Aston Martin wins ALMS debut in DB9 over C6-R

[koolaid117]

From ALMS website:

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ADT CHAMPION RACING, ASTON MARTIN RACING MAKE HISTORY AT MOBIL 1 TWELVE HOURS OF SEBRING​

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Sebring, Fla. - In the closest finish in race history, the No. 1 ADT Champion Racing Team Audi R8 beat its No. 2 sister car to win the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, the season-opener for the American Le Mans Series.​

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The trio of JJ Lehto, Marco Werner and Tom Kristensen gave Champion Racing its first Sebring victory in the closest competitive finish in Sebring's 53-year history. The No. 1 Audi R8 posted a 6.365-second win over the No. 2 car driven by Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Allan McNish.​

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Biela was trying for a record fourth overall victory in the Sebring race. And he might have gotten it were it not for a pair of stop-and-go penalties early in the race.​

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Instead, Kristensen won the race for the third time, and Werner and Lehto each won their second Sebring titles. Werner was part of the victorious Audi Sport Team Joest entry in 2003, while Lehto was a winning driver with BMW in 1999.​

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Ironically, Kristensen and Lehto were part of the previous race record for margin of victory. They teamed with Jorg Mueller in 1999 to win by 9.2 seconds in a BMW V12 LMR.​

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The victory extended Audi's winning streak at Sebring to six races. The last manufacturer other than Audi to win the historic Florida endurance race was BMW in 1999. Only Porsche has won more consecutive Sebring titles in a row (1976-88).​

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"This was a great win for the Champion Audi team," Lehto said. "It was tough all the way, we started with a harder compound tire than the No. 2 car which made it very difficult to work, but we were equal all the way. It was a good show for champion, we had tried before and always finished second."​

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The other big story was the No. 57 Aston Martin Racing DBR9, driven by David Brabham, Peter Kox and Darren Turner. The three gave Aston Martin its first class victory at Sebring since 1956, a span of 49 years. In its ALMS debut, the car outran a pair of Corvette Racing C6-Rs for a one-lap victory over the No. 3 car of Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Max Papis.​

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Saturday's race was the first for Aston Martin since 1983, when Reggie Smith, Lynn St. James and Drake Olson placed fifth overall in an Aston Martin Nimrod. Saturday, the Aston Martin crowd got the loudest cheers in the post-race ceremony.​

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"It was a great race," Brabham said. "It feels so good to beat such strong competition. It's a credit to everybody. We've got a great team, and the Aston Martin is a great car. This was an astonishing finish at such a tough race."​

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The LMP2 battle was finished with more than two hours left in the race. The No. 10 Miracle Motorsports Courage C65 AER of Ian James, Chris McMurry and Jeff Bucknum took the lead on lap 238 when the No. 27 Kruse Motorsports Courage C65 Judd lost an engine and had to retire.​

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The remaining class cars were so far behind at that point that they could not catch James, McMurry and Bucknum in the time remaining. It was the fourth class victory for each member of the Miracle trio. James won his second Sebring class title in a row.​

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The No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, driven by Lucas Luhr, Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister posted a seven-lap victory in GT2. The defending class winners at the 24 Hours of Le Mans placed second last year and became the first privateer GT2 team to win its class at Sebring since 1999 (Kelly Collins and Cort Wagner in a Porsche 911 RSR).​

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"The race wasn't really that hard physically," Luhr said. "It's usually much, much hotter. I have to mention our team. The guys did a perfect job with the pit stops. We were quicker than the other teams, which is great for a privateer."​

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The No. 79 J3 Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Justin Jackson, Tim Sugden and Nic Jonsson were second in class. It marked the team's highest ALMS finish.​

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A record crowd was at Sebring International Raceway, one so large that the track cut off access through the main gate at 10:30 a.m., the earliest time in the race's history. An alternate parking area was created off-site to accommodate the overflow crowd.​

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MOBIL 1 TWELVE HOURS OF SEBRING​

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS​

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1. (1) JJ Lehto, Espoo, Finland; Marco Werner, Germany; Tom Kristensen, Hobro, Denmark; Audi R8 (1, P1), 361.​

2. (2) Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Allan McNish, Scotland; Frank Biela, Germany; Audi R8 (2, P1), 361.​

3. (4) James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Andy Wallace, England; Lola EX257 AER (3, P1), 341.​

