits the profile of our drivers. It’s also a way of us preparing for the future".

Vernay took part in an endurance race at Aragon this week, alongside the other factory drivers. “He was reasonable in his approach”, continues Pascal Dimitri, Peugeot Sport Team Manager. “He made constant progress, carefully followed our instructions and at no stage attempted to overstep the mark. Jean-Karl drove a fine last stint in the early hours, as the sun rose. It convinced us to include him in the team. He will therefore be at Le Mans this Sunday. He has yet to drive at the track, so the regulations state that he must complete 10 qualification laps in order to be able to take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans”.

“I am very pleased to be given this magnificent opportunity”, noted Vernay. “This is my first professional racing driver contract. I would like to thank Peugeot Sport for having placed their faith in me like this. It’s a great achievement for me. I am proud to be able to help the team and the lead drivers go after the race wins”.

For teams running in the American Le Mans series such as the factory Corvette Racing team, they faced a potential logistical nightmare as the ALMS ran its second race of the season last weekend in Long Beach, California. "Every lap at Le Mans is valuable," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "It's impossible to test there outside of the race environment because the course uses several miles of public highway. When you have even one day to gather information it's extremely beneficial, especially when your competition is going to be there. Corvette Racing's objective is to maximize the value of our time on the Le Mans track and then apply that when we return for the race in June."

"The schedule makes it difficult, expensive, and risky to get the cars and equipment from Long Beach to Le Mans in time for the test," said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. "Everything would have to be crated up and flown from LAX on Sunday morning after the ALMS race. Even a short delay in customs or air transport could mean that the shipment wouldn't arrive in time for the test.

"Fortunately one of our customers, Larbre Competition, has a Corvette C6.R that is available for the Le Mans test," Pratt explained. "This is a chassis that we ran last year in Le Mans, and that Larbre raced at Sebring last month. It's the same spec as our current cars and the Larbre team will compete with it in the GTE-Am class at Le Mans. Combining our resources for the test day and sharing the information that we gather will be a win-win for both organizations."

Corvette Racing's four factory drivers – Tommy Milner, Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin, and Jan Magnussen – will attend the test, along with key Corvette Racing personnel. One of the teams main priorities will be to qualify Milner to race after a three year absence.

"I'm 25 years old, I've been to Le Mans twice, and yet it's been so long since I've raced there that I have to do 10 laps to qualify again to drive," Milner said with a laugh. "I'm looking at the test as a briefing on what it's like to drive at Le Mans in a Corvette C6.R. It will be a great opportunity to get comfortable in the car and to get seat time without the pressure of the race week."

Olivier Beretta, Milner's teammate, agreed: "It is very important to go to Le Mans when you have the rare opportunity to drive on the same track that you will race on," he said. "The only difference will be the weather, but Europe has been very warm recently and I hope the good weather will stay for another week. Then after the test we will have more time to think about and get ready for race week."

Jan Magnussen will be reunited with an old friend at the test day. "We'll be using my car from last year, so I should know it well," said the Dane. "The weather during April may not be representative of the conditions during the race, but the test is a opportunity for the drivers to get back into the rhythm of Le Mans. It is a different track to drive because you have to attack in certain places and not in other places, so it's helpful to get a few laps and work on the setup. Corvette Racing has always done a very good job of looking at all of the data and being right on when the race is there."

Oliver Gavin will be teamed with Magnussen at Le Mans this year, the duo scored three consecutive GT1 class wins in 2004-06. "It's fantastic to be going to Le Mans because any time running on that track is precious," Gavin noted. "You've got to make the most of it because it's such a unique circuit and such a unique environment. It's great for Larbre Competition to work together with Corvette Racing. You think you've got loads of time with a full day to test, but it whizzes by so quickly. Each driver is keen to get as many laps as possible, and you've got to make the most of it. I'm sure the engineers will have a very detailed plan for every second of the test day."

If they report times, especially for Milner, I'll be posting them.

[MOTV8]

Le eye candy....

[MOTV8]

Audi fastest in morning test session

Sunday, April 24th 2011

The new Audi R18 TDI topped the times in the first session of the Le Mans Test Day.

Romain Dumas ended the first four-hour period on a 3m27.900s lap, which was just over half a second quicker than team-mate Benoit Treluyer. The three Audis blocked out the top three positions, with the first Peugeot 908 HDi on a 3m30.516s in the hands of Anthony Davidson.

The best petrol-powered LMP1 was the Pescarolo Team entry. Christophe Tinseau's time of 3m37.640s put him just over a second ahead of Neel Jani in the best of the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota coupes.

The two new Aston Martin AMR-Ones both ran into problems. Darren Turner set the best time for the British manufacturer on a 3m51.568s.

The British Greaves team's Zytek was fastest in LMP2 with Tom Kimber-Smith driving. Allan Simonsen was quickest in GTE aboard the Farnbacher Ferrari 458 Italia.

