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American LeMans
ALMS: Ask The Driver, Sebring
Email questions to drivers from Highcroft, Aston Martin, and Porsche during the race and we'll get you the answers.
SPEED Staff  |  Posted March 20, 2010   Sebring, FL
Jorg Bergmeister gets ready to climb aboard his No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche. (John Dagys)
Corvette Racing made an usual mistake in the pits as the No. 4 machine of Emmanuel Collard collided with the sister No. 3 ZR1 of Jan Magnussen. (John Dagys)

SPEEDtv.com brings you another exclusive for the 12 Hours of Sebring as we bring back the 'Ask the Driver' feature that last ran at the Rolex 24.

Email your questions to , and we'll post the replies here. Be sure to check back frequently.

In partnership with Patron Highcroft Racing and their drivers, 2009 Le Mans 24 Hour winner David Brabham, rising star Simon Pagenaud and 2009 Petit Le Mans winner, Marino Franchitti, the LMP1 champion team will answer your questions as they have time during today's race.

Aston Martin Racing, making their return to Sebring after a three-year absence, have made their LMP1 drivers, led by 2009 LMP2 champion Adrian Fernandez, along with Stefan Mucke and Harold Primat, available to reply to your questions when they are out of the car.

Finally, Porsche has brought us their entire driver roster to participate in the 'Ask the Driver' feature, so take your pick from the drivers at Flying Lizard, Falken, or any of the GTC entries to give you a direct response from pit lane.

Porsche has also made two of its sportscar legends, as Sebring, Daytona and Le Mans winner Hans Hermann, and the architect behind their 16 Le Mans wins, Norbert Singer, to answer your questions throughout the race.

As is to be expected, not every driver will be free or available -- some will be driving, eating or recharging their batteries during the race, but we will chase down as many answers as possible during the 12-hour event.

'Ask The the Driver' Responses:

Q: Ask Rob Dyson – Who is Joe Stimola?

Rob Dyson, Dyson Racing Team: I met Joe Stimola when I first started club racing. He was so observant of everybody who came into racing that we just became acquainted. He was running Formula Fords and Formula Atlantic cars out of his shop in Long Island. Over the years, it grew to be a very warm friendship. I remember after awhile, when I knew the folks at SCCA Racing, Joe and I would assist the tech inspectors. Instead of having the cars be rolled to tech inspection, Joe and I would team up and go to each car and inspect them.

After awhile, people almost applauded us when we showed up. He was very helpful to my son, Chris, when he was coming up and running the spec-racer Fords. Unbeknownst to me, he was instrumental in Chris' career. He was just a wonderful guy, very giving, very technically competent, a great racer and a great mentor to so many drivers. He had the same cancer that Jim Trueman had and they had it almost at the same time. Jim Trueman perished as a result of the cancer, but Joe hung on for 18 years longer. What ultimately failed was his heart, which in his case was very large. He was a wonderful guy and a great friend of Dyson Racing and my family, but a great friend of racing. He'll be missed.

Q: JR, It looked like a drop-throttle oversteer spin. Was the difference in corner speed between you and the Flying Lizard Porsche what caught you out?

JR Hildebrand, Genoa Racing: I was following a pair of GT cars and I don't know if I had pick-up on the tires or what, but as soon as I got on the gas pedal to get around them, I instantly lost it. [from ALMS race notes]

Q: What improvements have been made to the Robertson Racing Ford GT for the 2010 ALMS Season? is the Ford GT-R still under development or is something else going on with the team or the car, and if it is still under development what is the team expectation for the GT-R and how long in the future will the GT-R compete since Ford doesn't make the car anymore

David Robertson, Robertson Racing: The obvious improvements we've made are the rear wing – we've played around with a three-dimensional wing and we clearly have made it better than the original wing. Front splitter is another – we played with quite a few combinations of the wings and we're pretty happy with what we've got right now. We've played with the endplate and improved that. All this has been done by 'eyeball engineering' by pretty clever people. We'll get wind-tunnel time in June and see if we can tweak it some more. Reduction air is going to be the next horsepower gain; that's got to be our next focus.

I still believe the car has potential. We are working on all sorts of angles to get more sponsorship money into it. That car needs to go to Le Mans! And Ford needs to realize how important the car is to their heritage – GT40 was the high point of their whole racing life. If you built that car one year every decade and kept it abreast with modern technology, they would sell out by 3 o'clock in the afternoon the day you announced it. Somehow we have to persuade Ford to build them every now and then – people love them!

Q: Why do some of the cars have yellow head lights?

