Lastly Janos adds: In the end, the Lolas joined the Audis in the bulwark against a GTS victory. JJ Lehto skipped the podium ceremony. He's simply too exhausted. Fortunately, BMW has the services of one of the finest sports doctors in the world, Dr. Vincenzo Tota, and he quickly took care of the Finn. More seriously, again my thanks to the many well-wishers. Before I was getting messages from people on line. All week long here in Sebring people were coming up to me and expressing their happiness in seeing me doing better. It revives what I long ago noticed when I became involved with this sport. On the circuit it may about camshafts and c.v. joints, but this is really all about a fine bunch of people. Thanks to all. Afterwards Tom Kjos will wrap that up in due course. Thanks Tom and Janos, plus Jeannie Hutchens, John Brooks, Gary Horrocks and Kerry Morse, plus all the Radio Web crew. Quite a race, quite a meeting. But tinged with so much sadness....... Graciousness The winning drivers gave tribute to Bob Wollek in the statement from the podium. The formal margin of victory was 0.482 seconds. It is unfortunate that it will carry an asterisk as a contrived ending. American contingent Two of three winning cars were thoroughly European, with the Saleen also having its tub built overseas. Only Terry Borcheller of the nine winning drivers is of the USA. So from 2000 to 2001 we've gone from Audi the dominant force to an Audi empire. 12:00 As they come to the finish, much is being made of the fact that a stop and go penalty on the last stop cost the #2 Audi the race. The same could be said of the car's earlier stops for ignition problems. The #2 car closed up on the winner in the last lap to create a photo, since they were on the same lap the official gap will be about a half second. That will probably go into the record book. The real number is about 20 seconds, since the "close up" was quite intentional. McKenna Alex Job Racing takes 1-2 in GT. Last year, Barbour ran much of the season similarly. This time the car in third, the BMW GTR, is an indicator that it will be a very different season. The ALMS championship will go down to the wire, no doubt. Steve Saleen has served notice on the world that his car is very much for real. Now, quite suddenly, the Corvettes are no longer the Le Mans favorite. Partial seasons and long slow development might just get you in trouble in the end. The fireworks are started, the cars are in victory lane and the drivers are headed for the podium as this 49th 12 Hours of Sebring is in the books. Wimpffen loses it It just occurred to me that these posts go up immediately in brave new totalmotorsport.com world. Therefore I can say all kinds of unedited stuff. Audi's victory is an example of %$&^&. Saleen should be ^$^$&%&@$ for their car. Emmanuel Collard is one of the most #$@#^%& drivers today. The editor of the site is a notorious @#$@^*(W@ Drunken Orgy -3 minutes The Lola will end up 5th overall. It's far from a classic, but better than boring. Certainly the GT, and especially the remarkable success of the Saleen in GTS is the story of the event. The Audi contest was ultimately decided by a referee. Kudos to the privateer Audis, both of which did well. A piece of the day will forever remain to Bob Wollek. Amazingly the race ends with a photo op finish. Capello slows up dramatically, allowing Kristensen to finish a half-second behind. It was disciplined and staged--no 1966 Le Mans situation here. 11:59 In GT, the class is running in order: 23, 22, 42, 6, 00, 53, 36, 58 In GTS, 26, 4, 3 White flag, the leader goes around for the last time. In Prototype 1, 2, 38, 18, 37...and they are all in a row at the top of the overall; no chance of a GTS/GT winner here. TK Green Parkers Pouring over the Fences -5 Minutes Some impressive records. Lee Driggers noted that this may be the first instance when all of the classes feature a 1-2 with both cars on the same lap. The non-yellow non-incident race is also remarkable. The no. 44 Viper and no. 09 Cirtek Porsche had a recent tap at Turn 17. Earlier there was the no. 43 BMW and no. 07 RWS Porsche contretemps. Bagnall broke his suspension and banged his way around. 11:55 Four cars just went down the front straight virtually abreast...three Porsches and what appeared to be one Viper...are they nuts? 11:54 The two Audis circulate with a 25 second gap...it appears as if the #1 will be the winner, barring a surprise. Just under nine minutes remaining. With Tom Kristensen in the #2 Audi, there goes the record possibility of three in a row, unless the 1 car requires a splash and dash..he is on the bubble for that. 11:48 About 20 minutes now, and the race is a close one, albeit intramural within the Audi Sport North America team. The GTS battle has fadded; as we speculated earlier, Corvette has set a new record for the shortest period of domination of a class of sports car racing....two races, one Grand Am, one ALMS. As Dandy Don used to say "Turn out the Lights, the Party is Over!" (sing, rather) In GT, BMW lost it for sure (and it was already a long shot) on the pit stop at 10:35 when they could not cleanly get the brake pads free on a change, and spent nearly four minutes. The Alex Job Porsches will have 1-2. They worked their a**** off for it. And if you watched or followed this race, you know that it will be a whole different ball game when four BMW V8s show up at Sears Point July 22. TK Champagne Minus 20 Minutes It