The Flying Lizards have the pace but could not qualify well
Farnbacher Loles
Flying Lizards
Tafel Racing
Risi Competizione
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Farnbacher Loles
Farnbacher Loles Racing earned its first American L e Mans Series pole position on Friday, with a record GT class qualifying lap on the newly configured and repaved Lime Rock Park road course in Lakeville, Conn. Dirk Werner of Kissenbruck, Germany, put the No. 87 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on the class pole with a lap of 54.154 seconds at an average speed of 99.716 mph on the 1.51-mile circuit.
"I'm very happy and proud that Farnbacher Loles and I could get the first pole in the American Le Mans Series in only our fifth race," Werner said. "The car obviously was great and I think we did the best job in adapting to the new track, because it changed a lot over the practice sessions. I put out a pretty good lap -- it was really on the edge -- and I hope now we can get a good result in the race. After a long period of not-so-good results, the team really deserves to be on the podium."
Porsche factory driver Richard Westbrook of London, England, will share driving duty with Werner in Saturday's two-hour 45-minute race. Although Westbrook has raced with Farnbacher Racing in Europe this season, the Lime Rock race will be his first with U.S.-based Farnbacher Loles Racing.
"I'd like to get used to this! It's just been a great start. I'm really surprised about the gap we've had from the moment we first got in the car through both practice sessions. And it was clear in the qualifying, we have an advantage," Westbrook said. "You're not going to get a perfect car, you've just got to make the best of what you've got, and we've certainly done that today. We've just got to carry that over to the race now."
Both drivers expect a tough race on Saturday. They say the track changes challenge the GT cars that share the short, narrow track with the faster, more powerful prototype cars.
"The surface is very smooth and very slippery, and the characteristics changed a lot because it's not bumpy any more," Werner explained. "They changed two turns, so it's very slow in these changed turns now. There will be good overtaking opportunities for the prototypes, but it's also very narrow in these parts, so it will be hard to stay out of trouble."
Westbrook agreed: "This track and the new surface, it's going to be a battle. We've got to make sure, lap after lap, we're quick in the race. We have a great strategy, but there are going to be a lot of yellow flags; it's going to be a lottery. We need to make sure we're in the mix all the way through the race."
Team owner Gregory Loles noted, "We are very satisfied by today's results. Our program is now showing its potential in ALMS. We want to thank Mr. Hartmut Kristen and Mr. Paul Ritchie and all the people at Porsche Motorsport for believing in our program and entrusting us the resources to succeed. I also want to acknowledge all the hard work of our technical team headed by my partner, Horst Farnbacher, data engineer Ewald Mayer and crew chief Kurt Keitel.
"Tomorrow will be very challenging, given the curing process the track is undergoing. With some luck, we should have a good result."
new engine
The No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche is powered by a new 4.0-liter engine that generates the same horsepower as the previous 3.8-liter version. The engine, still in its testing phase, is designed to improve drivability by widening the power band.
Flying Lizards
Flying Lizard Qualifies 4th, 5th and 8th in GT2 for Lime Rock
July 11, 2008--Lakeville, CT-- In this afternoon's qualifying session, Joerg Bergmeister qualified the No. 45 fourth in GT2, Patrick Pilet in the No. 46 was fifth and Darren Law in the No. 44 was eighth.
Today is the only day of practice before the race tomorrow. Unfortunately, the combination of a new track configuration and a short and narrow circuit created a chaotic environment for today's sessions. The two one-hour practice sessions were shortened significantly as numerous cars ran into problems, resulting in red flag after red flag. The three Lizard Porsches avoided any major problems throughout the day, although the drivers didn't get the seat time they had hoped for and the cars are not yet at race setup.
Bergmeister commented on the session, "Our qualifying results were a little disappointing. In the No. 45 Porsche, we made some changes since this morning, but we are still fighting a big understeer. If we can fix that then we should be in good shape, but we definitely have some work to do for tomorrow. Overall, I think we are all still coming to grips with the new layout. The curbing and rumblestrips are coming up in places, which isn't helping much. Hopefully they'll have things sorted out on the track by the race tomorrow."
