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TV Alert: 12 Hours of Sebring Recap on ABC

In case you didn’t spend 12 hours sitting in front of the laptop watching the ESPN3 stream-cast of the 12 hours of Sebring, you can catch a 90 minute recap of the race today on ABC. Since this is not a live broadcast, it is uncertain about what time the race is being broadcast in each market. I’ve heard of it airing at 12:30 in the east, and 3:00 in the west.

Here is Los Angeles, it is airing from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on ABC 7.

Check your local listings for exact time and channel to view this program.

Oreca Peugeot, BMW Motorsport win top classes at Sebring

Historic victory for de Chaunac led team in 2011 opener

ORECA Sebring 2011-03-20Hugues de Chaunac 090917-1Peugeot won again at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, this time the Team ORECA Matmut taking victory in America’s greatest sports car race and the opening round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.

Loic Duval took the checkered flag by 31.868 seconds in his Peugeot 908 HDi FAP over Highcroft Racing’s Simon Pagenaud in a classic fight that saw the top three cars finish on the lead lap. Duval, who won with Nicolas Lapierre and Olivier Panis, took a late splash of fuel to ensure he could make it to the end of the race and the first race of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.

“It was strategy to make the splash,” Duval said. “After that, the car was perfect

and I was able to keep the gap between us. I think we didn’t expect to be in this position. We were building and building and at the end the car was perfect.”

Team owner and ORECA founder Hughes de Chaunac was in tears during the final lap – ones of joy. This was the first time he brought his team to Sebring since sweeping the GTS podium in 2000 with the factory Dodge Viper program. Saturday’s victory was especially popular given the ‘I Love U.S. Racing’ stickers on the car.

“It’s a historic result for us,” de Chaunac said It’s a race that we built step by step. We finished just in front of the manufacturers. We avoided any mistakes. It was a perfect job from the team and these three drivers. It was not easy because I asked them to be quick and patient. We won because we did not make any mistakes.

Pagenaud, David Brabham and Marino Franchitti drove Highcroft’s HPD ARX-01e for the first time this week and appeared on the verge of its first Sebring victory. But Pagenaud finished second, and held off the highest-finishing Peugeot 908 factory entry of Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy.

The other factory Peugeot was involved in an early-race crash with the No. 2 Audi R15 Plus prototype at Turn 17 that effectively ended both cars’ chance at winning. The No. 1 Audi lost two left-rear tires on consecutive laps earlier.

“It was a great race. Everything went very well,” Lapierre said. “The plan was to stay on the same lap until three or four hours into the race. Then we started to push. We were quite fortunate that the pace car didn’t come out anymore after we decided to push.”

BMW Motorsport won a hard-fought GT battle for the manufacturer’s first win at Sebring since 1999 when it took an overall victory. Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Andy Priaulx led a 1-2 finish in class for the German marque, which won the GT team and manufacturer championships in 2010.

The winning car came back from an early tap and spin with one of the JaguarRSR entries and a left-front flat tire. Given some of the other attrition that went on in the class and the fact that the top six cars in class ran on the same lap deep in to the race, getting both cars to the finish – never mind a 1-2 finish – was an accomplishment in and of itself.

Five cars led the class at one point, a preview of what’s to come the rest for the 2011 season.

The car of Augusto Farfus, Dirk Werner and Bill Auberlen placed second but was leading until a tire puncture in the final third of the race pushed it back into third place. Werner passed Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner with 35 minutes remaining to make it a 1-2 for the M3 GTs.

“The car was really good,” said Hand, who set the class’ fastest race lap. “When I got in the car Monday, I thought, “This is a great race car, we are in the sweet spot, we are in the window.’ When it is comfy, I can go quick and do it for a long time. BMW Team RLL worked really well together in the office season and built two brand new race cars. They make everything better and that is what they did. The Dunlop tires were strong out of every stint and I had some great teammates to get along with too.”

Milner placed third in the Corvette C6.R that he drove with Olivier Beretta and Antonio Garcia.

Level 5 Motorsports won its LMP2 debut with a victory for the entry of team owner Scott Tucker, Luis Diaz and Ryan Hunter-Reay. The team won at Sebring in LMP Challenge last year and moved up to P2 after taking the LMPC championship in 2010.

