Under picture perfect, almost postcard like settings, the first official practice session kicked off for the 62nd annual Sebring 12 hour race. The wind is up a bit and some natives may find the temperature to be a bit on the chilly side, but compared to most of the rest of the country, sunshine, blue skies and a projected high temperature of 70 degrees is almost heaven.
The large entry has been going through a state of flux , as has been detailed elsewhere. Now that cars are on track, maybe the changes can either slow, or hopefully come to a stop completely.
In the hour-long session, it was Oswaldo Negri pushng the pace early in the Shank Ford Riley. His 1:55.176 was the best time, almost 15 minutes into the session. Then Scott Pruett, running a similar package (Ford Riley) easily topped that time, getting down to a 1:54.072. Then Scott Dixon pushed even further – 1:53.701. Better get the computer simulations going – it is a Ford Riley 1-2-3. When will the whining start?
The fastest P2 spec car thus far has been Alex Brundle in the Oreca Nissan – a 1:55.301, which was then surpassed by Lucas Luhr in the Muscle Milk Oreca Nissan, in which he was able to turn a 1:55.172.
Pit lane has been a busy place, but when you have 60 plus cars on track, there is a high likelihood that we’ll be seeing lots of activity in the pits. The learning curve continues for Starworks, as early in the session the Riley HPD spent some quality time with the crew – engine cover off – just getting acquainted I guess.
Before the new BOP has a chance for the ink to dry, order is restored, as Joao Barbosa is into the 1:53 range. In fact his time was the best at the half way point – a 1:53.404.
In GTLM, its situation normal – all bunched up. Led by the Corvettes, Milner over Garcia, the top 6 in class are all within a second of each other. Thus far, the Vipers are down the order, but that will likely change – this is only practice after all. As it stands half way through the session, the Corvettes are up .3 seconds over the rest, led by the newly repaired/rebuilt Risi Ferrari.
The brand new Falken Porsche led the session very early on but dropped a little down the order as the session progressed – a great start to the new programme though.
The #911 Porsche meanwhile joined the session late after spending more quality time with the crew behind the wall.
As the session progresses, the pit lane becomes less active and the time on track become more serious. Both Scott Dixon and Brundle get into the 1:52s, DP over the P2, but the times are close. Thus far the top of the charts show a nice balance of sorts – well done thus far, technical team.
In PC, Jon Bennett is shown as the fastest of the entries, showing the CORE still has their game face on. The 1:55.382 is actually identical to the best time thus far for the N0. 2 ESM HPD. There is a feeling that there may be something wrong with this time for CORE – it is 1.3 seconds faster than any other in the class. Hmmm???
GTD is a huge class, and early on it was first the #73 Porsche, and then Henrique Cisneros leading the way in the NGT MOMO Porsche, but in the later parts of the session, it was James Davidson bringing the 007 Aston to the top time in 25 plus car class.
With 36 minutes running in the session, Matteo Malucelli vaulted into the top spot in GTLM. His 1:59.394 was the first (and at the end of the session the only) of the class competitors to break the 2-minute barrier.
Gary Horrocks
