ALMS - Mobil 1 Sebring 12 Hours – Hours Four to Six
© Janos Wimpffen

There is a minor change right at the top of the period as the GT1 class lead swaps around for the first time. It’s now Gavin yellow ahead of Fellows white. We also have the first official retirement as the engine has blown on the No. 53 Panoz soon after Andrea Robertson took over. The Mazda is back in the paddock having its throttle rebuilt.

About 10 minutes later Tracy Krohn spins and Lonnie Pechnik tags him a good one at the exit of Turn 13. The Lizard has gone to its cave in the paddock with extensive wheel and some suspension damage while lime green Ferrari has stopped sideway on course with a damaged front section, bringing out the race’s first full-course caution. Krohn manages to get the car going again and made it back to the pits. The car needs extensive repairs to the front.

There is a flurry of stops once the pits are opened. Among the driver changes are;
9, Duncan Dayton
73, Ian James
85, Lars Erik Nielsen
12, back to Chris McMurry
77, DSC’s No. 1 Italiano aficionado Mauro Casadei.
62, back to Mika Salo
22, Ross Smith
6, Emmanuel Collard
2, Marco Werner

The pattern of stops during the caution has also left an Acura in second overall. Bryan Herta has given the new marque something to be proud of. Moreover, the Japanese powered cars are 1-2-3 in LM P2 as the No. 7 Porsche is in for yet another battery change and a replacement of the alternator cable. They lost 5 laps. They also were called back for a penalty for having had the engine running while refueling. GT2 has become somewhat unhinged as Salo remains out while the No. 45 Lizard Porsche stops. Risi gains almost a lap on the rest of the GT2 field.

The interruption is brief with McNish then rapidly opening up a yawning gap to Herta. Werner is several seconds back, behind some lapped cars, with only the top three on the lead lap.

Patterns thus far:
LM P1—as expected, although the Creation is doing reasonably well (apart from its wheel issue and puncture)
LM P2—complete turnaround from expectations. The Acuras are near perfect while the works Porsches have had reliability issues and the Dyson contingent has been bashed about.
GT1—what GT1?
GT2—reasonably good Ferrari vs. Porsche scrap although the tide seems to be turning toward the former. The Spyker is doing reasonably well while the Panozes have been non-factors.

The No. 6 Porsche has made yet another stop and has incurred another pit lane penalty and will be called back in for a stop-and-go. Andy Lally is now aboard the leading Porsche, the No. 16 of the Dyson team.

The two Audis make their appointed stops at about the 4-1/4 hour mark and the No. 26 Acura has taken the lead. It doesn’t last long as on the following trip around Herta brings the Andretti Green entry for its regular stop. The No. 16 Porsche has retaken third in the P2 class as the Fernandez car has made an unscheduled stop.

Comment of the day: Rob Dyson, on the Radio Web, “We got hit by an Audi out there. I don’t know what they’re doing. We don’t need them here.”

Coming up to the 4-3/4 –mark (yep, not much has happened in the last half-hour), Luca Da Snowblind has spun the No. 10 Konrad Porsche coming up under the bridge over Turn 6. He nearly collected the bridge abutment but got away with only hitting the tire barrier very lightly.

The last half-hour has not been without excitement. Gary has been ecstatic that the gap between the Corvettes has regularly waxed and waned—must have something to do with the color differences. Since that battle has stabilized he has now focused on the fact that the Field Creation and McMurry Lola are on the same lap—a little more than seven hours of this left.

No. 61 Krohn-Risi Ferrari 430 GT Team Notes: At 1:12 p.m. Tracy Krohn, while on Lap 85, Tracy Krohn, in the No. 61 Krohn-Risi Ferrari 430GT car, spun and stopped at Turn 13. "I got a little sideways going into (Turn) 13 and the Flying Lizard car (No. 44 GT2 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Lon Pechnik) got into me. We had a little damage to the car but only lost about 10 minutes and the crew got us back out there while it was still under caution," said Krohn. Lizard’s side of the story that the No. 44 was hit by the No. 61 Ferrari after the latter spun.

The Krohn-Risi Ferrari team changed the front bumper, as well as taking on fuel and new tires. Tracy Krohn exited the car and Nic Jonsson began his second driving stint. Krohn-Risi Ferrari drivers are currently driving single stints.