could still be close. Capello last stopped at T - 46 minutes. Consequently he's stretching the lead bit. Is there concern among the no. 1 crew or is Reinhold Joest inventing ways to keep from yawning. Chris Kneifel takes the last stint in the delayed no. 3 Corvette, before he goes on to be the CART steward. The Last 30 Minutes--Part I Capello has about a 25 second lead after the Dane's mistake. All the leaders in each class should be able to make it to the end. There may yet be a change in the overall order. Gavin is 45 seconds down from the Lola, which has not been in the pits for some time. Yellow Card A message board has lit up, announcing that no.2 will be assessed a stop-go penalty. Kristensen was 10 mph over the limit coming into the pits. Capello leads. Flip the Coin. Ken Breslauer called the toss and no. 2 won. It's that close and that "significant" as to which Audi takes it. Dindo Capello comes in for his stop but there is much more drama in GTS. Oliver Gavin comes in much earlier than anyone expects. It seems to be a brilliant piece of strategy. They take on a splash just as the no. 4 'Vette pulls in and Freon hands over to Pilgrim. The Saleen gets out quick and retains the class lead. Kristensen inherits the overall lead, some 68 seconds clear of Capello. Gavin is about 1:19 ahead of Pilgrim. During the Saleen-Vette stops the Field Lola slipped past both to take 5th place overall. So now we have the ABA class leader behind the Ingolstadt Quartet. With 45 minutes left in the race Kristensen pulls in-fuel only, no tires. Kristensen (no. 2) blasts out shooting for his third straight Sebring win. Capello is a few car lengths behind with the Champion car between them. Kristensen's Sebring hat-trick? Last Hour, Part 1 The Saleen made what could be its last stop. It went smoothly but the no. 4 Corvette was a mere 8 seconds down when the S7R went back out. The Saleen built it back up by a few seconds before Freon brought the Chevrolet in. The issues here are that the Corvette will need to make one more stop (probably somewhat short), while the Saleen will either be able to go all the way or need a splash. Further down, the two American Vipers are at last running well after a learning experience of a race. Cirtek A John Hindhaugh / Amanda Stretton effort found some Cirtek detail from Rob Schirle. The #09 car has run trouble free with a relatively inexperienced crew (Chris Gleason excepted). They could end up at the tail of the GT class, but a finish is a finish. Think what's happened to some of the favoured GT Porsche teams. Below the Salt We've focused on the top 10, but let's run through some of the other stories. The Larbre Porsche has been the steadiest of the next batch, although they've been passed by the remaining PTG BMW. Quick drives by Rosa and Caffi have given the surviving Seikel Porsche a good run. The hard Sebring course has hurt the Buckler, Kyser and Freisinger cars. Twenty-three of the 38 starters are still running. This is a slightly higher attrition rate than I expected. Interestingly there were no rashes of problems and not a single accident. The only pattern was that the circuit's much vaunted abuse did in the midfield GT3Rs. The other mild surprise were the problems encountered by the Corvettes. Conversely, the fine run (knock on composites) of the Saleen should be appreciated by all those in favor of variety. The Panoz meltdown was expected, but so soon and so comprehensively? Wow! We had decided that the two production races are over barring a hiccup (hiccough to you Euros). The Saleen has a 1.5 lap lead on the Corvette and Borcheller is at the wheel. The no. 23 Porsche has the GT lead by about 15 seconds over the no. 42 BMW. This will flip once with the stops, but the BMW will have to come once more than the more frugal H-6 powered car. Now comes the burp factor. The Schnitzer stop goes poorly (long brake change) and Sascha Maassen pulls well ahead. The delay is long enough to move Randy Pobst into second in class. So, that's one burp factor taken care of. For the GT lead to flip back both Job cars will have to stumble. Up at the top the no. 1 car has a 30 second lead after the last round of stops. Kristensen gets the gap down to 20 seconds, and won't need tires at the last stop. Capello will. Other thoughts on the GTS contest via discussion with Gary: How will GM react to a Saleen win? Complain? Ratchet up their effort? Le Mans may see 4 / 5 Saleens. The factory cars will run on under-developed Pirellis (Porsche Supercup types) which will work against them. But the privateers, such as possibly Mallock, will use Michelins or Goodyears. This will place them immediately in the hunt. Another factor today has been the superior driving of Borcheller. He is to Saleen as Fellows is to Corvette, and when it makes a difference (think Daytona 2000), the extra speed of guys like that could be the edge. It's too bad the no. 3 Corvette has long been out of it here. Think of what a no. 26 vs. no. 3 dice would be! 10:35 The BMW has now been out an hour and five minutes. He comes into the pit at 10:34, and appears to require one more for both Lehto and the Job car...that would put the Job win at just a little under one lap. No more than that - the M3 GTR is changing brakes. That could / should be the GT battle all over. Champion Audi is now into the pits, then out, tires and fuel. 10:25 Lehto continues to pull up on Maassen, now about 12 seconds...when is he due for