“We just got our cars last Saturday. This whole week was a big test session,” said Tucker, who won the LMPC driver’s championship last year. “I’ve got to hand it to Luis and Ryan. We had a small issue and went down a bunch of laps, but these guys pounded it out. It really worked out for us today.”

Hunter-Reay crossed the finish line ahead of the class pole-sitting Signatech Nissan ORECA-Nissan. Both cars had their share of trouble but a trip back to the paddock and penalties in the pitlane doomed the Signatech entry. Class pole-sitter Soheil Ayari, Franck Mailleux and Lucas Ordonez came home second in class.

Oak Racing’s Pescarolo-Judd of Andrea Barlesi, Frederic Da Rocha and Patrice Lafargue were third in class.

It was the first ALMS victory for Hunter-Reay, and second each for Tucker and Diaz; the latter won in P2 for Lowe’s Fernandez Racing and Acura in 2009.

“It’s amazing how hard these guys worked. I was watching the guys put the cars together on Saturday. From then until now, the car did a 12-hour race,” said Hunter-Reay. “For me growing up in Florida, winning Sebring is dream come true,” he added. “This place is very special to me. This is a big deal for me and the car was a lot of fun to drive. It’s a great win for Level 5 and starts the season off right.”

“It was a huge effort from Level 5 today,” Diaz added. “We worked very hard during the week to setup the car. We didn’t have the speed on the straights, but the engineers gave us a great car in the corners and the Honda was very reliable as always. Ryan drove great at the end with some amazing laps. I’m very thankful to have these great teammates and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Krohn Racing won handily in GTE-Am with its Ferrari F430 GT. Tracy Krohn crossed the checkered flag well ahead of the Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. It marked the team’s first victory in the American Le Mans Series and first for drivers Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Michele Rugolo.

“In the last 36 hours, we haven’t had a single mechanical issue with the car,” Krohn said. “That’s a tribute to our drivers and team prep. That car doesn’t have a scratch on it. I don’t think anybody put two wheels off the whole day.”

The class battle went back and forth between the Krohn Ferrari and the Proton Porsche all day as the two cars were the only ones to lead. The Ferrari took advantage for good with a little more than two hours to go when the Porsche ran into problems and went back to the paddock for repairs.

That gave Krohn the victory and class championship lead in the GTE-Am class of the ILMC.

“It’s a dream come true,” Jonsson said. “The guys did a fantastic job over the winter when we decided to go ILMC with the Ferrari. We have a fantastic engineering staff. The crew has been flawless. The Proton Porsche have good drivers, so they’ll be stiff competition on the European tracks.”

Genoa Racing won in LMP Challenge from the pole position as Dane Cameron won by 44.314 seconds in his ORECA FLM09 over CORE autosport’s Ryan Dalziel.

Genoa won for the first time in the class after running the full season in 2010. Cameron drove with Jens Petersen and Michael Guasch.

“The car was fantastic. For me it was great because this was the first time I had ever driven the car (at Sebring),” Guasch said. “I knew if I could run with these guys we would have a fantastic package. We came in and had a good shot at it but you never want to be that confident. We were up in the top-10 overall, so it was not bad.”

The winning Genoa car led the race in big chunks – 143 laps in the middle of the race, and Cameron led the final 70 laps. He ended where the car started: out front.

“I would say qualifying is more of an ego boost; it is such a long race, where you start is irrelevant,” he said. “We had the fastest car in the field going into the race. I don’t think we had any penalties, mistakes, no contact, none of that stuff. The team prepared such a solid car for us and we just went about our day.”

In GT Challenge, Black Swan Racing opened the defense of its 2010 class championship with its first victory at Sebring. Damien Faulkner beat TRG’s Spencer Pumpelly across the finish line by 68 seconds to win with Tim Pappas and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen in the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry.

The battle in class was one between any of four cars – Black Swan, TRG, Magnus Racing and NGT Motorsport.

“The team was fantastic all week and we have kept our heads up and they haven’t had much sleep,” Faulkner said. “We had fantastic pit stops, and were faster then our rivals at that point.”

The Black Swan Porsche didn’t lead until just shy of the eight-hour mark. But it only fell out of the lead for four laps over the next four hours.

“The guys did such a good job,” Pappas said. “We just got our car 10 days ago from Germany, so it has been a big push to get it ready. “But here we are it is fantastic.”

