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Travis

TRAVIS O’BANNON

     Sebring International Raceway and the entire community suffered a tragic loss on April 26 when Travis O’Bannon passed away following a motorcycle accident.  Travis served as marketing assistant and promotions manager here at Sebring since graduating from the University of Florida.
     Travis’ kindness, colorful personality and dedication to his faith, friends and co-workers will always be remembered with great fondness. Our sincere condolences go out to his family and many friends.

WHAT A NIGHT FOR PENSKE, PORSCHE AT SEBRING

The 2007 American Le Mans Series was a magical one for Penske Racing. The 2008 season may be even better if Saturday was any indication. Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard drove to an historic overall win at the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida.

The win was the first overall at Sebring by an LMP2 car and saw 27 overall lead changes, a race record, and three lead-lap finishers, tying a race record. Dumas took the checkered flag by 1:02.084 over Dyson Racing's trio of Butch Leitzinger, Marino Franchitti and Andy Wallace in their Porsche RS Spyder. The Audi Sport North America trio of Dindo Capello, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen finished third overall and first in LMP1.

OFFICIAL RESULTS (PDF)


Third in P2 class and fourth overall was the second Dyson Porsche of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith as the P2 class took three of the top four spots.

The overall win for Porsche was its first since 1988 when Hans Stuck and Klaus Ludwig took victory in a Porsche 962. Roger Penske took his first win at Sebring in 40 years and became the first team owner to win overall at Sebring, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.

"I have to say thank you to Team Penske because they did a great job today," said Bernhard, who also won the 2004 race in GT. "The strategy was really good and we had no problem with the RS Spyder. We were a perfect trio today and it was very important that the whole package was working."

Collard also won for the second time at Sebring, and Dumas was a first-time winner. The trio ran a smart, consistent race and watched their toughest challengers all fall by the wayside. They led seven times for 144 laps including Dumas' final 31 to the end.

"The key today is that we ran without a problem - gearbox, engine and race strategy," Collard said. "That's why we won this race."

Bernhard and Dumas won six overall races in 2007 with two more LMP2 victories en route to capturing the class championship.

"We were on the lead lap late and thinking, 'Why not win?'" Dumas said. "The Acuras are very strong, just like they were a few weeks ago. Their car was very quick and we saw that again. Today was something special. I think we will have a great championship. Today was just exceptional and I think the season will be. It will be very difficult to win so many races overall (as last year). I'm quite sure about that."

Audi's streak of consecutive overall wins at Sebring ended at eight although it extended its Series record of consecutive class wins to 23.

Kristensen won for the fifth time at Sebring, Capello won for the fourth time at Sebring and McNish was a victor for third time. The sister car of Mike Rockenfeller, Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner were the class runners-up after losing precious time while changing a turbo in the paddock. Third was the cellulosic E85-powered Intersport Racing Lola B06/10-AER of Clint Field, Jon Field and Richard Berry.

"It was a great race and great finish," Kristensen said. "We had issues and we had to deal with them under green, which was very tough. We needed something yellow, and not the yellow car (Penske Porsche). We needed the yellow flag to help us but it didn't come."

The race started out ominously with a stop-and-go penalty for Capello after colliding with one of Flying Lizard Motorsports' Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs in the opening hour.

McNish, Kristensen and Capello overcame a myriad of other problems to come within a whisker of a remarkable comeback. After the team changed front brake discs and a pushrod, the trio fought back from three laps down with three hours left.

"When I was in the car for my third and fourth stint, I was impressed with how good the car was," Capello said. "From the third lap on, the car was jumping left and right. I could not control it and we were losing three or four seconds a lap. We could see the car was behaving in a strange way. Tom did two stints and even he was having trouble. Once the team changed the pushrod, the car was as good as it was."

The much-anticipated battle between diesel rivals Audi and Peugeot materialized in the race's opening half. The two traded the lead back and forth for 131 of the first 133 laps before the Peugeot 908 began to falter with hydraulic problems and related issues. It eventually finished fourth in P1 and 11th overall in its maiden North American race.

Johnny O'Connell became the winningest driver in Sebring history with his seventh class victory as he broke a tie with Sebring legend Phil Hill. O'Connell teamed with Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows for a nearly flawless run in Corvette Racing's Corvette C6.R. The trio started from the head of the class and never trailed.

"We had some unfinished business," Fellows said. "We had a really strong car at Road Atlanta and had some bad luck with Jan. We had a great race at Le Mans. All three of us feel that this is a great way to start. Le Mans is the next big prize we're going to shoot for. This is a great confidence builder for all of us and we definitely want another Le Mans."

O'Connell won overall in 1994 and posted class victories in 1993, 1995 and 2002-2004. It gave Fellows four Sebring wins - he teamed with O'Connell for three straight from 2002-04 - and was Magnussen's second in four years.

"If you've ever had the chance to meet Phil Hill, he is everything good and proper about motorsports," O'Connell said. "He was what was wonderful about that era. You run across some of your heroes that you run across that are so full of themselves. But you meet someone like Phil Hill, he's one of the coolest cats around! You start to have a real understanding about what this race is about."

While the No. 3 Corvette ran faultlessly, the No. 4 sister Corvette of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis ran into trouble early. The car lost time early in the race when the crew had to change a driveshaft in the second hour. The trio was trying for a second straight class win together.

"We had great pit stops. We made time on in laps and out laps," O'Connell said. "Anytime you beat your own team, you have to be pretty good. Everyone is really feeling positive about things. Last year there were a lot of races where I thought we were the dominant car and had a lot of bad luck."

Flying Lizard Motorsports finally broke through in the 12 Hours after finishing second the last two years. Jörg Bergmeister, Wolf Henzler and Marc Lieb drove their No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to a two-lap victory over the sister car of

Darren Law, Seth Neiman and Alex Davison.

It is the first 1-2 class finish for the Lizards, which placed third in 2005 and runner-up in 2006 and 2007.

"The Lizards really deserve this victory because they have worked so hard over the years," Lieb said. "To win this race after the last two disappointing seasons, it makes me very happy. The Lizards really deserve this victory because they have worked so hard over the years. This team puts a lot of effort into racing with Porsche. It goes down through the people who care for the tires to engineers. Everything is just running really well at the moment. Flying Lizard is one of the top teams in the world and deserves a win like this."

Henzler and the Lizards took the lead near the halfway point when Risi Competizione's Jaime Melo ran hot in Turn 7 while leading in the No. 62 Ferrari F430 GT and collided with the second-place Porsche of Dirk Werner and Farnbacher Loles Racing.

As a result, the Risi Competizione/Krohn Racing Ferrari finished third in class, driven by Nic Jonsson, Eric van de Poele and Tracy Krohn.

"At six hours when the Ferrari hit the No. 87 Porsche, our main competitors were out of the race," Henzler said. "We decided to take it a little bit easier and bring the car home."

In the 2007 race, Flying Lizard came up 0.202 seconds short of a class victory in a final-lap duel with the Risi Ferrari that stands as the closest finish in race history.

"I'm really happy with the result," Bergmeister said. "The big competitors we had for this year and a lot of bad luck and zero points. So that makes for a nice cushion. I was pretty amazed. We have been testing quite a lot and the car had no problems from beginning to end."

Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz had finished second overall and in class but failed a post-race stall test in technical inspections. Their Lowe's Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b was excluded as a result.

The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg. The green flag is scheduled for 1:25 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 5 from the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. The race will be broadcast on ABC from 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET on April 5. Radio coverage will be available on XM Satellite Radio and on americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring.

56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
presented by Fresh from Florida
Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Fla.
Saturday's results
1. (4) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Emmanuel Collard, France; Porsche RS Spyder (1, P2), 351.
2. (7) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Porsche RS Spyder (3, P2), 351.
3. (1) Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Allan McNish, Scotland; Audi AG R10/TDI (1, P1), 351.
4. (10) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (4, P2), 350.
5. (11) David Brabham, Australia; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Stefan Johansson, Sweden; Acura ARX-01B (5, P2), 349.
6. (3) Marco Werner, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (2, P1), 333.
7. (12) Jan Lammers, The Netherlands; Fredy Lienhard Sr., Switzerland; Didier Theys, Belgium; Porsche RS Spyder (6, P2), 333.
8. (16) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (1, GT1), 328.
9. (9) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Lola B06/10 AER (3, P1), 327.
10. (17) Oliver Gavin, England; Max Papis, Italy; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (2, GT1), 320.
11. (2) Nicola Minassian, England; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Peugeot 908 (4, P1), 318.
12. (21) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Marc Lieb, Germany; Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (1, GT2), 314.
13. (28) Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Alex Davison, Australia; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2, GT2), 311.
14. (29) Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Eric van de Poele, Belgium; Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX; Ferrari F430 GT (3, GT2), 308.
15. (22) Allan Simonsen, Australia; Jim Tafel, Alpharetta, GA; Pierre Ehret, Santa Rosa, CA; Ferrari F430 GT (4, GT2), 305.
16. (18) Antonio Garcia, Spain; Terry Borcheller, Vero Beach, FL; Chapman Ducote, Miami, FL; Aston Martin DBR 9 (3, GT1), 299.
17. (32) Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Dodge Viper Competition Coupe (5, GT2), 295.
18. (8) Marco Andretti, Nazareth, PA; Bryan Herta, Valencia, CA; Christian Fittipaldi, Miami, FL; Acura ARX-01B (7, P2), 287, Overheating.
19. (26) Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Nathan Swartzbaugh, La Habra Heights, LA; Uwe Alzen, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (6, GT2), 286.
20. (20) Dirk Mueller, Germany; Robert Bell, UK; Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (7, GT2), 280.
21. (23) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Patrick Pilet, France; Richard Lietz, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT2), 280.
22. (15) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Tony Burgess, Canada; Creation CA07-002 Judd (5, P1), 250, Mechanical.
23. (27) Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Panoz Esperante Ford (9, GT2), 200, Mechanical.
24. (34) David Murry, Cumming, GA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT-R (10, GT2), 186, Accident.
25. (33) Miroslav Konopka, Slovakia; Mauro Casadei, Italy; Miroslav Hornak, Slovakia; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (11, GT2), 173.
26. (19) Jaime Melo, Brazil; Mika Salo, Finland; Gianmaria Bruni, Italy; Ferrari F430 GT (12, GT2), 137, Accident.
27. (24) Dirk Werner, Germany; Marc Basseng, Germany; Bryce Miller, Hoboken, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 136, Accident.
28. (25) Marc Goosens, Belgium; Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, FL; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (14, GT2), 99, Overheating.
29. (13) Michael Vergers, England; Jean Ravier, France; Juan Barazi, Switzerland; Zytek 07S (8, P2), 88, Accident.
30. (30) Paul Drayson, London, UK; Jonny Cocker, UK; Tim Sudgen, England; Aston Martin DBRS 9 (15, GT2), 70, Accident.
31. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Australia; Sascha Maassen, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche RS Spyder (9, P2), 29, Overheating.
32. (6) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (2, P2), 351, Excluded.
33. (14) Ben Devlin, England; Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, FL; Raphael Matos, Brazil; Lola B07 46 Mazda (10, P2), 0, Excluded.

Sebring Announces “Fresh from Florida” as Presenting Sponsor

Sebring, Florida - Sebring International Raceway announced today “Fresh from Florida” as the presenting sponsor for the 56th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.  America’s premier sports car endurance race runs Saturday, March 15, 2008 at the famed raceway in central Florida. >>>> FULL STORY

NEW OFFICES AT SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Sebring International Raceway's new administration building is now complete. The new 10,000 square-foot two-story structure includes staff offices, track registration center, gift shop and ticket office.

"This building will be a new landmark for Sebring," stated Raceway President and General Manager Tres Stephenson. "It will better serve race fans, officials and competitors and further enhances Sebring's stature in the motorsports industry."

Racing began at Sebring in 1950, when the former WWII B-17 training base hosted a six-hour endurance race. Since then Sebring has been synonymous with international sports car racing. The 56th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring takes place on Saturday, March 15, kicking-off the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. >>>> FULL STORY

DE FERRAN TAKING TO THE AIR ON XM 144

In anticipation of his American Le Mans Series debut next week, driver and team owner Gil de Ferran will be a guest on XM Satellite Radio's Powershift at approximately 9:25 p.m. ET on Thursday. De Ferran, one of motorsports' most well-known and respected names, is joining the Series with his De Ferran Motorsports team that will field an Acura ARX-01b in LMP2. He will team with Simon Pagenaud for the balance of the 2008 season.

The De Ferran Acura will see competition for the first time at the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels. A two-time CART champion and past Indianapolis 500 winner, de Ferran's most recent role was Sporting Director for BAR Honda in Formula 1.

De Ferran Motorsports already has tested at Sebring International Raceway and Miller Motorsports Park, site of the Series' fourth round. The No. 66 entry is the fourth for Acura in its second season of American Le Mans Series competition.

The Series will have a constant presence on Powershift with guests appearing at 9:25 p.m. ET each week with host Joe Costello. XM Satellite Radio is a corporate partner of the American Le Mans Series and the primary sponsor of the Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX-01b. XM Channel 144 also will carry live coverage of the race starting at 3 p.m. ET.

The Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels is set for Sunday, May 18 from Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. The green flag is scheduled for 1 p.m. MT with live television coverage on SPEED. Live radio coverage will be available on XM Satellite Radio Channel 144 and American Le Mans Radio at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring.

...(more)
Corvette ZR1 rated at 638 hp

By DALE JEWETT

The official dyno numbers are in: The supercharged 6.2-liter V8 in the forthcoming Chevy Corvette ZR1 cranks out 638 horsepower.

That's about 20 hp more than the estimates from General Motors' powertrain gurus when they unveiled the new ZR1 and its monster motor last December.

To simplify the math: The LS9 engine in the ZR1 is rated at 103 hp per liter of displacement, or 1.7 hp per cubic inch (6.2 liters is equal to 376 cubic inches, for the old schoolers in the audience.)

All that power will push the Corvette ZR1, which goes on sale this summer, to a top speed of more than 200 mph, GM says. A suggested retail price for the car hasn't been set, but it is expected to be in the neighborhood of $100,000.

What about the grunt? The official number is 604 lb-ft of torque.

The key to that making all the horsepower and torque is a Roots-type supercharger with four-lobe rotors that sits atop the LS9 engine. A liquid-to-air intercooler is integrated into the supercharger's housing.

The supercharger has a volume of 2.3 liters, with a maximum boost pressure of 10.5 psi. Turning that blower required engineers to fit the LS9 with an 11-rib accessory drive belt.

The engine will be hand-built at GM's Performance Build Center in suburban Detroit, the same plant that hand-builds the LS7 V8 used in the Corvette Z06.

Time for some bench measuring, you say? OK:

-- The 6.0-liter V12 in the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano is rated at 620 hp and 448 lb-ft.

-- The 6.5-liter V12 in the Lamborghini Murcielago is rated at 580 hp and 650 lb-ft.

-- The turbocharged 3.6-liter flat six-cylinder engine in the Porsche 911 GT2 is rated at 530 hp and 505 lb-ft.

...(more)