The driver lineup for Saturday's race is: Darren Law and Seth Neiman in the No. 44 Porsche, Joerg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler in the No. 45 Porsche, and Johannes van Overbeek and Patrick Pilet in the No. 46 Porsche.
Tafel Racing
Tafel/Bell Micro Racing to Start Third in Lime Rock GT2 Battle; No. 73 Damaged in Practice
LAKEVILLE Conn., July 11, 2008 - Today's first appearance of Tafel Racing and the American Le Mans Series at the newly configured Lime Rock (Conn.) Park was as brutal as advertised. Following the two, one hour-long practice sessions and the 20-minute time trial, the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC sat third in the GT2 field while the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC sat in the paddock being repaired. Dirk Muller (a native of Germany living in Monaco) turned a lap of 54.824 seconds in qualifying around the 1.51-mile, ten-turn facility to place himself and partner Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) on the inside of the GT2 grid's second row. The No. 73 did not make a qualifying attempt after being damaged just prior to qualifying in the second practice session. Driver Alex Figge (Denver, Col.) and a Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) made contact entering the front straightaway and was forced into the tire barrier. Figge was taken to a local hospital for x-rays on his left foot. The x-rays returned negative and he is expected to compete in the event. The No. 73 Figge shares with Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) is expected to have repairs complete in time for tomorrow's 2:05 PM (ET) start.
The new track configuration, which includes a new chicane, new pavement and new concrete curbing, made for a challenging day for the competitors in all classes. For the road car-based GT2 field, their sub- one minute lap times were nearly eight seconds slower than the LMP entries. The narrow track and quick closing rates between cars made for multiple red flags during the practice sessions. The No. 73 was forced off track mid-way through the second practice session with Figge behind the wheel. Figge's passenger side door was cracked in the incident that then pushed him into the tire barrier as the cars led- onto the front straightaway. The tire wall did further damage to the nose and headlight assembly on the driver's side of the car. Figge reported his left side sore from the impact. He also complained of left foot pain. Track and IMSA medical crews examined Figge and recommended he visit the hospital for x-rays. The team is awaiting word of his final prognosis to determine a strategy for tomorrow's two hour and 45- minute event. The No. 71 had the passenger-side mirror torn-away when an LMP2 car went to overtake Muller later in the second session. Few cars left the track without some sort of damage.
In qualifying, Muller started strong with a quick lap. However, that lap was disallowed by race officials for shortcutting the turn-seven chicane. Shortcuts of that turn would play a major role in the day's activities as several cars were determined to have shaved time off in the area. As Muller continued to turn laps, rain began to fall on portions, but not all, of the track. He would turn the Bell Micro Ferrari's fastest lap on the 13th circuit of the course. A dramatic, and uncommon, call for fuel on lap 14 would give the 2000 American Le Mans Series GT2 Champion six more laps on track. Muller neared his best lap on his penultimate circuit. However, as he entered the last sequence of turns on his final lap, Muller came upon a slower GT2 competitor. With no room to pass, the lap, which the German expected to be his best, was forfeited. The Lap 13 time would stand as the qualifying effort.
Jim Tafel, Owner/Driver, No. 73: "Number one is that Alex is OK. It will be a lot of work but we can put the car back together. It is just too bad. It takes away time to setup our car. We didn't get quite where we wanted to be in qualifying with the 71 Bell Micro car. It is going to be a race of attrition though. I hope the drivers' meeting we had will help sort these matters out. There will be incidents but I hope we can keep them to a minimum."
Tony Dowe, Technical Director: "I am happy and disappointed in equal measure. I am happy with the result for the team but disappointed in the track and the subjective decision making with regard to people who were allowed to cut turn seven and get away with it and others that had lap times taken away. I am not necessarily referring to us. There was a great deal of subjectivity to it from where we sat and that really is not a good way for racing to be administered. The car is very consistent, it is quick. We have a little bit of understeer to still dial out which is not so difficult. Both drivers are looking good. From that point of view it is looking good."
Dominik Farnbacher, Driver, No. 71: "We wish we were starting in the top two or even the pole but three is a very good starting position. The Lizard cars, which are just ahead of us in the championship, are starting behind us in the race and the two cars that are in front of us on the grid are further down in the points. The race will be long tomorrow. There will be a lot of position changes and I think it is a survival game. The cars that survive tomorrow will be on the podium and the ones that take too much risk will be looking up to us at the end."
Alex Figge, Driver, No. 73: "I'd like to see the video. I feel like it was a late move on his part but the situation, with this many cars on this size track, is very difficult for a GT2 driver."
Dirk Muller, Driver, No. 71: "It was close and very difficult. I really enjoyed doing it today. It was difficult due to the weather conditions. In the beginning it was really raining in some parts. I was very near to switching on the wiper. Nevertheless, that made it very complicated and very greasy. Finally, at the end it got very quick. I needed a lot of laps to build-up the heat in my tires because we are basically using the race setup. It is a little bit of a pity. We changed the car and it got better at the end. On my final lap I got caught behind the Viper but there is no blame for anything. That is just the way it is. Looking forward to tomorrow, we have already lost the mirror. That means it is going to be very, very tough. At the moment I think the LMP cars think they are the strong muscle cars but I hope they think a little different tomorrow to make this race happen."
Risi made it to the GT2 pole
Risi Competizione
The Houston, Texas-based team clinched a front row spot in the GT2 class for tomorrow's Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, Mika Salo leaving it late in the 20-minute qualifying session before setting his fastest time of 54.720 seconds in his Le Mans-winning Ferrari 430 GT.
In fact, the #62 car left it late to enter the qualifying session at all as the Finn had put a wheel off on the fastest corner of the newly configured and repaved 1.51 mile track towards the end of the afternoon practice session, run just prior to qualifying. Speedy repair work on the front splitter and brake ducts had to be carried out by the Risi Competizione mechanics and the Ferrari joined qualifying nine minutes into the session. It took the flying Finn just five laps before he set his quick time.
Mika Salo said afterward: "Considering that we had such broken up practice sessions [because of numerous red flag interruptions] it was okay. The [Farnbacher] Porsche is so far ahead, more than half a second ahead of us, and there's no way I could have done that lap time in these conditions. The car is really fine and if we can lap at this sort of time consistently in the race it will be good. It gives us confidence for the race."
The track conditions were the hot topic in the paddock and Salo commented, "The race will be more difficult than ever. The traffic will be the same as always, of course, but there will be more sand and dirt on the track so it will be more like a rally cross race -- a survival game as usual."
Patrick Friesacher, a newcomer to Lime Rock Park like his team mate Harrison Brix, had endured the same practice frustrations as all other competitors. To compound the lack of track time due to the many incidents that befell competitors up and down the pitlane during the two hours of practice, a light sprinkling of rain started just before qualifying and continued after the green flag dropped. The Austrian's quickest time of 55.458 seconds put him in p7 on the GT2 grid, but left him feeling disappointed.
"I am a little bit disappointed with qualifying. In the beginning it was raining a bit so I didn't want to take any risk, just wanted to stay on the track. The tires didn't come in very quickly so I had to drive and drive and then at the end we had a fuel pick up problem so I had to stop in the pits. We had fuel in the tank but it told us that there was none. I was thinking to be in the top four at least so I am disappointed.
"My first impressions of Lime Rock are that it's okay, especially in qualifying when the prototypes are not out there! But, when they are there too, it's really difficult. It's a short lap so they lap you very quickly and in some corners you have to be very careful and keep looking in your mirrors all the time. It's mirrors and mirrors, every lap."