First session eye candy, hopefully to be followed by some actual times....

[MOTV8]

Audi R18 Beats Peugeot At Le Mans Test Day

RacinToday.com

In the first head-to-head meeting of Peugeot’s 908 and Audi’s R18, the Audis were consistently faster during the test day at the Le Mans 24-hour circuit. Tom Kristensen was quickest over-all with a lap of 3:27.687. Stephane Sarrazin posted the best time for Peugeot Sport Total and third quickest over-all with a lap of 3:27.876.

The times around the 13.6-kilometer course of combined permanent racing circuit and public roads were slower than the pole-winning time of 3:19.711 posted last year by Sebastien Bourdais in a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP due to smaller engines mandated for the new generation of LMP class prototypes and aerodynamic restrictions. Despite a brief interlude of rain, relatively cool and clear conditions prevailed.

Audi Sport has been extensively testing its new Le Mans challenger, including stops at the Homestead-Miami track’s road course and the Sebring track after this year’s 12-hour event. Peugeot has more racing experience after entering a brace of its new 908’s at Sebring. But unless the French team was uncharacteristically trying to keep some speed in reserve, the Audi is farther along in its development. Other than Sarrazin, who recorded his fastest lap in the waning moments of the test in the late afternoon, the remainder of the ten fastest laps set during the Easter Sunday test belonged to the Audi drivers.

Kristensen drove the No. 3 car entered under the Audi Sport North America banner. It was a new car and my first time in a closed cockpit for a while. We had a very good day and it’s good to be out at Le Mans, said Kristensen, an eight-time winner at great French enduro, seven coming under Audi power, including one with a Bentley Speed 8. We were running the program but still had good lap times. It’s my first time in a coupe since Bentley. The visability is not too bad and I like the six-speed gearbox. The car is very good and the grip got better.

It’s hard to say if we could go quicker, we had some very good laps, said Mike Rockenfeller, who clocked the second quickest lap (3:27.816) for the Audi Sport Joest team in the No. 1 car. The program came together well and we collected all the data we wanted and now we’ll analyse the results.

The Peugeot test went according to schedule, said its quickest driver. We followed the plan, said Sarrazin, who added the French team concentrated on gathering data much like its rival. Our times improved each time we ran. It’s a good car. We will also go and analyse the results.

Peugeot Sport suffered a setback in winter testing when Nicolas Minassian’s 908 flipped on the Mistral straight at the Paul Ricard circuit, a problem believed to have been caused by wind gusts and possibly suspension issues. Peugeot may have been overly cautious to avoid any further problems before turning Sarrazin loose for his hot lap.

The new generation LMP1’s carry a shark fin to help prevent lift-off, which apparently did not help during Peugeot’s Ricard test. Only one new LMP1, the No. 2 Audi of Marcel Fassler, left the circuit due to a spin. Fassler went into the gravel at the Mulsanne and said things happened so quickly he could not provide details about the influence of the new fin.

Of the 17 LMP1 cars entered for the Le Mans 24-hour on June 11-12, the only team not paricipating in the test day was Patron Highcroft Racing and the new HPD ARX-01e. The Honda-backed team has not raced since finishing second at the Sebring 12-hour, held eight days after the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.

Two of the new Aston Martin-One designs arrived at the test, but achieved only 12 laps. The No. 009 car suffered engine failure to its inline six turbo after just two laps. The No. 007 entry was sidelined early by turbo wastegate issues. No spares of the new engine configuration were brought by the Prodrive team to the test.

The two LMP1 hybrids fared not much better. The No. 09 Zytek 09H of MIK Corse recorded only five laps without its electronic engine or battery in place. The Oreca Swiss Hy-Tech entry of Hope Racing managed 22 laps in the second of the two four-hour sessions, but was slower than some of the LMP2 entries.

Among American teams present, the Level 5 Motorsports Lola-Honda entry driven by Christophe Bouchut (3:48.174) was sixth quickest among the LMP2 cars. Fastest was the Signatech team’s Oreca 03-Nissan driven by Franck Mailleux (3:42.992). Unlike the Michelin-shod front runners in LMP1, the Signatech entry rode on Dunlop tires.

The battle among the GTE Pro class was tight as expected, with the new Ferrari F458 Italia turning in a strong showing and tires also making a difference. Australian Allen Simonsen (3:59.966) was the only driver to break the four-minute mark on board the Hankook-Team Farnbacher Ferrari, where American Leh Keen is one of the co-drivers for the team running on Korean-built rubber.

Ferrari teams set three of the four quickest times in the class, including a lap of 4:00.570 by Giancarlo Fisichella for AF Corse on Michelins. Dunlop-shod BMW Motorsports’ M3 GT clocked 4:01.631. The fastest Porsche belonged to IMSA Performance Matmut, where Patrick Pilet turned 4:02.087.

American driver Michael Waltrip was among those getting his initial experience at Le Mans in preparation for the 24-hour on board one of the AF Corse Ferrari entries. While getting in his mandatory 10 laps for a rookie in order to race in the 24-hour, Waltrip’s best lap was 4:17.770.

Instead of shipping one of its own C6.R’s to the test, Corvette Racing borrowed from Labre Competition one of the factory C6.R’s used in the French race last year. Entered as a GTE-Amateur car, the Labre Corvette was quickest among those entered with gentlemen drivers, although all four of Corvette Racing’s regular pros split the time behind the wheel.

In its debut at Le Mans, Robertson Racing’s No. 69 Ford GT clocked 4:07.019 with Americans David Murry, Anthony Lazzarro and Colin Braun sharing time.

Many of the same cars at the test will compete in the 1,000-kilometer race at Spa on May 7, round two of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, before returning to the French circuit in June. The test day was the first in three years and the first held in April since 2004. The organizers chose to have an advance test to allow teams more development times with their new cars although the Spa race will be held May 7, leaving little development time in advance of the return to Le Mans.

Neck-car's own Michael Waltrip, ...racing a Ferrari....at Le Mans...?? Nice lap time. Maybe Sean will watch the race now?

[P51tj]

"Instead of shipping one of its own C6.R’s to the test, Corvette Racing borrowed from Labre Competition one of the factory C6.R’s used in the French race last year."

Wow, In France, Hertz rents C6R's!

[Desertdawg]

You just had to go there didn't you ???

[MOTV8]

They got a special rate since it was last year's car without the paddle shifters....

Corvette pleased with Le Mans test pace

April 25, 2011

Corvette Racing pronounced itself satisfied after Sunday's test day at Le Mans. Corvette Racing's four full-season American Le Mans Series drivers – Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Olivier Beretta and Tommy Milner – used one of the team's European customer cars to collect valuable data for the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11-12.

The immense 8.468-mile circuit includes sections of public roads in the Sarthe region of western France, so the reinstatement of the traditional test day after a two-year hiatus was welcomed by the team and drivers alike. Although Corvette Racing will compete in the 24-hour race in the GTE-Pro class – reserved for professional teams – at the test the team used Larbre Competition's No. 50 Corvette C6.R that is entered in the GTE-Am class for one-year-old cars with at least one amateur-driver, and came away fastest in the category.

"Everything worked according to plan," said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. "Tommy Milner completed his mandatory 10 laps at the beginning of the morning session to qualify for the race, and then the other three drivers cycled through the Corvette C6.R to cover all the areas we had planned to work on. Only a rain shower in the morning and an incident between Olly Gavin and a competitor kept the car in the garage on two occasions. Despite those interruptions, we got the data we needed and tested all of the items we had on our list."

With exceptionally warm weather reigning over the western part of Europe for over a week, thunderstorms and isolated showers had been predicted for Sunday's eight-hour test. However, the track remained dry for most of the day. Drivers who haven't raced at Le Mans in the past three years are required to complete 10 laps to be eligible for the practice sessions in June. Milner, who last drove at Le Mans in 2007, quickly dispatched that obligation.

"I got out on the track at 9 a.m. sharp to get in my mandatory 10 laps," Milner said. "It was easy enough, even if the track was still quite dirty at that time. Le Mans is not too difficult a track to get used to again. Tertre Rouge can be a bit hairy, the run up to Indianapolis corner is daunting, and the Porsche Curves will grab your attention for sure, but the rest of the track is pretty straightforward."

Milner confirmed his confidence by setting the car's fastest lap of the day near the end of the afternoon session at 4:04.222. "That was fun," he beamed, "especially after not having been here for so long. The car has been really easy to drive all day and will be even more so by June."

Gavin – who made the trip to Le Mans from his home in the UK in a production Corvette ZR1 (I wonder if he paid full price?) – worked his way through different setups in the racing version until his shift was cut short.

"I was coming up to Mulsanne Corner at the end of the straight behind one of the Ford GTs, when the driver suddenly braked earlier and a lot harder than expected," Gavin explained. "I moved to pass him on the inside, but when I was right alongside him, he turned in, too. We hit each other wheel to wheel, which damaged the steering rack on our car and lost us half an hour for repairs." Fords...

"We completed our entire test day schedule," Beretta said, "and we had a great day in almost ideal circumstances. We didn't look for performance per se, but instead worked on the suspension, the aero, the tires, and the chassis. We checked all the boxes and will continue to work hard until we're back here in June."

Concurred Magnussen, "It was a bit of a special day today because we didn't use our own car and had to share this one between the four of us. But we learned a lot and the engineers will analyze the data back in the factory. When we come back in June we will have a much faster car, I'm sure." (Meaning: the engineers learned alot and we NEED a much faster car in June!)