a pit stop? 10:20 The second place Corvette pits for a driver change and other service just after Borcheller pulls out to a 51 second lead. Little change among the prototypes. Aiello continues to lead in the #1 Joest Audi. There are 22 of the 38 cars that started still on the track with less than two hours to run. TK 10:17 A pit stop by the Alex Job Porsche GT3-R and change to Sasha Maassen pulls Lehto's BMW withing 15 seconds of the lead. With a pit stop in hand now, that should be re-established at a lap or near soon. However, we don't know how many stops will be required for each as we are now within two hours of race end. TK 10:12 We now have less than two hours to run. On a Saleen pit stop, Andy Pilgrim brings the Corvette to within 30 seconds. That is the good news. The bad news is that Terry Borcheller has replaced Oliver Gavin in the Saleen SR7. Gavin is a very good driver, but Borcheller has been exceptional, setting fast paces at Daytona (JET BMW M3), Homestead (JET BMW M3...a win), Texas Motor Speedway (American Viperacing Viper GTS-R...three seconds faster than any other team driver), and here in the SR7. The Alex Job #23 car continues to lead over the BMW M3, but for now there are only 35 seconds between the top three in GT. Fuel could decide this. 10:02 Andy Pilgrim's Corvette C5-R continues to trail Oliver Gavin's Saleen SR7 by a lap. Meanwhile, during the last hour, American Viperacing was penalized 240 second (yes that is two hundred forty and no/100 seconds) for a fueler's visor being up. We wondered, so checked...yes, right...repeated violations get escalating penalties. Add to that the locked tool box incident. AVR has experienced guys from various teams, including ORECA. You have to think they have yet to become a "team." 9:50 Chris Dyson tells Janos that although they remain uncertain of the cause of the overheating that put them out, there appears to be a relationship to the requirement to turn the car off at each refueling pit stop. Of course a hot engine "spikes" when it is turned off and water circulation is stopped. That would be particularly severe in a race engine. The "Lincoln" engine remains the same, so the new bodywork may have affected cooling. Slight Audi Trouble Of the GT battle, Boris Said commented after eight hours: "So far we are doing just what we planned and take it easy on the car. We can't run with the two factory Porsches or the M3 GTR, but we can run to the end, collect some points and wait for or GTR at Sears Point." Meanwhile the former leader, Joest Audi #2 has come into the pits and replaced ignition parts on the right side of the engine...wires again? Keep in mind that "wires" can mean a whole harness including the coils at the individual cylinders, and that is what it appears to be. In the meantime, the new leader is the #1 Joest Audi, with Aiello in the pilot seat. Pirro is within 20 seconds or so. TK 9:34 GTS was in the hands of the Saleen SR7 an hour ago with a two lap lead on the Frank Freon Corvette #4. However, over the past hour, the Corvette has pulled himself steadily back, and now trails the swoopy Ford-powered supercar by just a lap and a bit more. Freon had it down to 30 seconds before pitting just a few minutes ago and handing over to Andy Pilgrim. The #3 Corvette is eight laps down, so likely out of it. In GT is where we have the race, as expected, if the BMW M3 GTR held up. Well it has so far, and we do have that race. Three cars have stayed within a lap of each other all the way. The Alex Job #23 leading now with Emmanuele Collard at the wheel and JJ Lehto a lap back in the BMW. Second Job car #22, presently driven by Christian Menzel dogs Lehto closely. Muller and now Lehto are in trouble with poor visibility, because at no time have the team found a chance to align the lights properly on the M3 GTR. Job's Porsches were appreciably quicker at night.......but Lehto doesn't seem to need to see where he is going. 2:08 with poor lights..... Boris Said has the surviving PTG M3 GT in fourth, but four laps down. The Larbre Porsche follows him closely. 9:20 Under three hours now, and the Joest Audi Sport R8s continue to lead with evermore ease over the competition, the latter only really consisting of the two 2000 model customer cars. The first of these, Champion Racing's #38 holds third place among the prototypes, some three laps back of the Joest Audis, who share the lead lap. Johansson's #18, holds station another four laps behind the Champion R8. The two privateers are holding their own...similar distances in arears would in most other years be considered very much a race. Here, this year, the gap seems insurmountable, since nothing ever goes wrong with the Audis up front. Much further back, some twenty six laps adrift of the Gulf Audi is the lone survivor of the non-Audi LMP class, Jon Field's Intersport Lola-Judd. We had consigned the car to the near-dead, but it gamely soldiers along in what may be the best run to date for this chassis-engine combination. Dyson Racing is long since gone, the team's 2001 finishing record 1 for 3, and 0 for 2 in the 36 Hours of Florida. TK Bimmer Sandwich Collard has ended his long and very fast stint, but the stop is not long enough to lose the GT lead. The no. 42 BMW is now being chased by the other Job Porsche, with Christian Menzel doing a fine job some 20 seconds down from the M3. Making a decided improvement in the closing hours is the Field Lola, which is up to ninth overall and leading LMP ABA (anybody but Audi) Going into the tenth hour, the no. 1 Audi (Aiello) takes the lead when Kristensen stops. Dark it is The established pattern continues, except that the two private Audis have been more frequent pit callers. However, with the Saleen some 21 laps down, their 3rd-4th overall is not in question. Brake maladies seem to be affecting the 2000 Audis. Brake and suspension woes, the bane of Sebring, have also hit some solid backmarkers such as the Buckler and Kyser Porsches. Nevertheless, attrition has not been high and we've gone the entire way without a yellow. That situation is likely to continue as the usual riff-raff is absent from this field. Kristensen has set a fastest lap of 1:49.666, quicker than last year's best by about six tenths. He leads Aiello by 50 odd seconds, growing to a minute. Kelleners is in the Champion Audi. Johansson is back in the twice delayed Gulf car, eight laps down. The long run of most cars has meant that only a few of the assigned drivers have not been able to take a turn at the wheel. They are: #99, Sospiri (a shame, on his return to racing) #12, Mazzuoccola #10, Hand #52, Collin (he did sit in the car in the pits) #98, Polk GT heat 8 Hours JJ Lehto had been in the lead with hot cockpit BMW, but he came in (with an inoperative headlight) to hand over to Jorg Muller. Emmanuel Collard moved ahead with the Job Porsche, but Joerg Mueller has given rapid chase, barely 15 seconds behind. The Saleen has slowed slightly, and is in for a close look at the brakes, and a switch to Konrad. He sets a gentler pace, which is all that's needed with nearly two laps on the #4 Corvette (penalised for passing under a yellow). Overall, the two Audis are setting up for an intra-team dice. The Gulf Audi has dropped to the rear of the R8 class with a long stop to change brakes and work on the rotor. It also had a flat battery, and has dropped to five laps back from the leading #2 Audi. Kristensen took the lead from Alboreto at 7 and a half hours, but in 40 minutes running has pulled out only 12 seconds. Yellow Darkness The GTS contest is turning steadily towards the upstart Saleen. Pilgrim has been in for a brake change and a stop-and-go, leaving Borcheller a lap ahead. The storming Terry B. then put the Chevrolet another lap down. Also executing a pass on the circuit was Frank Biela. He came alongside Michele Alboreto and passed into the overall lead at Turn 1. The Trinkler Corvette had run out of fuel and been pushed behind the wall. The story of GT has been fuel economy. The Porsches are able to go further though the BMW holds the fastest lap in class by over 1 second. Is Audi Human? Alboreto is back in for a stop-go (speeding in pit lane). The Barbour Porsche has semi-retired with a broken axle.* The crew is repairing it in the paddock while the team owner dozes and dreams of Reynards. Earlier the Trinkler Corvette came to a halt out on the airfield portion of the circuit. The straight six Schnitzer M3 went boom. * Axle, axle, axle, axle? A new GT3R problem? Both Kelly-Moss cars, the Orbit Porsche and the Barbour team have all had similar problems. Audi vs. Audi The leading #1 Audi pits and the hood comes off. No. 2 is about a minute down, but instead of taking the lead, it comes in for a stop. Simultaneously, no.1 heads back out and holds onto first place. The delays to the works cars have allowed Guy Smith to move the Johansson car back onto the lead lap. Setting Sun As we approach the late afternoon, the pattern of the race is well-established. The pace is fast but there is no inter-marque activity at the front. The expected Joest Audi 1-2 has held all race except for a brief intervention in 2nd place by the Gulf car. That was when the no. 2 had some minor electrical gremlins. The two cars have engaged in a little bit of dicing, some of which was close enough to slower traffic to cause Herr Joest a dash of heartburn. The two private Audis have been nearly as reliable as the factory cars and are a solid 3-4. There's lots to be proud of in the Dyson camp as the brand new Riley & Scott still leads the LMP NA (LMP Non-Audi) class. In fact it is the only healthy one left. The Courage has blown up and the Panozes were a disaster. Rumor has it that the steering wheels on the LMP 07s are still operational--but little else. (I was about to say the radios work, but Fiona said that #50's failed) As I write this the Dyson car has encountered its first delay, apparent overheating. They're trying to repair it by changing the front hood. It's come in again and the situation is being examined more closely. The Mk III C has gone behind the wall but is expected to return. This may turn this unofficial class back to the distant Intersport Lola-Judd. The real thrill here have been the two fine contests in the production categories. Borcheller gets my driver of the race award. He either has been pulling away in the lead, or has been giving chase to the Corvettes. The delay of the no.3 car (starter motor) has put Fellows out of the hunt, but Pilgrim / Collins / Freon are masterful in no. 4 The deterioration of the Prototypes has left the GT leaders in 8th-10th overall. The Job Porsches have alternately sandwiched the V-8 BMW or been chasing it. All three of the no. 23 drivers (Luhr / Maassen / Collard) have been doing well. Once again there is a problem in getting the ALMS LMP 675 class going with the lone runner, the Roock-managed Lola-Nissan hitting the same overheating problems experienced at Fort Worth. It's thus almost Daytona again. Without the Audis a production car would have a shot at the overall win. 6:50 Panoz #50 was officially retired about 20 minutes ago..failed clutch this time. Fiona Miller, (Panoz PR) (at our request) was trying to think of a part that did not fail on one of the two cars. She came up with "propshaft." Janos isn't so sure of that, he offers, "perhaps the drink bottle." Halfway - GT GT is essentially a three car battle, from the green flag, with two cars lurking and hoping,and the rest probably out of it. First the three: Alex Job, this year's "most favored team" is running away with the Porsche class. Only Larbre is even among the "lurking", in 5th place behind PTG's M3 GT, but on the same lap, 5 down to the leading trio. A Seikel car, #53 trails these two by another four laps. The story (and the race) here is caused by the continuing presence of BMW Motorsport's new M3 GTR running right with the AJR cars, sometimes ahead, sometimes in between and sometimes right behind them. The speed was shown yesterday, but there was little to indicate the car would be running at halfway. Yet here it is. Here long enough to show the low fuel mileage that might be its undoing. And the heat in the cockpit might be the drivers' undoing. Halfway-GTS GTS has been what was expected, but a little better. We expected the speed of the Saleen to show, but were uncertain that the car would last this late into the race. "Conventional Wisdom" (and Hans Stuck) say, "if you can get to half way you can get the rest of the way." Saleenhas gotten to halway just behind one Corvette (4), and six laps ahead of the other (3). This car is new, but there is nothing particularly "new tech" about its chassis (tube frame with aluminum honeycomb panels reinforcing), or engine, (Ford block). Perhaps it can stay to the end. If it does, it can win. Halfway For the protypes at halfway, it is very much the good, the Not-so-bad, the bad, and the ugly. First the good. The Audis all continue to run like fast trains. The only hitch we have seen is a replacement of plug wires on the #2 Joest car in the fourth hour, a problem that took less than three minutes to fix. The Joest Audi Sport cars are leading, but share the front with the #18 Johansson Racing Gulf R8, which stays on just off the lead lap and on the same lap as the #2 car. Just two laps behind those cars is the #38 Champion R8. The Not-so-bad is the run of Dyson Racing with the new Riley & Scott Mark IIIC. This is a "less new" car perhaps than some others, including the Panoz, but it is still a car that just came into Team Manager Pat Smith hands. They have stayed closer to the hunt than anyone, and it appears at halfway that they have the "best-of-the-rest" fairly well locked up. Again they demonstrate just how professional and experienced they are. Among the merely Bad have been the performances of the Field Lola and the Pescarolo Peugeot. The former put in some fast times in practice and qualifying, and started the race on a charge, but has fallen victim to a series of problems, including a flat tire, a broken shock absorber, and penalties, along with some nice little on-track spins in the first three hours. The car is now 26 laps back of the leader. Similarly Pescarolo had its share of troubles before blowing its Peugeot engine just past halfway. And the Ugly? You guessed it...Panoz. We have reported on these problems throughout...it has been hard to keep up with everything going wrong. Both cars suffered alternator "problems," probably meaning the device was shaken loose from the engine. Only the #51 car is posted as officially retired, but the #50 is eighty-six laps behind the leader at half way. That is about as retired as you can get without saying so. 5:57 Orbit Racing reports that their problem is a half shaft "like everybody else." This was also a problem for the Kelly-Moss cars, of course. Indication of another problem-in-common like last year's overheating from bad head castings? On the other hand, Porsches have been known to eat half shafts. Konrad Saleen now 10 seconds adrift to Pilgrim's Corvette. It appears as if the Corvette has completed one more pit stop. 5:52 The #11 Roock-KnightHawk is out with an overheating problem. I guess they didn't get that problem entirely resolved. TK 5:40 Bill Auberlen on the retirement of the #10 BMW M3 GT: "The PTG BMWs have won this race twice before and normally the M3 is the most reliable race car you can drive, but we didn't have the luck today. These cars have won championship after championship and now they will be retired to make way for the GTR. I'm really looking forward to the next time we race because it will be with that new car. When I was together with it on the track today it looked like one fine machine - one that I can't wait to be in. I feel for the PTG crew. They worked tirelessly all week, but we'll get a chance to get back after it again at Sears Point." The #43 BMW Motorsport M3 just held in pits for a 40 second penalty for working on the car while refueling. The three GT leaders, AJR #23, BMW #42, and AJR #22 share the same lap. Hans Stuck has the #6 PTG BMW in fourth, but three laps down. The 5th place #53 Porsche is five laps behind Stuck Andy Pilgrim continues to lead GTS in the #4 Corvette, with Franz Konrad's Saleen SR7 one lap back. In LMP, the Johansson Gulf Audi is on the lead lap with the #1 Joest Audi, while the #2 Audi is a lap back. A further lap back is the #38 Champion Audi. It is another 5 back to the only other LMP in the picture, now, the Dyson R&S. With the Courage Peugeot and Lola Judd now both 25 laps behind the leader, and 18 laps out of 5th place, the jig is surely up. 5:22 THe two team Audis continue in the lead, as the #1 Audi pits. The earlier "no problem" required replacement of the plug wires. JJ Lehto leads GT, but the fuel consumption is higher than that of the Porsches, so AJR takes the lead on each pit stop by the BMW There are four official retirements; #10 PTG M3, blown engine with the same lot of pistons that the #6 car was using when that engine blew yesterday in practice. #99 and 98 - half shaft and suspension problems, based on earlier reports 34 - Excluded when parts and materials magically appear on course in the hands of driver attempting to effect repairs. 51, here is the list: Alternator Water Leak Electrical Electrical again Broken Chassis stud(retired) TK 4:40 The two Job Porsches sandwich JJ Lehto's BMW and all three cars are lapping in the low 2:08's, very near qualifying times. Thus far is has been a surprisingly trouble-free run for the new BMW, which as recently as Wednesday would not run (much) at all. There is still a long way to go, of course. Intersport Lola now in the pit, now in 13th place overall and 20 laps back of the leader. Gulf Audi continues to be the most serious challenge to the works cars, as the #2 Joest car comes into the pit. The two Panoz continue to struggle, now they are basically running this race as a test. Both cars have been behind the wall at least once. The list of things that have gone wrong is too long for here. We will try to find time later. (Briefly, 'Pricey' reports that #51 has been withdrawn, after breaking a stud on the chassis which holds the engine mounting. #50 has had power steering failure and engine overheating, and is 80 laps down. Well done the ALMS Radio Web. Ed.) There is relatively good news with American Viperacing as of four hours, they had pulled themselves into only four laps back as of four hours. A finish anywhere near that close would be an excellent showing for this team. TK 4:30 Corvette #3 still in pit, now four laps back of the leading #4...and the 4 comes into the pit for service with the 3 still in. Refueling. Saleen is 3/4 lap back, he has a shot to take the class lead. Saleen takes the lead as the two Corvettes exit the pit just 100 meters back of Terry Borcheller's flying Saleen SR7. Leading GT car in #42 BMW, fueling, driver change to JJ Lehto, tires going on now. The V8 leaves after a routine stop. Saleen into the pit. The problem that delayed the #3 Corvette (now back out) was a failed starter motor. #1 Audi into the pits. Back out on routine stop, Michele Alboreto stays in the cockpit. 4:10 Information from Janos--there has been no caution. The last time the 12 Hour went this long without the first yellow was 1994, when the entire race was run without a slow-down. So this is in second place, (and can only tie for "longest from the start"). Champion Audi into pit...appears routine. Running order by class, just after four hours in: LMP 1 2 - 18(one lap) 38 (two laps) 16 (five laps) GTS 4 26 (one lap) 3 (three laps) (in pit) GT 42 23, 22 (one lap) 6 (three laps) TK 4:04 #43 BMW back in, hood up, looks like an adjustment, back out in about two minutes. 3:50 More information on the Callaway C12 retirement: They report to race officials that their problem is "body damage." Hmmmmm. I recall cars of this type hanging in there with little or no bodywork left. The Pescarola Courage has been suffering from myriad electrical problems. The #2 Audi seems to be at speed again. The #43 BMW is still in the pit, hood still up. Work continues, although it seems somewhat less urgent now. Boot open too, (that's both the Boot and the Bonnet open). BMW Motorsport reports the problem is with the VANOS (variable valve timing) system. It is being replaced (we believe the brain box). They just shut the hood and left. That was about a 10 minute stop. #51 Panoz into the pits. Jorg Mueller has put the #42 BMW between the two Alex Job Porsches. Terry Borcheller keeps the Saleen just one lap back of the two Corvettes. Audi admits to no problem. "Eh!!! No problem, es ist fine!" (with a shrug) (paraphrase) Perhaps the bonnet was off for the fun of it, or just to cool the engine. (with some kind of tool, of course). 3:45 #43 Motorsport BMW in pit with hood up. driver still in, and crew still moving with urgency. Joest Audis have now both gone to their third drivers, Aiello and Pirro. Audi #2 is in with tne engine cowling off, working feverishly on engine, back on now, and out of pits. 3:30 The customer Audis also continue to drop back of the Audi Sport machines, with Johansson's Gulf now one lap back, and the Champion Audi two. The two Alex Job Porsches re-assume the lead on the Motorsport BMW #42 pit stop. After returning to the track, Jorg Muller takes a spot away from the Saleen, who also has pitted #1 Audi into pit #43 BMW into pit Borcheller takes the Saleen back past the V8 BMW on the track. Both trail the two Corvettes, one lap back of #4 and on the same lap as #3 The Intersport Lola Judd has been on an exended pit stop and is now 10 laps down to the leader. Callaway C12 is being packed up. Only thing the crew wants to share is "It's busted" and walk away. Unhappy folks? Kelly-Moss has