ILMC/ALMS, Twelve Hours Of Sebring
Qualifying Quotes

Stephane Sarrazin (#8-LMP1 Peugeot 908) -  “We arrived here with new car and new rules so it was hard for us this week. We have been improving the balance of the car. Things were much better in qualifying than free practice because of the traffic. I did my lap without a mistake and it was very good. We waited four minutes after the session started to go out in order to let things thin out. It worked very well. With the new rules it is very difficult with all the traffic. It was easier to overtake in the older car because we had more power. It is very hard to get through because we can lose 10 seconds a lap at times. That will be the toughest part of the race. This is a test for Le Mans for us. The target is to finish the race with our car. We have had a few problems with a new car but that is normal. In practice I never had a clean lap, and I don’t think anyone else did either.”

Soheil Ayari (#26-LMP2 Oreca 03 Nissan) - “Our car is obviously very good. It is a brand new car and we have done the maximum in testing. I drove the ORECA LMP1 car last year in Europe, and we have found a very good setup with good balance. The Nissan engine works very well and has good power.”

Dane Cameron (#036-LMPC Oreca FLM09) – “Qualifying was extremely tight but that’s that’s fun about a spec class. It was a pleasure for me to qualify it. Ryan Dalziel and his team will be extremely strong. No one has an advantage or disadvantage when it comes to driver lineups. It will be fun with the traffic but hopefully we can stay out of it. The only other time I’ve been at Sebring was pole position in 2007 with Star Mazda. The biggest difference is the weight and downforce on this car. This is a fantastic package and it’s fun for me to drive. Coming from driving single-seaters, it’s fun for me to come back from racing primarily GT cars to prototypes with the downforce.”

Richard Lietz (#63-GTE-AM Porsche 911 GT3 RSR) – “For me, it’s the fourth time I’m here and first for my teammates. We had no time to test because of the LMS test in Europe. It is quite hard for them to learn the track. There is a chance for us to be on the podium but the race will be quite hard. The tires were the best early and when there was no traffic. Gianluca went out immediately and did a 2:11 on his first ever lap, which was very good. You have to risk a little bit more at this track than others, and it’s hard to improve without taking risks.”

Gianmaria Bruni (#51-GT Ferrari F430) – “Today was a very good day. We knew we had a good car. I missed the Monday test because I was testing at Paul Ricard. I’m also expecting a daughter in the next few days and was hoping she would come before I left. After the free practices, everything looked like a nightmare; we would put new tires on and would have a red flag. I like all the Ferraris but the F458 is newer so it is more fun. But we do have much more data on the F430 which has been racing here since 2006. To start the season, for sure the F430 will be fast. At the moment we are happy where we are but I do expect the F458 to come along quickly. The team received a F458 the night before testing at Paul Ricard. There was no time to get it ready and ship it to Sebring. It was tight enough getting the F430 here.”

Leh Keen (#023-GTC Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) – “The car was totaled yesterday. We went to a whole new chassis and the guys took everyone off that and put it on the new car last night. The guys at AJR did a fantastic job. The track conditions were getting worse and worse as it got warmer. We’re glad to be out front in a field of many. It will be interesting to see how things work out with traffic last year. I do love Sebring. One of the things is that Greg Fordhal, our engineer, knows how to make a Porsche 911 run around here. Alex has been so successful in ALMS over the years and they’ve done another great job.”

Joerg Bergmeister (#045-GT Porsche 911 RSR) – “We’ve only worked on our race set up to this point.  We made a change for qualifying and I think we went too far as I had quite a bit of oversteer.  We were good this morning but we’ve been chasing the track since then.  Qualifying was our first laps on low fuel and new tires.  It will be a better race car than a qualifying car.”

Oliver Gavin (#04-GT Corvette ZR1) – “Qualifying wet quite well.  I’m happy with second.  You always want to win the pole, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out.  There was a bit of gamesmanship on the part of one of the slower Ferraris out there.  Just as my tires were coming on – well, I won’t say he was blocking me, but he made it difficult to get around him.  Then the other Ferrari got a wheel off and dusted the track in front of me.  That’s to be expected in the race and you just have to deal with it.  I’m really comfortable with the car for the race.  We know the track well and how it changes through the race.”

Klaus Graf (#06-LMP1 Aston Martin Lola B08 62) – “We are the fastest of the petrol cars, so I’m happy with that.  The track was not perfect and I made a little mistake, but it was the same for everyone.  On my last lap I got caught in slower traffic and had to abandon that run, but all in all it was a very good result.”

Romain Dumas (#1-LMP1 Audi R15++/TDI) – “It was a good one.  I think the pace was good.  We had a little problem in the last practice so we made a little gamble in set up for qualifying.  I still think we can make some gains in the chassis – for sure not one full second though.  This was my first ever qualifying attempt with Audi and I wish it could have been a pole winner.  Still, I’m happy with the result.”

Chris Dyson (#016-LMP1 Lola B09 86 Mazda) – “We are not blindingly fast, but I think it’s the best we can do.  I wish we were higher on the grid, but the laptime was right on what our simulation predicted we could do.  We’re playing with the hand dealt to us with the current regulations.  This week is our first running with the definitive 2011 wing, so we’ve been playing a little catch up.  We want to run a clean, trouble free race.  We want to keep our championship competitor, Muscle Milk in our sights.  This is a 10-point bonus race and those points are really hard to make up during the year.”

Ryan Dalziel (#005-LMPC Oreca FLM09) – “I’m a little disappointed with not getting pole as the car has been quick all week.  This is the best car we’ve had – its easy to drive and we don’t need to touch it for the race.  We need a clean race and good driver changes.  I think we are one of the few cars that have not put a wheel in the grass all week.”

Johnny Mowlem (#038-LMPC Oreca FLM09) – “Qualifying was not good.  I got stuck with a car that got shunted in the previous session and it was not quite right and not a good indicator of our real pace.”

Olivier Beretta (#04-GT Corvette ZR1) – "I started well and the car was good.  Then after I caught some traffic, I slowed a little and never got back up to maximum speed. It's a long race tomorrow, and it will be hot for sure. We will try to stay out of trouble and get to the finish in the position that we want."

Jaime Melo (#062-Ferrari 458 Italia) - “I didn’t have any problems with the car or with traffic, and I’m pretty pleased with the outcome as I think we did the max we could today for qualifying.  I am completely confident that we have a very good car now for the race, and I think it will handle even better with a full fuel load.  I went out straight away at the start of the session and found some space, and gave it my best.

“The F458 is such a new car.  The Risi team only got it a few days before coming here to Sebring.  The guys have had a lot of work to do all week to make it comfortable for us and also to make it comfortable on the track.  I think we’ve now found a good balance and both Mika and Toni will also be happy with it for the race.”

Neel Jani (#12 Toyota Lola B10/60 Coupe) “I am happy with the qualifying. We were on a kind of ‘‘defensive mode’’ in terms of tyres, and set-up. We could have challenged to be the fastest petrol car on the grid, if we had chosen a more agressive strategy. The car is set up for the race, great to drive and comfortable. I am really happy with the collaboration with the TMG engineers, they are really focused with us on getting the best result.”

Loïc Duval (#10 LMP1 Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP) - “Having the fastest time in practice gave us a good boost. That said, when you look at the week as a whole, we are on par with what we expected.  We reached our first goal. There was little traffic: we managed it well and could have gained a few tenths, but it wouldn’t have changed much. Peugeot has a new car and Audi have a huge amount of experience here. Our car is well balanced and the handling has evolved a lot since Tuesday. We’ve reacted well and we’re in the game.”

Bryce Miller (#048 GT Porsche GT3 RSR) – “I actually feel really good about our direction, we keep moving forward.  We took late delivery of this car and then we had a fire here at the winter test, which cost us preparation time as well, but the team has still done a fantastic job of preparing a reliable car for this race and that's really the most important thing.”

"It's a new car to our team and it's a new tire to our team. We are continuing to learn more and more every session. We chose to use qualifying today as a test session, so we made a lot of changes before qualifying. I think it really paid off, but now we have to adjust the tire pressures to accommodate the different setup. Tomorrow, I think we will have a better car. I was quite pleased with the out lap and the first few laps before the temperatures and the pressures grew. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Bruno Junqueira (#099 GT Jaguar XKR) - "I was very happy with my qualifying lap, it was not a perfect lap and we have shown that we can go quicker.  I hope that we can have a good race; I know that starting positions are not that important in a 12 hour race. I thought that we could have been at least a half of second faster, but we are just getting used to our new tires so I think there is more speed to come in the Jaguar RSR XKR GT. Finishing the race will be important for Jaguar, the drivers, and the team to get some mileage and knowledge about the car."