Hour 5 Positions
(Timing & scoring seems to have re-set itself, so fastest laps are since the re-set, not since the start)
1 1 P1 1 Allan McNish Run 155 0.000 0.000 1:47.334 Audi R10/TDI
2 2 P1 2 Marco Werner Run 155 15.793 15.793 1:46.983 Audi R10/TDI
3 26 P2 1 Bryan Herta Run 154 1 Lap 1 Lap 1:49.581 Acura ARX-01A
4 9 P2 2 Duncan Dayton Run 153 2 Laps 1 Lap 1:49.488 Acura ARX-01A
5 16 P2 3 Andy Lally Run 150 5 Laps 3 Laps 1:49.655 Porsche RS Spyder
6 15 P2 4 Luis Diaz Run 149 6 Laps 1 Lap 1:50.229 Lola B06/43 Acura
7 7 P2 5 Helio Castroneves Run 149 45.989 45.989 1:46.638 Porsche RS Spyder
8 27 P2 6 Didier Theys Run 144 11 Laps 5 Laps 1:54.892 Lola B05/40 Judd
9 4 GT1 1 Max Papis Run 143 12 Laps 1 Lap 1:58.549 Chevrolet C-6R
10 3 GT1 2 Jan Magnussen Run 143 2.531 2.531 1:58.812 Chevrolet C-6R
11 6 P2 7 Ryan Briscoe Run 141 14 Laps 2 Laps 1:48.149 Porsche RS Spyder
12 63 GT1 3 Darren Turner Run 140 15 Laps 1 Lap 1:58.797 Aston Martin DBR9
13 62 GT2 1 Johnny Mowlem Run 138 17 Laps 2 Laps 2:03.973 Ferrari F430 GT
14 45 GT2 2 Johannes van Overbeek Run 137 18 Laps 1 Lap 2:03.453 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
15 37 P1 3 Clint Field Run 137 5.778 5.778 1:52.479 Creation CA06/H001 Judd
16 71 GT2 3 Patrick Long Run 137 11.176 5.398 2:03.878 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
17 12 P1 4 Chris McMurry Run 137 58.987 47.811 1:54.345 Lola EX257 AER
18 32 GT2 4 Maurizio Mediani Run 136 19 Laps 1 Lap 2:04.058 Ferrari F430 GT
19 86 GT2 5 Peter Kox Run 135 20 Laps 1 Lap 2:06.036 Spyker C8 Spyder
20 73 GT2 6 Ian James Run 135 2:00.249 2:00.249 2:04.279 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
21 85 GT2 7 Dirk Werner Run 134 21 Laps 1 Lap 2:05.344 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
22 21 GT2 8 Bill Auberlen Run 133 22 Laps 1 Lap 2:05.274 Panoz Esperante GTLM
23 54 GT2 9 Marc Basseng Run 132 23 Laps 1 Lap 2:07.136 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
24 20 P2 8 Chris Dyson Run 131 24 Laps 1 Lap 1:49.765 Porsche RS Spyder
25 24 GT2 10 Ben Aucott Run 125 30 Laps 6 Laps 2:08.126 Ferrari F430 GT
26 18 GT2 11 Ralf Kelleners Run 124 31 Laps 1 Lap 2:04.752 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
27 77 GT2 12 Miroslav Konopka Run 123 32 Laps 1 Lap 2:14.504 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
28 10 GT2 13 Philip Collin Run 122 33 Laps 1 Lap 2:10.480 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
29 31 GT2 14 Tim Bergmeister Run 112 43 Laps 10 Laps 2:04.227 Ferrari F430 GT
30 61 GT2 15 Nic Jonsson Run 106 49 Laps 6 Laps 2:04.696 Ferrari F430 GT
31 22 GT2 16 Scott Maxwell Run 103 52 Laps 3 Laps 2:06.471 Panoz Esperante GTLM
32 8 P2 9 Jamie Bach Run 95 60 Laps 8 Laps 1:53.431 Lola B07/40 Mazda
33 44 GT2 17 Darren Law Pit 88 67 Laps 7 Laps 2:19.029 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
34 53 GT2 18 Andrea Robertson Ret 64 55 Laps 15 Laps 2:09.477 Panoz Esperante GTLM

There is drama at just a tad past 5 hours as the engine cover comes off the No. 1 Audi—while it’s in the pits, that is. They’re working on the battery and there are possible starter motor issues. The car is up on the jacks in the pits—indeed both of these units are being replaced, as well modular hunks of the dashboard.

We now have Acuras in second and third overall, Herta ahead of Dayton, while McNish remains in the pits. Next up, the No. 16 Dyson Porsche (Andy Lally aboard) is running very well now, a lap clear of the only healthy Penske Porsche, Castroneves at the wheel. The Lowe’s-Acura is also going well with Fernandez and Diaz regularly swapping turns. David Martinez is only being kept as a reserve as he is much less familiar with the car.