SPEEDtv.com's Sylvia Proudfoot: The GT cars have yellow headlights, prototype cars have white headlights. It helps the drivers recognize which class of car is behind them, so they can better judge closing speeds.

Q: Tommy, what kind of sim racing do you do to prepare for racing the BMW Rahal Letterman M3 in the ALMS?

Tommy Milner, BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team: Before I even got in a race car or go-kart, I was sim-racing in Sports Car GT. It was back in 1998. Ever since then, I've kept up with it. I have a nice little rig at home I use to practice with, whether it's for fun with friends with Need For Speed Shift, or to get a really good feel of a race track in a sim like iRacing. Before this race I was on my computer in iRacing running around in the Corvette just to get a feel for the track and get my hand back in the game. For me, it's a big part of learning new race tracks, but it also it gives you refresher going back to the ones you already know.

Q: I wanted to ask the Porsche drivers how difficult it is to drive through the highspeed corners like turn 1 or the last corner before it goes back to the start and finish straight with the engine in the back of the car. Does the car tend to oversteer a lot? Maybe more than the Ferraris? How do you handle this problem?

Paul Ritchie, Porsche Motorsport North America: Even though the engine is in the rear, the rest of the components are placed in such a manner that the weight is balanced throughout the chasis, including the placement of the second-heaviest component, the transmission. Other factors that offset the rear engine placement include suspension configuration and downforce.

Q: Since you guys are the defending GT class champions, who do you think is your greatest competition now that the Corvette team has run into complications? Is it BMW or Ferrari?

Patrick Long, Flying Lizard Motorsports: As you can see from the Sebring results so far, with our problems relating to the wheel/tire/pit stop complications, both the Ferraris and the BMWs are our greatest competition and they are all ahead of us. I have a feeling it will be like this at every race – some guys will have it their way and others will have bad luck, but everyone has a chance to win.

Q: In Your opinion, what is the strongest part in your team compared to other teams?

Wolf Henzler, Team Falken Tire: We are a new team, owned by a new tire company to ALMS – Falken Tire – so we have that spirit that makes us hungry for success. Our team management is keen on developing their race tires to compete with the more established brands, so they are willing to make the maximum effort to perform.

Q: Many Canadians would LOVE to see Mosport considered as a possibility for any Intercontinental Cup expansion in the future. Perhaps that’s a possibility given the track ownership, but how is the track viewed by a majority of the drivers? Could it be viewed as an international circuit again after almost 30 years since the World Sportscar Championship?

Ron Fellows, Corvette Racing: I think Mosport would be an awesome place to host an Intercontinental Cup race – it's a real race track! If you pool the guys in this pit lane, it's a race track that they respect. Le Mans is the same kind of a place. You've got to give it some respect or you're going to go off the road and hit something hard. It's fast, it's an old-school race track and I still love it myself. It would be more than able and capable of handling an international race. I would run!

Q: Butch, how does the GTC Porsche compare to the GTU Nissan 240 you won Sebring with years ago?

Butch Leitzinger, Alex Job Racing: It's very, very different. With the Nissan, we didn't have any power but we had a lot of grip. We had very big tires which produced a lot of mechanical grip. We had pretty big bodies that made a lot of downforce, too. We could get through the turns pretty well, but be slow on the straights. The GTC Porsche is the complete opposite. We're faster than GT2 cars on the straights and faster than the LMPC cars on the straight, but it's slower in the turns. It gives me a better appreciation for what they've been going through lately. Because I came up through GT, I thought I knew what they were going through. 'Why don't they just move over?' The reason is that because you're committed to that turn and if someone tries to cut you off in the turn, you're done. So you really have to plan ahead.

Q: I am puzzled as to why the Audi team is not participating today? Also, I thought that I heard Peugeot and Audi are going to have a race of their own tomorrow. Is that to take place there or somewhere else?

SPEEDtv.com's John Dagys: Audi has been rooted in a political scuffle with arch rival Peugeot. Initially, Audi had asked for special dispensation to run an evolutionary model of its diesel-powered Audi R15 TDI after its 2009-spec prototype was deemed illegal by the ACO for this year. Approval had to be given by all LMP1 teams competing at Sebring, but Peugeot didn’t budge. In an ironic turn of events, Audi’s 2010-spec “R15 Plus” has been testing in Florida this weekend and will take part in a five-day test at Sebring after the 12-Hours, electing to still forgo the race despite having a fully 2010 ACO legal prototype. Peugeot will also be at the test on Monday and Tuesday.

