12 Hours of Sebring 2006 Race Thread

[Martin Haven]

Presumably, the Audis will go WAY past the hour mark before needing fuel... if they can avoid stopping in every lay-by for a bacon roll....

(more truck-driver jokes later folks...)

Wonder how fast notoriopusly foamy diesel can be pumped into the tanks - diesel cars slop it all over the place, will the fast-flow tanks with vent bottle be better??

The guy on the catch bottle better be VERY good or he'll reek of diesel all weekend...

[jhansen]

Well, I heard a few blurbs that they were quite conscious about showing the true fuel consumption at Laguna Seca. But that was more speculation than anything I think.

[Piglet]

Did anyone hear the email address to email the guys on Radio Le Mans? I want to ask Hindy to let us hear some car noise!!!

[Dani Filth]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

775 kg and less power should mean less consumption. Could they beat the fuel economy of the Audi diesel engine?

beat.. i don't know . hope it will match it at least .

[rdjones]

studio@radiolemans.com normally does the job

[Martin Haven]

Originally Posted by Dani Filth

beat.. i don't know . hope it will match it at least .

The ACO have done so much to try and stop some pesky P2 car beating big-money manufacturer P1 cars... now some pesky Manufacturer P2 car looks like it may just do it...

Is the Porsche the first full-on P2 ??

Answers on a post-card to R Dyson, Poughkeepsie, New York...

[Bentley03]

Seems Miracle have a replacement for their cracked gearbox on it's way from Europe. Should arrive at Miami tomorrow afternoon. It's for an American team, so hopefully there'll be no delay at customs...........

[canam]

The Porkers sure have pace. The jury is out as to whether they will be reliable and can take a 'knock' from other cars. I hope they win it....so the ACO will penalise it. Just think what a Hybrid P2 Zytek would do! Yet, assuming the stories are true, the ACO frowned upon their existence as it could damage the financial position of Lola, Courage etc. We will see the strength of their convictions soon.

[JAG]

Didn't the Werner R10 have electrical and engine glitches.

Maybe the R10 isn't bullet proof?

[gwyllion]

Where can I find the result from this 1st qualifying session?

[jhansen]

This is it for qualifying. No more sessions. The grid is set.

Night practice at 7:30pm local time.

[JAG]

No prototypes will be penalised (at least by the ACO) , no matter how dominant, this isn't GT's. We haven't even seen how the privateer competition stacks up, let alone any manufactuer rivals.

I can't see how a Zytek Hybrid P2 will be quicker than the Porsche. It's a 3 year old car that was competitive against equally old machinery. It won't be quicker than a clean sheet design built to the same regs. It will be interesting to see how the 925kg P1 Creation/Zytek hybrids stack up. Their lightweight advantage will be no more, likewise their downforce advantage.

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Where can I find the result from this 1st qualifying session?

Only DSC have published the results so far.

[Martin Haven]

Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
THURSDAY MARCH 16, 2006
Round 1 American Le Mans Series Pit Notes: Page 3

ALMS LMP1/LMP2 qualifying (25-minute session):
Records to beat:
LMP1 Frank Biela, Germany, Audi R8, 1:48.029 (123.300 mph), March, 2002
LMP2 James Weaver, England, Lola EX257-Aer/MG, 1:49.361 (121.798mph), March, 2003

At 3:23 pm, green flag.
At 3:28 pm, Allan McNish (#2-P1 Audi R10 TDI Power) sets the fastest lap in class with a 1:46.871 (new track record).
At 3:28 pm, Michael Vergers (#33-P2 Courage C65) sets the fastest lap in class with a 1:52.702
At 3:29 pm, Allan McNish (#2-P1 Audi R10 TDI Power) sets the fastest lap in class with a 1:46.233 (ntr).
At 3:29 pm, Timo Bernhard (#7-P2 Porsche RS Spyder) sets the fastest lap in class with a 1:48.037 (new class record).
At 3:31 pm, Allan McNish (#2-P1 Audi R10 TDI Power) sets the fastest lap in class with a 1:45.828 (ntr).
At 3:31 pm, Timo Bernhard (#7-P2 Porsche RS Spyder) sets the fastest lap in class with a 1:48.017 (ncr).
At 3:32 pm, Guy Smith (#20-P1 Lola B06/10 AER) has a flat right rear tire and also has smoke coming out the right side of the engine, and has pulled off course at turn 7.
At 3:33 pm, Lucas Luhr (#6-P2 Porsche RS Spyder) sets the fastest lap in class with a 1:47.800 (ncr).
At 3:38 pm, checkered flag.

Allan McNish (#2-P1 Audi R10 TDI Power) has his fifth ALMS pole, the last at Las Vegas in 2000.

Lucas Luhr (#6-P2 Porsche RS Spyder) earns his twelfth ALMS pole, his last was Miami in 2003.

This is also the second class pole for the Porsche RS Spyder in two attempts. Their time (1:48.017) was better than the previous overall track record, but was eclipsed by the phenomenal run of the Audi R10 TDI.

This is the first time in the 54 year history of Sebring that a Diesel powered car is on pole.

Top three in class:
1: #2-P1 Allan McNish 1:45.828
2: #1-P1 Marco Werner 1:47.673
3: #20-P1 Guy Smith 1:49.531

1: #6-P2 Lucas Luhr 1:47.800
2: #7-P2 Timo Bernhard 1:48.017
3: #33-P2 Michael Vergers 1:52.068

Doug Robinson, IMSA Executive Director (about the first qualifying session):
The decision to extend or not extend a session is up to the Race Director. Because of the severity of the damage to the circuit, he chose to stop the clock at the 15:00 minute mark. After repairs were completed, he restarted the clock with 10:00 minutes to go. The regulations give discretion for the decision to the Race Director.

[JAG]

Do you not feel short changed with a 25min qualyfying session. Doesn't feel right for a 12hr race.

Works well for the sprints mind.

[Martin Haven]

Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
THURSDAY MARCH 16, 2006
Round 1 American Le Mans Series Pit Notes: Page 4

David Brabham (#50-GT2 Panoz Esperante GTLM) “It’s always good to be back after the off season because you get bored. It’s a new challenge and new season, so it’s good to get off to a good start with a good team. We’ve worked awhile on qualifying setup. The team has done a good job. Now we’re working on a race setup.”
(Biggest difference moving to
GT2 class?) “I’m used to a bit more grip, particularly in qualifying. I must have thought I was in a Ferrari or Aston Martin because I overshot the first corner and had to back off because I didn’t have as much grip.”
(On starting with Panoz Motor Sports and now with Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz?) “Each company is different in the way they operate. Multimatic does their own thing in their way, which is good. There are differences, but there is in every team. At the end of day, you get in the car and do the best you can.”

Pedro Lamy (#009-GT1 Aston Martin DB9) “It’s nice to be here at Sebring for the second time. Last year we won. This year have some changes, like new tires. The car has improved since last year with new tires. We were testing Friday, Saturday then all this week. We found quite a good balance for the race. Hopefully it will work. But it’s for 12 hours. The race is very long, and pole position doesn’t mean a lot. It’s nice to be here, but we saw last year that anything can happen. We hope we’ll have a good car in the race.”
(On the Corvette rivalry) “Of course it’s nice to be on the pole. I don’t know
what our competitors did in qualifying because they were faster last year. Maybe they had traffic problems. We are just trying to compete. The Corvettes are winning everything over here. We want to fight against them. Petit Le Mans was quite good last year because we were on pace. We only did three races last year, but hopefully we can do more this year.”
(Why the early testing?) “The main reason was the tires. We changed from Michelin to Pirelli, and it’s a lot of work to do. We have to adapt the cars to the tires to make sure we have the best tires for the car. It’s an important step.”
(Difference between Michelin and Pirelli?) “It’s difficult to say. I feel quite fast and I’m on the pole. Hopefully we will stay like that. We are trying to find the best tires for the long runs. Our experience with the tires aren’t that big, so we’re not sure how they will do.”

