Blancpain: Porsche 2nd, Lamborghini 3rd in first practice at Monza |  |
- Blancpain: Porsche 2nd, Lamborghini 3rd in first practice at Monza
- ALMS: Craig Stanton, Magus Racing squeeze out 4th in qualifying
- ALMS: Flying Lizard’s Patrick Long 4th on grid for Long Beach
- ALMS: Bryce Miller and Sascha Maassen ready for Long Beach sprint
| Blancpain: Porsche 2nd, Lamborghini 3rd in first practice at Monza Posted: 16 Apr 2011 09:44 AM PDT
The first 40min free-practice session of the Blancpain Endurance Series kicked off this morning at Monza. There was a lot of swapping between the top teams. Lamborghini, Porsche and Audi’s were there but in the end it was the no50 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Matt Griffin and Jack Gerber with a 1:49.603 in the Pro-Am class. Second (1:50.489) went to the Pro-Cup class AutOrlando Sport Porsche 997 GT3 R of Paolo Ruberti, Gianluca Roda and Raffaele Gianmaria.
Third (1:50.754) went to Peter Kox who is going back and forth between this and Super Trofeo this weekend. Sharing the Lamborghini worth Peter is Marc A. Hayek. The top Audi R8 LMS came in 8th in Pro-Cup and 12th overall. The Belgian Audi Club Team W Racing Team of Greg Franchi, Andrea Piccini and Marcel Fassler were 2.5sec back with a 1:52.010. In the GT3 Citation Cup, it was the no31 Lamborghini Gallardo with Georges Cabannes and Gregory Guilvert at the wheel. A 1:554.272 was a clear 2.5sec faster then no22 Ferrari 430 Scuderia.
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| ALMS: Craig Stanton, Magus Racing squeeze out 4th in qualifying Posted: 16 Apr 2011 05:35 AM PDT
Did Craig fill up on to many waffles from Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘n Waffles before qualifying? Maybe not enough Pit Bull Energy Drink in the tank? Fortunately it wasn’t any of those but unfortunately a slow rear leak kept Craig from advancing up any further. On an 11-turn street circuit, a low tire is not what you need! With a stacked weekend, ALMS teams were only allowed one practice session very, very early in the day. Both Potter and Stanton laid laps down with Craig hitting second overall.
“We didn’t have the qualifying we wanted, but I told Craig it was okay,” said John, with a smile. “I’ll clean up his mess.” Stanton, however, is looking forward to a shot at redemption on the streets of Long Beach in tomorrow’s two-hour ALMS race. “It is so great to have so many friends and family here to support us,” said Stanton. “All of our hometown friends, my go-kart buddies, and everybody from Roscoe’s and Pit Bull have made this a really special event. I’m looking forward to watching John take our car to the front and then I’m looking forward to bringing it home.” Related posts:
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| ALMS: Flying Lizard’s Patrick Long 4th on grid for Long Beach Posted: 16 Apr 2011 04:26 AM PDT
With a time of 1:19.463, this put Patrick Long and the no45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 4th on grid. With a clean track for all classes, qualifying was all out. Both BMW and Corvette were right there at the top swapping positions with Patrick. In the end it would be Joey Hand in the no56 BMW on pole (1:19.090), Jan Magnussen in the no4 Corvette (1:19.137) and the second no55 BMW in 3rd (1:19.447). Long Beach is one of those circuit where qualifying does matter. 11 turns over the 2 mile circuit will make it tough for passing so strategy and tires will play a big role.
Seth Neiman qualified the no44 Flying Lizard Porsche 13th. Long commented on the session: “Qualifying today went right to plan: the car was hooked up from the start and really consistent. Being in the top five in this field is a great result. The team has done an excellent job leading up to the race in delivering a solid racecar.” Qualifying result Related posts:
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| ALMS: Bryce Miller and Sascha Maassen ready for Long Beach sprint Posted: 14 Apr 2011 02:04 PM PDT
For the first three and a half months of 2011, the No. 48 Marquis Jet/TOTAL/IPC Porsche team from Paul Miller Racing focused on North America’s most prestigious endurance races at two of the continent’s most historic permanent road courses. This weekend, the focus of the No. 48 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR team and co-drivers Bryce Miller and Sascha Maassen shifts dramatically to one of the shortest and most prestigious sports car races on North America’s most historic permanent road circuit. This week is the annual trek to Southern California for the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach on Saturday, April 16, starting at 4:30 p.m. PT. It’s a special event for Paul Miller Racing and the team drivers for a number of reasons, not least of which is the fact that Long Beach is in the virtual “backyard” of the team’s tire partner, Yokohama, with a U.S. base in nearby Fullerton, Calif. It’s also a place where both Miller and Maassen have been top-five performers in the past. Maassen has been a podium finisher in both of his previous Long Beach visits, taking second in LMP2 and overall in 2007 and third in the LMP2 class in 2008. Miller finished fifth in the GTC class in his inaugural visit last year and – along with the team – has taken the big step up to the GT class in 2011. “The Long Beach circuit is really fun,” Miller says. “The fans come out in a big way to support our sport. The circuit is difficult to pass on so qualifying and race strategy always plays a big role. I am really excited to try some different Yokohama compounds and I know it will be a step forward for our team.” Maassen, who debuted with the team in the 2011 season opener at Sebring, feels much the same way as his co-driver when it comes to the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit. But he also wouldn’t mind if the weather was just a bit cooler than the forecasted 80-degree temperatures for both days of on-track activity on Friday and Saturday. “I like street circuits and Long Beach is the shortest race of the season,” said Maassen. “So it is even more important to push to the maximum. Our performance in Sebring when the track temperature came down was promising. So I hope the weather will not be too warm…” Another challenge all ALMS teams face this weekend is a much more limited amount of track time than what they got to open the year. The Paul Miller Racing team participated in pre-event test sessions and got a considerable amount of practice time in addition to several hours in endurance races at Sebring last month and Daytona in January. That will not be the case this week. Miller and Maassen will get two hours of practice time from 7:15 to 9:15 a.m. PT on Friday morning and one driver will get another 15 minutes during the qualifying session on Friday afternoon at 5:20 p.m. local time. Their only track time on Saturday will be the two hours of racing from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. PT, so arriving with a good setup on the No. 48 Porsche will be crucial. However, while there might not be a lot of track time, Long Beach represents one of the biggest markets the ALMS visits. The race is part of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend for the IZOD IndyCar Series, and there will be plenty to do. Miller, Maassen and the No. 48 Porsche team will partake in a pit stop competition as part of the Tecate Thunder Thursday on Pine Ave. in Long Beach. The event runs from 6:30 to 10 p.m. local time, and the pit stop competitions will go off at 6:45 and 7:45 p.m. In addition, Miller and Maassen will be part of an all-driver autograph session at the Paul Miller Racing team transporter from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Related posts:
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