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ALMS: Petit Le Mans Thursday Notebook
Written by: John Dagys   
09/24/2009
Braselton, GA
 
Highcroft Acura Destroyed In Horrific Accident

Scott Sharp is one lucky driver. The Patron Highcroft Racing ace was the victim of one of the worst accidents in recent memory when his Acura ARX-02a clipped a GT2 Porsche at the exit of Turn 1, sending Sharp for a very wild and scary airborne ride sideways into the Turn 3 catch fence. The car rolled three times before finally coming to rest right side up.

It was one of the most violent accidents I've ever seen, reminiscent to Stephane Ortelli's end-over-end crash in the ORECA-Courage at Monza in 2008. (John Dagys) » More Photos
 Sharp quickly climbed from the car uninjured to the delight of very concerned onlookers, but his Acura ARX-02a was in much worse shape. The accident ripped away massive amounts of bodywork, suspension and drivetrain pieces plus three of the wheels. Two flatbed wreckers were required to take the remains back to the team’s paddock tent, including one truck just for miscellaneous parts. Over 100 feet of catch fence was also damaged in the incident, which put a 45-minute delay on the rest of the day's track activities.

“I really don’t know what happened,” Sharp said. “I was heading up the hill in sixth gear and felt a hit in the right rear. The wheel arches are very high with the wide front tires on the Acura - I didn’t see a thing – only felt the contact. I knew it was a big one and I am just really grateful to Acura and all the boys at Patrón Highcroft Racing for building such a strong car.

“I’m shattered for Duncan, all the guys, Brabs and Dario. We went through this last year and I can’t believe it’s happened again. I was just thinking to myself how much I like this place when next thing I’m headed upside down with a mouth full of Georgia clay.” 

With no spare tub on-site, prospects for the LMP1 championship leaders to make the grid initially looked grim. However, Highcroft was in luck, as a spare Acura ARX-02a monocoque from HPD’s headquarters in Santa Clarita, Calif. will be flown in tonight. Team owner Duncan Dayton has hired a private air charter to transport the tub so that it arrives by 7 a.m. at Hartfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta tomorrow morning. The team will then transport the tub to their Road Atlanta paddock area for construction of a new car beginning at 9 a.m., with the goal of making warmup on Saturday morning.

It almost looked like an airplane crash with the near-endless amounts of carbon fibre and shattered components that were taken back to the team's paddock. (John Dagys) » More Photos
 “The most important thing is the fact that Scotty was able to walk away,” Dayton said. “Cars can be rebuilt, but looking at the amount of dirt covering the top of his helmet we are just grateful he is fine. The guys are getting stuck into the car now, and we will do whatever it takes to get the car back together.

"Unfortunately, we suffered a similar set-back last year but the guys are not getting down, they are ready to work through the night. Our thanks go to all the guys at Acura, HPD and Wirth Research – that crash looked like an airplane accident and it is a credit to the those guys that Scott was able to walk away after that.” 

As Dayton mentioned, Sharp suffered a crash here last year in the very same practice session. While that accident was not as severe, it did also require the team to work around the clock and build in building its then-Acura ARX-01b up around a new tub. Deja vu all over again?

IMSA Allows Bio-Butanol, Dyson Racing Announcement Imminent

Dyson Racing and Mazda are expected to announce tomorrow that its No. 16 Lola B09/86 Mazda MZR-R will run on bio-butanol this weekend. IMSA laid the groundwork this morning when it released a technical bulletin allowing the use of this alternative fuel.

With the No. 16 Dyson Lola-Mazda out of the championship hunt, it makes sense for the team to try out a new fuel, which could be put into use full-time use in 2010. (John Dagys) » More Photos
 “In accordance with 32.6.1 of the ALMS SSR the following fuel is approved for use for the remainder of the 2009 ALMS season. Use of this fuel will result in the car running the event unclassified. The car shall not compete in qualifying and shall start the race from the rear of the field. No points or prize monies shall be awarded.”

