0Bobby @ LG Motorsports

Winter Test, Sebring - Day One
Sessions 2 & 3







The second session of the day started with the usual cast of characters.
The two-hour long session was again pretty uneventful, but in a good way,
and this allowed us to get caught up with some of those involved and find
out what is going on.

First of all, there is no tech for this test. The teams are allowed to be
running at whatever spec they want - if they want to be running to a
non-legal spec, they'll only be fooling themselves.

Testing of the new Acura P1 cars was limited in the second session. This
was due to an issue with the power steering on the cars. It appears that
among the various items being tested on the cars are the mufflers. The
sound of the cars appears to be reaching the legal "sound barrier" here at
the track. The Highcroft car was especially "snarly" on full song.

In the third session, Simon Pagenaud shut the car down as he headed down
the front straight. An odd sound was heard, followed by obvious backing
off and the application of brakes. The car was seen back on track quite
soon afterwards, so whatever the issue was, it was not too serious.

Darren Law, back with the Lizards again and not quite so fresh after his
win at Daytona, was ready to get at it here in the new Porsche. "It was
quite a win. It feels really good to have won, but I'm pretty tired. We
really pushed it hard to get that win - I may look like I'm tired from the
partying, but I really didn't celebrate all that much - I was just too
tired." He didn't have the watch on him to show off though. Maybe later.

Jorg Bergmeister, who also won at Daytona again, commented about his
watch. "My wife is getting this one. She told me as I was leaving to
bring her home a watch. I told her that it's not that easy! But it was
this year, as the car ran flawlessly. It was perfect for the entire race.
So, this one is hers." (On the new car) "With the regulations changing,
the car is completely different; you can't really compare it to last year.
Mainly the ride height is the big change and I can really feel that in
the way it drives."

Johannes van Overbeek hadn't got into the car yet, but was anxious to do
so. He did say that most of the changes to the car were subtle and
evolutionary of nature. "The changes are in response to the new
regulations for 2009. The majority of them are the new regulations
concerning air-conditioning and the mandated "gurney" on the rear wing."

The Porsche features what appears to be a Plexiglas partition separating
the front from the rear of the cockpit. This allows less area to have to
be cooled. There are also some vents in the partition that are opened or
closed, depending on the cockpit temperature. The previous regulations
only required that a certain cockpit temperature had to be met - the new
regs mandate air-conditioning.

Seth Neiman said that, "this car ('09 997) is clearly different than last
year. We are not getting the feedback that we expected. Porsche tighten
up the aerodynamic package, which is good, but when the aero is changed,
everything changes. It'll be fast when we get done with it."

Leading the times in the GT2 class in the morning session was the
Robertson Doran Ford GT. Dick Barbour said, "The car has been constantly
developed since we got it. In fact it was our crew that actually built
the car at the Doran shop. I'm quite happy with the progress that we have
made with the car and I think it's a possible winner, given the right
conditions. David (Murry) turned a 2:04 on worn tires, which compares
favorably to the race pace here. Bolt on some Michelin tires and develop
the car to them and you never know where it could be. Working with the
Robertsons has been quite a pleasant experience - they're good people and
the series needs more people like them; and David has been a good coach
and target for them to strive for." A problem with the rear diffuser
sidelined the car for part of the session, and it was seen back on track
minus the damaged part.

Andrea Robertson continued, "Our plan is to do the full season this year
and compete at every race. We are really excited about that, as we have
paid our dues starting with the Panoz and last year with this car.
Everyone on the team is much more confident and comfortable with the car
this year. Last year we got the car so late that I think we only had a
total of nine minutes track time before the race meeting started. The car
was still good, but we did have some issues. Before the race though my
stomach was turning, we had no time to set up or develop the car prior to
the race. And that really set us behind for the whole season. But we
have made great progress, with the car, as a team, and as drivers. We
tested here a few weeks ago and it went well but the car was dancing a bit
too much over the bumps. It's much calmer here today, so we are pretty
happy with the car so far. My personal goal for this race is to be no
more than five to six seconds off David Murray's pace. I got within three
seconds of his time at the Petit and was pretty happy about that. The
GT-R is a great car, I love driving it."

Adrian Fernandez, "Our goal this year is to be more consistent. We had
too many mechanical breakdowns last season. We have been working hard and
making changes internally to improve on that. There is really no new
development on this car as it was pretty well developed last year. We are
just working with the regulation changes; 50 kilos in added weight,
smaller air inlet and taller gurney flap, trying to make it as quick as we
can. The car is definitely slower, and it feels heavier to drive. The
regulation changes are unfortunate as there was some really good racing
last year. Also we would like to get Michele Jourdain as much seat time
as possible so he can feel comfortable in the car."

Tom Milner explained that the Panoz for this year is a continuation of the
improvements that he has been making. "We have some more engine
developments coming soon. We're continuing with the in-house developments
and expect more improvements to come. This test is mainly for tire
development with Yokohama. I do feel that with the development and with
the regulation changes which have increased the minimum weight, we should
be in better shape than we were last year. As far as drivers are
concerned, Dominic (Farnbacher) most likely will be with us, but that is
not for sure and the others have not been settled yet either."

Bill Auberlen, impatiently awaiting his turn behind the wheel of the BMW
said, "This is the brand new car here today, and it will be my first time
in it. I did drive the test car and it was virtually identical to this
one. Right now we are just trying to get all the drivers through the car
and then we will start work on it. We need to find the tire that this car
works best on. But so far no issues. "

Tom Milner - who did get into the car - found it to be, "Very much a BMW.
Even though it was my first time in the car, I found that I could go 100%
and feel comfortable."

As for the GT2s class, it was confirmed that this sub-class is no more.
The BMW is indeed homologated to ACO GT2 spec.

The single Farnbacher-Loles Porsche was seen in pit lane right at the end
of the second session and did make it out on track in the third session.


Note: The #46 time was recorded by TBA on the official scoring sheets at
the track. It has and will not be announced who specifically is in the
cars in each session, but finally TBA can be counted as somebody. Gives
you a warm feeling inside, doesn't it?

Third session times:

#66 Acura 1:45.053
#15 Acura 1:49.100
#9 Acura 1:52.603
#46 Porsche 2:03.158
#45 Porsche 2:04.370
#28 Corvette 2:04.646
#92 BMW 2:04.841
#87 Porsche 2:04.988
#40 Ford GT 2:09.990

The Highcroft Acura came out late in the session with Dario Franchitti at
the wheel. He got in two recorded laps.
GH & RW

burners

Cool, it's good to see that at least you aren't way slow on your times compared to others at the moment. I know things are going to change a lot but not bad. I like the new nose and splitter. It is much better looking than the old one.