News From The American Le Mans Series - Sebring 2013
AUDI’S
FINAL SEBRING POSTCARD
www.michelinalley.com
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Well this could be the last time. This could be the last time. May be the last time. I don’t know. Oh no. Oh no. M. Jagger, K. Richards As the powerful field of Prototypes and GT cars assembles for the 61st running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the air is tinged with the sweet smell of orange blossoms and the uncertainty of change and transition. For the 10-time Sebring winners from Audi, one of the most successful teams in endurance racing history, this could be the final Sebring race as they focus on defending their new FIA World Endurance Championship crown. Audi arrives at Sebring with a pair of exotic, Audi R18 e-tron quattro prototypes, which feature a turbocharged diesel/flywheel hybrid with electric wheel motors mounted on the front axle. The Audi driver squad will be led by “Mr. Le Mans”, Tom Kristensen, an eight-time winner of the 24-hour classic. He joins Allan McNish and Lucas di Grassi in the #2 car. The defending Le Mans and WEC champions Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer are joined here by Oliver Jarvis, to wheel the #1 Audi. “We’re in for a very emotional race weekend on which we’ll be taking the fans along on a journey into our past,” said Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Sebring is where Audi’s sports car era that has been so successful began. We expect that with two current hybrid models we’ll be battling for overall victory at the 12-hour race for the last time this year.”
A trio of top competitors will take on the Audis in what may prove to be the final LMP1 battle at Sebring. The 2012 ALMS P1 champion Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Honda and the 2011 ALMS P1 champion Dyson Racing Lola look forward to matching up against the Le Mans champions. Joining them at Sebring and for the full 2013 ALMS season will be the 2012 Petit Le Mans-winning Rebellion Toyota Michelin-shod team. Tires will again be part of the story as the Muscle Milk squad makes the move from traditionally sized MICHELIN® tires to the latest MICHELIN “wide front” tires already raced with great success by the Audi, Toyota and Rebellion P1 teams. Meanwhile, the Dyson squad makes the switch from Dunlop wide-front tires to Michelin for 2013. Tires are an important factor for Audi as well, as the continued development of tires for the electric wheel motors mounted on the Audi front provide yet another technical challenge for Michelin, which has won Sebring for the past 14 consecutive years and Le Mans for fifteen. In addition to the R18 e-tron quattros, Audi is expected to feature four other race cars and several drivers who made Sebring history with Audi. Fans will savor the sights and the sounds of the Audis at Sebring as a special era ends and a new future awaits.
The merger of the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM sets up an exciting new chapter in North American sports car and endurance racing. Each series maintains its respective schedule and rules for 2013, as preparations continue for the combined series in 2014. Leaders of the combined series are working closely with manufacturers, teams and promoters to create a “best of the best” package for a powerful series featuring a well promoted schedule of major events featuring full fields of top cars, manufacturers, teams and drivers in close competition. One of the first and most important steps in the process is the
announcement of the proposed 2014 classes. The class structure in many ways defines the on-track product, team budgets and life spans for existing cars. Balancing the performance of the ALMS P2 and GRAND-AM DP prototypes and defining the costs and levels of technology are among the most sensitive pieces of the big, new puzzle and are yet to be finalized. The PC Challenge class from ALMS will continue to run as a separate class, while the GT classes in each
series will remain separate with the ALMS GT Challenge class cars joining the GRAND-AM GTs. The new era of sports car racing is expected to kick-off with an exciting one-two punch, opening with the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona in January and followed by the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. Follow:www.michelinalley.com for details as they emerge.
THE ROAD AHEAD YOUR TECHNICAL BRIDGE The Michelin Turn 17 Bridge leading onto the front straightaway is the symbolic link from the Sebring International Raceway pit lane and paddock to the infield, where thousands of fans are gathered for the opening race of the 2013 American Le Mans Series. For Michelin, the link reflects both the success of Michelin technical partner teams from BMW, Audi, Porsche and Peugeot who have claimed 14 consecutive overall victories at Sebring and its latest consumer offering. Delivering exceptional performance in a wide range of conditions is
critical to success at Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, so Michelin engineers and developers wanted the new MICHELIN® Pilot® Sport A/S 3TM tire to exceed the performance of the current offering and the competition by significant margins. They targeted excellent braking in both wet and dry conditions, exceptional handling and overall performance. As a result, the MICHELIN Pilot Sport A/S 3 tire designed for the street vehicles driven by many sports car and performance enthusiasts even meet or exceed the best dry handling performance of top competitors’
summer UHP tires – with an all-season tire. “Our MICHELIN Pilot Sport family of Ultra High Performance tires are born from endurance racing with technologies and innovations we have developed in open competition at Sebring and Le Mans,” said Don Byrd, vice-president, marketing, Michelin Americas Small Tires (MAST). “The fans at Sebring know and appreciate total performance and that is exactly what the new MICHELIN Pilot Sport A/S 3 tire delivers for enthusiasts and their own vehicles. Enjoy the bridge.”
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Top Manufacturers, Drivers, Teams Make GT Shine!
Keep the C Transition is the word for the 2013 season as American Le Mans Series manufacturers and teams prepare for the merger of the ALMS and GRAND-AM series and unified classes and events for 2014. One group expected to remain virtually untouched is the current GT class of ALMS, where top manufacturers, teams and drivers have delivered some of the best competition in the world. If it is not broken, why fix it? Still, change is the one constant in racing and the GT field gathered here at Sebring reflects change as well. The defending ALMS GT champions from Corvette Racing will rely on the proven Corvette C6.R-Michelin combination for champions Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner and teammates Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia in 2013, while Corvette develops the exciting new seventh-generation Corvette Stingray-based race car for 2014 competition. Taking a different route, the defending Sebring GT champions from BMW Team RLL, present a spanking new pair of V8 powered BMW Z4 GTEs and a switch to MICHELIN® tires for 2013. Joining Bill Auberlen and Dirk Müller will be Maxime Martin, John Edwards and Joey Hand. A highly anticipated change for Sebring fans arrives in the form of a potent pair of cars from the SRT Motorsports Viper factory team returning to Sebring after a 12year hiatus. The Riley-prepared Vipers entered four ALMS rounds in 2012
in preparation for a championship attack in 2013 with a driver line-up featuring Dominik Farnbacher, Kuno Wittmer, Marc Goossens and Tommy Kendall. One the most successful teams in international sports car competition returns for the 2013 season. The Risi Competizione Ferrari with former Viper and Corvette ace Olivier Beretta and Matteo Malucelli is back after a one-year hiatus. Risi once again teams with Michelin as it seeks its fourth Sebring GT victory since 2007. Shock waves rolled through the blogosphere last month when the 2012 ALMS GT runner-up and Petit Le Mans winning Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari team announced an immediate switch to the P2 class beginning here at Sebring with a pair of HPD-Honda prototypes. But the Ferrari banner has been seized by Alex Job Racing as the ultra-successful team joins with West Racing, Yokohama and drivers Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler. Another big surprise saw the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche team step down to GTC class competition, but Porsche loyalists fear not as the Derrick Walkerled Falken Porsche, with Bryan Sellers and factory man Wolf Henzler, continues an aggressive development program and Paul Miller Racing moves to Michelin with Marco Holzer joining Bryce Miller aboard. Meanwhile, the doubledefending PC champion CORE autosport team picks up the FLM
equipe’ and expects to enter the ALMS GT fray at Monterey with Patrick Long, Tom Kimber-Smith and Michelin. Adding to the GT field will be two factory Aston Martins with Stefan Mucke, Darren Turner, Bruno Senna aboard the #97 and Dane Cameron, Paul Dalla Lana and Billy Johnson in the #007. Aston Martin Racing last won at Sebring in 2005 and won the pole last year at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The GT field here at Sebring is due to include eight top teams from six different manufacturers and three tire makers.
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Change
That includes factory pairs of Chevrolet Corvettes, SRT Vipers, new BMW Z4 GTEs and Aston Martin Vantage GTEs to take on top independent Ferraris from Risi and AJR and Porsches from Walker and Miller. Race fans and industry insiders recognize that factory and top independent teams come to Sebring with the fullest possible array of resources. That means top drivers and the best technical boffins, strategists and crews;
aggressive R&D and testing, and an uncompromising approach to an important and highly prestigious race. Is it any wonder that media, race fans and manufacturers consider this the best racing on the planet? That is one thing not about to change.
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Dijyano DID YOU KNOW “We feel we have a terrific opportunity to learn and develop the P2 car this year, and that will put us in an ideal position going into the merged season of 2014.” Extreme Speed Motorsport driver/owner Scott Sharp on his team’s move to P2 for 2013
HALL OF FAME Women Rule
Women are increasingly taking key roles in sports car racing and delivering success. Leena Gade (pictured above) is the race engineer for the Audi #1 car while Lauren Elkins is the assistant engineer for Muscle Milk. Silvia Mammone is in her seventh ALMS season as motorsports marketing manager for Michelin, while Ashley Shoum is the Michelin race tire engineer with Rebellion Racing, where she is assisted by newcomer Michelle Phillips.
FAST BUT FRAGILE Only 10 times in the first 60 editions of the 12 Hour race has the car setting the fastest lap actually won the race. The track record for a lap of the 3.74-mile (5.95 km) circuit is 1:43.274 (128.977mph) set by Peugeot’s Sebastian Bourdais in 2009…and, no, they did not win.
Alley Live www.michelinalley.com Keep up to date with the latest in the American Le Mans Series with Michelin Alley online - featuring race insights, interviews, videos, photos and highlights from all 2013 ALMS events.
It isn’t often that a race driver earns Motor Sport UK Hall of Fame honors while still active, but Audi’s Danish star Tom Kristensen isn’t just any driver. “Mr. Le Mans” has stood on the top step at the Le Mans 24 Hour race podium eight times! Level 5 has quite a driver lineup for Sebring. Joining Scott Tucker aboard the pair of Level 5 P2 class prototypes are 2012 Indy Car champ Ryan Hunter-Reay; rookie of the year and former ALMS P1 champ Simon Pagenaud (pictured right); former factory shoe Ryan Briscoe and Marino Franchitti. Wow! Not bad for a pro-am class. New P2 rivals Extreme Speed counter with their own stars: Scott Sharp with Guy Cosmo and David Brabham plus Johannes van Overbeek with Patron’s Ed Brown and Anthony Lazzaro
All Stars
Roll out the blue carpet Continental’s debut as the spec tire provider for the 2013 ALMS PC class and the expected arrival of Bridgestone aboard the Panoz group DeltaWing puts six different tire companies in competition in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Michelin North America motorsports director Chris Baker says, “Michelin likes competition-in fact, we thrive on it-and we are glad Conti has arrived. We want to roll out the Michelin blue carpet.” Michelin has won the 12 Hours of Sebring for the past 14 consecutive years.
About time! BMW Team RLL principal Bobby Rahal on BMW’s announcement of the switch to MICHELIN® tires for the new Z4 GTEs: “Finally!”
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Weekend Schedule Friday, March 15, 2013 8:00 am - 8:15 am
Warm Up - USF2000
8:35 am - 9:05 am
Race #2 - Challenge Club Racing
9:20 am - 10:20 am Practice #4 - ALMS (All Classes) 10:40 am - 11:10 am Race #2 - USF2000 - 30 Minutes 11:15 am - 12:15 pm ALMS Autograph Session 11:30 am - 12:15 pm Race #2 - Prototype Lites 1:15 pm - 1:30 pm
Qualifying - ALMS (GTC)
1:35 pm - 1:50 pm
Qualifying - ALMS (GT)
2:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Qualifying - ALMS (PC)
2:20 pm - 2:35 pm
Qualifying - ALMS (P1/P2)
2:55 pm - 3:40 pm
Race #2 - GT3 Cup
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm
Race #2 - MX-5 Cup/Skip Barber
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Races - SVRA
Saturday, March 16, 2013 8:00 am - 8:25 am
Warm Up - ALMS (All Classes)
10:30 am - 10:30 pm Race - 61st Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida (Round 1)
2013 ALMS Schedule 16 March
Twelve Hours of Sebring, Sebring, FL
20 April
Long Beach Grand Prix, CA
11 May
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, CA
6 July
Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, CT
21 July
Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Canada
11 August
Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI
31 August
Baltimore Grand Prix, Baltimore, MD
21 September Circuit of the Americas, Austin, TX 5 October
Virginia International Raceway, Danville, VA
19 October
Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, GA
Michelin store for Sebring
Catch the ACTION Live streamed coverage of the Twelve Hours of Sebring and qualifying at Sebring International Raceway can be viewed on ESPN3.com with live TV coverage on SPEED/FOX Sports Media, Saturday, March 16 at 10:30 am (ET). The full broadcast will be available on demand on ESPN3.com for three weeks and on ALMS.com after that. ALMS TV and Online Schedule Fri. March 15 ESPN3.com Live Qualifying (1:15 – 2:35 pm Eastern)
The Michelin Traveling Store is coming to Sebring! Here you can find Michelin-branded t-shirts, hats, stickers, Vintage Michelin signs, children’s clothing and toys, key chains and many other novelty items. Be sure to check it out – it will be located below the Pit Box Suites across from the Pit Entrance #49.
Sat. March 16 ESPN3.com Live Streamed Race Coverage (10:30 am – 10:30 pm) Sat. March 16 SPEED
Live Televised Race Coverage (10:30 am – 10:30 pm)
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Fan Favorites BMW
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Auberlen/Martin/J.Müller D.Müller/Hand/Edwards Michelin BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE
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Check out the launch of the new BMW Z4 GTE by scanning the code above
AUDI
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Fassler/Treluyer/Jarvis Michelin di Grassi/Kristensen/McNish Audi Sport Team Joest • Audi R18 e-tron
HPD
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Sharp/Cosmo/Brabham Michelin van Overbeek/Brown/Lazzaro Extreme Speed Motorsports • HPD ARX-03b
HPD
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Graf/Luhr/Dumas Michelin Muscle Milk Pickett Racing • HPD ARX-03c
P1 CLASS
LOLA
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Prost/Heidfeld/Jani Michelin Beche/Cheng/Belicchi Rebellion Racing • Lola B12/60 Toyota
MAZDA
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Dyson/Smith/Leitzinger Michelin Dyson Racing • Lola B12/60 Mazda
CORVETTE
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Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Michelin Corvette Racing • Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1
P2 CLASS
Michelin North America, Inc • One Parkway South, • Greenville, SC 29615 • TEL: 1-800-458-5000 www.michelin.com • Printed in USA, March 12, 2013 • Volume 7, Issue 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the publisher. Copyright © 2013 Michelin North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SRT
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Goosens/Farnbacher/Dalziel Wittmer/Bomarito/Kendall Michelin SRT Motorsports • SRT Viper GTS-R
PORSCHE
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Miller/Holzer/Lietz Michelin Paul Miller Racing • Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
FERRARI
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Bruni/Beretta/ Malucelli Michelin Risi Competizione • Ferrari F458 Italia
GTE CLASS Printed on recycled paper 10% Total Recovered Fiber All Post-Consumed Fiber