Acura Sports Car  Challenge of St. Petersburg - Live reporting from the VICI Racing pits

5:10 PM Craig has arrived, as usual he's in high spirits. "Sebring was just awesome for all of us," he says. "To have been as close as we were to a podium has just made us all the more motivated for St. Petersburg, and I’m sure if we get the strategy as good as it was in Sebring, we might surprise a few people."

3:45 PM The #5 car goes in for technical checks at the IMSA transporter where it is thoroughly checked for legality and safety. The IMSA officials measure the ride height, that the dimensions to conform to homologation, its weight and a host of other details.

11:40 AM Ahead of tomorrow's hectic program of practice and qualifying sessions there is a set up to worked towards today. The team has new parts to be fitted and honing the RSR for this demanding and technical street circuit is a job that will preoccupy everyone. Kumho have new compounds to be evaluated as the tire development program swings to completely different set of surface requirements.

10:05 AM Another new partner of VICI Racing this year is Westway Development, a privately-owned commercial real estate company that possesses over 25 years of industry experience; they came on board at Sebring and we're delighted that they're back with us this week. Westway's 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.

8:35 AM Today is a set up day for the ALMS teams, there will be no track action. The on track excitement kicks off tomorrow (Friday, April 4) with a one hour long free practice session (8:05 – 9:05 AM) Eastern Time (ET) open to all ALMS competitors (LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2). This is followed by a second hour long session (1:05 – 2:05 PM), again combining all the classes, before the 20 minute final qualifying session (2:15 – 2:35 PM) reserved for the GT1/GT2 classes which will decide the starting grid. On race day (Saturday 5th April) a warm up session for all the ALMS classes takes place (9:25 – 9:50 AM) before the second round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series, the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg gets the green light at 1:25 PM ET. The race is scheduled to last for 1 hour 55 minutes, with the checkered flag set to be waved at 3:20 PM.

8:15 AM Tornos, a company with many similar values to VICI Racing, came on board at Sebring, and we're pleased that they are back with us for St. Petersburg. 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.

7:00 AM Since the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring on 15th March the #5 Porsche has been prepared for this week's event, which will throw up a whole different scenario to the swages of concrete on the former airfield at Sebring. Here it's mostly tarmac, with just one concrete section as St. Petersburg track is the first temporary course this year, and although just and hour's drive away from Sebring, there will be a whole new set of parameters for our team and the Kumho guys to deal with.

7:00 AM The team has arrived at the circuit as the sun begins to rise over the glorious setting of St. Petersburg, round two of the 2008 American Le Mans Series beckons, the second race for the new VICI Racing-Kumho Tires partnership. After the thrills and exceeded expectations of Sebring, the whole team is excited about this race, and a lot of hard work has gone into the two and a half week gap since the historic 12-hour race.