From Silverstone 2000 To Sebring 2008
Martin Little’s ALMS Story
These Are The Good Old Days
© Martin Little Martin’s is a new name to dailysportscar – but not an entirely new one as regards ALMS events, as you’ll see below. It was appropriate that he should support our 56th Mobil 1 Sebring 12 Hours coverage, while simultaneously performing another role at the track: perhaps you met him around the paddock or circuit? Over to you Martin. In May 2000 a fledgling American Le Mans Series crossed the Atlantic to settle briefly at Silverstone, delivering a quality of sportscar racing Britain had not seen for years. In an unprecedented display of fervour, I was moved to write to Autosport magazine, my sole distant vote of support somehow hoping to be heard by the authorities. I needn’t have worried. It seems plenty of others shared the same excitement for the event and, in a week where little seemed to be happening to warrant big headlines in F1, that race drew plenty of media attention. My efforts even won ‘Letter of the Week’ status (in edited form) in the following week’s magazine. I’m still waiting for the prize to turn up... Dear Sir,
Though not usually the sort to write to your magazine, I feel particularly compelled to pass public comment upon an exceptional event last weekend. As a race-starved top level sportscar fan it was an absolute joy to witness the ALMS event at Silverstone last Saturday evening. Not since the Group C glory days of the '80s has this country seen such close competition between rival manufacturers and well matched privateers.
Le Mans aside, this was simply the best Sportscar race Europe has seen in years. Don Panoz' gritty commitment to this category is paying off where the FIA appears to have better things to do. The balance is right: blistering pace, lead changes, pit strategy and overtaking in abundance, from the explosive opening driver stints right through to an action packed final 10 laps as the leading cars scrambled over fuel strategy and reliability problems. Seeing the gutsy little privateer Rafanelli Lola spearhead the factory Audis, and BMWs flat-out through Copse and Becketts was not only the essence of this category but a much needed tonic for those of us still awaiting our annual French fix. Thank you, Mr. Panoz - may you go from strength to strength.
More please. Soon.
Yours, Martin Little  |
Pause for eight years. The annual spectacle of Le Mans comes and goes, the ELMS / LMES / LMS series seems to have more name changes than actual events, and FIA GT simmers quietly in the background. Throughout this time the ripples from the ALMS continue to be felt across the pond, with gathering intensity as prototype and endurance racing in general finds itself in a new golden age. Despite this, however, the ALMS chooses to stay at home. Thankfully, those of us with satellite TV are spoilt for ALMS race coverage these days. But there’s a point where there is just no substitute for actually being there. And where better to be than at Sebring, the inaugural race of the year? Watch the race; see the Penske RS Spyders (at last); catch some sunshine... I had no idea what my first trip was to consist of. The internet is a wonderful thing, and after several emails selling my dubious potential, I am kindly invited by those wonderful yet sadly rather gullible, chaps at dailysportscar to join their team at the event. Hardly believing my luck, and only £300 later, I am booked on a flight. The deal is that I will spread the word about DSC and pick up news from the paddock throughout the weekend. “Got a fire suit?” asks Editor Malcolm Cracknell. Of course I have... “Good. You can cover the pitlane too.” A full Press Pass and pits access...does life get any better? Better buy a race suit.  Having found our accommodation in the middle of the night, a beautiful dawn breaks lazily to reveal the flatlands of the local Florida countryside.
An hour or so south of Orlando, the area is fairly sparsely populated, the straight roads to Sebring International Raceway lined mostly by orange groves, in a simple statement of the region’s laid back, sunny disposition. Suddenly we are greeted by the circuit itself, the shimmer of its stark white concrete runways in the early morning sun punctuated occasionally by the iconic bridges that have graced several decades of race photography. I have finally arrived at one of the world’s greatest racetracks, and it’s an emotional moment. The DSC team of Malcolm Cracknell, Gary Horrocks, Janos Wimpffen, Robin Thompson, Martin Spetz and Regis Lefebure, carries an almost intimidating wealth of knowledge and experience. We’re also joined by esteemed British motorsport journalist Ian Wagstaff, who is working here with Zytek Engineering. Add Paco The Wonder Dog, whose Sebring predictions have been well documented elsewhere on this website, and I am in fine company to take on the event. The recently built Media Centre at Sebring sits directly above the pit lane, adding air-conditioned, soundproofed comfort to a fabulous outlook across the start/finish straight and over the infield campsites. Well appointed for TV monitors, timing screens, clean toilets and fresh coffee, this is to be my home for the next three days. It’s a far cry from Camping Bleu. That said, the unmistakable tones of John Hindhaugh’s Radio Le Mans commentary provide a warming, if not slightly bizarre, twist of familiarity. In what seems like no time I get the view I have waited years for – 2008’s grid of ALMS machinery is moving slowly down pit road in front of me, before taking to the track in anger for the day’s first laps of free practice. Not all these cars have made it over to Europe yet, and as a long time armchair spectator of the ALMS, the feeling of excitement is hard to describe. It’s a little bit like finally seeing Hollywood movie stars in the flesh, having watched all their films. At Sebring there is also a sense of things taking their natural course, teams returning to their natural habitat after a winter of hibernation and development. But mostly the atmosphere is charged with anticipation: Audi has committed for another year (including Europe) and the Peugeot looks focused and hungry over Sebring’s punishing runway. And that’s just LMP1...  |
Each individual car looks and sounds magnificent against its sun-bathed Floridian backdrop, as I venture out to view the exit of the final curve, Turn 17. Here you get a true sense of just how Sebring earns its reputation as a car breaker. A huge bump slams every car’s acceleration; engine and transmission audibly kicking against the impact, the 911 GT2 entrants all lifting a right-front wheel in a unified gesture of protest. Only the Audi R10s take it in their Panzer-like stride.  Things don’t get any worse for me at this point. As a DSC Sebring newcomer, I am delighted to be afforded a passenger lap of the circuit courtesy of the organisers. My chauffeur is ex-US tin-top campaigner Scott Hughes, now part of the ALMS PR team as part of their Vitesse track experience programme. With yours truly wearing a smile as wide as the entry to Turn 1, Scott hustles our Porsche 997 GT3 round the 3.7 mile circuit just in time for the next LMP practice session. The guy isn’t even trying, but we carry enough speed to start to appreciate the relentless, rugged track surface and hard braking zones that make up Sebring’s unique challenge. The other thing you realise is just how much variation in track width occurs – the entry point to Turns 3 / 4 and 10 are an incredibly tight target, even at our speed.
Down to work, then. Our British Consulate is Drayson-Barwell Motorsport; a true-Brit privateer effort taking on GT2 with a car that is clearly punching above its weight (or should that be below its weight?), yet showing gutsy potential at this early stage of their DBRS9’s GT2 development. Aided by Dale White (of Petersen White Lightning experience), the future looks promising. I am introduced to Dale and Team Manager Mark Lemmer, who welcome me to the team’s trailer, where Tim Sugden and Jonny Cocker are analysing in-car footage of a hot lap from the morning’s session. This is my first real experience of this intimate environment, lifting the veil on a form of motorsport I have loved from a distance since childhood. Mark and his guys are focused professionals and our discussion makes me increasingly aware of how much of a business the sport actually is. I feel privileged, very apprehensive, and tread carefully. Thursday’s night practice session brings me to the pits for the first time. “Just get comfortable and get a few driver comments”, I’m advised. Feeling a little sheepish (these guys are heroes after all), I decide to pick on someone shorter than me. At only 5’7” this was going to be difficult... but, hang on... here comes Pedro Lamy, just out of the car. Somebody’s got to be first! The perfect gentleman, Pedro entertains my fairly basic questioning before shaking my hand and moving on to something better looking and/or more interesting. This could quite easily have become the blueprint for my weekend: however I hang in there and am delighted at how approachable the guys in this series really are. Ryan Briscoe, for example, is a young gun with a huge career ahead of him. Totally friendly and very down to earth, I would doubt his inevitable success would change him. Similarly, Marino Franchitti revelled at the challenge of Sebring and the season ahead with the Dyson Porsche without much prompting. It was great to hook up with him again at the podium celebration on Saturday night. Among many others, I also had an interesting conversation with Timo Bernhard (below, ahead of Marino), but more of that later. The Sebring meeting is intensive. In contrast to the comparatively leisurely calendar of Le Mans week, the five-day schedule is crammed with activity from other support categories. The first thing you notice is how much free practice is allocated, the combined LMP and GT classes getting between seven and eight hours each, before a frantic 25 minute qualifying session on Thursday afternoon. This is then followed by another one hour’s practice on Friday morning. The ALMS claims to exist ‘For The Fans’ and no more evident is this than on Friday lunchtime, when an open paddock autograph signing session is scheduled. Unlike other race series, attendance is mandatory for all drivers and there seem to be genuine smiles all round. It’s around this time on Friday that the crowds start to swell, turning the Sebring infield into a huge party zone. To get a feel for this, I am advised to check out the Green Park zone, but not after dark (people die in there apparently). There are comparisons that can be made with Le Mans, not least the campsite’s portable toilets, which are identical. I suspect they may even be the actual French units shipped over with Peugeot for a similar shakedown test in preparation for their full-on 24 hour campaign in June.... Any Le Mans veteran will have seen (and probably built) some proud ‘home from home statements’ at his favourite event. Shelters, car ports, sofas, viewing platforms, swimming pools, inflatable livestock, football pitches, showroom dummies, slot car racing, London buses, etc. are regular features. However, the cornucopia of creativity we call Camping Maison Blanche pales into insignificance compared to what one sees at Sebring. The organiser’s Guest Guide clearly states ‘No scaffolding over 6 feet’. This is taken as something of a challenge by many race fans, erecting glorious structures that would not only require planning approval in most parts of the western world, but would probably be given awards for architectural excellence afterwards. No more prevalent are these than at the run up to Sebring’s famous Turn 10, a favourite overtaking point, notorious for hard braking and hard drinking in equal measure. I am particularly impressed with the inclusion of a fish tank at the 300m board, complete with aerator and lighting. I even find an on-site welder, complete with mobile workshop, helping make structural dreams reality. Sorry boys, they got us beat. Among the other notable differences with Le Mans is the widespread presence of women (Good Lord, steady on!), most of whom are having a lot of fun and happy to show it. Suffice to say the combination of alcohol and silicone here can be quite entertaining. This is a family website. The indigenous Corvette presence also remains strong. I have never seen so many of these wonderful machines assembled in one place. Walking around the campsites I get talking to Rick, who is keen to show off his heavily modified C6. When fired up, the exhaust note sounds simply awesome. Though I don’t get quite as excited about it as he does (see second photo, below). The temporary population of Planet Sebring includes a loyal and informed ALMS fan base, but it naturally attracts a broader crowd. Some folk just drift in for the party and have little idea of what’s going on in the race. It is a magnet for the bizarre. To illustrate this I am saddened to discover that, despite medical advances elsewhere in the farming world, an advanced strain of CJD (‘Mad Cow Disease’) has remained unchecked in this part of the US. Those poor guys; is there no hope? Send what you can. Saturday is race day, which thankfully dawns dry, but with fairly strong winds. The previous evening it rained hard, which played havoc with the support programme. With little or no drainage, and limited run-off, Sebring is a cruel mistress in the wet. The on-track events of this year’s 12 Hours of Sebring are well covered elsewhere by DSC, but gathering some of this information gives me a unique insight to this series and its sense of community. Everyone is more or less approachable and willing to contribute to the all-round success of the event, even under pressure and in the face of adversity. A pit lane reporter has a difficult job, and the next time you think to yourself you could do better, think again. It’s about being in the right place at the right time, reading the situation, exercising appropriate judgement and being able to create leading, engaging and intelligent questions. Well, that’s the theory. As I am about to discover... Oddly, the main event starts at 10:05 (why the five minutes?) and we settle into the cramped conditions of the media centre for the start of the race. It’s a strange thing, travelling half way across the world to sit and watch TV. The fact is though, that despite the endless stream of race updates and team press releases, in terms of real-time race action the broadcast media is the only way to keep up. As the race itself gets underway the media engine fires up and goes into overdrive, turning as fervently as any equipment circulating out on track. It’s a component of the big ALMS machine.  |
The race settles after the first round of pit stops and it’s time for me to go to work. An FIA Spec Nomex race suit is not the most sensible thing to wear in Florida at the best of times, and emerging from the air-conditioned cocoon of the media centre you soon realise just how hot and humid it really is in the pits. No wonder these guys look so slim. Sadly, Ben Devlin and Gerardo Bonilla didn’t make the race in the BK Mazda, so that’s one friendly port of call out of play. Then I share some of the emotions at the Drayson-Barwell pit as their gritty effort is concluded early - quickly communicated to the pit wall by the chief mechanic’s sharp swipe of an index finger across his throat. Recovering against the rear pit wall, Tim Sugden looks on in disbelief, sweating profusely after a hard stint, and I grab a comment. Paul Drayson sits disconsolately in the car. It’s over, but we’re British and we swallow it. It’s a case of getting stuck in and seeing what comments I can solicit at the sharp end of the race order. Sebring’s reputation for attrition is maintained, this extending to yours truly as I frequently dash from pit lane to paddock and back again to cover the unfolding mechanical drama. Oliver Gavin’s stricken Corvette takes a new half-shaft, as the #6 Penske Porsche awaits the reckoning of its distinguished team principal. Both are turned around and sent back out. The spirited Peugeot charge that promised so much is sadly halted as the 908 is wheeled in with hydraulics problems. 20 minutes later it’s driven through the surrounding media scrum, back out for what will now be an extended test run. Then, out at Turn 10, we are deprived of a potential repeat of last year’s breathtaking GT2 finish, as the #62 Risi Ferrari slams into Dirk Werner’s 911 in a random move. The race still under yellow, I decide it’s time for an Audi update following a contentious incident involving Dindo (Dingo) Capello earlier in the race. Approaching the Audi Sport pit you are left under no illusion as to just how professional an operation they run, with all the trappings of F1 style presence. Fortunately, their drivers are more approachable and I catch the glance of Allan McNish, who I have to confess is one of my sportscar heroes. Deep breath; in we go.  |
In addition to being a prodigious talent behind the wheel, Allan’s brain is as sharp as you’ll find anywhere in the pit lane. A consummate professional, I believe he sensed my rookie apprehension and helped me with some good technical comment I could feed back to my team. I had no intention of troubling him again unless I had to, and I think this came across. I was just pleased to have shared a shaky professional moment with a driver I have followed for years. However, my Audi induction wasn’t about to end there. I arrive back at the Media Centre ten minutes later, the caution period still running (it’s been nearly an hour). One of my colleagues remarks, “Hey, that Audi’s in again – that’s unscheduled. Can you get back down there and find out what’s going on?” On my way back to Audi – at the far end of the pitlane I should add – I bump into the lovely Dineen, a fellow pit lane reporter from the ALMS crew. Explaining the situation she offers to introduce me to a friendly Audi race engineer who can probably give me the news. I meet the burly guy in team overalls and pose the question. He says to me in a broad German accent, “Actually, I think this man here can give you the answer.” I am thrust in front of Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, a towering presence in motor sport, mastermind of the entire Audi Sport programme. A tactical brain that has, until recently, pulverised all opposition. For years. And whose trophy cabinet at home creaks under the weight of more Le Mans silverware than is reasonable in a normal lifetime. The sportscar world’s supreme being is now about to address the cerebral challenge of Martin Little of Essex, England. Me having crossed the border into German territory, Dr. Ullrich raises himself from the comfort of his chair by the timing screens and looks at me as if to say “Where are your papers?!” I introduce myself, repeating the question about the #1 car having stopped again. The Audi supremo looks down at me and frowns; “We have two cars in the race. We choose to have a different strategy for each car.” Realising the inevitability of the situation I am starting to physically shrink. It was clearly a stupid question and I am not worthy... but I keep digging. He re-iterates, “One of them has just pitted out of sequence to keep it on a different strategy. This is normal. This is what we do in this racing.” I know. Of course, I know... I have only followed endurance racing for 30 odd years... I thank him for his time and get the hell out, cursing myself and my colleagues upstairs. As I leave Stalag Audi I catch the aforementioned Dineen who exclaims, “ You owe me a beer for that one!” “No.” I reply, “ I owe you a kick up the ass.” Unknown to me at the time, just minutes earlier Dr. Ullrich had received a condemnation from the race organisers for an earlier infringement by one of his cars. It was a heavy-handed blow to the start of his season. A dumb question couldn’t have been worse timed.  It hasn’t been quite the classic we hoped for, but a nevertheless fascinating race reaches an exciting climax, as only an ALMS event can, and I find myself perfectly poised at the Penske pit as their #7 Porsche crosses the line for overall victory. I share the excitement and celebration of the moment right there in the pit box, immediately finding Emmanuel Collard about as animated as I think the Parisian is able to get, and am grateful for his quiet and charming winner’s comments. As we finish talking I’m delighted to be recognised and approached by an ecstatic Timo Bernhard, starting his ALMS campaign in the best possible fashion. We’ve spoken earlier in the week, and he reminds me of his comments: “We always said we never had the pace to beat the Audis here, but would run our own race and see where it takes us.”
That seems to wrap things up nicely for me. The American Le Mans Series is a big travelling circus. As someone put it, “When we move on we leave a circle on the ground.” The mark the ALMS has left on me is rather more permanent. | 