Q: When you get to the middle of a stint, what goes through your mind? Is it a matter of staying out of trouble and keeping the car healthy or do you run as hard as possible to try and pick up positions?

Marino Franchitti, Patron Highcroft Racing: I take each lap on its own and just take it one lap at a time. The key is trying to deal with whatever traffic you have. You end up living in the moment and don't think too far ahead, especially here in a Twelve-hour race at Sebring.

Q: Wie lange fährst Du eigentlich auf Bewährung? Wann sind die Auflagen nicht mehr erfüllt?

Jörg Bergmeister, Flying Lizard Motorsports: Nach unserer Beruehrung beim Saisonfinale 2009 in Laguna Seca fahren sowohl Jan Magnussen in der Corvette, als auch ich, fuer zwei rennen unter Bewaehrung. Also hier in Sebring und beim zweiten Rennen in Long Beach.

(In English: Bergmeister and Corvette driver Jan Magnussen were both put on probation for two races – this one here at Sebring and the next event on April 17 at Long Beach. Once they are not involved in any incidents at the two events, their probation will be over.)

Q: I know that ALMS runs the leader light system, but I have noticed a single green light on the rear of some cars, what are they? Also what are the lights for that are around the air intake of some of the prototypes, such as the blue light on the Patron Highcroft car.

SPEEDtv.com's Sylvia Proudfoot: The green lights identify Challenge class cars, both prototype and GT. The cars in those classes do not carry leader lights. The blue light on the Patron Highcroft car is an identifier to help the team spot their car on track or in pit lane.

Q: Having Raced Here for so long , would they ever repave the track, or it it used for other things during off season?

Ken Breslauer, Sebring International Raceway: The track is busy almost every day of the year, with private testing, club racing, corporate events, product introductions, commercial filming. About 350 days a year it's an active track. We will never pave the front stretch – that's our yard of bricks, like Indy – it will always be concrete. The rest of the track periodically gets paved.

Q: Was it difficult your first time(or every time) at Sebring to find any landmarks or points of reference besides the brake markers?

Clint Field, Intersport Racing: Every time you come to a track, everything is going to be different. The markers are always in a different spot; they switch from practice to testing to race; they switch from the cones to the boards. It changes all the time, so I think realistically as a driver – especially a sports-car driver – you've got to really learn to adapt to where the car is. I'm looking for reference points on the track, rather than signs or trees. When it turns to dark, it's easier because you already know [the references] – it's repetitious, it's the same every time you go through a corner.

Q: First, what is the maximum amount of time a driver may spend at the wheel during his turn to drive? And second, how long must a driver wait until he is again allowed to drive?

SPEEDtv.com's John Dagys: A Driver may not drive more than eight hours total in the race and may not drive for more than four hours in any six hour period.

Q: With sequential gearboxes, does heel and toe still come into play, or do you left foot brake like F1 drivers with their paddle shifters?

Andy Wallace, Genoa Racing: On any of the prototypes, you change gear with paddles on the steering wheel. You still have a clutch pedal just to leave the pits – you leave the pits as per normal. Once you get going, whenever you need a gear you just pull the right paddle. When you want to go down a gear, you just brake and pull the left paddle and it ultimately blips for you. When you drive a GT car with a sequential, then you really do need to blip because all you're doing is you're banging the gear down, you're not actually blipping the throttle. Some people drive without the clutch and don't it with a blip, but it does have a tendency to lock the rear wheels. I prefer to blip if I'm in a sequential.

Q: I noticed that most of the cars are still using the old monochrome LCDs for the driver information displays. Why haven't the teams moved to the better automotive-grade color LCDs, which would offer the drivers color coded information and higher contrast, thus much easier for them to see and quickly understand the data being displayed?

Rick Mayer, race engineer, Risi Competizione: In our car, the LCD is color. In the past, they probably didn't use color because it was more expensive, but it's so cheap now. I think most of the teams use color LCDs. It's a $600,000 race car – what's the [price] difference between a color monitor and a black-and-white one?

Q: I noticed that Team Panoz does not have an entry there. What are the plans for the team(if they have any) and what will we see of them in the future?

SPEEDtv.com's John Dagys: Panoz Team PTG, which scored a podium finish here last year with its Panoz Esperante, is not competing here this weekend. However, team owner Tom Milner is here this weekend and told dailysportscar.com's Gary Horrocks that his team has plans to return. When and with what kind of car, remains unknown at this time.

Q: What part of a driver's shift in the 12 hours is more stress on a drivers mentality; jumping into a race with no warm-up or finishing the final laps at the end of the shift?

Johannes van Overbeek, Extreme Speed Motorsports: It depends on your position. If you’re on the pole, there’s always more pressure. If you’re at the end of the race and you’re going for podium spots and you’re hunting them down, that’s pressure to. If you start last of if you’re on a lap by yourself, there’s no pressure.

Q: What is the stall test that the BMW failed?

Joey Hand, BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team: They stick two plungers in the intake where the restrictors are and those seal off the restrictors. The engine is supposed to stall – that means there are no air leaks. If the engine continues to run, there's some air coming in from somewhere else. It's a pass/fail. It's not a usual-case scenario for us to have something like that happen. This BMW Rahal Letterman Team, they're always so prepared. They come out of the trailer better than anybody I've ever seen. It's just something that we take, we move on. The good thing is that we've had a great race car. Right now we're running third and fourth, four hours in. A lot of stuff could still happen – we could be first, we could be last.

Q: Does Falken get a special exception to use their tires? Or can anyone run tires other than Michelin?

Wolf Henzler, Team Falken Tire: ALMS and IMSA really welcome every car manufacturer and tire manufacturer. It shows a good competition. It means every car manufacturer or tire manufacturer has to work very hard to be the best. I'm with Falken and we are in the beginning of the process, we are starting all this from zero. Michelin has been in for many, many years. So for a team that just started, we did a very good qualifying and we did a very good start today in the race. Right now, we try to keep our pace and see where we end up. We need to learn about the tires – we already learned a lot this week and for sure we will learn more in 12 hours.

Q: Are the BMW's really slow or are they just holding back until later? I hope they are just holding back, because I'd really be disappointed. They are my favorite cars.

Tommy Milner, BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team: We're second and third right now, so we're in a good spot. The Ferrari in front is definitely running a quicker race so far, but it's 12 hours, so really being quick right now is not our priority. GT2 is so close, we have to be quick, we can't hold back too much, but we definitely have a bit more in the bank. Hopefully, we'll be in contention at the end of the race and then we'll really go for it at the end.

Q: Adrian, we were wondering what some of the differences are between the LMP1 Aston Martin that you're driving today and the LMP2 Acura that you drove for the last few years (in terms of handling, speed, comfort, etc.).

Adrian Fernandez, Aston Martin Racing: The Aston Martin is more powerful, but it’s heavier. So the corners are more difficult in the Aston, but on the straight, it’s very sweet because of the extra power. The rush of the extra power on the straight is amazing.

Q: How does the P2 car feel through the corners compared to your P1 car from last year? I imagine the P2 car is easier in hairpins?

Marino Franchitti, Patron Highcroft Racing: We have less weight, which makes the car fragile. As the cars are slightly smaller, they're more efficient aerodynamically, so generally we're a little bit quicker in the high-speed corners and the slow-speed corners. Where the P1s have the advantage is accelerating off and their speed down the straight, whereas everywhere else, the P2 is fantastic.

Q: How does it feel driving the Aston Martin LMP1 car compared to the DBR9 GT1 car?

Stefan Mucke, Aston Martin Racing:You can’t really compare them. It’s like saying the LMP1 car is like an Aston Martin road car and the DBR9 is like a 17-ton bus! The DBR9 is really good fun to drive, but it’s heavier, softer, slower than the LMP1. It also has less downforce. They’re two very different cars but I love driving both.

Q: I do lube shop equipment installs as a trade. At the end of the day my hands and feet throb and I cramp up from mid back up. What parts of the body bother the driver the most during a race and do the spots differ between the different classes?

Alyson Kimball, Racing Therapy: The neck is probably the worst spot, especially if it's a tougher track, just from the G-force in the helmet. If the seat doesn't fit the driver right, they can have problems with the deltoid, neck and shoulder muscles. Also, if they're getting shifted around a lot in the car, their glutes and the ITB [iliotibial band] will be affected and they can get throbs and numbness in their legs. The physical issues are the same whether they're driving prototypes or GT cars, but there are more complaints on the prototype side because the cars are harder to drive and there is more force on the body.

Q: I noticed your top speeds are about the same as the GT2 cars when you get to the long straight, does that get aggravating that you get stalled by the GT2 cars? I also saw the Risi Ferrari and the lead Flying Lizard pull out to take a draft of the Cytosport car, do you think your P2 cars should be running about 170-175 mph instead of the 165 you guys are currently running?