Pumpelly, Alain Li and Duncan Ende wound up second, a position it held for a great majority of the final four hours. NGT Motorsport’s Porsche of Henrique Cisneros, Carlos Kauffmann and Sean Edwards placed third in class.

“I am happy with the win. It is pretty hard out there in the dark and it was warm during the day,” Bleekemolen said. “We had a problem with the brakes; it was hard to go straight. But it is great to be out here of course.”

The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón heads west for its next round – the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach on Saturday, April 16. The race will be shown live and in its entirety on ESPN3.com in the United States and internationally on americanlemans.com starting at 7:15 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will provide television coverage from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 17. Visit the American Le Mans Series’ schedule page for information on tickets and area accommodations.

You can follow the Series on Twitter (almsnotes) and on our Facebook page and the official YouTube channel.

Saturday’s race results

Pos	No	Class	Finishing Driver	Car	Laps
1	10	LMP1	Loic Duval	Peugeot 908 HDI FAP	332
2	1	LMP1	Simon Pagenaud	HPD ARX-01e	332
3	8	LMP1	Franck Montagny	Peugeot 908	332
4	2	LMP1	Allan McNish	Audi R15+ TDI	327
5	1	LMP1	Romain Dumas	Audi R15+ TDI	326
6	16	LMP1	Guy Smith	Lola B09 86/Mazda	324
7	12	LMP1	Neel Jani	Lola B10/60 Coupe	320
8	7	LMP1	Alexander Wurz	Peugeot 908	315
9	36	LMPC	Dane Cameron	Oreca FLM09	312
10	56	GT	Joey Hand	BMW M3 GT	312
11	5	LMPC	Ryan Dalziel	Oreca FLM09	312
12	55	GT	Dirk Werner	BMW M3 GT	312
13	3	GT	Tommy Milner	Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR	312
14	4	GT	Jan Magnussen	Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR	311
15	51	GT	Pierre Kaffer	Ferrari F430	311
16	45	GT	Patrick Long	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	310
17	44	GT	Darren Law	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	306
18	6	LMPC	Gunnar Jeannette	Oreca FLM09	305
19	57	GTE-AM	Tracy Krohn	Ferrari F430 GT	302
20	55	LMP2	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Lola Honda	300
21	54	GTC	Damien Faulkner	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	299
22	66	GTC	Spencer Pumpelly	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	299
23	30	GTC	Sean Edwards	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	296
24	11	GTC	Nick Ham	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	295
25	68	GTC	Dion von Moltke	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	295
26	40	GT	David Robertson	Doran Ford GT/Elan	294
27	63	LMPC	Eric Lux	Oreca FLM09	294
28	59	GT	Frederic Makowieck	Ferrari F458 Italia	292
29	34	GTC	Bob Faieta	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	291
30	26	LMP2	Franck Mailleux	Oreca 03 Nissan	290
31	35	LMP2	Andrea Barlesi	Oak Pescarolo Judd	287
32	77	GTC	Craig Stanton	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	282
33	33	LMP2	Joao Barbosa	Lola Honda	280
34	23	GTC	Bill Sweedler	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	279
35	2	GT	Guy Cosmo	Ferrari F458 Italia	268
36	62	GT	Jaime Melo	Ferrari F458 Italia	266
37	4	GT	Colin Braun	Doran Ford GT	261
38	98	GT	Kenny Wilden	Jaguar XKR	256
39	63	GTE-AM	Richard Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	252
40	18	LMPC	Jarrett Boon	Oreca FLM09	246
41	48	GT	Rene Rast	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	231
42	62	GTE-AM	Roger Wills	Ferrari F430	226
43	15	LMP1	Mattieu Lahaye	Oak Pescarolo Judd	222
44	17	GT	Bryan Sellers	Porsche 911 GT3 RSR	220
45	38	LMPC	Johnny Mowlem	Oreca FLM09	203
46	52	LMPC	Ryan Lewis	Oreca FLM09	185
47	6	LMP1	Greg Pickett	AMR/ Lola Coupe B08 62	151
48	24	LMP1	Jean-Francois Yvon	Oak Pescarolo Judd	111
49	32	GTC	Jan Seyffarth	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	87
50	89	LMPC	Tomy Drissi	Oreca FLM09	86
51	1	GT	Johannes van Overb	Ferrari F458 Italia	49
52	50	GTE-AM	Gabriele Gardel	Chevrolet Corvette ZR1	37
53	99	GT	Oriol Servia	Jaguar XKR	35
54	50	GT	Ian James	Panoz Abruzzi	19
55	8	GT	Nicky Pastorelli	Lamborghini Gallardo LP5	10
56	60	GTE-AM	Fabien Giroix	Aston Martin Vantage	5

