ILMC/ALMS, Twelve Hours of Sebring – LMP Preview
Something Special

Does it get any better than this?  Eleven quality LMP1 entries from both Europe (ILMC) and North America (ALMS) – this could be very special…

The first five entries on the list are two Audis and three Peugeots.  Based upon past form, this is likely where the overall winner of the 2011 edition of the 12 hours of Sebring will come from.  It likely doesn’t matter how the ACO balances the diesel-powered cars against the rest – Audi and Peugeot have the most resources, the biggest budgets and arguably the best drivers.  That is something that is difficult to regulate against.

Peugeot is the defending race champion, having won easily in a somewhat down year in quality, as far as the prototype entries go.  With 2011 comes new regulations and, for Peugeot, a new car.  Thus far, in the short existence of the new car, it appears as if two cars have been written off or extensively damaged, which has likely cut into the development time of the new car.  A victim of the crashes is Quick Nic Minassian, who was part of the most recent accident at Paul Ricard.  While he was reported to be ok, he was scratched off of the entry list, replaced by Pedro Lamy. 

Audi returns after a year absence from the race, anxious to reclaim Sebring as their turf.  While their car is also “new”, it is not completely new.  Instead, it is another evolution of the R15, this time different than what was raced in last season. 

Will the reliability of a semi-new car be better than what is a totally new car?  That is what the Audi vs Peugeot fight could come down to.

Oreca maintains their back up role to the factory, running - at least from the entry list - what appears to be a 2010-spec 908 HDi-FAP.  They will be right there, ready to pick up any scraps, should trouble befall the above mentioned factory entries.

Rebellion Racing makes their first race appearance with the new Toyota motor in their Lola Coupe.  It will be interesting to follow the progress of the team and the involvement of Toyota over the course of the season – so far it’s been pretty low key.  Reigning ALMS GTC driver co-champion Jeroen Bleekemolen makes his debut with the team here at Sebring, which just happens to be the only track he did not compete at in the 2010 season.

OAK Racing return with a two-car effort in the P1 class, hoping to build on a fine effort at Petit Le Mans last October, where they claimed a podium finish in the LMP2 class.  P1 will be a much tougher class to compete in, but at least they are running comparable equipment to what they ran last year.

The ALMS portion of the class is overshadowed by the above mentioned entries, but the two (or three) entries will be fighting a battle of their own, as they go for season points. 

First off is Dyson Racing.  For the first time in quite a while, they return with the same general package in which they competed the previous season.  If the gremlins have well and truly been exorcised from their Mazda Lola, they may be able to claim class honors here. 

Unfortunately, at least from what we saw at the Winter Test, that might be difficult, as the former P2 category car was not on the same pace as the 2010-spec  Aston Martin of Team Cytosport.

Cytosport returns to the scene of great success, having been the P2 winner last season at Sebring in the Porsche Spyder.  The Spyder is now spinning a web somewhere in a warehouse or a museum, so Cytosport has put their faith into the 2010 spec Aston Martin Racing–Lola. 

Lucas Luhr joins Klaus Graf and Greg Pickett in the car for this race, in what could be a pretty competitive combination.  Greg returns to the cockpit for what should be his first race back since his horrific wreck at Mid Ohio last season, which many thought might just be his last time in a competitive race car.  They (meaning I) have been proved wrong and should be partaking in a regular diet of Muscle Milk in order to keep up with the ever youthful Pickett.  A bonus out of all of this is that again we’ll get to experience the wail of the V12 for the full season.  Some things just shouldn’t be replaced…

The third part of the ALMS prototype equation may be Highcroft.  They have not yet committed to a full season, and may not be able to, but you just know that Duncan Dayton will find a way somehow to get the most out of his team and the new HPD ARX-01e P1 car.

As of the time of writing, the car has not yet turned a wheel in the real world.  All of the testing up to this point has been in a virtual world.  The car is being assembled and will test over the weekend leading up to the race.  Based upon the efforts of the team previously at Petit Le Mans, where they had to build a car from scratch basically overnight, this should be a proverbial walk in the park. (As you can see, the walk was successful - Ed.)

Given the circumstances, the Highcroft effort is probably viewed as an underdog for this race, which is something that I never thought I’d say.  The team is taking the perspective of not being an underdog, but instead of being a giant killer.  Given that this car is based upon the potent ARX-01 components that we are all familiar with, it might not be far-fetched to see this team competing at the sharp end of the field, especially considering the reputation Wirth has gained for building competitive cars.

Sadly, we will be missing the Autocon and Intersport entries in this class.  Things have been eerily quiet from these teams, long time supporters of the sport.

As always, regulations will weigh into the outcome of this race.  Besides the balancing of the diesels vs gasoline issues, there is also the balancing of 2011-spec vs 2010.  While it is a shame that these situations come into play in racing, it must be viewed as a necessary evil.  I just thank God I’m not an official sorting all of this out. 

Which brings us to LMP2…

Sebring boasts a four-car entry in the LMP2 class, but heading into the race, it appears as if things are not quite right.  Word is that the HPD motor is lacking in pace when compared to the others, such as the Judd and the Nissan.  If this is the case, it’s going to be a long race for Level 5 and their two new Lolas.

Early indications are that that there is even concern that the faster P2 cars may be slow enough down the straights that the GT(E) cars are catching them.  This could lead to a real mess for the race.

OAK Racing also has a car entered in P2 – a Judd Pescarolo, to go with similar pairings in the big class.  They seem on paper to be the most ready to go, but there have been times when the P2 class is simply a disaster, with cars not lasting the distance.  This one could simply be survival of the fittest or last one standing.

The final entry in the class is the Signatech Oreca Nissan. We’ll get to know this new team over the next few days.

The P2 class is the one that has the most question marks surrounding it – not just the individual entries, but the class as a whole.  My impression is, don’t judge this class by what happens at Sebring – wait a bit to see how this class fares before making a judgment.

Gary Horrocks