Klaus Graf, Muscle Milk Team Cytosport: Absolutely, it's a struggle with the GT2 cars. It's okay because usually we come so much quicker out of the corners, but sometimes you can get caught up in situations where you're not quite there and you're lacking a little bit of extra power. But this is a 12-hour race, so you just have to be a little bit more patient than you would wish to be. At the end of the day, it's the LMP driver responsibility to make it work. But I think [more speed] would be safer, yes.

Q: Are there any plans in the future to include any other marques in the GT Challenge class? There are other turnkey racers available at a reasonable price. The Ford Mustang FR500s comes to mind.

SPEEDtv.com's John Dagys: Good question! Right now, GTC is only open to different variations of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car (Patron GT3 Challenge, World Challenge and GRAND-AM-spec), but the Series has not ruled out the addition of other GT3-spec cars in the future. The Audi R8 LMS has been one of most heavily talked about models, but at this time, there are no immediate plans. The earliest additional marques could be added to GTC would be in 2011.

Q: What is the greatest challenge when competing at a track like Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca?

Jorg Bergmeister, Flying Lizard Motorsports: It’s probably the sand that gets thrown onto the track. When someone in front of you goes a little off, a lot of sand gets on the track. It’s sometimes very surprising when you’re coming up on you. It makes it very challenging.

Q: Is it less distracting to race at night than in the daylight? How well lit is the track?

David Brabham, Patron Highcroft Racing: There's quite a big difference around here between the day and the night. The lighting is okay, it's adequate, but we'd certainly like more in a few more places. It takes awhile for the brain to adjust. Once you're in the rhythm, it's fine, but sometimes it takes a few laps to get into that rhythm. In some ways it's more distracting at night, but your focus is even higher.

Q: How is the suspension set up differently for this very rough track?

Sascha Maassen, Muscle Milk Team Cytosport:At Sebring, with all the bumps, we definitely have to set up the car a little bit softer than we would do on a track like Road America or Road Atlanta, just to be able to keep the tires more compliant to the road and keep them on the ground for longer. But apart from that, everything is similar.

Q: I watch Le Mans and F1 and in F1 they are making it so that they don't have to refuel during the race. Is Le Mans considering that?

Tracy Krohn, Risi Competizione: ALMS is not considering doing the same thing at this point in time. We have so many different fuel types that that would make it very difficult. Besides that, I think everybody enjoys the idea of having pitstops for fuel. You need a little bit of time to get the driver in and out, so the fuel time allows for that.

Q: I was wondering what can be done during refuelling in the pits. I notice that nobody changes tires but I also noticed a window being cleaned. Is the rule no work during refueling or just no mechanical work during refueling?

Steve Johnston, fueler, Extreme Speed Motorsports: During refueling, the crew can clean the windshield, lights and mirrors. Driver assistance can be done during refueling. Nobody else is allowed to touch the car until the fueling has been completed. After that, it's as fast as you can go!

Q: Is there going to be a LMP1 class after Sebring going into Long Beach? It seems that all LMP1 cars are LMS cars.

SPEEDtv.com's John Dagys: LMP1 and LMP2 will be combined into a single LMP class starting at Long Beach. Sebring and the season-ending Petit Le Mans are run to ACO rules and therefore can't be in a combined category. For more information, Click Here.

Q: What are your feelings about the Miller Motorsports complex you will be visiting later this year? If you have been there before how would you compare it to other venues?

David Murry: Miller is a very unique place. Larry Miller had a vision when he built this track, and you don't realize just how nice it is until you're looking around. It's so vast, it's so huge. It's really wonderful to have the garages and walk right out to pit lane. I like racing there, too. It's very hard to hurt your car. There are places like Long Beach where you get the walls, but at Miller you have some freedom to explore a little bit. The surface is a little different – it's pretty abrasive for us – so the tire choice is just another challenge. It's nice and wide, and it's big enough that we don't have to worry about traffic. We can find our own way and have a good race with our own class.

Jörg Bergmeister: I like Miller; it's a great track. We had probably the best run there all last season, we were very dominant in qualifying and also in the race. It's pretty similar to the tracks we have in Europe. It's very fast, especially the first part of the track, and fairly smooth. There are some sections that have some bumps, but in general it's a pretty smooth track. It's a lot of fun!

Guy Smith: It's a great facility. It's one of the newest facilities in America, so it's pretty much state-of-the-art. It's got a great pit complex and it's probably one of the most challenging circuits that we race in this year. It's got a real mix of high-speed corners, tricky corners, blind corners, just a bit of everything. We really love going there; it's always provided great racing and it's definitely a lot of fun.



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