Allan McNish (#2-P1 Audi R10 TDI Power) “Today, Audi has showed America the potential of diesel power. This is a historic day for Audi and sportscar racing. Worldwide, about fifty percent of Audi automobiles are diesel. As a nation, America is not as in tune with the benefits of diesel as we are in Europe. The engineers at Audi have really developed this engine and car over the last few months and they can be proud of what they achieved. The car is perfectly balanced as a driver could ever want. That had to be the best lap in an Audi in my entire career. It might be the best I've ever used the adhesion of the tires and the full potential of the steering and the engine.
But we still have to look at our competition. I'm sure they were not as flat out as they could have been and its a long drive on Saturday.
There are three drivers that have to drive the car. There is always a bit of compromise. We are step by step understanding what we've really got. The three of us have a common feel and a common goal which is to take any personalities out of the car and get it to go as fast as possible. It was an engineering decision who drove the car today; there was no driver input at all.
Getting into the R10 for the first time wasn't as radically different as one would think. We all knew the R8 inside and out like a glove. The R10 has the same DNA as the Audi R8. It was from the same engineers who developed the R8 and it drives like an Audi. The only thing different is having to feel your way into all that torque. The car is quiet, there is no doubt about that. That is part of being a diesel. All of us noticed it first thing when we got in the car. I don't think it affects our driving. I remember passing the Panozs in 2002 and I couldn’t hear a thing when I would go around them. You don't necessarily go by the sound of the engine for when to shift. Its just in your mind where on the track you should be shifting and what you should be doing. The engine noise is just volume and its quiet nice cause its toned down just a bit.”

Lucas Luhr (#6-P2 Porsche RS Spyder) “First of all, the car performed very well. It think we all expected it to. The RS Spyder still has major potential as a reliable racecar. I just hope we did everything we could have to be successful to win.
This will be a difficult race especially with the weather. It will be nice to not have a roof. I have always liked Sebring and this is one of the first times I am looking forward to it, with the open cockpit car it is much easier. We had a long run at Laguna Seca [at the conclusion of last season] and now this race is 3 times as long. We don’t have to prepare the car differently, just make sure it will last twelve hours.
The Porsche is an LMP2 car and the goal is to win the LMP2 race. It has never been our goal to win overall. Its hard to compete with a car that is underpowered to the other cars. We'll see how it goes Saturday. The race is hard for everybody, it is very fast with lots of bumps.”

Next session: 7:30pm EST night practice (90 minute session):

[jhansen]

Yes and no JAG.

You have to consider that it is a pure qualifying session. It's a bit different at Le Mans, where they'll set times in various sessions while also practicing.

And really, how important is qualifying for a 12 hour race? Not very important really. It's worth a headline the next day and a notch for a driver's CV. That's about it.

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by ccharlie6

spyker decided to take out some large concrete blocks

Infoscourse.org have the pictures!!

[JAG]

Interesting comments from Weaver on DSC. He' says the Lola will be capable of 1.44's after more development!

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by JAG

Didn't the Werner R10 have electrical and engine glitches.

Maybe the R10 isn't bullet proof?

According to this Audi press release the #1 car had a sensor problem. Therefore Werner could do only 1 lap just before the end of qualifying.

Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director, Team Audi Sport North America): "The problems with the #1 car were a little strange. A few minutes before qualifying everything seemed to be all right but then Marco (Werner) lost a lot of time in the pits. That he still managed to do such a strong lap deserves great credit. We put bets on Allan's lap time before qualifying, but even the best one was more than one second over his real time."

[Truckosaurus]

Does anyone have a link that shows what the Globecast/RLM broadcast schedule (via the internet) is for the weekend?

ps. Good work on the commentary for qualifying

[gwyllion]

Can someone explain the big difference in lap times between the Intersport Lola B05/40 AER and the Binnie Lola B05/40 Zytek? Could this be because of the rule changes to allow the AER based LMP2 car to be more competitive (and reduce the gap with the Porsche)?

[jet]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Where can I find the result from this 1st qualifying session?

Still can't find the qualifying result on the ALMS website. The most important race of the ALMS series and no one seems to bother to put the qualifying results online immediately after the session.

[gwyllion]

You can find them on the-paddock.net: here

The times of the night practice session are on the live timing website (for the moment): here

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Can someone explain the big difference in lap times between the Intersport Lola B05/40 AER and the Binnie Lola B05/40 Zytek? Could this be because of the rule changes to allow the AER based LMP2 car to be more competitive (and reduce the gap with the Porsche)?

I just think Bill needs more time to get the best out of his new package. Once the team get a few races under their belt I feel sure the potential of the car will become apparent. Relative driver ability will also play a part (no offence to Bill and his co-drivers). The turbo engined LMP2's did get a break in the regs, but don't forget the Spyder is also normally aspirated.