15.03.2008 TWELVE HOURS OF SEBRING - 3 HOUR REPORT
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At quarter distance of the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours
of Sebring the #5 VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR is
running very strongly with no problems being
reported. The race is currently running under a full
course yellow flag situation with began at 12:45 PM
when a GT2 car went into the barriers, the first
incident in an otherwise smooth open 3 hours. Uwe
Alzen is now behind the wheel and the team is happy
with the performance so far.
Uwe is currently lying
in sixth place in the hotly contested GT2 class, and
the car has been running in the top-six all race,
and as high as second place. With this being the
first race of a brand new tire development program
being in conjunction with Kumho Tire the performance
is above the team’s expectations, and builds on the
important and steady progress that has been made all
week.
This morning (15th March) started bright, sunny and
early in Sebring, Florida and VICI Racing was able
to bed in the #5 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR during the
official warm up session (7:30 – 7:50 AM), turning
in eight installation laps with the car in the hands
of Craig Stanton. With no problems reported, the
team, which is being supported by Wempe, Tornos and
Westway Development this week, was able to line up
on the grid and take the green flag at 10:05 AM
after the usual Sebring pre-start festivities had
been completed.
Craig started the race in the #5 car and was able to
establish a consistent pace in the 2:05-2:06 bracket
during the early laps. At the 1 hour mark Craig was
4th in class.
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At quarter distance of the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve
Hours of Sebring the #5 VICI Racing Porsche 911
GT3 RSR is running very strongly with no
problems being reported. |
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Uwe is currently lying in sixth place in the
hotly contested GT2 class, and the car has been
running in the top-six all race, and as high as
second place. |
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At 11:12 AM, after 1 hour 7 minutes of running
and 29 laps, Craig came in for tires, fuel and
driver change. His best lap was a 2:05.687.
Nathan Swartzbaugh was in the cockpit for the
second stint and he was quickly back on track
and running a solid pace. At the race completed
its second hour Nathan was running an excellent
4th place in class.
At 12:12 PM (2 hour 7 minutes of running) Nathan
pitted to end his stint and hand over to Uwe
Alzen. With fuel and 4 new tires, the
experienced German pilot, a former winner of the
12 Hours of Sebring, returned to the track. Uwe
is currently in the car under a yellow flag
situation.
Craig Stanton says: "The start was good and
clean and went without any incident, the track's
looking pretty good to drive, the set up is fine
and seems well suited to the race, and the tires
are working well; meaning I was able to run
consistent lap times. We seem to be in pretty
good shape but there is a long, long way to go."
Roland Wall, VICI Racing Chief Engineer &
Technical Director, says: “I’m pleased with how
the race is progressing so far. The set up is
good and all three drivers are able to run a
consistent pace, setting lap times within the
window that we targeted before the start. The
Kumho Tires have been running very well through
the opening three stints and bearing in mind
just how much work we have had to do this week
it means we are making real progress. To run a
top-5 pace is excellent, and a great for the
guys, who have put in so much hard work here.
Every lap is a learning lap for us, and that’s
why we are here, there is no substitute for
development in a racing situation. Now we hope
to continue to run solidly.”
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