2006 American LeMans Series

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mlittle
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Re: 2 marquee brands to enter ALMS action in '06

Post by mlittle » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:37 pm

mlittle wrote:Considering that the series motto of the American LeMans Series is European Style, American Attitude", it's no surprise that BMW and Lexus will enter the fray come 2006. Lexus, through its' NA factory team, Team Lexus, will field cars in the GT2 class(although, because of ACO regulations, they won't be eligible(at least at this moment) for consideration in the 2006 24 Hours of LeMans. Meanwhile, BMW, which has been fielding powerplants for the Rolex Sports Car Series' Daytona Prototype(DP) class, will also be entering the GT2 fray with two BMW M3s' for Team PTG, which will fly the German marque's colors in that class. For BMW, it is a homecoming of sorts; they won the first ALMS event, the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1999, with an LMP-900(now, LMP-1) piloted by J.J. Lehto, Tom Kristensen and Jorg Muller. Indeed, they have the most ALMS victories(15) in the series' history(9 in GT-1 and 6 in LMP-1) and have a couple of class victories(1999, LMP-1; 2001, GT-1).

It should be one heck of a donny-brook when they gather at Sebring for the 12 Hours. 8) 8) :) :) :) :shock:
As the ALMS marches towards its' "Wheels Down Winter Test" at Sebring later this month, both Team Lexus and Team PTG headline a large list of GT1 and GT2 class teams that will be testing there. In addition to there 2-car efforts, Multimatic-Panoz Racing and Team LNT will be bringing at least one 2006-spec Panoz Esperante to the test. Also, Flying Lizard Racing is scheduled to bring two Porsche 911's to the test as well.
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Entry List for Wheels Down Winter Test

Post by mlittle » Fri Jan 20, 2006 12:50 pm

According to the ALMS website( www.americanlemans.com ), here is the projected list of participants in the upcoming Wheels Down Winter Test at Sebring, scheduled for Jan. 23-25......


LMP-1 class:1}Champion Racing(w/Audi R10)--drivers tba
2}Dyson Racing(Lola B06/10-AER)--drivers tba
3}Highcroft Racing(Lola EX257-AER)--drivers tba

LMP-2 class:1}Penske Motorsports(Porsche RS Spyder)--Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard, Sascha Maasen, Lucas Luhr, Patrick Long and Emmanuel Collard
2}Intersport Racing(Lola B05/40-AER)--Clint Field, Liz Halliday, Jon Field
3}BK Motorsports(Courage C65-Mazda)--Guy Cosmo, Jamie Bach
4}Miracle Motorsports(Courage C65-AER)--drivers tba

GT-1 class:unknown(assumptions are that Corvette Racing will be there; others possibly....)

GT-2 class:1}Team PTG(BMW M3)--drivers tba
2}Team Lexus(team reps will be there; team won't be testing at Sebring, though)
3}Flying Lizard Motorsports(Porsche 911 GT3)--drivers tba
4}Multimatic Motorsports(Panoz Esperante GTLM)--drivers tba
5}Team LNT(Panoz Esperante GTLM)--drivers tba
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Day 1--2006 Sebring Wheels Down Test

Post by mlittle » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:43 am

Thank heavens there's some activity during the off-season.....case in point, the first day of testing at Sebring for the 2006 American LeMans Series season, the Wheels Down Winter Test. 14 teams turned laps today, and the testing was fast-paced and frenetic as teams ran competitve laps. Here's the latest.....

"It runs just like an Audi." Spoken by Frank Biela, one of Champion Racing's Audi-works drivers. Most eyes today were on the 2 Audi R10 turbo diesel-powered entries, and both set fast flyers each, a 1:54.657 for the #2, and a 1:55.119, set by fellow Audi racer Rinaldo Capella. The fastest laps, were turned by a pair of LMP-2 racers, Liz Halliday in the #37 Intersport Lola B05-40/AER at 1:52.879(fastest of the session at the moment). However, Penske's RS Spyder came close, posting a 1:53.458 flyer.

Over in the GT-1 and GT-2 classes, teams there were setting flyers of their own as both Panoz Esperantes, along with the BMW and Lexus entries, were out on track as well.(Unfortunately, their times weren't posted. :( )


Final session times should be posted later tonight(hopefully, all the teams will be listed..)
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Day 1 Testing News--Sebring

Post by mlittle » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:10 am

With one day in the books, Penske's RS Spyder set the fastest time in the Sebring "Wheels Down Winter Test" w/a time of 1:49.938 secs. w/Lucas Luhr at the wheel. His time, set in the late afternoon session, was less than .1 sec. off the pole-time from the 2005 12 Hours of Sebring, set by Frank Biela in the 2005-spec Audi R8. Speaking of the Audi, both Audi R10s' of the Champion Racing stable set decent times, w/ the #1 setting a time of 1:54.547(Biela) and the #2 w/a time of 1:54.252(Capello). Here are the times for both LMP-1 and LMP-2(w/driver name in () )....

