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Le Mans / ALMS
ALMS: Petit Le Mans Notebook
News and notes from the eve of the 15th annual Petit Le Mans...
Dario and Marino Franchitti are sharing the wheel of the No. 055 Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b with team owner Scott Tucker this weekend. (Photo: John Dagys)
CORVETTE C7.R CONFIRMED FOR 2014 — Newly crowned ALMS GT champions Corvette Racing announced Thursday that plans are in place to debut its new-generation GT race car, the Corvette C7.R, in 2014. The production model will be revealed on Jan. 13, the Sunday before the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Despite last week’s announcement that the FIA and ACO plan to create a single GT category, involving the merging of GTE and GT3 formulas, by as early as 2015, Corvette is pushing ahead with a car homologated for the current ACO GTE platform.
"We're continuing on in the GTE class, hoping that it fits the new formal one-series, one GT [category]," said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. "To me, this racing is the best sports car racing in the world. So why change the format right now?
“All the manufacturers are game for this and are in it and the competition is right there. Any one of five or six manufacturers can win the race. We're hoping that it stays the same."
DARIO ADJUSTING TO P2 LIFE — One of the highest-profile additions to this year’s Petit Le Mans grid is none other than Dario Franchitti, who has joined his brother Marino and Level 5 Motorsports team owner Scott Tucker in No. 055 HPD ARX-03bs for Saturday’s 1,000-mile/10-hour enduro.
The four-time IndyCar Series and three-time Indy 500 champion makes his first ALMS start in three years, having previously driven former iterations of the Acura/HPD ARX-01 chassis, which was fitted with Honda’s 3.4-liter V8 powerplant.
In fact, Dario was part of the winning team in the 2007 Twelve Hours of Sebring, which saw Andretti Green Racing take a second place overall finish, and P2 class win, in the manufacturers’ debut race.
“The chassis itself feels similar [to the Acura P1 and P2 cars],” Dario explained. “The engine is obviously different. I’d love to have the old engine back! It was a nice little motor but we’re making the best of what we have available.
“The Level 5 guys have done a great job developing this package. I’ve tried to do this race twice with the Highcroft boys and didn’t get in one year then drove 10 to 20 laps in the wet and mostly under yellow the next year. I’d really like the opportunity to get a lot of race laps this year.”
DELTAWING BACK ON TRACK — Following a miraculous overnight rebuild due to a monstrous accident in testing Wednesday, the Nissan DeltaWing returned to action Thursday evening, with both Gunnar Jeannette and Lucas Ordonez turning laps in the night.
On Friday, Jeannette qualified the experimental prototype 10th overall, and less than one-second off the P2 pole-sitting lap. While the car will have to start from the rear of the field due to its unclassified status, the car has shown encouraging speed all week long, with the goal clearly to finish the 1,000 mile marathon tomorrow.
“We're solidly in the mid-pack of the P2 field which is where we expected to be and I'm very pleased with the car,” Jeannette said. "It is nice and safe - it doesn't have the ultimate qualifying lap set-up on it but for a race car over 10 hours it is going to be very comfortable for Lucas and I.”
Check out a time-lapse video of the repair work performed by the crew Wednesday night and into Thursday morning to get the car back on track.
Despite last week’s announcement that the FIA and ACO plan to create a single GT category, involving the merging of GTE and GT3 formulas, by as early as 2015, Corvette is pushing ahead with a car homologated for the current ACO GTE platform.
"We're continuing on in the GTE class, hoping that it fits the new formal one-series, one GT [category]," said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. "To me, this racing is the best sports car racing in the world. So why change the format right now?
“All the manufacturers are game for this and are in it and the competition is right there. Any one of five or six manufacturers can win the race. We're hoping that it stays the same."
DARIO ADJUSTING TO P2 LIFE — One of the highest-profile additions to this year’s Petit Le Mans grid is none other than Dario Franchitti, who has joined his brother Marino and Level 5 Motorsports team owner Scott Tucker in No. 055 HPD ARX-03bs for Saturday’s 1,000-mile/10-hour enduro.
The four-time IndyCar Series and three-time Indy 500 champion makes his first ALMS start in three years, having previously driven former iterations of the Acura/HPD ARX-01 chassis, which was fitted with Honda’s 3.4-liter V8 powerplant.
In fact, Dario was part of the winning team in the 2007 Twelve Hours of Sebring, which saw Andretti Green Racing take a second place overall finish, and P2 class win, in the manufacturers’ debut race.
“The chassis itself feels similar [to the Acura P1 and P2 cars],” Dario explained. “The engine is obviously different. I’d love to have the old engine back! It was a nice little motor but we’re making the best of what we have available.
“The Level 5 guys have done a great job developing this package. I’ve tried to do this race twice with the Highcroft boys and didn’t get in one year then drove 10 to 20 laps in the wet and mostly under yellow the next year. I’d really like the opportunity to get a lot of race laps this year.”
DELTAWING BACK ON TRACK — Following a miraculous overnight rebuild due to a monstrous accident in testing Wednesday, the Nissan DeltaWing returned to action Thursday evening, with both Gunnar Jeannette and Lucas Ordonez turning laps in the night.
On Friday, Jeannette qualified the experimental prototype 10th overall, and less than one-second off the P2 pole-sitting lap. While the car will have to start from the rear of the field due to its unclassified status, the car has shown encouraging speed all week long, with the goal clearly to finish the 1,000 mile marathon tomorrow.
“We're solidly in the mid-pack of the P2 field which is where we expected to be and I'm very pleased with the car,” Jeannette said. "It is nice and safe - it doesn't have the ultimate qualifying lap set-up on it but for a race car over 10 hours it is going to be very comfortable for Lucas and I.”
Check out a time-lapse video of the repair work performed by the crew Wednesday night and into Thursday morning to get the car back on track.
Monterey
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