Ken
03-19-05, 05:51 PM
From Motorsport.com (http://www.motorsport.com/):
P1 challenge in early hours at Sebring
Racing series ALMS (http://www.motorsport.com/news/series.asp?S=ALMS)
Date 2005-03-19 (Sebring, FL)
By Nancy Knapp Schilke (nancys@motorsport.com) - Motorsport.com
The 53rd Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring 38 car field took the green flag right on schedule and the start of the predicted tight fight for each of the four classes began in front of a massive crowd at the historic Sebring International Raceway.
The two front rows dived into the first turn with Emanuele Pirro taking the lead after the Audis and Dysons were nearly four wide just past the start/finish line in the season opener for the American Le Mans Series.
As Pirro jumped out front in the No. 2 Champion Racing Audi R8, the first sign of the 2004 gremlins returned to bite Dyson Racing.
Guy Smith heard over his radio a "welcome aboard" message from team owner Rob Dyson. Smith shares the No. 20 Dyson Racing AER Lola with Chris Dyson and had the best time in Thursday night practice on a still damp track after a stormy day canceled qualifying. The lad had barely gotten into the race when he had to back off and limp back to the pits with a left front flat tire.
JJ Lehto placed the Champion No. 1 Audi right behind Pirro with James Weaver on his rear in the No. 16 Dyson machine. The battle between the LMP1s had just begun.
A second flat tire placed Smith further back and two black-flag penalties against Pirro for two separate incidents with GT2 cars caused him to fall back. The first black-flag was given when the field returned to a green flag after a full-course caution to retrieve Jon Field's No. 37 LMP2.
Lehto took over the lead as the two Audis pitted and his team got him out in first. Pirro's having to do a stop-and-go gave Weaver second.
"We were unlucky as I got 2 black flags, which honestly, I did not deserve, especially the first time," explained Pirro. "The guy was very wide and really left me a lot of room and then for some reason, he shut the door on me. He was offline and therefore you have to go for it. So I really think this was misfortune for me."
The next round of pit stops had driver changes, Marco Werner maintained the lead for the Champion Racing machine. Andy Wallace took over second as Weaver exited the cockpit and Frank Biela jumped behind the wheel from Pirro.
"I had a really good race with JJ (Lehto) on several occasions," said Pirro after his first stint in today's endurance race. "The important thing is that the Audi is running like a bullet. It's very quick and I'm very happy with it."
Lehto commented about the track temperatures on this the warmest day this week. "It was difficult in the beginning because it was too cool so the track temperatures was too low for our tires. Then of course we had yellow flags and cautions and then we went down on the temperatures again. Once we got running again, especially towards the end, the car was really good."
Smith had to return to the pits with a throttle problem caused by a "motor jacker". The throttle was jammed to the floor board and the team had to switch the electronic device. The problem happened after Smith had gained time on Pirro with the fastest laps in the race at that time. Chris Dyson returned in the No. 20 Lola 27th overall and sixth in P1.
Traffic did play a major part in the early hours: "I got a couple of clear laps, but the again the traffic is bad so you lose a lot. You have to be careful. You don't want to hit anybody. It seems to be that you get penalties very easy too," Lehto said after his first stint.
The top three in the LMP2 class were: Kruse Motorsports (#27), Intersports Racing (#37) and Miracle Motorsports (#10).
The two Corvette Racing C6-Rs held the top two GT1 class spots; the No. 4 had the edge on their sister No. 3 car. The new Aston Martin entry, No. 58 held down third.
Alex Job Racing's No. 23 Porsche held the lead over the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing's Porsche. The BAM! entry was third at the end of the third hour.
Discuss this article in the Motorsport.com Forums channel: ALMS (http://forums.motorsport.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=6)
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P1 challenge in early hours at Sebring
Racing series ALMS (http://www.motorsport.com/news/series.asp?S=ALMS)
Date 2005-03-19 (Sebring, FL)
By Nancy Knapp Schilke (nancys@motorsport.com) - Motorsport.com
The 53rd Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring 38 car field took the green flag right on schedule and the start of the predicted tight fight for each of the four classes began in front of a massive crowd at the historic Sebring International Raceway.
The two front rows dived into the first turn with Emanuele Pirro taking the lead after the Audis and Dysons were nearly four wide just past the start/finish line in the season opener for the American Le Mans Series.
As Pirro jumped out front in the No. 2 Champion Racing Audi R8, the first sign of the 2004 gremlins returned to bite Dyson Racing.
Guy Smith heard over his radio a "welcome aboard" message from team owner Rob Dyson. Smith shares the No. 20 Dyson Racing AER Lola with Chris Dyson and had the best time in Thursday night practice on a still damp track after a stormy day canceled qualifying. The lad had barely gotten into the race when he had to back off and limp back to the pits with a left front flat tire.
JJ Lehto placed the Champion No. 1 Audi right behind Pirro with James Weaver on his rear in the No. 16 Dyson machine. The battle between the LMP1s had just begun.
A second flat tire placed Smith further back and two black-flag penalties against Pirro for two separate incidents with GT2 cars caused him to fall back. The first black-flag was given when the field returned to a green flag after a full-course caution to retrieve Jon Field's No. 37 LMP2.
Lehto took over the lead as the two Audis pitted and his team got him out in first. Pirro's having to do a stop-and-go gave Weaver second.
"We were unlucky as I got 2 black flags, which honestly, I did not deserve, especially the first time," explained Pirro. "The guy was very wide and really left me a lot of room and then for some reason, he shut the door on me. He was offline and therefore you have to go for it. So I really think this was misfortune for me."
The next round of pit stops had driver changes, Marco Werner maintained the lead for the Champion Racing machine. Andy Wallace took over second as Weaver exited the cockpit and Frank Biela jumped behind the wheel from Pirro.
"I had a really good race with JJ (Lehto) on several occasions," said Pirro after his first stint in today's endurance race. "The important thing is that the Audi is running like a bullet. It's very quick and I'm very happy with it."
Lehto commented about the track temperatures on this the warmest day this week. "It was difficult in the beginning because it was too cool so the track temperatures was too low for our tires. Then of course we had yellow flags and cautions and then we went down on the temperatures again. Once we got running again, especially towards the end, the car was really good."
Smith had to return to the pits with a throttle problem caused by a "motor jacker". The throttle was jammed to the floor board and the team had to switch the electronic device. The problem happened after Smith had gained time on Pirro with the fastest laps in the race at that time. Chris Dyson returned in the No. 20 Lola 27th overall and sixth in P1.
Traffic did play a major part in the early hours: "I got a couple of clear laps, but the again the traffic is bad so you lose a lot. You have to be careful. You don't want to hit anybody. It seems to be that you get penalties very easy too," Lehto said after his first stint.
The top three in the LMP2 class were: Kruse Motorsports (#27), Intersports Racing (#37) and Miracle Motorsports (#10).
The two Corvette Racing C6-Rs held the top two GT1 class spots; the No. 4 had the edge on their sister No. 3 car. The new Aston Martin entry, No. 58 held down third.
Alex Job Racing's No. 23 Porsche held the lead over the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing's Porsche. The BAM! entry was third at the end of the third hour.
Discuss this article in the Motorsport.com Forums channel: ALMS (http://forums.motorsport.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=6)
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