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| Photo: John Dagys |
Although all the classes at the 2011 running of the 12 Hours of Sebring are set to have fantastic battles and story lines, GT provides by far the most depth and the most manufacturer involvement. For the past couple seasons, the American Le Mans Series's GT class has provided a competitive, proving ground for manufacturers to show off their latest production models. The last few seasons have provided great GT battles and with added entries from Europe joining the fray, 2011 should be no exception.
For the Intercontinental Le Mans Events, such as Sebring, GT will be split into two categories: GTE AM and GTE Pro. GTE Pro is the same as GT2 or GT has been in the ALMS for recent years. GTE AM is basically the same, but cars have to be at least one year old and driver lineups must be composed of one professional driver and on amateur driver. First we'll focus on GTE Pro
GTE Pro
AF Corse
In America, Houston's Risi Competizione often grabs the headlines as the best Ferrari GT team, but AF Corse is regarded just as highly across the world. The team had plans on running a new F458 alongside the tried and true F430, but Maranello has not managed to produce enough of the new car. Instead, AF Corse will rely on the F430 with a brutally fast driver lineup. The trio consists of ex F1 driver, Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni and Pierre Kaffer. This could be a favorite come race day.
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Team Falken
Falken Tires have made a name for themselves in the drifting arenas, but the company has looked to branch out in recent years, running a Porsche GT3 RSR part time in the ALMS in 2009 and full time in 2010. The team showed promise last year and lead early on in Sebring, but as the stints went on, the drivers had a difficult time managing the tires.
The Porsche 911 and its drivers, Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers, are proven race winners, but without a tire that can last, the duo will have a hard time running with the front runners deep into the race. If Falken has developed a tire that can provide the same performance seen at the beginnings of stints at the end, we may have a possible sleeper pick on our hands. Don't count these guys out.
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Rahal Letterman Racing returns to defend their GT Manufacturer's Championship for BMW with two revised BMW M3 GT's. The M3 has some revised aero work on the front end (which can be seen here) and most likely has some changes under the skin that have not been revealed yet.
A BMW finished on a the podium at every race last year, although that will be an extremely difficult feat to match this season, another strong championship run can be expected from them.
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Corvette Racing
2010 marked the first 12 Hours for Corvette Racing in GT2 and it was a race the team wants to forget. In fact, all of 2010 was a miserable year for the boys in yellow. The car was fast, but sloppy pit work and strategy resulted in only one victory for the team. Corvette returns with one thing on the agenda: a championship and if preseason testing is any indication for their pace this season, Corvette has the car to do it.
Corvette returns a familiar driver lineup, but there are a few new faces. Former BMW Rahal Letterman driver, Tommy Milner replaces GM stalwart, Johnny O'Connell and Richard Westbrook takes over the third driver role of Emmanuel Collard in the sister Corvette.
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| Photo: Corvette Racing |
2011 is a big year for Robertson Racing. The team will be on Michelin Tires, they have expanded to two Ford GTs and they plan on contesting their first 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Its a big undertaking for a relatively small team, but it should be a positive year for them. Having two cars and a pro lineup in one car will cut development time and the Michelin Tires should really help to transform the car, but the Ford will most likely still be a step behind the front running teams.
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| Photo: Robertson Racing |
Flying Lizard Motorsports
Defending GT driver's champions, Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long return in the #45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The 911 came out of the gate strong last season, but struggled towards the middle of the season to match the speed from the Ferraris. This year, Flying Lizard has purchased a 2011 RSR for their front running drivers in hopes of staying at the front of the GT field.
The sister #44 Porsche will be piloted by Darren Law and team owner, Seth Neiman, but most likely will not be much of a factor.
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Luxury Racing
More Ferraris! Luxury Racing makes the move from GT3 level racing to GT in a brand new Ferrari F458 with star driver Stephane Ortelli. The French team has enjoyed success in other levels and look to continue that into GT.
When ALMS introduced the GTC class the aim was to help fill the fields, but they also wanted to encourage a stepping stone for teams to take on the way to a full blown GT program. Paul Miller racing will take this step from GTC front runners to GT this season in Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on Yokohoma Tires. Driver Bryce Miller is a proven winner in Grand Am and in the GTC class, but the real question mark comes down to whether or not the Yokohoma tires can deliver.
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Panoz Racing has entered a GT version of its new street car, the Abruzzi, for Sebring, but doubt surrounds the entry. No news from off season testing has emerged and the whole team has been very quiet. Adding to their problems, the street car's greenhouse area does not meet the regulations (being too small), so the car may not be homologated in time for the race. At this point it would be surprising if the car makes the race in our opinion.
Risi Competizione
Risi Competizione has been one of the strongest teams in GT sports car racing over the past decade and 2011 marks a new chapter for the team. Risi makes the switch from the world-beating Ferrari F430 GT and transitions to the new F458 GT. While this should not be too much of a challenge for them, problems can always be expected with a brand new race car and Sebring is notorious for exposing these issues.The F430 ran trouble free in its first Sebring, but reports have surfaced that the F458 may not be quite as race-ready as its predecessor was. Regardless, Risi has to be counted among the favorites for Sebring and the rest of the season.
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Paul Gentilozzi's Rocket Sports Racing team had a very difficult freshman season in the American Le Mans Series. It seems no matter what the team did, mechanical gremlins were always right around the corner. Hopefully the team has further revised the cars because the other GT teams have certainly not been static in their development over the winter.
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Extreme Speed Motorsports has very high hopes for 2011 as the team campaigns a pair of Patron sponsored, Ferrari F458 GTs. The team has had great things to say about the car and hope to build on a strong second place finish at Petit Le Mans last season. But as we stated earlier with Risi, the F458 may not quite be at the speed needed to win in its first outing. Time will tell.
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| Photo: Scott Sharp |
West Yokohama Racing
Sebring will mark the debut of the Lamborghini Gallardo and West Yokohama Racing in the GT class in the American Le Mans Series. At the official winter test run earlier in February, the team was off the pace, but much closer than Jaguar was in their first outings. And lets not forget, defending GT Champions, BMW Rahal Letterman did not look very strong in their first few races in 2009. It takes time for a new car and team to gel and feel comfortable, but by the middle of the year West could put together some respectable results.
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| Photo: John Dagys |
GTE AM
Krohn Racing returns with their neon green Ferrari F430GT and plans on contesting the full ILMC calendar. The car is fast Nic Jonsson is fast, team owner Tracy Krohn just needs to keep the car on the track!
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Gulf AMR Middle East
Hailing from the United Arab Emirates, Gulf AMR Middle East (theres a mouthful!) will campaign a Aston Martin Vantage in GT AM for the ILMC after running a Lamborghini Gallardo on a limited basis last season. The baby Aston has been a bit underwhelming in previous campaigns and it probably will continue in similar ways this season.
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| No more Lamborghini, but Gulf livery remains (Photo: John Dagys) |
CRS Racing
British team, CRS Racing will campaign their Ferrari F430GT for the ILMC. The team ran up front in the LMS last season and should be near the head of the GTE-AM class.
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Proton Competition
Defending GT2 Le Mans winners will run the full ILMC schedule with their famous blue 911 GT3 RSR with Porsche standout Richard Lietz. They and Larbre will most likely be the quickest GTE AM teams, but we have to wonder why a defeding le mans winner is not competing in the GTE Pro category. Hmm..
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| Photo: John Dagys |
Larbre has had great success across many categories of sports car racing and has acquired a Pratt & Miller GT2 Corvette. Larbre should be a favorite in the GTE AM category, the team and Corvette are proven race winners.
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| Green Mickey D's logos? huh? (Photo: John Dagys) |
Excellent review....although do you know what teams will be using paddle shift transmissions?
ReplyDeleteI know Corvette has tested it and so has Flying Lizard, I assume they'll use it in the race, but I can't be positive. I'll try and find out which teams are planning on running it. Thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteAwesome preview. Hope you will review the race just like this.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like, I hope to have a lot of stuff up on here from Sebring. I'll be down there for Thursday through Saturday.
ReplyDelete