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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: Audi Paces Monday Sebring Test
Audi 1-2-3 on opening day of testing for Saturday's 60th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring...
Audi showed its dominant form on Monday at Sebring, but proved to not be completely indestructible following an accident between two of the three R18s. (Photo: John Dagys)
Audi Sport Team Joest led the opening day of testing, as FIA World Endurance Championship and American Le Mans Series teams gear up for Saturday’s 60th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
The German squad's trio of 2011-spec Audi R18 TDIs topped the time charts, with the No. 2 machine of Allan McNish leading the way with a 1:47.187 lap time, set during the eight hours of available track time Monday.
But it wasn’t a flawless day for the diesel brigade, as McNish’s co-driver Tom Kristensen made contact with the sister No. 3 entry of Romain Dumas in the afternoon session, damaging the left-front of the No. 2 car and the rear of Dumas’ entry.
Both cars, however, sustained only bodywork damage and returned to action in the matter of minutes. The incident brought out one of the numerous red flags seen over the course of the incident-filled day.
Defending Le Mans winners Benoit Treluyer, Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler wound up second in their No. 1 Audi, thanks to a 1:47.545 lap time, ahead of the No. 3 car that was more than one-second behind in third.
Quickest of the gasoline-powered cars, and the leading ALMS P1 entry, was the No. 6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03a of Klaus Graf, Lucas Luhr and Simon Pagenaud with a 1:50.231 lap time, just over three seconds slower than McNish’s best.
Rebellion Racing’s No. 12 Lola B11/60 Toyota of Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani and Nick Heidfeld was best of the gasoline-powered WEC entries, a further four-tenths behind the Muscle Milk ALMS entry.
In P2, Level 5 Motorsports topped the time charts overall, with the team’s No. 95 HPD ARX-03b of Ryan Hunter-Reay, Luis Diaz and Scott Tucker storming to a 1:52.055 in the afternoon session. It was nearly 1.5 seconds faster than than its sister No. 055 entry of Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa, which wound up second best on the day and also ahead of the nine-car WEC LMP2 pack.
OAK Racing’s Morgan-Judd LMP2 made an early impression in the WEC field, setting a 1:53.784 lap time to top its class. However, team owner Jacques Nicolet lost control of the car over the bumpy Turn 17 late in the morning, marking an early end of the day for the French squad.
Nicolet and co-drivers Olivier Pla and Matthieu Lahaye may be forced to sit out Tuesday’s testing as well, with the car having sustained extensive damage from the high-speed accident.
The GT ranks was led overall by the WEC-entered No. 59 Luxury Racing Ferrari F458 Italia of Fred Mako, Jaime Melo and JK Vernay, which reeled off a 2:00.830 lap time in the afternoon session.
Luxury’s Prancing Horse was 0.325 seconds faster than the ALMS class-leading No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long and Marco Holzer.
GTE-Am was also paced by Luxury Racing, with the French squad’s No. 58 machine led of Dominik Farnbacher turned a 202.893 lap time.
The two remaining ALMS categories were topped by Dempsey Racing (LMPC) and NGT Motorsport (GTC).
Monday’s test saw 61 of the 64 expected entries take to the 3.7-mile airfield circuit. While Starworks Motorsport’s new HPD ARX-03b ventured out for an installation lap, neither of the Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari F458 Italias nor the JRM Racing HPD ARX-03a set time.
Of note, Black Swan Racing’s Lola B11/80 Honda turned its first laps. Two-time GRAND-AM champion Jon Fogarty, Bret Curtis and team owner Tim Pappas shared the wheel of the ex-Level 5 machine today.
Two additional hours of testing is on tap for Tuesday, followed by the start of official practice on Thursday.
PHOTOS: Sebring Monday Testing Gallery
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
The German squad's trio of 2011-spec Audi R18 TDIs topped the time charts, with the No. 2 machine of Allan McNish leading the way with a 1:47.187 lap time, set during the eight hours of available track time Monday.
But it wasn’t a flawless day for the diesel brigade, as McNish’s co-driver Tom Kristensen made contact with the sister No. 3 entry of Romain Dumas in the afternoon session, damaging the left-front of the No. 2 car and the rear of Dumas’ entry.
Both cars, however, sustained only bodywork damage and returned to action in the matter of minutes. The incident brought out one of the numerous red flags seen over the course of the incident-filled day.
Defending Le Mans winners Benoit Treluyer, Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler wound up second in their No. 1 Audi, thanks to a 1:47.545 lap time, ahead of the No. 3 car that was more than one-second behind in third.
Quickest of the gasoline-powered cars, and the leading ALMS P1 entry, was the No. 6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03a of Klaus Graf, Lucas Luhr and Simon Pagenaud with a 1:50.231 lap time, just over three seconds slower than McNish’s best.
Rebellion Racing’s No. 12 Lola B11/60 Toyota of Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani and Nick Heidfeld was best of the gasoline-powered WEC entries, a further four-tenths behind the Muscle Milk ALMS entry.
In P2, Level 5 Motorsports topped the time charts overall, with the team’s No. 95 HPD ARX-03b of Ryan Hunter-Reay, Luis Diaz and Scott Tucker storming to a 1:52.055 in the afternoon session. It was nearly 1.5 seconds faster than than its sister No. 055 entry of Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa, which wound up second best on the day and also ahead of the nine-car WEC LMP2 pack.
OAK Racing’s Morgan-Judd LMP2 made an early impression in the WEC field, setting a 1:53.784 lap time to top its class. However, team owner Jacques Nicolet lost control of the car over the bumpy Turn 17 late in the morning, marking an early end of the day for the French squad.
Nicolet and co-drivers Olivier Pla and Matthieu Lahaye may be forced to sit out Tuesday’s testing as well, with the car having sustained extensive damage from the high-speed accident.
The GT ranks was led overall by the WEC-entered No. 59 Luxury Racing Ferrari F458 Italia of Fred Mako, Jaime Melo and JK Vernay, which reeled off a 2:00.830 lap time in the afternoon session.
Luxury’s Prancing Horse was 0.325 seconds faster than the ALMS class-leading No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long and Marco Holzer.
GTE-Am was also paced by Luxury Racing, with the French squad’s No. 58 machine led of Dominik Farnbacher turned a 202.893 lap time.
The two remaining ALMS categories were topped by Dempsey Racing (LMPC) and NGT Motorsport (GTC).
Monday’s test saw 61 of the 64 expected entries take to the 3.7-mile airfield circuit. While Starworks Motorsport’s new HPD ARX-03b ventured out for an installation lap, neither of the Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari F458 Italias nor the JRM Racing HPD ARX-03a set time.
Of note, Black Swan Racing’s Lola B11/80 Honda turned its first laps. Two-time GRAND-AM champion Jon Fogarty, Bret Curtis and team owner Tim Pappas shared the wheel of the ex-Level 5 machine today.
Two additional hours of testing is on tap for Tuesday, followed by the start of official practice on Thursday.
PHOTOS: Sebring Monday Testing Gallery
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
Monterey
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