SHOCKER AT '12 HOURS OF SEBRING'; PENSKE PORSCHE WINS OVERALL, A FIRST-EVER FOR LMP2-CLASS RACER

PENSKE/PORSCHE WINS OVERALL AT "12 HOURS OF SEBRING", FIRST 'AMERICAN LEMANS SERIES RACE OF THE SEASON; FIRST OVERALL WIN EVER FOR AN LMP2-CLASS CAR AT SEBRING. (Photo- Roger Penske's Porsches ran like clocks, taking their class and the overall win).

Celebrating the ALMS' tenth anniversary, this year's Sebring competition, from 10am to 10pm, from light into dark, provided a great "birthday party", with fireworks, for the teams, drivers and some 60,000 spectators who found seating, with folding chairs, blankets and on the tops of motorhomes, around the runways of the airport where the racing is held. No one could have been happier than two men who are, shall we say, a bit older than "middle-aged" yet still dominating forces in American racing, "Captain" Roger Penske, the winning team owner, and Dr. Don Panoz, the super-wealthy "patron" and founder of the series.

It was a big day for Porsche at the "12 HOURS OF SEBRING", the longest-running major sports car event in the US. The German manufacturer took two class victories as well as, somewhat surprisingly, the overall win and the first0-ever overall trophy for a LMP2-class race car. Other class wins went Audi's R10 V12 turbo-diesel-engined machine and a factory-supported Corvette C6R.

After winning the NASCAR Daytona 500, his team's Dodge race cars finishing one-two, the first win at Daytona in the history of the PENSKE RACING SOUTH team just a few weeks ago, now brings home the over all (and LMP2 class) win at the '12 HOURS OF SEBRING'. Roger Penske's skill as a team owner, putting together a team which gives their drivers cars which definitely win races, the legend of Penske, known to racing insiders as "The Captain", grows even more.

Drivers Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas (LMP2 class) took the overall and class win at Sebring. Dindo Capello and Allan McNish took the LMP1 class victory in their Audi R10 turbo-diesel racer, a terrific come-down for that team which completely dominated last season's ALMS series. All the "big" cars (class LMP1) had problems at Sebring, and the first car in that class, the Audi R10, finished fourth overall (complete top fifteen results after the jump at the bottom of this story).

Peugeot, which fielded their own "Frenched" version of the Audi R10 turbo-diesel, finished third in class, behind the two Audis. We saw that race car (or a non-running facsimile; a "show car" version of it) at the 2007 TOKYO MOTOR SHOW in October, 2007. Both Audi and Peugeot are going to be selling vehicles with diesel engines in the US (Audi's Q7 SUV is the first Audi diesel-powered vehicle which will be on-sale in the US) and they will both be advertising their "diesels bred by competition"; at least they should. Mazda won the "24 HOURS OF LEMANS" in 1991, the first (and still only) time a Japanese-made car won that race, and certainly the first (and still only) time a car powered by a Wankel rotary engine won there. However, they never advertised that victory, at least not in the US, and Mazda missed-out on a bonanza as far as their reputation as car-builders. The Wankel engine, which had a bad reputation for reliability, could have also gained new believers --- But the advertising which should have happened never did. We don't think Audi nor Peugeot (which also will be selling cars in the US soon) will make that same mistake. (Photo - Audi's R10 diesels dominated the ALMS series last year and won the "24 HOURS OF LEMANS"; but it was not to be for them at Sebring, at least not this year).

In LMGT1, the factory-supported Corvette C6R took the class win and finished ninth overall.  The driving  team of Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows, who have been the team's drivers for several years, celebrated especially for Johnny O'Connell, who set a record by winning his seventh class victory at Sebring, taking the title from Phil Hill, the American F1 and endurance racing ace. I took a ride with O'Connell several years ago at Willow Springs Raceway in Southern California, when he was one of the drivers of the Nissan factory-supported sports car team, and take it from me ... He's FAST! Canadian Ron Fellows also enjoyed the much-deserved win, as he was the lead test driver for Chevrolet throughout the development of the phenomenal C6R machine. Combined with Magnussen, this is a driving team which could win in any class, any series ... Chevy is lucky to have them. The second Corvette C6R finished eleventh overall, second in class, with Olivier Beretta, Olivier Gavin and our old friend, Max Papis at the helm.

LMGT2's winners were the whimsically-named "Flying Lizard Motorsports" Porsche 911 GT3, driven by
Jörg Bergmeister, Wolf Henzler and Marc Lieb.

For all you real CAR NUTS (and super-gearheads) here are the specifications for the 2008 Penske Porsche ALMS race cars ... And the sheer numboer of people on the teams ... And don't forget, Top Fifteen results also after the jump:

Porsche RS Spyder

Concept:         Two-seater, open sports prototype according to A.C.O. regulations;
                      LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype 2) class. (Photo - Peugeot's oil-burners had their first Sebring outing, but the diesel-powered cars will undoubtedly be a factor later in the season; we first saw this car on a display stand in October, 2007, at the TOKYO MOTOR SHOW; check the Photo Albums in the left-hand margin of this page for more Tokyo Motor Show photos).

Bodyshell: Carbon-fibre reinforced monocoque; front, side and rear body sections made of reinforced carbon/kevlar; underfloor cover with skid block and rear diffuser; rear wing adjustable on two wing elements; six-point seat belt with Head And Neck Support System (HANS) modification; fire extinguishing system; helmet protection to FIA and A.C.O. regulations; three-point pneumatic car jack.

Aerodynamics:  Variable as a function of rear wing and body height.

Power unit:      Eight-cylinder V-engine with 90-degree cylinder bank angle; watercooled; four valves per cylinder; oil cooling with oil/water heat exchanger; intake system with a 44 mm (1.73”) restrictor for ALMS Regulations; intake system with individual throttle butterflies; dry sump lubrication with separate oil tank; Bosch MS 4.2 electronic engine management; sequential multipoint fuel injection.

2008 Porsche V-8 Engine Specifications

Capacity:                      3397 cc
Engine output:               Approx 480 bhp at 10,300 rpm (with current A.C.O. restriction)
Max torque:                  Approx 273 lb-ft at 7,500 rpm
Output per litre:            Approx 148 bhp
Fuel grade:                   Series-specified IMSA 100/E10 (100% octane/10% ethanol)

2008 Porsche RS Spyder Specifications

Electrical system:          Motec display with data memory;

Brakes:                         Two-circuit brake system with front/rear split and balance bar control; no ABS; sixpiston aluminium monobloc fixed calipers at the front; cross-drilled, inner-vented carbon brake discs measuring 14.96” in diameter at the front and 13.98” at the rear.

Wheels and tires:          Single-piece light-alloy wheels with central bolts front 12.5 x 18 on 29/65 18 Michelin slicks rear 13 x 18 on 31/71 18 Michelin slicks

Weight:                         1760 lbs. to A.C.O. Regulations
Power-to-weight ratio:    1.5 kg/bhp
Dimensions:                   Length – 183.1”
                                    Width – 78.7”
                                    Height – 42.0”

Team Members – No. 6 and No. 7 DHL Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyders

General Manager            John Erickson
Team Manager               Jeff Swartwout
Technical Director           Nigel Beresford
Porsche Race Engineer    Owen Hayes
Engineer                        Jonathan Diuguid
Crew Chief                     Jon Bouslog
Team Coordinator          Terry Jarrell
Electircal                        Steve Steinmetz
Sub-Assembly                Dale Bara
Machinist                       Phil Ventimiglia

Position                          No. 6                                        No. 7 (winning car; class and overall)

Driver                              Patrick Long/Sascha Maassen     Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas

DAG                                 Robby Atkinson                         Mike Rosentel

Car Chief                         Vance Welker                            Bill Vincent

Mechanic                         Carlos Plaza                              Trevor Lacasse

Mechanic                         Justin Halliday                            Mike Ribas

Mechanic                         Travis Law                                Clay Turner

Pit Director                      Jon Boslog                                 Clay Turner

Gear Box                         Gary Glase                                 Don Textor

Tire Specialist                  Alan Zarkovich                           Brandon Chaffee

Outside Tire Changer       Vance Welker                             Bill Vincent

Rear Tire Hanger             Doug Snyder                              Trevor Lacasse

Front Tire Hanger            Travis Law                                 Mike Ribas

Inside Tire Changer         Justin Halliday                             Don Textor

Fueler                            Chris Yoder                                Wilson Strausser

Fire Extinguisher             Steve Steinmetz                          Fred Herbert

Parts                              Ben Kirkland                               Carl Cindric

(Photo - "Mad" Max Papis was a team driver in the second Corvette C6R; here he's with his wife, daughter of Emmerson Fittipaldi, and their relatively-new baby boy).

56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
presented by Fresh from Florida

Sebring / 3.7 miles
March 12-15 / Sebring, FL

Pos Class Pos Team Drivers Car

1 1 7    LMP2    PENSKE RACING
Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas  Porsche RS Spyder 

2 2 15    LMP2    LOWE'S FERNANDEZ RACING
Adrian Fernandez/Luis Diaz  Acura ARX-01b 

3 3 20    LMP2    DYSON RACING
Marino Franchitti/Butch Leitzinger/Andy Lally Porsche RS Spyder 

4 1 1    LMP1    AUDI SPORT NORTH AMERICA
Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish Audi R10 TDI 

5 4 16    LMP2    DYSON RACING
Chris Dyson/Guy Smith  Porsche RS Spyder 

6 5 9    LMP2    PATRÓN HIGHCROFT RACING
David Brabham/Scott Sharp/Stefan Johansson  Acura ARX-01b 

7 2 2    LMP1    AUDI SPORT NORTH AMERICA
Lucas Luhr/Mike Rockenfeller/Marco Werner Audi R10 TDI 

8 6 27    LMP2    HORAG RACING
Didier Theys/Fredy Lienhard/Jan Lammers Porsche RS Spyder 

9 1 3    LMGT1    CORVETTE RACING
Johnny O'Connell/Jan Magnussen/Ron Fellows Corvette C6.R 

10 3 37    LMP1    INTERSPORT RACING
Clint Field/Jon Field/Richard Berry Lola B06/10-AER 

11 2 4    LMGT1    CORVETTE RACING
Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin/Max Papis Corvette C6.R 

12 4 07    LMP1    PEUGEOT SPORT
Pedro Lamy/Nic Minassian/Stephane Sarrazin Pegueot 908 Hdi 

13 1 45    LMGT2    FLYING LIZARD MOTORSPORTS
Jörg Bergmeister/Wolf Henzler/Marc Lieb  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 

14 2 44    LMGT2    FLYING LIZARD MOTORSPORTS
Darren Law/Seth Neiman/Alex Davison  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 

15 3 61    LMGT2    RISI COMPETIZIONE
Tracy Krohn/Nic Jonsson/Eric van de Poele  Ferrari F430 GT 

                                

Comments

[Steve Parker]

Penske is running those cars but under a different sponsor, I believe. I'll check on it later ... and thanks for commenting!
Steve Parker

[Brad]

Has Penske stopped running the yellow porsche at le mans? I didn't see Penske racing at 2009 Sebring. I've tried looking up on line and it looks that maybe Penske has gone with a new car and sponser this year for le mans. Any info is much appreciated