ALMS, Sebring Winter Test - Session One Report
A Steady Start

Twenty-eight cars enjoyed beautiful sunny weather as they took to the track to kick-off the first session of the annual ALMS Winter Test. 

As expected early times were of the cautious variety, as teams and drivers shook off the winter rust.  A mix of LMPC cars topped the timing & scoring sheet for nearly the first hour.  Slowly but surely, the 'big' prototypes of Muscle Milk and Dyson worked their way to the front. Pickett and Graf did the early laps in their new Aston Martin LMP1, while an anxious Lucas Luhr looked on.  Chris Dyson did all the work in his Mazda-powered coupé, with Guy Smith and new man on the team Jay Cochran in street clothes. James Weaver was easily spotted atop the Dyson pit cart, his signature pink socks giving him away.

Neither car set any remarkable times, topping out in the 1:51s, just a few seconds ahead of the quickest LMPC cars.  New regulations this year were aimed at slowing down the cars, and at first glance it appears to be working well.  But the Test is still young and it will be interesting to see where the times for each class finally end up.  The LNT Radical was a good bit off the pace of the P1s, finding itself even behind the slowest LMPC car with a best lap of 1:59.4. For reference, the qualifying times of the P1 and P2 classes last year were, 1:45.2 and 1:47.7 respectively.

LMPC was a tightly grouped bunch with just over a second separating the four cars that turned significant laps. The best time in class was set by the #05 Core Autosport team of Bennett and Montecalvo.  The other Core entry, the #06, was third, just behind the #36 of Genoa Racing.  The #18 Performance Tech Motorsports car only managed to complete three laps.

The GT classes mirrored their prototype brethren, as the GTCs were the quicker cars early on.  Order came after the first hour with Long & Bergmeister leading the way in their 'updated' #45 Porsche 911 RSR - last year's champion's car, in unliveried carbon fiber black, has been fully updated with all the new bits Porsche has to offer for 2011; while the team car, #44, with Law and Nieman aboard, is running, for the most part, in last year's configuration. Darren Law; "The new paddle shift is so cool!  It will give you a lot more control under braking, and the down-shifts are really quick.  The GT class is so good again.  Take a look at the new Ferrari 458, Wow this is going to be an exciting year." 

For those not yet aware, paddle shift systems are now allowed for the first time in the GT class.  The paddle shift system in the Porsches is by Megaline, which provided the same for the Spyder LMP cars.  Long commented that the transition to this system has been "seamless". Patrick Long, "It's no longer good enough to have a couple of great races.  You have to be flawless all year if you expect to win the championship in this GT class."

Long would set this team's fastest lap, which would only be bettered by Jan Magnussen in the #4 Corvette. 

Corvettes and Porsches dominated the top six positions.  Magnussen set a time of 2:02.3, which is just over one second off last year's pole qualifying time. Following the #45 of Long was the Falken-shod RSR of Henzler and Sellers.  Fourth overall was the 'other' yellow Corvette of the veteran Larbre team. 

The Ferrari contingent was lead by the #01 Extreme Speed Motorsports.  This team is hoping to continue with the momentum they gathered at last year's finale, which was possibly their best race of the season. Johannes van Overbeek; "Last year was a lot of fun.  Scott Sharp has put together a great group of people.  I found it amazing that this team which had not worked on a GT style car ever before, was able to post three fastest race laps, and no DNFs outside of the first race at Sebring.  And by the end of the season we were legitimately in the mix for the win at the Petit."  On competing against all the factory backed teams in a very stacked GT class; Our goal is to win races.  But I think we need to concentrate on continually getting better, and improving each and ever time we go out, then the results will follow."

The Risi 458 Ferrari ended its first practice early with electrical issues.  Truthfully, though, this is not really a 'Risi' car.  Risi has not yet received their new 458GT; this car is the Michelotto test mule.  Risi is crewing the car but all testing and setup work is being directed by Michelotto's team.

Risi's 430 entry only got in seven total laps. Dave Sims and his crew were, "happy with the practice time" they were getting and were "watching and learning".  This particular car is headed back to Italy after the test, but Sims and crew  are hoping to get more learning time in as the test continues.

Krohn Racing has had a rewarding week so far, after their Ferrari 430 entry was accepted for both the Le Mans 24 and the ILMC.  Tracy Krohn; "It's an exciting time for myself and this team.  We are happy to be returning to Le Mans, happy to be here testing at Sebring and looking forward to competing for a championship in the ILMC.   Coming off a pretty good run at Daytona, the guys are really charged up for the challenges ahead of us." Krohn said there is the possibility of a few more races here in the ALMS , but that would depend wholly on sponsorship.  Nic Jonsson is set as Krohn's teammate for the season, but the third seat for the endurance races has not yet been filled. "I absolutely believe the decision by the ACO to create the pro and amateur classes in the GT division was a good move.  It reminds me of the way it used to be; they are recognizing the efforts of guys like me, and I think that will be good for the longevity of the sport." 

It was a fairly uneventful session on track, as most teams were in and out of the pits, checking tire temperature, springs and working on setup. 

There was a brief red flag after the #32 GMG Porsche found itself in the tire wall outside of turn 17.

More to come later from the afternoon session and the press briefing.

Russell Wittenberg