VICI RACING

Lead Photographer: Jim Sykes

17.07.2008 VICI RACING - THURSDAY REPORT MID OHIO

Proceedings at Mid Ohio, the sixth round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series, started very early this morning for VICI Racing with a 6:00AM departure from the team’s hotel and a 45 minute drive to the circuit which nestles in rural Ohio, 60 miles north of Columbus and 70 miles south of Cleveland, and where American traditions runs at their deepest. The Mid Ohio Sports Car Course is always a demanding test of driver and machine, and on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, the ALMS series is visiting for its seventh time.

Tomorrow will see qualifying ahead of Saturday’s 2 hour 45 minute race, so today is all about preparation and 90 minutes of testing. The action of the track kicks off at 3:35PM with a 30 minute test session open to the GT1 and GT2 classes, which will lead straight into a 60 minute session open to all classes, ie – including the LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes.

However, as the heat of the sun beats down under the cloudless sky, the VICI Racing paddock area was a hive of activity and with each race our infrastructure expands and the team grows. For the first time the team is benefiting from the new Porsche engine ‘step’ which sees the 911 GT3 RSR getting a new four-liter engine which boats improved drivability. The car’s weight remains unchanged at 1200 kg but the 6-cylinder engine increases its capacity from 3795cc to 3996cc thanks to a revised stroke. With just one of the new engines available, the #5 car won’t be racing this weekend. “We’ve also got a new gearbox which arrived this morning and has had to be fitted,” says Technician Jody Coenen as midday approaches. “We have set up the car to Roland’s requirements, and it passed through tech ok earlier. We just have two drivers to concentrate on this weekend, and as they both know each other very well so this makes the focus much easier.”

The team’s Technical Director & Chief Engineer Roland Wall is looking forward to trying the new tire compounds Kumho have on hand for this race. Roland, who has flown in straight from a test in the Moroccan desert, knows the track well: last year he engineered the Dyson Porsche RS Spyder which led the race until three penalties slowed its pace.

Driving this weekend will be the Pastorelli brothers, two talented young Dutch racing drivers who shared the cockpit of the #18 car last time out at Utah. Neither has driven here before, but they went round the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit in a golf cart yesterday to get some idea of its nature. “It seems quite a technical circuit, and pretty smooth too,” says Nicky, who reiterates however that this is only a view gained ‘from the cart’. Nicky is also driving a number of races in the Dutch Supercar Challenge this year, a very different beast from the RSR. “The car has a VW Passat body with a GM engine, it’s much heavier, less technical but with lots of power. They’re not easy to drive, but they’re lots of fun,” he adds. Back to Mid Ohio and he says: “Hopefully we will have a dry race. It’s going to be hot in the cockpit this weekend. It was hot at Utah and blistering at our recent Sebring test, so we are expecting another hot race.” Francesco too is looking forward to getting out on track; and he’s also fitting in a limited European program this year driving a Ferrari F430 GT3.

The team’s highly experienced Team Manager Tim Bumps is one of the most focused individuals in the ALMS paddock. He started coming here in 1983, winning with Andretti in 1996, and with his unrivalled attention to detail, he can recall everyone he worked with at Mid Ohio, a real who’s who, stars of the calibre of Paul Tracy, Emerson Fittipaldi and Rick Mears. Tim also reveals that much of the two-month break has been spent preparing for the team’s expansion of activities in 2009, and here he is ably assisted by new Team Coordinator James Lang who joined VICI Racing soon after Utah.

The 90 minute long test session got underway at 3:35 PM as the temperatures were rising steadily. A few clouds around midday had led to thoughts that a shower might occur.

And we certainly had been greeted on arrival yesterday evening by a brief rainstorm of monsoon like proportions. But they had given way to a clear blue sky, and Mid Ohio was baking as the Hughes liveried #18 Porsche 911 RSR roared onto the track. With systems check out of the way and the new engine being carefully run in, Nicky, who was undertaking all the sessions duties, was soon in the 1:28s, and posting a 1:28.812 after 44 minutes of the session, just a minute before pulling in for an 8 minute stop. With the focus now turning toward set-up Nicky was lapping consistently in the mid- to low-1.25s, with a 1:25.160 after 57 mins, followed by a 1:25.673, a 1:25.600 and a 1:25.172. On that last lap the GT2 Aston Martin beached in the gravel, stopping the session after 1 hr 3 mins of running. Into the final quarter of an hour and Nicky was out at 1 hr 16 mins, posting a consistent 1:25.893, 1:25.438 and a 1:25.463 before diving back in with 7 mins remaining (1 hr 23 mins). Three more laps and the Dutchman rounded out the afternoon’s work with a 1:25.462. The #18 car ran 28 laps during the session (including out/in laps) and used one set of tires.

Nicky was satisfied with the hour on track, “It was quite hot out there and the track is technical but easy to learn, it was busy with lots of cars out there so traffic is going to be a feature of the race. We seem have plenty of power and the new engine is very driveable.” Roland is examining the data and working towards a set up for the #18 to run tomorrow. “The new engine is making a difference and now we have to focus on an optimal aero package. We have to discuss the tires; there are a lot of variables to be considered, but I’m satisfied with the progress we made today.”

The team’s highly experienced Team Manager Tim Bumps is one of the most focused individuals in the ALMS paddock. He started coming here in 1983, winning with Andretti in 1996, and with his unrivalled attention to detail, he can recall everyone he worked with at Mid Ohio, a real who’s who, motor racing stars of the calibre of Paul Tracy, Emerson Fittipaldi and Rick Mears. Tim also reveals that much of the two-month break has been spent preparing for the team’s expansion of activities in 2009, and here he is ably assisted by new Team Coordinator James Lang who joined VICI Racing soon after Utah.

The 90 minute long test session got underway at 3:35 PM as the temperatures were rising steadily. A few clouds around midday had led to thoughts that a shower might occur (and we certainly had been greeted on arrival yesterday evening by a brief rainstorm of monsoon like proportions) but they had given way to a clear blue sky, and Mid Ohio was baking as the Hughes liveried #18 Porsche 911 RSR roared onto the track. With systems check out of the way and the new engine being carefully run in, Nicky, who was undertaking all the sessions duties, was soon in the 1:28s, and posting a 1:28.812 after 44 minutes of the session, just a minute before pulling in for an 8 minute stop.

With the focus now turning toward set-up Nicky was lapping consistently in the mid- to low-1.25s, with a 1:25.160 after 57 mins, followed by a 1:25.673, a 1:25.600 and a 1:25.172. On that last lap the GT2 Aston Martin beached in the gravel, stopping the session after 1 hr 3 mins of running. Into the final quarter of an hour and Nicky was out at 1 hr 16 mins, posting a consistent 1:25.893, 1:25.438 and a 1:25.463 before diving back in with 7 mins remaining (1 hr 23 mins). Three more laps and the Dutchman rounded out the afternoon’s work with a 1:25.462. The #18 car ran 28 laps during the session (including out/in laps) and used one set of tires.

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