ALMS, Lime Rock - Notes & Such
From Paddock And Practice #2

The Corsa Motorsports team is in a much better mood this afternoon as their carbon fiber & blue race car was putting in some trouble free laps.  Stefan Johansson was getting the bulk of the work and was lapping at a respectable pace.  Johansson, “It’s running, so that’s good.  We’ve had no time to work on the setup so the balance is all over the place, but we’re out there.”

Third quickest in GT2 during practice #2 was the BMW of Mueller and Milner. Tommy Milner, “The car feels good. I think it’s a combination of the team’s progress they’ve made on the car and this being a good track for the BMW.  The Porsches always seem to pull one out of their hat for qualifying but it’s nice to be in the mix right now.  I think we have a good car for the race too.”

Both the Flying Lizard cars, the #44 and the #45, are brand new tubs from Porsche.  They were delivered to the team just after Le Mans.  They were shaken down by Johannes van Overbeek at Sears Point but this is the first real action for both cars.

Jorg Bergmeister adds, “We have made some improvements since the first session.  We had too much understeer this morning but the car is much more neutral now. It’s a new car and the crew has been constantly tuning it.  The Bimmers are pretty quick, but it’s hard to tell really.  You never know who’s pushing and who’s on new or old tires.”

Both Dyson Mazdas were reliable and quicker in the afternoon session.  Chris Dyson commented that this is an important race for them and they want to put on a good show in their hometown. Butch Leitzinger added that the car was much better this session but there was still tuning to be done since they missed valuable time in the morning practice.

The Risi drivers reported their Ferrari was having some braking issues but it was apparently not serious enough to effect their lap times or track time.

Since Le Mans, some of the GT2s are sporting some additional fender flares.  Per the rules, but without getting into detail, the tire cannot be exposed above the axle line.  The way the rear fender curves back into the body on the Ferrari 430 and Porsche 911 the rear facing outside edge of the rear tire was not covered.  This was caught during scrutineering at Le Mans and the affected teams had to extend the fender flare down to comply.  Visually it’s noticeable and looks like it might cause some drag, but it not in an area of ‘clean’ air so it’s effect is probably insignificant.

Risi Competizione of course added the extra rear flares but now has taken it one step further and added a carbon fiber strip to the front wheels also.  The strip follows the shape of the wheel well and extends down to the splitter.  The intent is to increase the front down force. They feel the key to quick laps here is getting through the chicanes quickly and carrying as much speed a possible through turn 7.  The car naturally ‘squats’ through the down hill turn 7 so the rear has plenty of grip which makes the front want to wash out.  They have had to lift off the throttle through here in the past and they hope a little more front grip will enable them to keep on the gas leading onto the front straight.

The 2009 Le Mans winners have not been resting on their laurels since their second straight 24 hour victory.  The team is determined to get back in victory lane in the ALMS and has been working hard to do just that.  A new approach to the tire change has improved their pit stop time by a full second.  They also have a new Michelin tire here for this race.  They feel this is a really good tire and has shown to be fast from tests at Road Atlanta and in Europe.  But this is the first race with it, so there is some apprehension.  This race car is actually the Krohn car from Le Mans.  The other car is back at the shop in Texas, maybe for good.  That particular chassis has quite a pedigree with back to back wins at Le Mans, along with wins at Sebring, Petit and Mosport.

Intersport racing will be a simple family affair this weekend with just Jon and (the newlywed) Clint doing the driving.  Chapman Ducote is here, but will be driving their Imsa Lite entry instead.  The Fields are lamenting their soft tire choice at Utah and will stick with the harder compound for this weekend.  They also intend to concentrate on fine tuning the traction control systems on the Lola/AER.  Jon field added that he is very confident in the future of the ALMS and his team will be back next year for sure.

The team with the most on its plate this weekend has got to be the Corsa Ginetta-Zytek.  The car is now homologated as a Hybrid and intends to race in that configuration this weekend.  The team recognizes the amount of work yet to be done with the Hybrid system, but hopes to make continual progress this weekend.  Former Audi engineer Ron Mathis is very happy to be here with this unique project, but cautions us not to have unreal expectation for this race.  “Our goals are to get some positive track time and ultimately finish the race.  There are just so many unknown and untested things with this system, we’re developing something totally new out in the open for everybody to see.  That’s quite an undertaking. Zytek have been wonderful to work with and have ‘moved a mountain’ to get us to this point. This is the only series in the world that allow, and encourages, this type of technology in its racing.” 

The team hopes to run this weekend with ‘moderate’ hybrid assistance.  The power generated by the system is controlled through the engine mapping.  There is no ‘push to pass’ button to get the extra power on demand.  Basically the battery accumulates power, or a charge, and distributes it when the throttle opens.  How much power, is determined by the amount of charge the battery has and the engine mapping.  The battery is in the floor next to the driver, the inverter in the side pod behind the left front wheel and the drive unit fit in directly behind the engine.  Only the oil reservoir had to be relocated to accommodate the drive unit.  Stefan Johansson added the comments that he could feel when the hybrid system activates as the rear wheels get a little nervous. “It makes it interesting when the system engages, you can feel it.  It’s a good chassis, and it can be quick, but we still have a long way to go.”

Russell Wittenberg