Capello finally returned to the race with the No. 1 Audi, having fallen to 7th overall, seven laps down. The first inaccuracy among the Hondas comes at the 5-1/2 mark when David Brabham slows dramatically and crawls back around with the Highcroft entry. Massive electrical problems are reported and a total of 16 minutes were lost.

The immediate benefactor from the No. 9 car’s problems has been the previously delayed Audi. It has moved into 6th spot but will not likely climb much higher for a while. Capello is content to lap at about the same pace as the Acuras and Porsches ahead of him. The fastest car of all is the overall leader, as Marco Werner continues to stretch his margin.

Marc Lieb is now just under a lap behind the GT2 leading Ferrari of Johnny Mowlem (No. 62 Risi 430). The No. 32 Ferrari lost about 20 minutes in the pits curing a suspension problem.

As we near the halfway mark it is Helio Castroneves who is really the setting the field alight. His Penske Porsche is the fastest car on the circuit at the moment. He is still a lap down from the Dyson Spyder of Andy Lally. However, first Lally makes a routine stop and a lap later, newly in the car Andy Wallace finds the No. 16 car stuck in gear. He comes back—this time for a much longer stop. The car drops to fifth overall.

The Creation has had another long stop and this has elevated the otherwise unheralded No. 12 Autocon Lola to third in LM P1. The No. 6 Porsche has had yet another un-Penske Porsche like pit violation and will be called in for a penalty.

Saturday Afternoon Pit Quotes
Bryan Willman: “The car is pretty good. It’s not as quick as it was on Wednesday or Thursday but I think everybody is saying that. The only problem we had after the first lap wing replacement is the drive pins on the rear wheel hubs were sticking and had to be replaced. If we can keep it going I think we can finish ahead of the Intersport team. Although there is still about an Indy 500 left to go so anything can happen.”

A technician with Kuhmo tires clarified the Intersport tire problems for us. Kuhmo has yet to have a tire failure even though the Intersport Creation has had four on track incidents involving tires. The first flat was caused by a puncture and the second was actually a rear suspension bolt that came loose. The wheel nut that holds the valve stem to the rim caused the third flat and the fourth tire was cut from contact with the #26 car. So it appears to be just plain bad luck for the Field car and their maiden run with the Kuhmo tire. Kuhmo also confirmed that the tire temperatures and pressures are right where they should be and the compound also seems to be working well. They believe the Intersport Creation will definitely benefit from the larger P1 tires when they are ready to make that change.

Timo Bernhard: “The car is really quick. In the opening stint I was able to get out front and keep a comfortable margin. We just lost too much time with the battery/alternator problem.”

Colin Braun on his early spin: “On the back straight I went off line to allow pair of LMP cars to get by. There like a 6-inch path of rubber debris out there that I picked up on my tires. As I went in to turn 17 I could feel the rubber coming off my tires and the back end just let loose and around I went. It was a quick spin with no damage so I guess that was an easy lesson. It was a good learning experience. Aside from that I feel like I had some good consistent runs out there. The Risi guys have been running this car for a lot longer than we have. We need more seat time so we can get the little things worked out. It has been a really good experience running with guys like Mika and Jamie, and in this series. I know with a little more time I can find some more speed but I’m pretty happy with my performance so far.”

Andy Lally: “I got in and took over Butch’s gearbox problem. So the first half of my stint was pretty tough. But they got that sorted during the next stop and the last half the car felt great. I would call in a semi-quiet double with no offs or damage. We’ve also had a radio problem all race so communication with crew is spotty. It was a nice surprise when I finished my stint and they told me I was 2nd in class and 3rd overall.”

Michael Andretti: “The car has been good and fast. Dario knocked off a few off the dive-planes in an earlier stint and we were able to get them replaced during the yellow and not lose any time. Now we just need to make it last for four more hours.”

Jarek Janis: “This is my first race at Sebring. I’ve done some Champ car testing here on the short course but never raced or driven the long course before. I like it, it’s very challenging. I love the atmosphere here and the big crowd. It’s a great event to be a part of. We’ve had no real problems with the car and no contact with other cars. We don’t have the pace of Ferraris and some of the Porsches, so we’re are pleased to be in P5 right now. We have a new car being built that should be ready in about three months. We think that it will be quicker.”

Robin Liddell: “The car is fine, and quick, we just lost some time fixing a brace that had broken on the rear roll bar. My stint was from noon until 2:00 pm, the hottest part of the day, so the rear was getting a little bit slippery but not too bad. There is still a long way to go and four laps in the pits under green isn’t that much to make up.”