LMP-1 times:1}#9 Highcroft Racing(Lola EX257-AER)...1:50.747(Fisken)
2}#16 Dyson Racing(Lola B06/10-AER)....1:51.545(Weaver)
3}#2 Champion Racing(Audi R10)............1:54.252(Capello)
4}#1 Champion Racing(Audi R10)............1:54.547(Biela)

LMP-2 times:1}#6 Penske Mtrspts.(Porsche RS Spyder)...1:49.938(Luhr)
2}#37 Intersport Racing(Lola B05/40-AER)...1:50.840(J. Field)
3}#8 BK Mtrspts.(Coruage C65-Mazda)........1:57.304(Cosmo)



Meanwhile, GT1 and GT2 teams had their own battles to see who could post the fastest laps of the day. In the end, it was the Multimatic Mtrspts. Panoz Esperante piloted by Scott Maxwell who posted the fastest lap, a 2:04.737 sec. flyer in midday conditions. Close behind were the Farnbacher Racing Porsche 911 GT3 driven by Pierre Erhet(2:05.3 sec.) and a BMW M3 from Team PTG(driven by Bill Auberlen) which posted a 2:05.4 sec. flyer late in the day.


Testing continues at Sebring both today and tomorrow, w/results to be posted each evening.
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Day 2 Testing--Sebring

Post by mlittle » Wed Jan 25, 2006 2:10 pm

With two days in the books, here are the LMP-1 and -2 class times for the day.......

LMP-1 class.....1}#2 Champion Racing(Audi R10)...........1:48.816 sec.
2}#9 Highcroft Racing(Lola EX257-AER)...1:49.547 sec.
3}#16 Dyson Racing(Lola B06/10-AER)....1:50.359 sec.
4}#1 Champion Racing(Audi R10)............1:54.037 sec.

LMP-2 class......1}#6 Penske Mtrspts.(Porsche RS Spyder)....1:49.477 sec.
2}#37 Intersport Racing(Lola B05/40-AER)....1:50.231 sec.
3}#8 BK Mtrspts.(Courage C65-Mazda).........1:55.960 sec.

Meanwhile, in the GT-2 ranks, the Porsches of Farnbacher Racing and Flying Lizard traded fast testing laps all day, in all 3 sessions; however, it was the Farnbacher duo of Seth Neiman and Lonnie Pechnik who came out on top w/a fast flyer of 2:03.361. But the Flying Lizard Pors. 911 GT3 and one of the Panoz Esperantes of Multimatic Mtrspts. came close, setting times in the 2:04-2:05 range.


Testing concludes for the 2006 Sebring Wheels Down Winter Test tomorrow with three more testing sessions slated for the day.
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Team Lexus announces driver lineup for 2006

Post by mlittle » Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:09 pm

Team Lexus officials announced earlier this week their driver lineup for the 2006 American LeMans Series season. Joining driver and team co-owner Chuck Goldsborough will be sports-car veterans Terry Borcheller, who has one class title in ALMS action(2002-GTS) and LMES veteran Jean-Francois Dumoulin and former CART/IRL driver Townsend Bell. The four will be driving a 2006-spec Lexus IS 350 in the GT-2 class, opposite teams driving Porsche 911 GT3's and Panoz Esperantes.
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Newman-Haas duo to race at Sebring

Post by mlittle » Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:10 am

Add two of the better ChampCar racers to the entry list for the 54th annual Mobil 1 12 hours of Sebring, as both 2-time CC titleist Sebastien Bourdais and teammate Bruno Junqueira will compete at the storied endurance race, for Multimatic Mtrspts. Junky will drive alongside Gunnar Jeannette and Tom Milner in the #51 Panoz Esperante GTLM while SeaBass will pilot the #50 Panoz Esperante GTLM w/drivers David Brabham and Scott Maxwell. For Bourdais, it will bew his second cons. 12 Hrs. of Sebring race, while for Junquiera, it will be his first time racing since his 2005 season ended following injuries suffered back in May 2005 at the 89th Indy 500.
Last edited by mlittle on Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Julian Mayo » Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:06 am

BATHURST

Fastest Ever Lap?

There will be a festival of motorsport at Bathurst's Mount Panorama this Easter.
In a bid to emulate the famous Goodwood Festival there will be a variety of events and vehicles on the Mount Panorama circuit.
Historic touring cars, Aussie Racing cars, demo laps in race and road cars of the 50s to 90s, motorbikes,burnout utes etc etc......AND...the Team Australia 2004 Champcar with an as yet unnamed driver will be let off the leash in an attempt to set the fastest lap ever around the challenging 6.2km Mountain.
I would think that there will be a time set well under the present "fastest ever lap". It will be awesome to see and hear that rocket on full throttle down Conrod Straight.
The Mountain is a savage Mistress.

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Preview, 54th 12 Hours of Sebring

Post by mlittle » Fri Mar 10, 2006 3:08 pm

With a week ahead before one of the most renowned NA motorsports events, the 12 Hours of Sebring, a couple of thoughts came to mind....

1}The number of entries is low......With only 36 entries, the grid comes to about half of what was seen over in Daytona for the Rolex 24. However, looks can be deceiving. There are, for instance, no fewer than nine marques in the grid(Audi, Aston Martin, BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Mazda, Porsche, Panoz and Saleen) with two major race-engine builders as well(AER and Zytek). These companies expect nothing but the best from the teams, and the driving on the track should reflect it.

2}Where are the battles? That depends. In the LMP-1 class, the question is who will step up to challenge the Ferrari F1-like dominance of Audi? Will it be Dyson Racing and their Lola/AER's, or will we see an upstart team like Autocon or Highcroft take the fight to the Audi's? Over in LMP-2, the challenge for the teams in that category will be to see who can challenge Penske's two RS Spyders'? Meanwhile, the question in the GT1 class seems to be....can anybody stop Corvette Racing? And, finally, over in GT2, how will the addition of Lexus and BMW change things there?

3}Where are the outsiders? This is a perplexing question. Yes, there were dozens of "ringers" in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, but where are they for Sebring? Yes, Champ Car's dominant duo of recent memory, Sebastien Bourdais and Bruno Junquiera, will be there, but in GT2, not LMP1. There's a few more around(former IRL driver Tomas Enge will be in one of the Aston Martin DBR9's, for ex.) but they need some definite star power if they want to rival Daytona.

4}What effect will the track itself have on the race? That remains to be seen; Sebring, when it is not being used as a racetrack or test-track, functions most days as a regional airport, similar to Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland or Midway in Chicago. It's also a bumpy track, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few DNF's from suspension damage at race's end.
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Qual. Summary, 54th Mobil 1 Twelve Hrs. of Sebring

Post by mlittle » Sat Mar 18, 2006 5:31 pm

It was a very interesting qual. session today at Sebring as the standing pole times all fell in each of the 4 classes(LMP-1, LMP-2, GT-1 and GT-2). First, the LMP-1 story......for the Audi R10's, it was business as usual, as both of Audi Sport's R10 LMPs' broke the std. LMP-1 pole time from 2002, also set by a then-R8. Lining in on row 1 will be(in P1) Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and 7-time 24 Hrs. of LeMans winner Tom Kristensen, while their fellow Audi pilots Marco Werner, Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela will start beside them in P2. In P5 and P6(P3 and P4 in class) are their main rivals, the Lola B06/10-AERs' from Dyson Racing, piloted by Guy Smith and Chris Dyson(P5/P3) and Butch Leitzinger, James Weaver and Andy Wallace(P6/P4).

In the LMP-2 class, Penske Mtrspts. took P1 and P2 in class(P3 and P4 overall) as the team's 2 Porsche RS Spyders' broke the LMP-2 pole time. Starting in P3(P1 in class) are Sascha Maasen, Lucas Luhr and Emmanuel Collard, while Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Patrick Long will still in P4(P2 in class).

Over in the GT-1 class, it was the Aston Martin's who took pole over the Corvettes' as the DBR9 of Pedro Lamy, Stephane Sarrazin and Jason Bright will start in P11(P1 in class) while their sister DBR9 piloted by Darren Turner, Nicolas Kiesa and Tomas Enge will start next to them in P12(P2 in class). As for the Corvettes'.......they'll start P14 and P15(P3 and P4 in class), with Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen in P14, while Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis will still in P15.

