12h Sebring

Memories
The Sebring circuit lies on what was once part of Hendricks Field, an important USAF training base for B-17 bomber crews during WW II. The site was deactivated in 1946 and handed over to the City of Sebring, to become a civilian airport, and an industrial park with the Sebring International Raceway being formed in 1950. To celebrate the USAF connection, a B-17 bomber flew in prior to the race, and then circled the circuit during race morning. This connection was amplified by the Gunnar racing Panoz being painted matt khaki to resemble a B-17, whilst their pit garage was decked out to imitate a wartime camp, complete with obligatory Jeep parked outside!

The Race
From the rolling start it was the works Audis that literally flew into the distance, stamping an early domination on the proceedings, chased by the privately entered example of Champion Racing. In the GTS category it was the pair of works entered Chevrolet Corvette C5-Rs that were the dominant force, with the pair of Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RS examples doing the same in the GT group.

The lead Audi of Pirro/Biela/Kristensen was delayed by collisions with back markers, as was the sister car of Herbert/Capello/Pescatori, but then had a leaking steering rack that seriously affected the power steering, necessitating a change. This took around half an hour, dropping them to ninth overall, thus negating any chance of victory, although they climbed back to fifth by the end of the race. The Lola-MG EX257 that had shown so well in practice continued with a good performance in the race to take 7th overall, winning the LMP 675 category comfortably in the process. The Corvette dominance lasted until the seventh hour, when the second car of Pilgrim/Collins/Freon crashed, needing lengthy repairs that dropped it to 4th in class by the end of the race. However, the sister car of Fellows/O�Connor/Gavin won the class by eight laps from the Saleen-Ford S7R of Konrad/Seiler/Borcheller. The pair of Alex Job Porsches were well on their way to a class one-two, when the second car suffered engine failure, allowing the Similar model of the Seikel Team to claim the place.

The Ferrari GT and GTS entries to the ALMS series suffered from a variety of problems. After starting from the pit lane the Team Olive Garden 550 Maranello made frequent visits to the pits before retiring after having completed only eleven laps, due to driveline failure. The Prodrive example was obviously in a much better state of preparation, and spent much more time on the track, although it suffered from a gear linkage that came away in the driver�s hand. This and recurring electrical problems thwarted its progress, which was rapid when everything was working as it should. It eventually completed the race, finishing 30th overall. The MSB Motorsports and the race # 31 JMB Racing 360 N-GTs both suffered engine failures early in the race, after 12 and 28 laps respectively. The race # 32 JMB Racing car, was suffering from problems associated with the change from its F1 gearchange system to conventional manual change, required under the ALMS rules, but completed the race, albeit with a number of unscheduled stops, finishing in 34th place. Things can only get better!

Practise/Qualifying
After the Thursday qualifying session it was the Pirro/Kristensen/Biela Audi R8 at the head of the table, followed by the sister car of Capello/Herbert/Pescatori, with the LMP675 class MG Lola EX257 of Knight/Hawkins/Kane third fastest, posting an excellent time to be ahead of a number of the LMP900 category cars.

The Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello qualified a creditable fifth fastest in the GTS class, on its first visit to the circuit, whilst the Team Olive Garden example never left the paddock during the qualifying period, as the team tried to ready it for the race. Apparently a lot of time had been lost over the winter, and they were still trying to complete the car upon arrival at the circuit. The car eventually made it onto the circuit for the Thursday evening �night� practice session, although the times posted did not earn it a grid position, as it was not an official qualifying period. It was allowed to start the race from the pit lane.

In the GT category the fastest of the 360 Modenas was the # 31 car of JMB Racing, with sixth fastest in class, whilst its sister car was fractionally slower than the MSB Motorsport example, ending up tenth and eleventh in class respectively.