(quoting from multiple sources)
~~~The de Ferran Motorsports new Acura ARX02a has its first Twelve Hours of Sebring pole courtesy of the 2008 IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. The 57th running of the historic event takes place on Saturday, March 21st to open the American Le Mans Series racing season 2009. The IndyCar driver made the best of his final lap in the prototype qualifying session to garner his first career pole with a fast lap of 1:45.278 (126.522 mph) in the new Acura LMP1 car. "I've been here four or five days and I've done maybe 18 laps. With three drivers its hard to get good development time sitting in the car and with this track its hard not to get too excited and overheat the tires because then you're done," said Dixon. "Overall its been a great week especially to now have Acura on the overall pole. I think from my point of view it was unexpected. We always shoot for the pole from the get-go. But realistically expected only a third or a fourth."
Dixon, who will start his defense of his IndyCar title at St. Petersburg, admitted his surprise when team owner Gil de Ferran called him to let him know he would be the team's qualifying driver today, instead of de Ferran or Simon Pagenaud.
"When the phone call came from Gil, I could barely hear the news that I was to qualify the car," he said. "We all have had equal amount of time in the car so I don't know why he picked me but in the end any of us could have done it and had the pole."
Last year, de Ferran added the Indy 500 winner to his team for the Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta so it was not a surprise to see him invite the Kiwi back for the team's first attempt to win the March classic event with the debut of the LMP1 Acura. It was Dixon's second appearance at Petit having run the event in a Ferrari in 1999. However, this is his first time as a competitor at Sebring International Raceway for the 12 hours; he has tested Indy cars here on the short track.
"The Audis were quick out of the box and laid down a great time. But I think the heat helped us and the longer you run the Acura on the same set of tires it seems to get better and better," explained Dixon. "This car is like nothing else I've driven. It's hard to compare it to other cars. They've only been developing this car for a few months so its exciting. For an Indy car you're always driving the car on the edge and you know you're there and can react, but this is 80-90% power assist so you can't get too sloppy moving the wheel, and I'm a driver who always seems to be moving the wheel, my tracers go back and forth. It is a lot different from anything I have ever driven."
Prior to Dixon's final flying lap, it appeared that the debut of the Audi R15 TDI would meet with success in the hands of Tom Kristensen. The eight-time Le Mans winner had clocked a time of 1:45.360 (126.424 mph), missing the point position by a mere 0.082 seconds.
"Wow! It would have been really cool to have made a debut pole for the R15 TDI. We had pole but it was snatched away on the last lap of qualifying which was very close and exciting," Kristensen said.
Like Dixon, Kristensen was in the cockpit of the newest P1 entry from the Audi camp. Under the banner of Audi Sport Team Joest for the No. 2 Audi P1, Kristensen and co-drivers, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello, might have a slight edge heading into the first turn at the start as all three have a lot experience at Sebring while de Ferran, Pagenaud and Dixon, even with their own open-wheel racing talent, are "rookies" for the demanding and very challenging Sebring enduro.
"Our focus is for the race and a successful warm-up for Le Mans but as a driver, of course I wanted the pole," added the Dane. "I could have been luckier as it took until my seventh lap before I had a clear lap out of traffic. I had to back off and make space. Thankfully I had enough diesel in the car so I could do the extra laps. Well done to Scott (Dixon). We're eagerly looking forward to the race."
Both Acura and Audi have brand new P1s out of the box and even with preseason testing, this will be their first race; of course Audi did debut the R10 TDI with a victory here. The team with the known platform with minor tweaks since 2008 is Peugeot.
The French-based manufacturer has gone head-to-head with the German marque but this will be the first time that the Japanese-owned but built and designed at the North American Honda Performance Development Acura team will challenge the two European teams for supremacy in the ALMS P1 class on Saturday. Acura runs on petrol while both Audi and Peugeot run on diesel.
Christian Klien was third-quickest in qualifying in the No. 07 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP with a time of 1:45.462 (126.301 mph). Klien had the top spot until Kristensen knocked him down a slot. The top three are separated by less than two-tenths of a second.
"Sebring is new to me and I haven't had too many chances to drive this week," said Klien. "It is a very difficult, bumpy track, but I feel comfortable with our car. Concentration is likely to be a key factor because there are so many pitfalls here."
~~~ACURA TAKES POINT IN LMP-2
Adding to the exciting day for Acura was Fernandez Racing: Adrian Fernandez landed his first LMP2 pole with a time of 1:49.686 (121.438 mph) in the Acura ARX-01b.
"It feels good to start the season well," said Fernandez. "Our experience helped and we hope to finish very strong in the race, starting on pole is good. Last year was frustrating that we didn't ever get a win we deserved. It was always some little stupid things that prevented us. So it's great to focus on finishing the race."
Rule changes in P2 and the addition of Dyson Racing in the class does give Fernandez cause for concern. "It's just me and Luis (Diaz) doing the whole race. We know the car, we know the track, and we have the most experience in the car. I think it will be difficult for us because the car is heavier and [has] the smaller engine intake. It takes a whole lap to pass a Corvette and sometimes as long for a GT2. We have to be very patient and take our time. We are racing against Dyson and Mazda and Dyson is a very experienced team."
Chris Dyson was second fastest in the team's new Lola B09 86 Mazda with a fast lap of 1:51.534 (119.425 mph). While Fernandez and Acura have the same platform as last year, Dyson Racing switched to a new program this year.
Third in P2 is Dyson's No. 20 with Butch Leitzinger clocking a 1:51.840 (119.099 mph).
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