Source | American Le Mans Series

Bruton Smith on prize money in NASCAR, says Bristol probably not a sellout

Bruton Smith weighed in on how NASCAR is parsing out price money in a story from NASCAR.com:

“I would like to take half of the money from the points fund and give it to the winners of the races. I’d like to see a $300,000 to $400,000 difference between first and second place. That would get the drivers’ attention and you know the fans would love it.”

Well, Bruton is right. Currently winners are barely getting more prize money than the second place finisher. On the other end of the field, teams are finding it profitable to “start and park”. But how much more money do Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski need to be at stake before they end up killing each other?

How about taking half the points and giving it to the winner? The money system isn’t the problem, it’s the point system. Link: Bristol not likely to sell out Sunday

INDYCAR Barber Test Day 1 Combined Times

INDYCAR is in Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park this week for an open test in preparation for 2011.   And while it is early in the week, and only a test, two things are clear:  Will Power is wicked fast, and James Hinchcliffe has earned his stripes.

Imagine this, after the Indy Car-Champ Car “merger”, Will Power didn’t have a full time gig, and only got a shot to drive for Penske as a super-sub for Helio who was forced to sit out and face tax charges in court.   Two years later, Power is now full time at Penske, and is the de facto favorite at all road courses to win. Impressive.

I’m enjoying seeing James Hinchcliffe at the top of the charts.  Hinch has waited patiently for a good drive in Indy Car after paying his dues in various ladder series, and the dedication has paid off.  Hinch was P5 on the day at his first full Indy Car test.  Impressive; most impressive.

Iceman, Scott Dixon was second fastest, followed by Justin Wilson and Helio.

The field is tight as usual with the top 18 times all within 1 second of Will Power’s best time.

Link: PDF -Monday combined test times from INDYCAR.com

IMAGE: 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) // Michele Ursino

Goody’s and BC Powders Give Fans a Voice for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500

httpv://www.youtube.com/v/mjCuMyc59Bw?fs=1&hl=en_US

Fans Can Select Favorite Wounded Warrior Project- and Victory Junction-Designed Paint Schemes

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (March 11, 2011) – For nearly a week beginning March 11, fans of Goody’s and BC Powders can help choose a race car paint scheme designed by wounded hero from Wounded Warrior Project, Cory Collins, and Victory Junction camper, Eleanor Bolton, with the assistance of renowned motorsports artist Sam Bass. The designs will be showcased on a race car during pre-race ceremonies on April 3 at the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

As part of the Pick A Powder campaign (www.pickapowder.com), country music superstar Trace Adkins and racing legend Richard Petty have a friendly rivalry to see which pain relief powder – BC or Goody’s - is toughest on pain. One thing the stars do agree on is giving back to causes near to their heart - Wounded Warrior Project for Adkins and Victory Junction for Petty. Goody’s and BC are making both philanthropic organizations a pivotal aspect of the Goody’s Fast Relief 500.

“Connecting with our customers and engaging the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 fans is important to us,” said Traci Plate, brand manager at GlaxoSmithKline, the marketers of Goody’s and BC. “Giving them a voice in selecting this special paint scheme is a meaningful way of involving our fans. Through our efforts with the Pick A Powder campaign and partnership with Trace Adkins and Richard Petty, we are thrilled to highlight both worthy charities leading up to and during the race on April 3.”

Read more

Michael Schumacher quickest in Barcelona today, McLaren getting a lot of practice changing engines

Michael Schumacher put up the quick time in Barcelona testing today,  as the the Mercedes crew tried out some new trick parts on their car before heading out to Melbourne.  Nico Rossberg also took the Mercedes for a spin and was third quickest.

McLaren had a dismal day, getting more practice changing engines than they are getting practice time on the track.