4. (14) Darren Turner, England; Stephane Ortelli, Monaco; David Brabham, Australia; Aston Martin DBR9 (4, GT1), 338.​

5. (9) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Max Papis, Italy; Corvette C6-R (5, GT1), 337.​

6. (8) Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Corvette C6-R (6, GT1), 323.​

7. (20) Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT2), 321.​

8. (11) Johnny Mowlem, England; Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Saleen S7R (8, GT1), 318.​

9. (19) Andrea Bertolini, Italy; Fabio Babini, Italy; Fabrizio De Simone, Italy; Maserati MC12 (9, GT1), 316.​

10. (15) Ryan Dalziel, Scotland; Alex Figgie, Hollywood, CA; David Empringham, Toronto, Ontario; Corvette C5-R (10, GT1), 315.​

11. (29) Tim Sudgen, England; Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (11, GT2), 314.​

12. (6) Jeff Bucknum, Lake Havasu City, AZ; Ian James, England; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Courage C-65 (12, P2), 311.​

13. (23) Jon Fogarty, Palo Alto, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 311.​

14. (16) Jean-Philippe Belloc, France; Michele Rugulo, Italy; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Dodge Viper (14, GT1), 310.​

15. (13) Peter Kox, The Netherlands; Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Aston Martin DBR9 (15, GT1), 303.​

16. (34) Michael Cawley, Atlanta, GA; Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX; Marc Sluszny, Belgium; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (16, GT2), 297.​

17. (33) Michael Vergers, England; Andrew Thompson, Scotland; Juan Barazi, Switzerland; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 278.​

18. (37) Andy Lally, New York, NY; Steve Ivankovich, Kingstown, St Vincent; Spencer Pumpelly, Mason Neck, VA; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (18, GT2), 275.​

19. (3) Guy Smith, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola EX257 AER (19, P1), 264.​

20. (24) Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Scott Maxwell, Canada; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (20, GT2), 239.​

21. (7) Harold Primat, Switzerland; Phillip Bennett, England; Ian Mitchell, UK; Courage C-65 Judd (21, P2), 238, Engine.​

22. (28) Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Martin Jensen, Denmark; Tony Burgess, Canada; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (22, GT2), 207, Engine.​

23. (10) Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Tomy Drissi, Hollywood, CA; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Riley & Scott MRK IIIC (23, P1), 202, Gearbox.​

24. (5) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Duncan Dayton, North Salem, NY; Gregor Fisken, Scotland; Lola B05/40/AER (24, P2), 166, Gearbox.​

25. (31) Richard Dean, England; Patrick Pearce, England; Marc Hynes, England; TVR 400R (25, GT2), 157.​

26. (17) Christophe Bouchut, France; Fabricio Gollin, France; Sebastien Bourdais, France; Ferrari 550 Maranello (26, GT1), 155, Gearbox.​

27. (32) Jonny Kane, Ireland; Lawrence Tomilson, Ireland; Warren Hughes, England; TVR 400R (27, GT2), 136.​

28. (12) Joao Barbosa, Portugal; Didier Theys, Belgium; Michael Krumm, Germany; Dallara Nissan (28, P1), 130.​

29. (21) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Robin Liddell, Scotland; Emanuele Naspetti, Italy; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (29, GT2), 121, Electrical.​

30. (36) Tom Coronel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Marc Goosens, Belgium; Donny Crevels, The Netherlands; Spyker C-8 Spyder GT2 R (30, GT2), 121, Mechanical.​

31. (22) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Sascha Maassen, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (31, GT2), 98, Engine.​

32. (35) Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Gareth Ridpath, UK; Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Lola B2K/40/Judd (32, P2), 62, Electrical.​

33. (25) Randy Pobst, Gainesville, GA; Ian Baas, Noblesville, IN; Brian Cunningham, Danville, KY; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (33, GT2), 62, Transmission.​

34. (26) Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; David Murry, Cumming, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (34, GT2), 46, Engine.​

35. (27) Pierre Ehret, Santa Rosa, CA; Kevin Buckler, Sonoma, CA; Andrew Davis, Lilburn, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (35, GT2), 21, Wheel.​

36. (38) Peter van Merkensteyn, The Netherlands; Frans Munsterhuis, The Netherlands; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Spyker C-8 Spyder GT2 R (36, GT2), 18, Lost Drive.​

37. (18) William Binnie, Portsmouth, NH; Adam Sharpe, England; Robert Julien, Canada; Lola B05/42 McLaren (37, P2), 11, Excluded.​

38. (30) Nigel Smith, Landau, Germany; Rick Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Rick Cole, Southampton, England; Saleen S7R (38, GT1), 0, Accident.​

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UNOFFICIAL ALMS POINTS STANDINGS​

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LMP1​

Marco Werner 26​

Tom Kristensen 26​

JJ Lehto 26​

Allan McNish 22​

Emanuele Pirro 22​

Frank Biela 22​

James Weaver 19​

Andy Wallace 19​

Butch Leitzinger 19​

Chris Dyson 16​

Guy Smith 16​

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LMP2​

Ian James 26​

Jeff Bucknum 26​

Chris McMurry 26​

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GT1​

Darren Turner 26​

Stephane Ortelli 26​

David Brabham 26​

Max Papis 22​

Ron Fellows 22​

Johnny O`Connell 22​

Olivier Beretta 19​

Ralf Kelleners 19​

Johnny Mowlem 19​

Oliver Gavin 19​

Terry Borcheller 19​

Jan Magnussen 19​

David Empringham 12​

Alex Figge 12​

Ryan Dalziel 12​

Michele Rugolo 10​

Jean-Philippe Belloc 10​

Tom Weickardt 10​

Stephane Sarrazin 9​

Pedro Lamy 9​

Peter Kox 9​

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GT2​

Patrick Long 26​

Jorg Bergmeister 26​

Lucas Luhr 26​

Tim Sugden 22​

Nic Jonsson 22​

Jon Fogarty 19​

Johannes van Overbeek 19​

Darren Law 19​

Marc Sluszny 16​

Tracy Krohn 16​

Michael Cawley 16​

Andrew Thompson 14​

Michael Vergers 14​

Juan Barazi 14​

Spencer Pumpelly 12​

Andy Lally 12​

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[Heavy Duty]

Oh no that sucks. What happened? When i last looked at the race the vettes where 1 and 2 in GT1 and that was with 1 hour left. I did see one of the vettes had a broken left front hub/suspension.

Of all the cars in the race, the vettes had the coolest sounding exhaust.

H.D.

 

[koolaid117]

I don't know what happened. Last I saw the C6-R driven by Gavin, Beretta, and Magnussen was in first followed by the other C6-R. I left and when I got home later I saw the results on Speed but the didn't say how the Aston got in front.

I saw the C5-R go down with a broken hub I think. It was the Menards car. Lots of good racing. The new C6-R's sound sweet!

 

[cwmoss]

The C6r that finished 2nd, was coming down the back straight and was braking for the turn and the right front brake rotor exploded and the driver had to spin it to save it. They fixed it and he went on to finish 2nd. The C6r that fininsed 3rd, was the car that was leading Gt1 (I think), and was turned into by one of the 911 cars. The right rear suspension was damaged. They fixed that and were headed for a 4th place finish, behind the Saleen. The Saleen developed a huge oil leak and had to drop out, giving the C6r 3rd. The C6R Team will do GREAT this season if they can keep from getting knocked around by others.

 

[bossvette]

The competition will be good for the C6R, I wondered what happened also they were 1 and 2 when I went out and banged up and in third when I came back. The comment was made that the new Corvette was faster then the C5R right from the start; also that GM had a few C5R's for sale

 

[koolaid117]

I also thought that the C6-R just looked meaner than the C5-R. I just hope it can do as well. The C5-R will be hard to follow because it did so well.

 

[JHL]

Here's what you were up against

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Most of the motorsport magazines over here are saying that Sebring was just a [/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]"test & tune" in the run up to the Le Mans 24hr, will the C6R be running there this year ???[/size][/font]


[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]CONFIGURATION: [/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Front engine, rear wheel drive[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]CHASSIS: [/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Modified DB9 aluminium chassis. Aluminium roof. All other body panels in carbon fibre composite. High strength steel roll-cage. [/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]DIMENSIONS:[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Length: 4687mm + 80mm
Width: 1978mm
Wheelbase: 2714mm
Weight: 1100kg

[/size][/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]ENGINE:[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Aston Martin Racing V12 based on the Aston Martin DB9 aluminium block and cylinder heads. Dry sump, double overhead cam, four valves per cylinder, 2 x 31.2mm air restrictors.[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Capacity: 6 Litres
Power: approximately 600 bhp
Torque: > 700 Nm [/size][/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]

[/size][/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]TRANSMISSION:[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Xtrac - 6 speed sequential gearbox longitudinally mounted at the rear axle.[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]CLUTCH:[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Four plate carbon clutch.[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]SUSPENSION:[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Double wishbone suspension front and rear with adjustable Koni dampers fitted with Eibach springs.[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]BRAKES:[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]Front and rear: Brembo six pot calipers with 330mm diameter carbon discs.[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]WHEELS:[/size][/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=-2]OZ forged magnesium[/size][/font]

 

[Heavy Duty]

Nice pic of the AM. What is the going price for one of those? Looks like the C6R will have some serious competition.


H.D.

 

[JHL]

The race cars are listed at £475,000 a piece and the road going DBR9 comes in at I think £190,000 !!!!

 

[hzl6cm]

Definitely one heck of a wild ride when that brake rotor exploded!! He hit that tire wall hard, restarted the car and drove it to the pits. He was going 165 mph when it happened - that had to be a bad feeling to have the brake pedal go to the floor as he was going in to the corner, it took a great presence of mind to delibrately spin the car to scrub off speed! The crew took only 5 laps to get the car back out but by then they were 3 laps behind - this all happened with between 3 and 4.5 hours to go (when speedtv took a break from the broadcast. They ran hard after that and the car was fine - just goes to show how strong they are. The other car got hit by a Porche that spun during the same time period and broke the rear control arm. I had the whole thing recorded on the new Direct TV DVR (digital video recorder) that I got a few weeks ago so was able to watch the spin etc in slow motion, plus I was able to watch the entire broadcast even when I was outside working on cars during the afternoon broadcast. The slickest thing about it is that you can start watching while you are still recording - you don't have to wait until you are done recording - then you get to fast forward through the ads (until you get caught up with the live recording), plus the picture is just as good of quality as was the original. Then I was able to record the Forula 1 race that night and watch it the next morning.

Note that the announcers said that the Astom Martin was not going to run the whole ALMs season.

 

[Heavy Duty]

Definitely one heck of a wild ride when that brake rotor exploded!! He hit that tire wall hard, restarted the car and drove it to the pits. He was going 165 mph when it happened - that had to be a bad feeling to have the brake pedal go to the floor as he was going in to the corner, it took a great presence of mind to delibrately spin the car to scrub off speed! The crew took only 5 laps to get the car back out but by then they were 3 laps behind - this all happened with between 3 and 4.5 hours to go (when speedtv took a break from the broadcast. They ran hard after that and the car was fine - just goes to show how strong they are. The other car got hit by a Porche that spun during the same time period and broke the rear control arm.

I hope the C6Rs have better luck next time out. I will say again that they sure sounded good when the drivers would get on them. I agree with you in that took some quick thinking on the driver's part to spin the car so as to not total it. Seems to me that when they where testing the C6 over in Germany that cooling of the front brakes was a problem. Looks like it still is a problem.


Note that the announcers said that the Astom Martin was not going to run the whole ALMs season.

What is the deal with that?

JHL, 190,000 pounds, euros, or dollars? What would that be in american? I still think that the vette is the best bang for the buck.

H.D.

 

[B17Crew]

Well, I guess if we had to loose, I’m glad it was to the Brits, they are good competitors.

Congratulations AM see you in the next race!

B17Crew

 

[Heavy Duty]

Well, I guess if we had to loose, I’m glad it was to the Brits, they are good competitors.

Congratulations AM see you in the next race!

B17Crew

I'll second that. I will say that the AM is a nice looking car. On another note, why was the 911's in the GT2 class. i always thought the 911 was in the same class as the vette. I guess i am not all that well versed in road racing.

H.D.

 

[JHL]

What is the deal with that?

JHL, 190,000 pounds, euros, or dollars? What would that be in american? I still think that the vette is the best bang for the buck.

H.D.

Pounds Sterling x 1.9 to get bucks, not sure about that price though, seems a bit high. I agree that the new Z06 or even the standard C6 does offer bang for the buck but there are some people not interested in a few tenths 0-60 or quarter mile times. They want to be exclusive, and whatever people say they want quality, unfortunately the new Vette and it's predeccesors are built to a price and will never match the quality finish of something like an Aston or a Porsche.