19.04.2008 EARLY MORNING WARM UP SESSION GOES TO
PLAN AS VICI RACING NOW COUNTDOWN TO LONG BEACH RACE
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Race day dawned very early today, and while most of
the residents of Long Beach were still sleeping in their beds the VICI Racing crew were up,
at the track and busy preparing for the
morning ‘warm up’ session which was scheduled to run
from 7:15 to 7:30 AM. Nathan Swartzbaugh would drive during the
session; it would be his first chance to get
acclimatised to the RSR on this demanding street track ahead of this
afternoon’s race.
Nathan took the #5 car out as the warm up session
went to green flag at 7:15 AM, but a spinning Mazda
prototype saw him dive back in the pits, and exiting
as the track returned to green flag conditions after
six and a half minutes. With another tour under his
belt Nathan posted his first representative time
after 10 minutes, a 1:29.648.
He reported on the
radio that the track was very green; and with the
week’s hot sunshine being replaced this morning with
an overcast sky and mid-50s temperatures, the track
conditions had swung dramatically.
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Race day dawned early, and while most of the
residents of Long Beach were in their beds the
VICI Racing crew were up and preparing for the
morning ‘warm up’ session. |
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With
warm up completed the team is now looking forward to
a strong race this afternoon, and with the car in
good shape, VICI Racing is ready for the 100 minute
duration Long Beach Race, which goes green at 4:10
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The local resident, who
had experienced the temporary circuit last week
while coaching celebrity drivers, followed this
opening quick lap up with a 1:28.848 next time
round, before wrapping up the short session with two
sub-1:27 laps, a 1:26.490, followed by a 1:26.712.
It was a very solid performance by Nathan as he got
to grips with the very slippery, cold track and
dealt with the heavy traffic.
With
warm up completed the team is now looking forward to
a strong race this afternoon, and with the car in
good shape, VICI Racing is ready for the 100 minute
duration Long Beach Race, which goes green at 4:10
PM.
The
Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach
goes to green flag at 4:10 PM this afternoon local
time. The 100 minutes duration race, round three of
the 2008 ALMS series, is scheduled to conclude at
5:50 PM.
ABC TV will broadcast the race from 12:30 to 2:30
p.m. ET on Sunday, April 20. XM Satellite Radio will
provide coverage on Channel 144 from 7 to 9 p.m. ET
Saturday, April 19.
American Le Mans Radio
will have live coverage of the race at
www.americanlemans.com, which also will feature
IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring.
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