Testing times are interesting, but I don’t think its’ any indication that Michael and Mercedes are ready to run up front this year.  Making a big deal out of claiming P1 at  test day is like watching the varsity beat up on the JV in a scrimmage and saying your are going to win state.   Until it’s game time, this is all just a bunch of us racing nerds comparing test notes and reading tea leaves.

LINK: ESPNF1 - Michael Schumacher sets new benchmark

Upon further review, Firestone will remain the INDYCAR tire supplier

After much hand-wringing and worry, it turns out that “everything’s gonna be alright”. Firestone is staying with INDYCAR through 2013. 

Firestone seems to have successful in their negotiating tactic to get more actually dollars for the sale of their race tires to race teams.

From VERSUS.com:

“Bernard said he and team owners came to a conclusion on a new supply agreement. It’s believed that the new deal will allow Firestone to charge more for its tires, which had been a point of contention in previous years.”

Another win for Randy Bernard, at least it appears that way.  Who knows what could of happened if the door for other tire manufacturers had been opened.  However, aiming for stability in the series is probably the best move at this juncture, especially with everything else changing for the teams in 2012.

LINK: http://www.versus.com/blogs/indycar/firestone-returns-to-indycar/

Highcroft Racing’s HPD ARX-01e Revealed

(DANBURY, CT, Thursday, March 10, 2010)HPD ARX-01eHighcroft Racing has unveiled its new Honda Performance Development ARX-01e LMP1 machine - the new car which the back-to-back American Le Mans Series champions will take into battle at next week’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

HPD’s latest entry into the overall LMP1 class is powered by a development of the 3.4-liter V8 engine which has been the mainstay of its sportscar activities since the debut of the Acura program in 2007.

The final driver to do battle alongside David Brabham and Marino Franchitti in the ARX-01e will be revealed tomorrow, but the three Highcroft drivers will have an additional vastly experienced “co-driver” riding beside them - the Michelin Man.

Known internationally as “Bibendum”, the Michelin Man and branding for the new MICHELIN® Pilot® Super Sport tire will appear prominently on the side of the #01 machine at Sebring.

While the tub and engine of the ARX-01e may have come from last year’s championship-winning LMP2 ARX-01c machine, that is where the similarities end.
Read more

INDYCAR is calling on you to vote on the “lucky dog” rule

Yesterday INDYCAR announced several rule changes for the 2011:  Side by side restarts at all tracks, later green flag starts, and a “lucky dog” rule.  The fan reaction to the last one, the luck dog, was tepid at best.

I actually am in support of these rules, but a lot of INDYCAR fans think this is dumbing the racing down by matching the rules that NASCAR uses.   I say, why not?  Sure, it does pollute the “purity” of the racing, but I think it is going to make for more entertaining racing.

Besides, INDYCAR’s “purity of racing” claim is already a bit shakey.   It has been a spec series for five years, and isn’t exactly at the level F1 or the Le Mans Series when it comes to racing purity.

INDYCAR.com has a poll on the lucky dog rule, which makes me wonder if they might retract their decision. Look on their home page in the lower right hand corner.

INDYCAR news - 26 car fields, lucky dogs, Bourdais, and more

There’s some nice bits of INDYCAR news floating around the web this week, so here is the latest edition of short-shifts.

• The definition of “full field” was redefined this week by Randy Bernard, as INDYCAR announced that fields will be capped at 26 entries (except at Indianapolis and Las Vegas). After years of short fields, it sure is nice that INDYCAR had to deal with the possibility of too many cars showing up.
• Newman/Haas Racing has yet to announce a 2011 driver line-up, but from the outside it sure looks like James Hinchcliffe and Oriol Servia will be in their cars this year.
• Curt Cavin is all over the Sebring testing, and is tweeting that Sebastian Bourdais is testing with Coyne again. Where there’s smoke, there’s either fire or some French guy doing donuts.
• Lucky what?! Curt Cavin set Twitter on fire today when he posted that INDYCAR will have a “lucky dog” rule in 2011. What’s next? Digger?

• Indy - Firestone To Exit Indycar Racing After 2011 Season - Ring. Ring. That’s the sound of the phones ringing at the offices of Michelin and Hoosier. And don’t forget Cooper tires. They made tires for the Atlantic Series (RIP) for a while.

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeof