Another podium in a good year for Tafel
Corsa
Tafel
Risi
VICI
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Corsa
INCIDENT-FILLED DAY LEAVES CORSA MOTORSPORTS NINTH AT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK
Home Not So Sweet for Salt Lake City-Based Team
TOOELE, Utah (May 18, 2008) -- There was no home-field advantage for Salt Lake City-based Corsa Motorsports in Sunday's American Le Mans Series Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels. After three on-track incidents and a major hold-up in the pits, the No. 48 Alabama Motorsports Park Ferrari F430GT finished ninth in its class after leaving the grid fifth. Gunnar Jeannette started the race with Johnny Mowlem taking the wheel about 90 minutes into the race.
Action started early for the Corsa Ferrari. Ten minutes into the race Jeannette was clipped by an LMP2. Ten minutes later, an accident involving prototypes left debris scattered on the track and Jeannette thought he may have ran over something. He then questioned the condition of the right-rear tire. While under caution thirty-five minutes in, Jeannette discussed his options with strategist Rob Taylor in deciding whether or not to pit. "I'd rather be safe than sorry," he radioed to the pits. "If something is wrong and we have to pit under green, it would kill us." After inspecting the Dunlops, it was discovered that there was a slow-leaking puncture that could have caused further damage had he not pitted.
A second incident occurred at minute 55. "I just got creamed," Jeannette exclaimed on the radio. The No. 73 Ferrari missed a braking point and drove into the right side of the Corsa Ferrari. Despite the cosmetic damage it didn't do much to hurt the handling of the car and remained stable after the incident.
Minutes later Jeanette relayed that his helmet blower had come off, making conditions inside the car quite unbearable on the 85 degree afternoon.
An hour and a half in, Jeannette pulled in for routine service and a driver change, but the stop took an unsuspected turn when the driver's side door would not open -- a result of the contact with the No. 73. Jeannette exited and Mowlem entered in the right side of the car. After getting buckled in and ready to go, IMSA ruled the door had to be operational before the car could leave the pits. The team lost three minutes in the pits while trying to pry off and replace the damaged door.
Mowlem rejoined the race in 12th position and consistently clicked off lap times ranking fourth-fastest in the GT2 class and continued to pick up positions. With only three minutes remaining in the event, Mowlem went off course while battling for seventh position. "I got a run on [the No. 28] when he lost air as the Audi was rounding him," Mowlem explained. "I managed to get by him, and gave him room heading into the apex. He went in hard with me and hit me in the rear. It put me in the gravel. If I could have gotten out of the pit, we could have finished the race, but I was in too deep."
"This isn't the homecoming we were looking for," said Team Owner and Principal Steve Pruitt. "I have to commend the team though. After the events of the day, ninth place doesn't look too bad. It was an interesting and eventful afternoon for us."
Tafel
Tafel/Bell Micro Ferrari Grabs Third ALMS Podium in a Row on Last Lap of Utah Grand Prix
TOOELE, Utah, May 18, 2008 - The No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC earned its third-consecutive American Le Mans Series podium in dramatic fashion in today's Utah Grand Prix. The Cumming, Ga.-based team took-over third- place on the last lap of the two hour and 45-minute event at the 3.048-miles, the 15-turn Miller Motorsports Park (MMP). The No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC had a less satisfying return to the Series after a two race sabbatical finishing 16th in class.
Coming off of two-straight American Le Mans Series GT2 class victories (St. Petersburg and Long Beach), all eyes were on the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC entering the Utah Grand Prix. With high expectations to continue the team's streak, Farnbacher started the Ferrari fifth in class. The day would be made all the tougher when, on the first full course caution, the safety car "split" the No. 71 from the class leading No. 45 Porsche. Now a lap down through no fault of their own, it was an uphill battle for the team and Technical Director Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.).
Dowe's calming influence and a spectacular stint by Farnbacher moved the Bell Micro machine into second-place prior to the first of the team's two pit stops. Farnbacher handed the No. 71 over to 2000 GT2 champion Dirk Muller one hour and 20 minutes into the race. As they have done all season, the No. 71 crew performed a flawless stop returning to the track in sixth-place. Muller was up to fourth ten minutes later and back into second-place with one hour remaining in the event. The blue, white and silver Ferrari held second until the second and last pit stop for 12 seconds of fuel only.
Running fourth following the stop, Muller went on the attack in the final 20 minutes of the race. With fuel enough to reach the checkered flag, the second-year American Le Mans Series team hoped to force the third-place car into the pits for a splash of fuel. However, in a dramatic turn of events, it was the second-place machine that headed to the pit lane on the last lap. Muller's impressive lap times and the quick pit work of the crew was enough to overcome the gap the No. 87 had on the Bell Micro No. 71 entering the lap. Muller overtook the 87 as it left the pit lane and held off the charging Porsche to cross the finish line in third.
No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC
Drivers: Alex Figge (Denver, Col.), Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.)
The No. 73 Tafel Ferrari F430 GTC made its return to the American Le Mans Series with today's Utah Grand Prix. The car has been on the sidelines for the two events since finishing fourth in the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring. Figge, making his first start in the Series since 2005, took the green flag and ran as high as tenth before making contact with the No. 48 Ferrari 55 minutes into the event. Damage to the right front bodywork, suspension, steering rack and radiator would end the team's day 16th in class. Jim Tafel, hoping to make his second start of the season, did not turn a wheel in the race as the incident came minutes before the scheduled first stop.
The third-place result dropped Farnbacher and Muller from the driver's point lead to second. They trail the No. 45 drivers by one point (68 to 67) after four races. Tafel Racing's two car effort is also second in the team championship behind the three-car Flying Lizard team 82 points to 73.
Jim Tafel, Driver, No. 73: "I am really happy for the 71 Bell Micro Ferrari. It really shows how much each tenth of a second counts. Every tenth Dirk and Dominik picked up on the track, the tenths that the team gave us on two great pit stops; it all adds up. That really showed in the results today. I am obviously disappointed in how the race ended for the 73 Ferrari. I know how bad Alex felt with that situation. He is beating himself up but things like that happen. It was his first race back here in the Series and his first in GT2. As he gets back into a rhythm we'll be OK."
Tony Dowe, Technical Director: About the No. 71: "One of the realities of the Series we are in is that we know we cannot win every race and some races we will do better than others. The effort that Porsche has put in is fantastic. We really recognize how much effort they have made and we salute that effort. We gained even more respect for Wolf Henzler's efforts today. Because he drove for us last year we are very happy for him. But we also know the abilities of Dirk and Dominik and the team members who are working to put us ahead again. Our program is very strong. While the Lizard and Risi teams are away at Le Mans we are testing here in America at a number of facilities. We look forward to the results we find because we know with seven races to go there is everything to play for. The Lime Rock race and Mid-Ohio will be fantastic. I really look forward to seeing the results there."
About the No. 73: "I am really happy for Alex's first drive with us. Although the end result was not what he or us wanted, we have already seen his abilities and commitment to working with us and making results for both himself and the team happen the right way."
Dominik Farnbacher, Driver, No. 71: "The car felt very good. We were lacking a little in horsepower compared to the other cars. We also had a little issue with [tire rubber] pickup. After the two safety car periods I needed a few laps to get the pickup down and it cost us quite a bit of time. All-in-all we did no mistakes. The car was running great. Dirk was driving a phenomenal stint at the end. It was so close at the end that it was heart-beating action. We are happy. We collected some points and I am looking forward to Lime Rock."
Dirk Muller, Driver, No. 71: "Thanks for all the effort the team put into this race. We had two awesome pit stops. Really, really good. Dom drove a fantastic first stint. I had bad luck with the traffic for four laps in a row. I just couldn't believe it. But I didn't risk it. I knew we had to finish. Finally we had a very close finish but in the end we finished third. Thanks to everybody at Tafel Racing, Michelin and Ferrari."
Alex Figge, Driver, No. 73: "I'm just feeling really sick with myself. It was a huge mistake. It was completely out of line by me and I just wish I could make it up to the 48 Ferrari."
Risi
MISERABLE MILLER FOR RISI COMPETIZIONE
Risi Competizione's dreadful run of bad luck continued in Utah today with only one of the two Ferrari 430GT cars finishing round four of the American Le Mans Series. Patrick Friesacher and Harrison Brix fought with a malfunctioning power steering system, intense heat and dusty track conditions to take eighth place in today's Larry H Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix. The GT2 class was won by the #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche who led from start to finish, with the first Ferrari (Tafel Racing) finishing in third place.
The problems for the #62 car started early. Having driven a stunning qualifying lap to secure a front row place on the GT2 grid, Jaime Melo's team mate Mika Salo was forced to start the race from the pit lane after a problem with the fuel filler prevented him from taking his place on the grid.
Salo drove a superb double stint, climbing all the way from the back of the field through to as high as second in class before handing over the car at the 1hr 33minute mark to Melo. After a re-shuffling of positions due to pit stops, the Brazilian driver was pushing hard to re-claim a podium position when he clashed with the #28 GT2 Corvette in a passing maneuver. The Ferrari was flipped into the air and landed heavily before leaving the track...and the race.
Risi Competizione's Team Manager, David Sims, said afterwards; "Whatever the rights and wrongs of the incident were, our main concern now is assessing the extent of the damage to the #62 car. It was due to leave Utah on Wednesday for Europe so we obviously hope that it's not too badly damaged to prevent that from happening. We are certainly going to have our work cut out over the next few days."
The Official Sponsors of Risi Competizione, 2006 and 2007 ALMS GT2 Team Champions, are Boost/Motorola, Michelin, Free scale, Ferrari of Silicon Valley, Ferrari Financial Services, Boardwalk Auto group, Delphi and Ferrari of Houston.
The Risi Competizione team now leaves the USA for Europe where it will be taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 14/15. The next round of the American Le Mans Series will be the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, CT on July 12.
VICI
Tooele, Utah - After 2 hours and 45 minutes of tough racing at a very hot and dry Utah this afternoon, and having overcome a series of setbacks during the race, both VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs were classified in the top ten of the final results, a pleasing reward for the team as it expands to running two cars for the first time, and for the all-new driver line up in the new #18 car, Ruben Carrapatoso, Nicky and Francesco Pastorelli who hadn't raced the GT2 class Porsche or in the ALMS series before this week.
Equally pleasing was the performance from Nathan Swartzbaugh and Craig Stanton in the #5 car, the pair battling back well after setbacks. The ALMS challenge centres around tire program development on behalf of Kumho Tires and the team is satisfied that a strong step forward has been made this week.
Race day dawned warm and dry with a light breeze, and by the time the official ALMS Warm Up session got underway this morning at 8:00 AM, the temperatures at the Miller Motorsports Park were tipping into the 60s. The team was happy with the race set up planned the new #18 car, so just a handful of installation laps were scheduled to scrub in race tires during the 20 minute session. For the #5 car, which missed the qualifying session yesterday afternoon, the Warm Up would allow its set up to be finalised and to give Craig a chance to acclimatise to the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on the Utah track as he only flew in last night after a racing commitment at Laguna Seca yesterday.
Ruben was entrusted with the #18 car during the Warm Up session, and he ran to schedule without any problems. Meanwhile, veteran Porsche racer Craig Stanton was out and lapping the 3.06 mile 'Perimeter' course, being used by the ALMS series for the first time, in the Tornos and Westway Development- supported #5 ca,r and the Californian resident would run for the full session as he dialled himself in on the track with the RSR.
While the drivers in the #18 car were all experiencing the Miller Motorsports Park for the first time, Craig and Nathan have both won here before. Already a winner on this new track, last year Craig finished second in the Koni Challenge round as well as slotting in a podium visit in the Rolex series. Team mate Nathan, who has been entrusted with the #5 car all week here in Craig's absence, is also a podium finisher on this two-year- old purpose built circuit, which features superb facilities for the teams, as he climbed onto the Utah rostrum on his way to winning the 2006 IMSA GT3 Cup title.
The American Le Mans Series brings a unique atmosphere to each venue it visits, and following two city street races at St. Petersburg and Long Beach it was to the hot, dry, dusty scenery of Salt Lake City; a flat valley plain with its sparse vegetation bookended by sharply rising, snow capped mountains. And the atmosphere built as the cars lined up on the grid, the fans descended, and the temperatures relentlessly continued to rise.
Ruben would start the #18 car while Nathan would run the first stint before handing over the #5 car to Craig; the former crew starting from 11th in class while the latter pair had been dropped to the back of the grid due to Craig's absence yesterday. At the green flag both cars got good starts, making up positions, with the #18 temporarily moving into the top ten, and Nathan squeezing past two GT2 class runners in front of him. Both cars were setting similar times as they settled into the planned race strategy with the VICI Racing cars running 1:54 laps in the opening minutes, but by lap 4 they were in the 1:52s (1:52.241 for the #18 and 1:52.166 for the #5), while a lap later the cars were into the 1:51s for the first time and running in line astern (1:51.964 for the #18 and 1:51.608 for the #5). After 16 minutes the action was interrupted for the first time as race went to a full course yellow after two prototypes went off the course.
Ten minutes later and the race went back to green conditions with both VICI Racing Porsches were well inside the top-ten, although the leaderboard was slightly distorted due to several teams electing to pit. The opening stint quickly settled back into a rhythm with the two cars consistently lapping in the 1:52 and 1:53 bracket before at 1:53PM (59 minutes) Nathan brought the #5 in for fuel, tires and driver change to Craig. Ruben completed his stint after 28 laps at 2:07PM (1 hr 1 min) diving in for fuel, tires and a change to Nicky, however pit infringements, including an inaccurate pit lane speed limiter, during the stops saw both cars incurring time penalties which would set the team back and end any chance of turning in a fighting result.
The cars though were running well and with the tires performing to expectations meaning that Nicky and Craig were able to run a consistent middle stint, turn in respectable lap times, and steer safely away from the string of on-track incidents that were befalling many other competitors. At 3.09PM (2 hr 3 mins) Craig brought the #5 in for fuel, tires and to hand back to Nathan, while 4 minutes later (3:13PM; 2 hr 7 mins) Nicky came in for fuel, tires and to hand over the #18 to his brother Francesco.
Both drivers performed admirably as the remaining time wound away, and they ran an excellent pace through the final stint, while for Francesco it was especially rewarding as this was his first race time in the RSR, a car he hadn't even sat in before Thursday. Minor issues affected both cars during the final laps: Francesco slowed with a gearbox issue with few a minutes remaining while Nathan had an off track excursion. However after 2 hours 48 minutes and 42 seconds of hard racing the chequered flag was waved to signal the end of the 2008 Utah Grand Prix and the team was rewarded with the #18 and #5 cars both being classified in the top ten (9th and 10th respectively). The fastest lap for the #18 car (1:51.446) came on lap 44 while the #5 car's best time (1:51.479) came on lap 62.
The next stop for VICI Racing on the American Le Mans Series circuit is round five in Lime Rock, Connecticut, for the New England Grand Prix on Saturday, July 12.
Roland Wall, Technical Director, VICI Racing "We had quite a difficult race with a number of set backs, but I'm pleased that both cars made it onto the final results and that we were able to step up to running two cars with just a few minor gliches. However what was most pleasing for me was the progress we made with the tire development program; Kumho have worked very hard and we are now starting to see the results. Now we all have to focus on the next race and move forward. It's going to be a long, tough season but I know we are perfectly positioned make the step up."
Jason Myers, Motorsport Development Director, Kumho Tires: "I'm satisfied with how things have gone, we brought a number of new 'second generation' development tires to try out this week, and they have shown themselves to be a big step in the right direction. They have been very consistent during the practice session runs, allowing the drivers to turn in steady lap times. We decided to race with our more established compounds, but I happy that we are making good progress and can now narrow the gap."
Nicky Pastorelli, Car #18: "It has been good to join the team here, I know the guys well and I'm glad to be back with them. I'm sure that we have all the ingredients in place to create a team that can build up to making the challenge at the front. We all know what we have to do and now we have to push forward and focus on Lime Rock. With a lot of hard work we can step forward with each race and develop the package."
Ruben Carrapatoso, Car #18: "I'm pleased to get behind the wheel of the RSR in a race at last and it felt good out there. The track was very busy, and the action was quite hectic. The tires are improving; they performed very well over the stints, so I'm now looking forward to moving forward with the team."
Nathan Swartzbaugh, Car #5: "We had a difficult race. We started well and I made good progress at the start. I was involved in a number of battles in the early stages, which was fun, and the car felt nice and balanced, we were certainly looking strong. The Kumho's were good and the race was setting up nicely. However the problems with the pitstop set us back and from then on we were consolidating and learning more from the tires."