Unable to score points or qualify, the Chris Dyson and Guy Smith-driven machine has been labeled as an “unclassified” car from this afternoon’s practice session onwards. As I understand it, only a small mixture (10-15 percent) of butanol is used with gasoline to create the blend.

We’ll have much more on this development in Friday's notebook.

RSR Unveils Jaguar XKR

Paul Gentilozzi took
the wraps off his new Jaguar XKR Thursday, but the RSR team owner said the new GT2 contender will not compete here this weekend as originally planned.

Instead, Gentilozzi named Scott Pruett and Marc Goossens as drivers, and Yokohama as its tire partner during the press unveiling. The 550 hp V8 Jaguar is now expected to debut at the season-ending Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with Gentilozzi and Goossens behind the wheel.

Gentilozzi said the car is now fully homologated after a failed first attempt, in which the team apparently built the chassis to IMSA’s now-defunct GT2S regulations.

“It was an interesting process,” Gentilozzi said of homologating the car to ACO specification. “The first car we built was outside of the intention of the ACO, so we had to build another car. We initially read the rules differently than they did. After meeting with the IMSA officials and the ACO, we realized we were out of the rules. In the end, they were right. We were just too aggressive.”

The car has yet to turn a lap but is expected on-track for a demonstration run tomorrow. A full testing program will begin prior to Laguna Seca and will run through the off-season with all three drivers at the wheel.

Gentilozzi has plans for a two-car program and could build up to three additional customer cars for the start of the 2010 season. The selling price hasn’t yet been determined, but Gentilozzi said an interested team will be coming to their first test in Michigan next week to get a first-hand look of the new GT2 contender.

RSR's Jaguar XKR was unveiled for the first time during a media luncheon on Thursday. (John Dagys) » More Photos
 RSR also plans to submit two entry requests for next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. If awarded a position or two on the 55-car grid, it will mark Gentilozzi’s third start at Circuit de La Sarthe as a driver, after a third place class finish in 1994, and a run in a Ferrari 333SP two years later.

His two drivers, Pruett and Goossens, have plenty of Le Mans experience to their credit, and are both eager to get on-track program rolling. Pruett’s main priorities will remain in Grand-Am for 2010, meaning he’ll only in the XKR when on non-conflicting race weekends.

“Paul and I had been friends for a lot of years,” Pruett explained. “We raced together as competitors in 2003 when I won the Trans-Am championship with Jaguar. My heritage with Jaguar goes back a long way. In 1991, we won the Daytona 24 Hours together with Tom Wakinshaw. Paul was talking about doing this program for GT2 and asked me if I’d be interested and I said absolutely! We’re excited to be a part of it. Today was my first time to see the car since early on. I’m anxious to get going.”

Goossens was called in to help develop and race the car for this season, turning into a perfect fit for the veteran Belgian driver.

“I’ve obviously driven a lot of different GT cars and have been involved in a lot of new car development programs,” Goossens said. “On the other side, there’s this mutual respect between Scott and myself. We’ve always fought hard against each other on the track. There’s a lot of respect going both ways. If someone asked me who my favorite co-driver is, I would say it’s someone like Scott. I think there’s a few ingredients that made it happen.”

Scott Pruett gets his first glimpse of the Jaguar XKR. (John Dagys) » More Photos
 Gentilozzi also hinted at the possibility of having a few Brits in the cars at some point, and had a casual discussion with one particular Formula One driver and British motorsports icon.

“I ran into Nigel [Mansell] at Le Mans this year,” Gentilozzi explained. “We had known each other from the Champ Car days. He was excited to be hearing about what I’m doing, and I said, ‘Well you should come race with us!’ He pushed his wife aside and said, ‘I’d love to. Are you serious?’

“When we were in Trans-Am, Nigel always wanted to come drive our Trans-Am car. He said he’d like to come back and race with his son. They’d like to race in the U.S. We’ve had a talk, but we haven’t talked any more. We’ll see.”



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