replace an axle on each car. The parts were new here at Sebring, tested, and they have no idea why it has occured. David Stone says "It will be thoroughly sorted out (as to why) once we get home." 3:24 Report from the Intersport Lola pit: "See that car? (points to a Joest Audi flying by) THAT'S the problem!" ...on why the car is 7 laps down. As to the three laps that they are adrift of the Dyson R&S, on course spins and two stop and goes account for much of it. Dyson in the pit at 3:27 #2 Audi in at 3:28 3:05 At the three hour mark this is truly an Audi race, as four lead the parade, with Dyson's new R&S semi-in-contact at 4 laps down, the next best being the Field Lola-Judd at seven laps back. There have been some spins on course for the latter, and we are checking now on what other problems, if any, might have put the Judd back as far as it is. The two Panoz have had a litany of problems, with the 51 car recently returned to the pits (again) this time with an electrical problem. There are no cars "officially" declared out of the race, but three are almost certainly gone: #10 BMW (engine), #12 Callaway C12 (likely suspension, with which there was earlier difficulty), and #98 Kelly-Moss Porsche, (likely engine). Running order: LMP 2,1,18 (same lap) 38 (down one) 16 (down four) 17 (down seven) GTS 4, 3 (same lap) 26 (down one) GT 42, 23 (42 is leading the 26 GTS car) 22 (one lap) 43 (two laps) 6 (three laps) as of 3:20 2:30 Darren Law stops the #98 Kelly-Moss Porsche out on the back part of the course. #2 in; fuel only; Kristensen stays aboard. Fellows back aboard #3 Corvette, but had a little trouble getting it started. #50 Panoz' problem is overheating. #51 will come back, merely as a test drive. #47 stopped on course, probably will be towed back. Rundown #1, 88 laps #2, -7 s #18, -1 lap #38, -2 laps #16, -4 laps #37, - 7laps GTS #4, 79 laps #3, -1 lap #26, -2 laps GT #42, 78 laps #23, -21 s #22, -45 s #43, -1 lap #6, -2 laps #45, -2 laps + 80s Sun out now for first time today--getting hotter. JW 2:15 #50 Panoz returned to the race, and then to the pits after 2 laps. Problem on the Saleen was a bad latch--no contact. #52 Porsche spins badly on front straight, clouts pit wall, and continues (nearly collected by another Porsche). Looks like rear suspension damage. Bagnall is barely crawling back with it--stopping several times in precarious spots. #11 black flag was for speeding enroute into the pits. JW 2:00 Field Lola has had a number of spins. Saleen is back in and having rear bodywork replaced. They've dropped to third in GTS. Drama with no. 10 PTG BMW as the engine blows on Bill Auberlen. The no. 11 Lola has been black-flagged. The no. 42 BMW has been having problems with removing the wheel on its stops. Hour 2 quickie: 1 #1, 62 laps 2 #2, -61s 3 #18, -64s 4 #38, -1 lap 5 #16, -2 laps 6 #37, -5 laps 7 #26, 56 laps 8 #4, -76s from #26 9 #3, -1 lap from #26 10 #42, 55 laps GTS; 26, 4,3 GT; 42, 23, 22 [gap to 23 =9.5 s, 1 lap down to 22] JW 1:30 Most cars are carrying black mourning stripes in Wollek's honor. Magnussen stopped out at the start of the main straight, got going again and pulled into the paddock (alternator) Wallace back in for seemingly a routine (but early) halt for the Champion Audi. #34 Orbit Porsche spins and is nearly collected by one of the Kelly-Moss cars. The Viper comedy continues. The no. 44 car is smoking at the left rear, comes in, and the crew's tool box is locked. Who has the key? Gulf Audi in, Guy Smith takes over--no tires. Both lead Audis in, Kristensen takes over #2 and Alboreto in no.1. 07 and 43 spin together, light contact, but the 43 BMW is black-flagged for gaining advantage and causing the problem. 52 spins on its own. Kelly Collins takes over the no. 4 Corvette as the second round of stops for all but the GTs are nearly complete. The only one of them not in yet is the Saleen and thus it is a lap up on the Corvettes. Good dice between Luhr in the no. 23 Job Porsche and J. Mueller's V-8. BMW takes over the class lead. Field Lola has dropped back, with Sutherland now behind the wheel. Wallace still in marathon double stint with the Champion Audi. Weaver is in the R & S. Rundown: 1 18 2 [delayed with a recalcitrant wheel] 38 16 37 GTS 26 [now lost spot with 2nd stop; to Konrad; some loose bodywork] 4 3 GT 42 [pilot overheating from poor cockpit circulation and no cool suit] 23 22 43 10 98 6 00 07 JW 1:15 minutes The GT cars are now stopping. JJ Lehto was quite fatigued when he handed over to Joerg Mueller. The unrelated Dirk Mueller hands the S-6 #43 BMW over to Ekblom and takes on new tires. This breaks up a fine early race dice between them and the two PTG cars. The Barbour car had some body damage showing on its stop. The Kyser Porsche takes on right side tires only. Hawkins moves into the LMP 675 Lola, which is running quite well--already well past its Texas distance. 