Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring - Live reporting from the VICI Racing pits

9:00 PM The session ends. Tim Bumps, the Team Manager, who has recently joined VICI Racing after 15 years as a team manager in ChampCar and IRL, is happy with how things are going. “I’m very satisfied with how the week is unfolding. It has been a big task to bring this program to fruition in such a short time and that everything is going so smoothly is a testimony to the dedication and professionalism of all the members of the team, many who have been integrated this week. Everyone’s pulling together very well and it bodes well for a successful race."

8:45 PM “This week has gone very well, we’re making a lot of progress session-by-session and I think we are in great shape for the race," says Roland Wall, the Technical Director & Chief Engineer. "The Kumho guys are working very hard and we are all pulling in the right direction. We didn’t focus on a qualifying time as we wanted to preserve the tires for the start of the race so Uwe was restricted in his times. We will work towards the race now and will continue our development schedule during tomorrow’s final session."

8:40 PM We're approaching the final quarter of an hour of night practice and Nathan is very keen to get some more time in the car. "I need to learn more about the Kumho tires," he says, "they are quite different to what I'm used to. I have been studying the data and I know where I have to improve." Craig comes in and Nathan takes the car back out.

7:55 PM Night practice has been underway for 40 minutes. Nathan kicked off the session posting a 2:08.852 within the first 10 minutes which was good enough to put him in the top 5 at that early point. Craig took over and he has also been getting used to the new RSR in the dark. The sun sets fast in Florida in March and the headlights were swiftly on. The cars are screaming through the darkness, the atmosphere is building up by the minute.

3:30 PM The #5 car is back in the paddock. The second qualifying session, reserved for LMP1 and LMP2 cars, ends abruptly and controversially after just a few minutes. The ALMS rules state that qualifying sessions must last at least 10 minutes and with the session having lasted around eight and a half minutes the stewards shortly afterwards abandoned the qualifying session times, reverting to the fastest practice session of the event, which was this morning's practice. This means the #5 car will start from 8th place on the grid on Saturday.

3:30 PM Qualifying is brief, over in a flash. Uwe goes out, his brief is to stay within the car, turn in a banker, as we can build towards Saturday's race. He does a couple of warm up laps before posting a 2:04.235. He follows that up with a 2:04.993 and 2:04.732 meaning the third time round stands for the grid. Technical Director & Chief Engineer Roland Wall wanted to preserve the set of tires and restricted Uwe to half a dozen careful laps. It's a solid performance that puts us 10th in GT2, the team is happy.

2:50 PM ALMS Radio is live on the air today. It's team of reporters in their blue shirts and lugging microphones are up and down the pitlane, on-the-spot to report on the action to the fans who stream into the circuit for the weekend by the hour. They're keen to know all about team owner Ron Meixner's ambitious plans and he busy is explaining about the 2008 ALMS tire development program with Kumho.

2:45 PM Just over a quarter of an hour to go to the qualifying session. The GT2 teams will have just 25 minutes under green flag conditions to post a time for Saturday's grid, so it all boils down to making the most of a handful of laps. Uwe will be entrusted to qualify the car which must run in the session with the tires that it will use to start the race.

2:05 PM The second new partner to join us is Westway Development, a privately-owned commercial real estate company that possesses over 25 years of industry experience. Their team of real estate professionals has developed several million square feet of office and industrial properties. Motivated by its successes in the commercial sector, Westway Development is committed to providing the Federal Government and its contractor companies a blend of traditional office and build-to-suit real estate development solutions, regardless of complexity or degree of specialization.

2:00 PM VICI Racing is pleased to welcome two new partners on board this week, and ahead of the qualifying session the car is being transformed into race livery. Since the company’s foundation in 1880, Tornos has always specialized in high precision turning solutions. Selling a variety of machines that can include up to eight spindles, the Swiss-born company has developed a growing specialty in providing solutions to the most complex and detailed spinning parts. From miniature bone screws to microscopic components in radio-controlled cars, Tornos machines provide solutions for a variety of industries requiring high precision.

12:05 AM The #5 car is back in the paddock being set up for qualifying in exactly three hours. The figure of authority round the car is Greg, the highly experienced crew chief. Greg's stature is assisted in no small measure by the fact he's taller than everyone else under the awning! Calm, professional and well mannered he keeps the crew's activities running smoothly and ensures everyone is pulling in the right direction. Greg is another team member who brings a wealth of experience to VICI Racing, he was in ALMS last season, and GrandAm the year before having widened his experience after switching from a long background in Indycars.

11:20 AM The final free practice session before qualifying has gone well. Uwe undertook all the driving as the team focused on set up for qualifying and continuing the hectic tire development program. He posts a time of 2:03.861 (107.540 mph) early in the session which is an excellent benchmark and for the first 20 minutes we're fifth fastest in GT2. Everyone's pretty pleased with progress.

8:40 AM A long day is in store today. The crew worked late last night, and they're in early today. The paddock is bussing. It's going like clockwork in the VICI Racing garage. We have one 55 minute practice session this morning, starting at 10:15 AM, with qualifying set to take place at 3:05 PM. Finally night practice kicks off at 7:15 PM, an hour-and-three-quarter session which allows drivers to get accustomed to the track under the floodlights.