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| F1: Australian GP Stat Wrap |
| Written by: Sean Kelly 03/16/2008 - 02:56 AM. Melbourne, Australia Hamilton sure didn't look like #22 in Australia. As opening rounds go, the 2008 Australian Grand Prix will be remembered as one of the most chaotic in history, with a succession of incidents and three Safety Car interventions ruining the best laid winter plans of almost every driver. There was, however, one notable exception. In similar circumstances to last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton calmly navigated his way through other people’s carnage to claim victory from pole position for McLaren. His win ended a barren spell for the team down under, as they had only won once in their last nine visits to Melbourne (David Coulthard’s win in 1997). Nearly 40 years have passed since a driver in car # 22 took a Formula 1 victory. Not since Jo Siffert’s triumph at the 1968 British GP, when Rob Walker took the last ever victory for a privateer entrant in the world championship, has the #22 tasted success. It certainly didn’t take long for Lewis Hamilton to end that streak, and with it he gave McLaren their 18th consecutive podium finish, the third longest ever – being Ferrari’s 22 straight between Italy 2003-Australia 2005, and Ferrari’s mammoth 53 in a row spanning Malaysia 1999-Japan 2002. Following him home in second was Nick Heidfeld, who yet again had a quiet but successful weekend’s work, equaling his and BMW Sauber’s best ever F1 result. The German now has eight podium finishes in his career without winning, and must be hoping to chalk up a victory before he catches Stefan Johansson’s all-time record of 12 podium visits without standing on the top step once. He did further extend his run of consecutive top ten starts to 23, the longest active streak in the field. The 1999 F3000 champion Heidfeld was flanked on the podium by two previous GP2 champions, as a delighted Nico Rosberg scored a career-best third place, taking what was just the second podium in the last 48 races for the Williams team. He is the fourth-youngest podium finisher in history at 22 years 262 days, only beaten by Fernando Alonso (Malaysia 2003), Bruce McLaren (USA 1959) and Hamilton himself (Australia 2007). Speaking of Alonso, fourth place must rank as something of a save for the Spaniard, who missed Q3 for only the second time since the current format was adopted back at the beginning of 2006. Indeed, Renault have a lot of work to do in qualifying, having not got a car into Q3 for the last four Grands Prix in succession. Former Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen gifted fourth place to Alonso at the start of the last lap when he knocked his pitlane speed limiter on while trying to remove a tearoff, and if it were not for the intervention of the Safety Car then he may have won the race. The Finn can take comfort in scoring his first ever fastest lap, as well as proving that he’s not going to be a poorer relation in the McLaren pit this year. Sixth place originally went to Rubens Barrichello, which would have allowed him to easily forget his nightmare zero-point 2007 season. Unfortunately for him, a comedy of errors saw him pit while the pits were closed during the final Safety Car period, take off from his pit stop before the fuel hose was detached, and then exiting the pitlane while the red light was on, meaning instant disqualification. Not the sort of thing you’d expect from a team headed up by Ross Brawn, but Honda’s pace confirmed that the parts they brought to the private Jerez test immediately before coming to Melbourne do indeed work. Barrichello himself missed Q3 by just 0.009s, but still ended up with his best starting position since the Monaco GP last May. His late race faux-pas promoted Kazuki Nakajima to sixth place, and in an ironic twist, the Japanese driver emulated his father Satoru, who also scored his maiden points in his second F1 start, and also in 6th place (San Marino 1987). Kazuki ended up in the top six simply because he kept going – he lost his front wing in the first lap jostling, and then lost another front wing when he smacked into the back of Robert Kubica just before the final Safety Car period ended. His impetuousness has landed him with a 10-position grid penalty for the Malaysian GP. There were only seven cars running at the end (including Barrichello), the fewest in any race since the six-car U.S. Grand Prix of 2005. The unluckiest driver in the place had to be Sebastien Bourdais, who showed he didn’t fluke those four consecutive Champ Car titles by driving intelligently all afternoon where his more experienced F1 brethren seemed disinclined to do so. Fourth place was his likely reward until retiring in a cloud of smoke with just three laps remaining. A bitter disappointment, but he’s still the 57th man to score points on his F1 debut, and the first one since current teammate Sebastian Vettel at Indianapolis last June. Toro Rosso must be wondering what Vettel might have been able to achieve had he not been eliminated on the first lap – he qualified eight positions ahead of Bourdais. The final point went to Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, after what must rank as his most bizarre race weekend ever. Having already had a technical failure in Q1 that left him 15th on the grid, he then managed to go off twice at the same corner during the race, before his car finally ground to a halt at the exact same point in the pitlane entrance that he had during qualifying. Despite all that he was classified as a finisher, and Ferrari extend their run of consecutive point-scoring races to 33, the second longest in history. Their all-time record of 55 included 53 consecutive podiums, as mentioned earlier. A lengthy retirements column was headed by the unlucky Robert Kubica, who had surprised many on Saturday by qualifying on the front row for the first time in his career. His day was spoiled by bad timing with regards Safety Car deployment, and it was finished for good when Kazuki Nakajima ran into the back of him. His day ended somewhat less violently than Timo Glock’s, who seemed to destroy his Toyota without actually hitting anything. Glock was one of four Germans who made it through to Q3, but he then took a five-place penalty for a gearbox change, compounded by a further five-place penalty for blocking, effectively removing him from contention. Takuma Sato made a sensational start to jump from 20th up into 11th place at the end of lap one, but perhaps we should not be too surprised, as the Japanese driver made up more positions on the first lap than any other driver in both 2006 and 2007. Despite driving a car that had never turned a wheel before Friday practice, Sato managed to outqualify Nelson Piquet Jr., who had an even worse debut for Renault than Heikki Kovalainen did 12 months ago. Even though he had mechanical problems in qualifying, Piquet’s fastest lap of the weekend up to that point would not have got him into Q2, and he’ll be no doubt thankful that there is only a week until Sepang. It’s getting to the point where Felipe Massa might want to give Melbourne a miss each year. In six Australian Grand Prix appearances, Massa has managed to crash at the first turn of the race on three occasions! He then compounded the issue by running into David Coulthard later on at the same corner, before the car stopped for good four laps later. Coulthard seems to have finally got the hang of knockout qualifying, having made it to Q3 for three races in succession, after only getting there once in the 15 previous events. Melbourne provided a bit of everything, and Lewis Hamilton leaves Australia on the back of a victory from pole position. He’ll be trying to emulate Kimi Raikkonen, who did exactly the same 12 months ago and ended the year as World Champion. |
| Posted on 20 Mar 2008 by garysweb1 |
| ALMS: Penske Porsche Wins Sebring Overall |
Written by: ALMS Communications 03/15/2008 - 09:39 PM. Sebring, FL  Penske Porsche's 2008 ALMS campaign started off in familiar style--a major upset with LMP2's besting LMP1's. (Photo: Marshall Pruett) The 2007 American Le Mans Series was a magical one for Penske Racing. The 2008 season may be even better if Saturday was any indication. Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard drove to an historic overall win at the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. The win was the first overall at Sebring by an LMP2 car and saw four lead-lap finishers, a race record. Dumas took the checkered flag by 12.979 seconds over Adrian Fernandez in the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b he shared with Luis Diaz. The P2 class swept the overall podium with Dyson Racing’s Porsche RS Spyder of Butch Leitzinger, Marino Franchitti and Andy Lally placing third. The overall win for Porsche was its first since 1988 when Hans Stuck and Klaus Ludwig took victory in a Porsche 962. Roger Penske took his first win at Sebring in 40 years and became the first team owner to win overall at Sebring, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Bernhard and Collard won for the second time at Sebring, and Dumas was a first-time winner. Audi Sport North America took the LMP1 victory with the diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI of Dindo Capello, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen. Audi’s streak of consecutive overall wins at Sebring ended at eight although it won for the 23rd straight time in LMP1. Kristensen won for the fifth time at Sebring, Capello won for the fourth time at Sebring and McNish was a victor for third time. The sister car of Mike Rockenfeller, Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner were the class runners-up after losing precious time while changing a turbo in the paddock. Third was the cellulosic E85-powered Intersport Racing Lola B06/10-AER of Clint Field, Jon Field and Richard Berry. Johnny O’Connell became the winningest driver in Sebring history with his seventh class victory, teaming with Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows for a nearly flawless run in Corvette Racing’s Corvette C6.R. The trio started from the head of the class and never trailed the entire way. O’Connell won overall in 1994 and posted class victories in 1993, 1995 and 2002-2004. It gave Fellows four Sebring wins - he teamed with O’Connell for three straight from 2002-04 - and was Magnussen’s second in four years. While the No. 3 Corvette ran faultlessly, the No. 4 sister Corvette of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis ran into trouble early. The car lost time early in the race when the crew had to change a driveshaft in the second hour. The trio was trying for a second straight class win together. Flying Lizard Motorsports finally broke through in the 12 Hours after finishing second the last two years. Jörg Bergmeister, Wolf Henzler and Marc Lieb drove their No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to a two-lap victory over the sister car of Darren Law, Seth Neiman and Alex Davison. It is the first 1-2 class finish for the Lizards, which placed third in 2005 and runner-up in 2006 and 2007. Henzler and the Lizards took the lead near the halfway point when Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo ran hot in Turn 7 while leading in the No. 62 Ferrari F430 GT and collided with the second-place Porsche of Dirk Werner and Farnbacher Loles Racing. As a result, the Risi Competizione/Krohn Racing Ferrari finished third in class, driven by Nic Jonsson, Eric van de Poele and Tracy Krohn. The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg. The green flag is scheduled for 1:25 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 5 from the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. The race will be broadcast on ABC from 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET on April 5. Radio coverage will be available on XM Satellite Radio and on americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA’s Live Timing & Scoring. 1. (4) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Emmanuel Collard, France; Porsche RS Spyder (1, P2), 351. 2. (6) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (2, P2), 351. 3. (7) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Porsche RS Spyder (3, P2), 351. 4. (1) Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Allan McNish, Scotland; Audi AG R10/TDI (1, P1), 351. 5. (10) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (4, P2), 350. 6. (11) David Brabham, Australia; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Stefan Johansson, Sweden; Acura ARX-01B (5, P2), 349. 7. (3) Marco Werner, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (2, P1), 333. 8. (12) Jan Lammers, The Netherlands; Fredy Lienhard Sr., Switzerland; Didier Theys, Belgium; Porsche RS Spyder (6, P2), 333. 9. (16) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (1, GT1), 328. 10. (9) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Lola B06/10 AER (3, P1), 327. 11. (17) Oliver Gavin, England; Max Papis, Italy; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (2, GT1), 320. 12. (2) Nicola Minassian, England; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Peugeot 908 (4, P1), 318. 13. (21) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Marc Lieb, Germany; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (1, GT2), 314. 14. (28) Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Alex Davison, Australia; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2, GT2), 311. 15. (29) Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Eric van de Poele, Belgium; Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX; Ferrari F430 GT (3, GT2), 308. 16. (22) Allan Simonsen, Australia; Jim Tafel, Alpharetta, GA; Pierre Ehret, Santa Rosa, CA; Ferrari F430 GT (4, GT2), 305. 17. (18) Antonio Garcia, Spain; Terry Borcheller, Vero Beach, FL; Chapman Ducote, Miami, FL; Aston Martin DBR 9 (3, GT1), 299. 18. (32) Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Dodge Viper Competiton Coupe (5, GT2), 295. 19. (8) Marco Andretti, Nazareth, PA; Bryan Herta, Valencia, CA; Christian Fittipaldi, Miami, FL; Acura ARX-01B (7, P2), 287, Overheating. 20. (26) Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Nathan Swartzbaugh, La Habra Heights, LA; Uwe Alzen, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (6, GT2), 286. 21. (20) Dirk Mueller, Germany; Robert Bell, UK; Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (7, GT2), 280. 22. (23) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Patrick Pilet, France; Richard Lietz, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT2), 280. 23. (15) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Tony Burgess, Canada; Creation CA07-002 Judd (5, P1), 250, Mechanical. 24. (27) Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Panoz Esperante Ford (9, GT2), 200, Mechanical. 25. (34) David Murry, Cumming, GA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT-R (10, GT2), 186, Accident. 26. (33) Miroslav Konopka, Slovakia; Mauro Casadei, Italy; Miroslav Hornak, Slovakia; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (11, GT2), 173. 27. (19) Jaime Melo, Brazil; Mika Salo, Finland; Gianmaria Bruni, Italy; Ferrari F430 GT (12, GT2), 137, Accident. 28. (24) Dirk Werner, Germany; Marc Basseng, Germany; Bryce Miller, Hoboken, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 136, Accident. 