Finally, in the GT-2 class, it was a Panoz Esperante from Multimatic Mtrspts. that will start P1 in class(P18 overall) piloted by Scott Maxwell, David Brabham and Sebastien Bourdais, just edging out the Ferrari 430 GT from Risi Competizione piloted by Ralf Kelleners and Jamie Belo; they'll start P19 overall(P2 in class).

As for the race......the "once around the clock" spectacle of the Mobil 1 12 Hrs. of Sebring starts at 10:30 am US E.S.T. March 18th and will be broadcast on Speed Channel for about 8-9 hrs. of the 12-hr. race.
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Post by Julian Mayo » Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:52 am

:woohoo: :hitit: Go Brighty go !!!!!! :woohoo: :hitit: :burnout: :burnout: :burnout:
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Sebring 12 Hrs. Update--7:20 PM US EST

Post by mlittle » Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:34 am

With around 3 hrs. or so remaining in the 12 Hrs. of Sebring, here is a brief update on what has transpired so far.......

1}History-making start. With leading the first lap, Audi Sport's Allan McNish became the first driver to lead a lap in ALMS/IMSA competition driving a turbo-diesel powered car.

2}What happened to the Corvettes? Good question; while the #3 Corvette C-6R has had problems, the sister #4 currently piloted by Jan Magnussen is leading in GT-1, while V8 Supercar driver Jason Bright is just over 1 lap behind in one of the two Aston Martin DBR9's.

3}Current leaders......LMP-1:#2 Rinaldo Capello, Audi R10; LMP-2:#37 Jon Field, Lola B05/40-AER; GT-1:#4 Jan Magnussen, Corvette C-6R and GT-2:#50 David Brabham, Panoz Esperante GTLM.

So, what will happen in the last three hours or so? Stay tuned....... :knight: :light: :light: :duel: :burnout: :burnout: :duel: :knight: :busy:
Last edited by mlittle on Sun Mar 19, 2006 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sebring Update, 8:08 PM US EST

Post by mlittle » Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:14 am

Top 10 from Sebring..........

1}[LMP-1]#2 Rinaldo Capello, Audi R10.........................269 laps
2}[LMP-2]#37 Clint Field, Lola B05/40-AER....................-3 laps
3}[LMP-2]#6 Sascha Maasen, Porsche RS Spyder..........-3 laps
4}[LMP-1]#16 Butch Leitzinger, Lola B06/10-AER...........-4 laps
5}[GT-1]#4 Oliver Gavin, Corvette C-6R......................-7 laps
6}[GT-1]#009 Jason Bright, Aston Martin DBR9.............-10 laps
7}[GT-2]#50 David Brabham, Panoz Esp. GTLM.............-22 laps
8}[GT-2]#62 Ralf Kelleners, Ferrari 430 GT...................-23 laps
9}[GT-2]#45 Johannes Van Overbeek, Pors. 911 GT3....-23 laps
10}[GT-1]#3 Johnny O'Connell, Corvette C-6R.............-24 laps
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Sebring Update, 8:38 PM US EST

Post by mlittle » Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:47 am

Top 10 from Sebring.................

1}[LMP-1]#2 Rinaldo Capello, Audi R10..........................285 laps
2}[LMP-2]#37 Clint Field, Lola B05/40-AER.....................-2 laps
3}[LMP-2]#6 Sascha Maasen, Porsche RS Spyder...........-3 laps
4}[LMP-1]#16 Butch Leitzinger, Lola B06/10-AER............-6 laps
5}[GT-1]#4 Oliver Gavin, Corvette C-6R.......................-10 laps
6}[GT-1]#009 Stephane Sarrazin, Aston Martin DBR9.....-11 laps
7}[GT-2]#45 Johannes Van Overbeek, Pors. 911 GT3.....-23 laps
8}[GT-2]#51 Scott Maxwell, Panoz Esp. GTLM................-24 laps
9}[GT-1]#007 Darren Turner, Aston Martin DBR9...........-24 laps
10}[GT-1]#3 Johnny O'Connell, Corvette C-6R..............-24 laps

An observation..........As they went to commercial, the Speed Channel broadcast showed the Captain, Roger Penske, sitting in the Penske Mtrspts. paddock, and Speed Channel's lead announcer, Brian Till, said something interesting, "There's one guy hoping for a caution in the next two hours." :shock: :shock:
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Post by mlittle » Sun Mar 19, 2006 11:56 am

Another interesting observation........unlike most of Florida, there are lots, and I mean, LOTS, of scorpions crawling around Sebring...so just remember.....If you hit a tirewall here......get out of the car as fast as you can!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: 8) :shock: 8)
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