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American LeMans
ALMS: 10 Questions With Gunnar Jeannette
Sportscar veteran talks about his family team’s step up to the Series in LMPC.
John Dagys  |  Posted March 04, 2010   Chicago, IL
Gunnar Jeannette last competed in the Series full-time in 2006 for Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz. (LAT)
Car counts in the American Le Mans Series have been on the rise, thanks in part to the launch of two cost-effective Challenge categories for 2010. Green Earth Team Gunnar is one of the half-dozen teams joining the Series in the new LMP Challenge category.

The Kevin Jeannette-owned squad, which was last seen in ALMS competition in 2002, steps up for a full-season program with son Gunnar and historics veteran Christian Zugel behind the wheel of the G-Oil-sponsored ORECA FLM09. Elton Julian will join the duo for the long-distance races at Sebring and Petit Le Mans.

For 27-year-old Gunnar, 2010 marks his return to the Series since driving for Corsa Motorsports two years ago. The former Panoz factory driver boasts experience in a variety of LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes, including the Panoz LMP01, Courage C65 and Zytek 07S.

We caught up with Gunnar prior to the season-opener to get his take on the new program and the LMPC formula. It’s all a part of the latest installment of “10 Questions.”

DAGYS: After years in historics and previous ‘one-off’ races in sportscar series, what brought Gunnar Racing to the ALMS and with a LMPC program?

JEANNETTE: When the LMPC announcement was made, we all kind of knew what the car was from they’d been doing with it in Europe, although we weren’t following it too closely. Christian Zugel, who we’ve been racing in historics with, wanted to move up and do something different.

This fit the bill perfectly. Christian has a few Porsche 962s and we’ve campaigned them in the last couple of years. He has a Rothmans car and a Bob Akin Coca-Cola car. This car for him was the absolute perfect fit because he’s moving from a high-downforce car into another high-downforce car. With what the series is doing in terms of costs, it just made perfect sense.

DAGYS: How long has this program been in the works?

JEANNETTE: We purchased the car that first day of the ALMS LMPC test at Road Atlanta in October. They had a check in hand pretty much from the moment I stepped out of the car.

DAGYS: The team took delivery of the car two weeks prior to the Sebring Winter Test, but wasn’t been able to turn a wheel until the official test due to a class-wide testing freeze. Was that frustrating in ways?

JEANNETTE: We obviously would have liked to have gotten the car a little bit sooner. Unfortunately it was eight weeks late from the expected delivery time. But in saying that, the car has run absolutely flawless so far. We had a couple of minor issues, which any car would have at Sebring. Knock on wood, it’s been super reliable.

DAGYS: How does the car compare to other prototypes you’ve driven, notably the Courage C65, which comes from the same pedigree?
Jeanette says the team's ORECA FLM09 ran without any major problems during the Series two-day test. (John Dagys)

JEANNETTE: It is very similar. The only time I really drove the Courage was at Le Mans, which is always different than everywhere else because of low-downforce setup. The last prototype I drove was the Zytek at Petit Le Mans in 2008 and that car obviously has a bunch more downforce and power.

But the ORECA FLM09 is just a fantastic car. You’re left wanting a little more power-wise, though. And with the mufflers on it, you actually can’t hear it over fourth gear, which makes it a little bit weird. I know how the Audi guys feel now!

DAGYS: Do you have to take a different approach when stepping into the LMPC?

JEANNETTE: A little bit. The aggressiveness is a little different because the power is so low, you have to drive a little cleaner. But every car has a different kind of driving style, so you just have to figure it out. It’s very much a real prototype.

DAGYS: How has the experience been with the various suppliers and technical partners involved with the new LMPC formula

JEANNETTE: I can’t say how nice enough about how nice it is being on Michelins. It’s a big part of what makes a program attractive to the teams and owners. In some of the other series, the tires that they mandate you run are just horrible. And they don’t put any effort into it because everyone has to have the same tire.

That’s not the case with Michelin. With Michelin, the customer tires are as good, if not better in some respects, than the technical partner team tires in P1/P2 and GT2. We pretty much ran the entire day last Monday on one set of tires. They were just as quick throughout the day, too. From a cost-effectiveness and overall standpoint, they’re just great.

DAGYS: Is there a back-story to the team’s name, Green Earth Team Gunnar?

JEANNETTE: We’re sponsored by Green Earth Technologies, which makes G-Oil, a bio-based engine oil. It uses animal fat instead of petroleum. It works very well and is amazing stuff. We ran it in some of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge cars last year. From everything we’ve found, it outperforms Mobil 1 and Joe Gibbs [oil]. Being the official motor oil of the series, they wanted a car in the ALMS.

The team name basically came about because Green Earth Team Gunnar - GETG - is the stock symbol for Green Earth Technologies. So it’s kind of a cool link-up there.

DAGYS: As a driver, how does it feel to be back in a full-time ride, going for a season-long championship again?

JEANNETTE: I’m super excited. I couldn't be any more excited to be part of the ALMS. Last Monday was almost like a homecoming, having been involved with Panoz for all of those years. I just feel like this is where I belong and it’s absolutely wonderful to be back.
Jeannette teams with Christian Zugel in the nine-round championship. (John Dagys)

DAGYS: Will this be Christian’s first foray into endurance racing?

JEANNETTE: Actually, no. I met Christian at the 2007 Rolex 24 at Daytona, so he already has some great endurance racing experience. He does a good job, and while he won’t be on the ultimate pro-driver pace, we expect him to be at a good gentleman driver pace. It will be a great combination.

DAGYS:- Many people may not know the background of Gunnar Racing. Can you tell us a little about the organization?

JEANNETTE: Our team here doesn’t do the pro racing stuff all that much, but Mark Shomann is the crew chief and lead engineer. He’s been doing this since the Dyson 962 days and was more recently had been running the second Risi Ferrari. So he’s very familiar with how things go and a very integral part of the team.

Being based in South Florida, there’s a lot of good guys floating around, from ex-Champion and Audi Sport North America, etc. So we’ve got a mixture of guys from all over the place. But the core group of the team, my dad and Mark, have been really good friends since the ‘80s. Everyone else that has come in has either been working at the shop with our restorations. It’s a good mix of people. We can’t wait for the season to start!

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