29. (25) Marc Goosens, Belgium; Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, FL; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (14, GT2), 99, Overheating. 30. (13) Michael Vergers, England; Jean Ravier, France; Juan Barazi, Switzerland; Zytek 07S (8, P2), 88, Accident. 31. (30) Paul Drayson, London, UK; Jonny Cocker, UK; Tim Sudgen, England; Aston Martin DBRS 9 (15, GT2), 70, Accident. 32. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Australia; Sascha Maassen, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche RS Spyder (9, P2), 29, Overheating. 33. (14) Ben Devlin, England; Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, FL; Raphael Matos, Brazil; Lola B07 46 Mazda (10, P2), 0, Excluded. 34. (31) Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Johnny Mowlem, England; Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (16, GT2), 0. |
| Posted on 16 Mar 2008 by garysweb1 |
| ALMS: Cellulosic Ethanol Set for Debut |
| Written by: SPEED Staff SPEEDtv.com 01/29/2008 - 03:50 PM Sebring, Fla.  Corvette Racing will introduce the new cellolosic ethanol to ALMS competition. (LAT photo) In a technological breakthrough in both the renewable fuels arena and racing, KL Process Design Group (KL) of Rapid City, S.D., will supply the American Le Mans Series with cellulosic E85 racing ethanol for the 2008 season. The fuel, produced from waste wood, will be used for the first time during the season opener - the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on March 15. Consumer E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Cellulosic ethanol is produced from biomass such as wood waste, switchgrass or citrus. Corvette Racing will be the first team to use the cellulosic-based flex-fuel ethanol in competition. “This is a groundbreaking achievement not only in motorsports, but also in the drive to relevant fuel technologies,” said Scott Atherton, president and CEO of the American Le Mans Series. “The American Le Mans Series was recently recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the only motorsports entity to meet the criteria for ‘green racing.’ Introducing cellulosic E85 racing ethanol to our series with one of our most noted championship teams does nothing but reinforce our commitment to be the global leader in green racing.” The trend toward renewable fuels in racing has been driven in large part by the Omaha, Neb.-based Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC). Through the marketing partnership with EPIC, the American Le Mans Series will drive awareness of ethanol among consumers through its use of both E10 and E85 ethanol. “This is an exciting time for the ethanol industry,” said Reece Nanfito, senior director of marketing for EPIC. “Consumers want more choices at the pump, and although challenges remain, cellulosic ethanol is no longer a dream, but a reality.” The plant providing the fuel is located one mile south of Upton, Wyo., and is the first commercially operational cellulosic ethanol facility in the United States. The pioneering plant is the result of six years of development efforts between KL and local universities. “Renewable energy from cellulosic feedstock has often been viewed as the silver bullet in our nation’s efforts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said VP of Business Development for KL Process Design Group, Tom Slunecka. “There remains much work to be done, but this is a significant step in the process.” Cellulose is the primary structural component of green plants, making up the primary cell wall. Special enzymes break down cellulose in biomass materials and turn it into sugars that are then fermented and processed into cellulosic ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol, like grain-based ethanol, is a renewable fuel source that can be used in today’s cars. According to a U.S. Department of Energy study conducted by the Argonne Laboratories of the University of Chicago, one of the benefits of cellulosic ethanol is that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 85 percent over reformulated gasoline. Cellulosic ethanol also yields roughly 80 percent more energy than is required to grow and convert it. There will be at least two automotive manufacturers that will run cellulosic E85 racing ethanol during the 2008 season - Corvette Racing and Aston Martin Racing. |
| Posted on 07 Feb 2008 by garysweb1 |
| ALMS: BMW Returns to ALMS with Rahal |
| Written by: Marshall Pruett 02/06/2008 - 09:51 PM Chicago, Illinois  BMW hope their 2009 E92 M3 V8 ALMS GT2 challenger will be twice as good as its E46 predecessor. (Photo: Marshall Pruett) “This is another monumental day for the American Le Mans Series - we have had a phenomenal start to ’08 and this big news from BMW adds to our momentum,” said Series President and CEO Scott Atherton. “BMW represents one of the cornerstones on which the American Le Mans Series was built and has maintained a loyal following of dedicated owners and fans since that time. We are thrilled to embrace this effort from BMW with Rahal Letterman Racing.” The 2009 season will see Rahal Letterman campaign two M3s for a full-season championship run. As a result, BMW will compete in a GT2 field that includes efforts from defending class champion Ferrari as well as Aston Martin, Dodge, Ford, Panoz and Porsche. The Series boasts more manufacturers in the single GT2 class than many other motorsports series do in their entire grid. “The American Le Mans Series prides itself on being the ultimate R&D;platform for manufacturers from all over the globe,” Atherton said. “And now BMW - ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’ - joins the most extensive list of world-class manufacturers to recognize the opportunity the Series offers to transfer the technology present on their race cars directly to showrooms and dealerships around the world. I have no doubt that BMW will capitalize on its investment in the American Le Mans Series and see the same rewards our other competing manufacturers have realized.” The return of BMW appropriately coincides with the American Le Mans Series’ 10th season of world-class sports car racing. BMW won the first race in the history of the American Le Mans Series as JJ Lehto, Tom Kristensen and Jorg Muller drove a BMW V12 LMR to victory in the 1999 Twelve Hours of Sebring. That same year, BMW became the first team from the American Le Mans Series to win the overall championship at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In all, BMW teams have won 15 times in the series - nine in GT2 and six in LMP1. Wednesday’s announcement is the latest in what has been a history-making offseason. In January, the Series revealed a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy and SAE International as it was recognized as the world’s first motorsports body to meet the criteria for green racing being developed by these groups. The Series also laid the groundwork for the Green Challenge, a competition that will encourage manufacturers to introduce and develop their “green” technologies. It will debut at Petit Le Mans. In a related development, the Series also announced in conjunction with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) that KL Process Design Group will supply cellulosic E85 for 2008. Corvette Racing in GT1 and Drayson Barwell Motorsport in GT2 will campaign the full season on E85. The Series also will see new entries from Acura, Aston Martin, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche for 2008. The 2008 season opens with the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, March 15. The race will start at 10 a.m. ET and will be broadcast live by SPEED, which will begin its coverage at 9:30 a.m. MotorsTV, Fox Latin America, 7TV in Russia and Greenlight Television will provide international coverage as well. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA’s Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com. |
| Posted on 07 Feb 2008 by garysweb1 |
| ALMS: Peugeot Wraps Sebring Test On Top |
| Written by: ALMS Media Sebring, Fla. – 1/31/2008  Audi closed the gap but Peugeot still led the final day at Sebring. The final day of the fourth annual American Le Mans Series pre-season Winter Test wrapped up on Wednesday with Peugeot on top of the timing charts, with a fastest lap of 1:43.771. The driving team of Pedro Lamy, Nic Minassian and Stephane Sarrazin piloted the diesel-powered Peugeot 908 to the fastest time for the second consecutive day of Winter Test. The Equipe Peugeot Total team's time was 0.136 seconds ahead of another diesel prototype, the Audi R10 TDI. Tom Kristensen of Audi set the team's best time Wednesday during the first session in the in the morning with a time of 1:44.110. The first of Penske Racing's two Porsche RS Spyders, the No. 7 of defending LMP2 champions Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, was third fastest overall and quickest in class Wednesday. The Porsche set a time of 1:44.610 in the morning session, its best time of the week. The sister Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder of Patrick Long and Sascha Maassen was second quickest in class with a time of 1:45.214. Lowe's Fernandez Racing's tandem of Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz was third quickest at 1:45.818 in their new Acura ARX-01b for its best time of the week. The Andretti Green Racing Acura of Bryan Herta and Christian Fittipaldi was close behind at 1:46.153. In GT1, Bell Motorsports continued to shake down its new Aston Martin DBR9 with a quick time Wednesday of 1:58.774. Risi Competizione continued to hold on to the top spot in GT2 with a 2:01.493 for Jaime Melo and the No. 62 Ferrari F430 GT. Melo is the defending class champion with Mika Salo. Tafel Racing's Ferrari closed the gap with a 2:01.641 in the day's second session. The team is testing its Ferrari for the first time in North America with Dirk Muller, Dominik Farnbacher, Pierre Ehret and Jim Tafel. Rounding out the top three was Panoz Team PTG's Panoz Esperante GTLM of Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Tom Milner and Tom Sutherland. The car's best time was a 2:02.979 in the third session. |
| Posted on 06 Feb 2008 by garysweb1 |
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