45-60 minutes Big drama for Panoz. Klaus Graf pulls directly into the paddock (broken alternator) When the car returns it will be assessed a stop-go for pit lane speeding. Brabham's car is a mess with the cockpit full of fuel after the nozzle came loose. (fuel shut off valve failed). Brabham tried to drive off but fuel rushed up his leg and he hopped out. A mechanic hopped in and the car was pushed back. Magnussen takes over. The Courage had a brief "off". Other spinners have included the no. 69 (Foster) and no. 47 (Warner) Porsches. Both Corvettes have made their first routine stops; fuel only on #2, switch to O'Connell. Tires and fuel for Pilgrim. Tires and fuel for #38 Audi Tires, fuel, and change to EFR on the Riley & Scott Ignition problems on the Courage Borcheller has taken over the Saleen. Rice is in the Callaway Capello in; no tires, fuel only. Biela also stays aboard for another stint. The no. 44 Viper (Pardoe) made a slow start and came in later with front end damage. The Cirtek Porsche speeds down the pit lane and is penalized. One Hour rundown: #1, 29 laps #2, -20.7 s #18, -57.6s #38, -86s #37, 28 laps #16, -5.6 s #11, 27 laps #72, 26 laps #26, 26 laps #42, 26 laps #23, -20s from 42 #22, -21s from 42 #3, -30s from 26 #4, -44 from 26 #45, -1 m from 26 #00, 26 laps #50 #99 #43 #6 #98, 25 laps #17 #66 #10 #34 #69 #57 #36 #52 #12, 24 laps #15 #44, 23 laps #58 #09 #47 #51, 12 laps JW 40 Minutes The #50 Panoz is in the pits for what appears to be a long stop. As it pulled away it seems to have stalled, and the crew is pulling and pushing the car back to its pit space. Reporting fuel around the driver's feet, and spraying around. Other prototypes are making scheduled stops now. JW 30 minutes The audacity of Jon Field has been the story of the first half-hour. Not only has his Lola led the non-Audi class, but during the opening laps he split the two private R8s. While Biela and Capello are some five seconds clear of the opposition, Field jumped ahead of Johansson at the start. He was quickly demoted but then began a terrific dice between him, Leitzinger (Dyson team), and Brabham's Panoz. Boullion's Courage is only two seconds adrift, keeping well clear of Gavin, who has stretched out the GTS lead. The Corvettes are in formation, some 3-4 seconds behind. In GT, the JJ Lehto V-8 BMW is about one second ahead of the two Job cars. Making a demon start is Shane Lewis in the Callaway. He went from 38th to 23rd after 10 laps. JW 20 Minutes Unfortunately, the early performance of American Viperacing is worse than expected, as they are mired at the back of the field. The spread amongst the prototypes in clear; three groups. The lead factory cars, then 10 seconds back to the two privateers, then thirty seconds more to the rest of them. The red Panoz, #51 into the pits, then back out. It appears now as if they will get a penalty on the stop. Konrad Saleen now has a substantial lead on the Corvettes, who run together some three seconds back. The #42 M3 GTR now holds a five second lead on the Job cars. TK Opening Laps The SR7 has about a 100 yard lead on the #3 Corvette at the start-finish line at the end of lap 4. A half dozen of the GT field have been lapped by most of prototypes after four laps. Meanwile back in GT the order is Porsches 23 and 22, followed by the 42 BMW V8, then the Larbre Porsche #00, and Bill Auberlen in the #10 PTG BMW. The first three of these have separated themselves from the rest. JJ Lehto passes both of the Job cars on lap 8 or so, and takes the lead. Will these top three wear each other out,leaving Larbre and PTG to run for it later? The prototypes have divided themselves into their two classes, as expected. The Audis lead with the Joest cars up front, followed by the privateers. order is 1, 2, 38, 18. Behind them there is a great race amongst the other prototypes, with the order Jon Field's Intersport Lola Judd, #37, followed by Dyson's R&S, the #50 Panoz and the #72 Pescarola Courage Peugeot. The Saleen SR7 has put a few hundred yards space between himself and the #3 Corvette, and Lehto builds the lead of the new M3 GTR over the Job cars on every lap. TK The Start The command for today is "In memory of Bob Wollek a racer and our friend, drivers, start your engines" All the cars have successfully started and rolled off the grid for the first of the parade lap, and the Exxon Tiger (the celebrity starter for this race) is up on the starting stand, flag in hand, waving and hugging uncomfortable race officials. Lights out on the pace car, going green on the first lap. Two BMW's get side by side with them and drag race the two Alex Job Porsches up toward corner one. The two Joest cars lead the first lap, and the Alex Job Porsche's have held serve on the BMW's. Saleen leads GTS. JJ Lehto has the new BMW V8 right on the tail of the two Job Porsche's. Burgess spins the #52 Seikel Porsche on lap 2, then continues. As expected, the second of the Panoz LMP07's is clawing back, but still well behind the rest of the prototypes, and currently in the company of the Saleen SR7. TK Just Before The Off There are 38 cars starting the race. Of course the Petersen Motorsport's Porsche that Bob Wollek would have driven has been withdrawn, the Gunnar Racing Lola Porsche will not, and one of the Orbit Porsche GT3-Rs also will not go..."too slow" is the only reason given. TK Bob Wollek The National Anthem has just concluded, and there are reflections on Bob Wollek being given over the PA here, by some you knew them, Stefan Johansson among them now. The flags are being removed and the crews and other visitors are leaving the grid as we wait for the command for drivers to start your engines. TK Pre Race Janos Wimpffen and Tom Kjos are nearly ready to go with TotalMotorSport's 'Live' coverage of the Sebring 12 Hours. As Janos mentioned elsewhere, there's a pall over the meeting now, after yesterday's terrible news. Somehow, perhaps the racers can remind us why we're involved with sportscar racing. Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport