Sebring Exxon Superflo 17/03/2001   Friday Notes   © Janos Wimpffen As always, the day before the race brings a few notes of interest that are likely to effect the outcome. The morning practice session (the only one of the day) saw the Champion Audi on top for most of the period. Only in the waning moments did the no. 1 Joest Audi set the fastest lap. Its sister car (no. 2 of Biela / Pirro / Kristensen) had some minor electrical problems, keeping down in fourth and the tail end of the Audi class. The Champion car had set its fastest time on hard compounds, and the works team reverted to an intermediate set to outdo the privateers—signs of an upset? Actually, the Champion crew’s aim is to split the Joest cars as much as possible. The new Riley & Scott is firmly ahead of the non-Audi class, a marked improvement for the Dyson team. Gary reports that some new winglets on the front seems to have helped. The Panozes are improving and have fitted their race engines, which have better breathing heads than the ones used most of the week. But they still look darty in the turns. The good run of the Mallock built Saleen continues, now nearly a second up on the quicker Corvette. The LMP 675 Lola is improving. In GT the Cirtek Porsche’s gearbox woes continue, with problems on the selector. A concentration on suspension changes and teething problems kept the Callaway in the pits. One minor driver note possibly missing from the entry list is that the no. 47 Broadfoot Porsche is going with three drivers; Ziegelman / Ortiz / Warner. Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport