IndyCar and Indy 500 champion Scott Dixon put the De Ferran Acura on the pole with a lap of 1:45.278, beating out Audi R15 driver Tom Kristensen’s 1:45.360 in an and the third-place Peugeot of Christian Klien, who ran 1:45.462. The Acuras’ success is quite a surprise; the cars had been running a second or more slower than their competitors all last week.
Acura scored in LMP2 also, as Adrian Fernandez captured the class pole in the Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b, beating out the Dyson Racing Mazda Lola B09/86 coupes.
Acura Enters P1 to Do Battle With the Giants
Audi has been the most successful factory road-racing team for the past decade. Peugeot had been the only marque to challenge Audi. Now Acura has now stepped up to compete with the giants of the sport at the highest level of the most technologically advanced series in sports car racing.
Because Acura does not market diesels in its commercial line, the company decided to go with what it knows—a small, lightweight, highly efficient normally aspirated powerplant. The Acura uses a 4-liter motor, significantly smaller and lighter than its competitors. Acura designed its P1 to have more grip for better braking and higher-speed cornering, to compensate for the power it gives away to the big turbodiesels.
Audi has a brand new 5.5-liter V10 turbo diesel—next generation of its R8 and R10 TDI cars which have dominated sports car racing for the past decade. The pioneer of P1 racing diesels, Audi has always had more power, and more torque, than all its competitors, plus the engineering power and deep pockets of the Audi factory as an advantage.
Peugeot has put two years of refinement into the latest version of its 908, the HDi, also with a 5.5-liter turbo diesel—consistently fastest, but inconsistent, in the past. Peugeot believes its latest model will be more stable, more durable, and still the fastest car on the track. While its competitors are developing brand new designs, Peugeot is racing a proven vehicle. In endurance racing, predictable performance trumps peak performance, and Peugeot has a proven quantity.
28-Car Field
28 cars will compete in four classes at Sebring this year.
Two private teams, Autocon and Intersport, will run Lola B06/10s powered by AER engines in P1.
P2 champion Porsche has decided not to return to ALMS this year. There will be privately campaigned RS Spyders, but no factory cars. Acura is represented in P2 by the lone ARX-01b of Fernandez racing.
Dyson Racing brings its brand new Mazda Lolas, powered by a turbocharged two-liter four-cylinder AER motor.
Last year’s GT1 champs, Corvette Racing ran the fastest lap in class at1:57.882 in its Corvette C6-R, while Porsche factory driver Wolf Henzler, now driving for Farnbacher-Loles, put the team’s Porsche 997 GT3 RSR on the GT2 pole.
GT2 hosts a variety of makes and models from Panoz, Doran Ford, Ferrari, Dodge Viper and Aston Martin.
The American Le Mans Series will kick off its eleventh season with the 57th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, on Saturday, March 21. The event will mark the one-hundredth race for the American le Mans Series.
The American Le Mans Series will celebrate its 100th race and open its 11th season with the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 21.
For ticket information, visit http://www.sebringraceway.com/12hr_tickets.lasso
