Hugues de Chaunac-led squad outpaces and outlasts the factory diesels in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season-opener...
With tears streaming down his cheeks, ORECA boss Hugues de Chaunac celebrates a stunning upset victory over the factory Audi and Peugeot teams at the 59th Twelve Hours of Sebring. (LAT/Paul Webb)
While the factory Audi and Peugeot squads were clear favorites heading into Saturday’s Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season-opener, one team quietly flew under the radar all week.
Team ORECA Matmut may have had the intention of playing a supporting role to the works Peugeot squad, but at the end of twelve hours of hard-fought racing, the veteran French squad came out on top at the 59th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Nicolas Lapierre, Olivier Panis and Loic Duval drove their 2010-spec Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP to a 31.868-second victory over defending American Le Mans Series LMP champions Highcroft Racing with its brand-new HPD ARX-01e, which proved to be the other surprise of the race.
READ: ORECA Considering 2012 INDYCAR Aero Kit
The 12-hour enduro came down to a three-way battle, but with only one of the factory diesels in contention. Both Audi Sport Team Joest entries, favorites for the win with its tried-and-trusted Audi R15s, each suffered early race setbacks, including Dindo Capello’s costly collision with the No. 7 Peugeot of Marc Gene in the fifth hour, which put both behind the wall for repairs.
With Audi’s other bullet, the Mike Rockenfeller-driven No. 1 machine, suffering two punctures in the second hour, the No. 8 Peugeot of Stephane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Pedro Lamy appeared to be in route to victory.
However, they too hit trouble when the 908’s front louvers became damaged and were forced to replace the nose during a pit stop with three hours to go. A subsequent spin by Lamy on his out lap added to the misfortune.
While Montagny made a late-race charge, nearly getting around Simon Pagenaud for second at the end, the closing hours weren’t clear sailing for the ORECA squad by any means. With a splash of fuel needed to get its diesel-powered machine to the finish, technical director David Floury opted to short-pit the car with 39 minutes remaining. It turned out to be the right call.
“After that, the car was perfect and we managed to keep the gap between us and the [HPD],” Duval said. “It was tough and we had a lot of pressure because I don’t think we would be in this position, to be honest. As Hugues [de Chaunac] said before, we were building and building during the race. And then at the end, the car was perfect.”
For the Hugues de Chaunac-led squad, the historic overall win marked another chapter in the team’s fabled history of racing in America. ORECA made its return to the famed 3.7-mile airfield circuit since its 1-2-3 class victory with Dodge Vipers in 2000, the same year the two-time ALMS GTS champions celebrated overall glory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Now add the Twelve Hours of Sebring to that list. No wonder the the phrase “I Love U.S. Racing” was adorned on the front nose of their race-winning machine.
“I think it’s a very historical result for us,” de Chaunac said. “In the world of long distance races, there are only two huge races to win, the Le Mans 24 Hours and Sebring. We won Sebring, so we now know what we have to achieve in June!”
ORECA’s win also put them in the early lead of the ILMC Teams’ Championship, three points ahead of the two-car Peugeot Sport Total squad heading into the next round at Spa-Francorchamps in May.
It just wasn’t Audi or Peugeot’s day at Sebring. While Capello and co-drivers Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen soldiered home in fourth, delayed five laps due to a left-front broken suspension from its clash with the No. 7 Peugeot, the defending Sebring winners came home in eighth.
The real surprise, though, came from the debut of Highcroft Racing's HPD ARX-01e. After jumping to the lead in the fifth hour, the new LMP1 contender, piloted this weekend by Pagenaud, David Brabham and Marino Franchitti, nearly pulled off an upset win against the diesel contingent. It no doubt certainly bodes well heading into the team's LMP1 debut at Le Mans in June.
“The car was built, sent to Florida, we ran it for the first time last Saturday with a systems check and then got stuck into testing on Monday," Brabham said. “It was not really the ideal preparation for one of the biggest sportscar races in the world but when you think about the result we picked up today – it is absolutely stunning."
The new-look LMP2 class came down to a battle of endurance, with Level 5 Motorsports taking back-to-back Sebring wins. The team’s No. 055 Lola B11/40 Honda of Luis Diaz, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Scott Tucker outlasted the competition, despite a mid-race scare when the open-top machine ground to a halt on track with only three wheels.
Despite losing over 30 minutes from the incident, caused by a loose wheel nut, the trio rebounded to finish 20th overall in the car’s debut race.
“We knew the race was going to be like this,” Hunter-Reay said. “It was about keeping the car clean, and when you do have a problem, deal with it the quickest and most efficient way. LMP2, for some reason, always seems to be that way. But that’s what this is, it’s an endurance race.”
The pole-sitting No. 26 Signatech Oreca 03 Nissan of Soheil Ayari, Franck Mailleux and Lucas Ordonez came home ten laps behind in second after battling gearbox and electrical issues. OAK Racing’s Oak-Pescarolo Judd completed the podium in third, also being delayed with various gremlins.
Tucker, who also spent time in Level 5’s sister No. 33 Lola-Honda Coupe with co-drivers Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa, scored fourth-place points after being nominated in the ILMC-entered machine for this race. Yet, the team owner was ecstatic with the come-from-behind win.
“I have to hand it off to Luis and Ryan,” Tucker said. “They just did a fantastic job, along with the team. We had a small issue and went down 10 laps. It looked pretty [bad] for us. But Luis got in the car and Ryan backed it up and pounded it out. Things came about our way.”
Team ORECA Matmut may have had the intention of playing a supporting role to the works Peugeot squad, but at the end of twelve hours of hard-fought racing, the veteran French squad came out on top at the 59th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Nicolas Lapierre, Olivier Panis and Loic Duval drove their 2010-spec Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP to a 31.868-second victory over defending American Le Mans Series LMP champions Highcroft Racing with its brand-new HPD ARX-01e, which proved to be the other surprise of the race.
READ: ORECA Considering 2012 INDYCAR Aero Kit
The 12-hour enduro came down to a three-way battle, but with only one of the factory diesels in contention. Both Audi Sport Team Joest entries, favorites for the win with its tried-and-trusted Audi R15s, each suffered early race setbacks, including Dindo Capello’s costly collision with the No. 7 Peugeot of Marc Gene in the fifth hour, which put both behind the wall for repairs.
With Audi’s other bullet, the Mike Rockenfeller-driven No. 1 machine, suffering two punctures in the second hour, the No. 8 Peugeot of Stephane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Pedro Lamy appeared to be in route to victory.
However, they too hit trouble when the 908’s front louvers became damaged and were forced to replace the nose during a pit stop with three hours to go. A subsequent spin by Lamy on his out lap added to the misfortune.
While Montagny made a late-race charge, nearly getting around Simon Pagenaud for second at the end, the closing hours weren’t clear sailing for the ORECA squad by any means. With a splash of fuel needed to get its diesel-powered machine to the finish, technical director David Floury opted to short-pit the car with 39 minutes remaining. It turned out to be the right call.
“After that, the car was perfect and we managed to keep the gap between us and the [HPD],” Duval said. “It was tough and we had a lot of pressure because I don’t think we would be in this position, to be honest. As Hugues [de Chaunac] said before, we were building and building during the race. And then at the end, the car was perfect.”
For the Hugues de Chaunac-led squad, the historic overall win marked another chapter in the team’s fabled history of racing in America. ORECA made its return to the famed 3.7-mile airfield circuit since its 1-2-3 class victory with Dodge Vipers in 2000, the same year the two-time ALMS GTS champions celebrated overall glory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Now add the Twelve Hours of Sebring to that list. No wonder the the phrase “I Love U.S. Racing” was adorned on the front nose of their race-winning machine.
“I think it’s a very historical result for us,” de Chaunac said. “In the world of long distance races, there are only two huge races to win, the Le Mans 24 Hours and Sebring. We won Sebring, so we now know what we have to achieve in June!”
ORECA’s win also put them in the early lead of the ILMC Teams’ Championship, three points ahead of the two-car Peugeot Sport Total squad heading into the next round at Spa-Francorchamps in May.
It just wasn’t Audi or Peugeot’s day at Sebring. While Capello and co-drivers Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen soldiered home in fourth, delayed five laps due to a left-front broken suspension from its clash with the No. 7 Peugeot, the defending Sebring winners came home in eighth.
The real surprise, though, came from the debut of Highcroft Racing's HPD ARX-01e. After jumping to the lead in the fifth hour, the new LMP1 contender, piloted this weekend by Pagenaud, David Brabham and Marino Franchitti, nearly pulled off an upset win against the diesel contingent. It no doubt certainly bodes well heading into the team's LMP1 debut at Le Mans in June.
“The car was built, sent to Florida, we ran it for the first time last Saturday with a systems check and then got stuck into testing on Monday," Brabham said. “It was not really the ideal preparation for one of the biggest sportscar races in the world but when you think about the result we picked up today – it is absolutely stunning."
Despite having brand-new cars that hadn't even turned a wheel until one week ago, Level 5 Motorsports got both of its Lola-Hondas to the finish, with the No. 055 machine taking victory. (Photo: John Dagys)
The new-look LMP2 class came down to a battle of endurance, with Level 5 Motorsports taking back-to-back Sebring wins. The team’s No. 055 Lola B11/40 Honda of Luis Diaz, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Scott Tucker outlasted the competition, despite a mid-race scare when the open-top machine ground to a halt on track with only three wheels.
Despite losing over 30 minutes from the incident, caused by a loose wheel nut, the trio rebounded to finish 20th overall in the car’s debut race.
“We knew the race was going to be like this,” Hunter-Reay said. “It was about keeping the car clean, and when you do have a problem, deal with it the quickest and most efficient way. LMP2, for some reason, always seems to be that way. But that’s what this is, it’s an endurance race.”
The pole-sitting No. 26 Signatech Oreca 03 Nissan of Soheil Ayari, Franck Mailleux and Lucas Ordonez came home ten laps behind in second after battling gearbox and electrical issues. OAK Racing’s Oak-Pescarolo Judd completed the podium in third, also being delayed with various gremlins.
Tucker, who also spent time in Level 5’s sister No. 33 Lola-Honda Coupe with co-drivers Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa, scored fourth-place points after being nominated in the ILMC-entered machine for this race. Yet, the team owner was ecstatic with the come-from-behind win.
“I have to hand it off to Luis and Ryan,” Tucker said. “They just did a fantastic job, along with the team. We had a small issue and went down 10 laps. It looked pretty [bad] for us. But Luis got in the car and Ryan backed it up and pounded it out. Things came about our way.”
BMW celebrated a 1-2 finish in GT after an eventful day for the class-winning No. 56 BMW Team RLL-run M3 GT of Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Andy Priaulx. Muller suffered a puncture in the opening hour after making contact with the Christophe Bouchut-driven Level 5 Lola-Honda and was further delayed after tangling with a Jaguar XKR GT.
Despite having flat-spotted tires from the spin, Muller completed his stint, knowing that an unscheduled stop could have taken them out of the running. It proved to be the perfect call as by the third hour, the BMW was back out front.
“Watching Dirk in his first stint, it seemed like everyone was driving into him today,” Priaulx said. “I thought it was going to be a long day. But we clawed our way back and was lucky with the setup and were lucky with the second safety car that got us back into contention. Then it was just a question of delivering the performance and we did that in every stint.”
While facing stiff competition from the pole-sitting AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT as well as the two Corvette Racing C6.Rs and Risi Competizione’s new Ferrari F458 Italia, the Scott Roembke-led crew appeared to have a slight edge on pace, even if it was marginal at times.
Hand, who added a Sebring class victory to his overall win at the Rolex 24 with Chip Ganassi Racing in January, knew there was something special from the moment he climbed in the brand-new car this week.
“When I got in the car on Monday, I told these guys that this is a good race car,” Hand said. “When it’s comfy, I can go quick and do it for a long time. BMW Team RLL and BMW Motorsport worked really well together during the off-season and built two really good cars.”
The No. 55 BMW of Bill Auberlen, Dirk Werner and Augusto Farfus rallied to second, thanks to Werner’s late-race move on the No. 03 Corvette Racing C6.R of Olivier Beretta, who along with co-drivers Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia completed the podium in third.
BMW’s win came extra sweet as the Bavarian manufacturer now holds a commanding lead in the ILMC Manufacturers’ Cup, nine points ahead of Corvette, which will contest the seven-round global championship with only a single privateer entry.
The ACO’s new GTE-Am category made its debut this weekend for ILMC competitors, with Krohn Racing’s Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Michele Rugolo picking up top honors. The trio finished 19th overall, in what was a flawless race for the lime green Ferrari F430 GT.
The David Brown-led squad, who will contest the entire seven-round ILMC, enjoyed a spirited battle with the pole-sitting No. 63 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Richard Lietz, Gianluca Roda and Christian Ried before it hit trouble in the second-half of the race.
“It’s a dream come true,” Jonsson said. “The guys did a fantastic job over the winter when we decided to go ILMC with the Ferrari. We have a fantastic engineering staff. The crew has been flawless. The Proton Porsche have good drivers, so they’ll be stiff competition on the European tracks.”
Only two of the five class starters took the checkered flag, adding to rate of attrition in this year’s 12-hour enduro.
Genoa Racing scored its first victory in LMPC after a dominating performance by the team’s No. 036 Oreca FLM09 of Dane Cameron, Michael Guasch and Jens Petersen. The trio, who came home an impressive ninth overall, finished 44.314 seconds ahead of the second-placed No. 005 CORE Autosport machine of Jon Bennett, Frankie Montecalvo and Ryan Dalziel.
Top honors in GTC went to the No. 054 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Tim Pappas, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen and Damien Faulkner. The defending class champions edged out the No. 066 TRG entry of Duncan Ende, Spencer Pumpelly and Alain Li by just over one-minute.
Next up for the stars and cars of the ALMS will be the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 15-16, while the ILMC continues its global tour in Spa-Francorchamps on May 5-7.
RESULTS: Twelve Hours of Sebring
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at askdagys@gmail.com
Despite having flat-spotted tires from the spin, Muller completed his stint, knowing that an unscheduled stop could have taken them out of the running. It proved to be the perfect call as by the third hour, the BMW was back out front.
BMW Team RLL team principal Bobby Rahal becomes the person to have won at Sebring and Indianapolis both as an owner and driver. Rahal won here at Sebring as a driver in 1987. (Photo: John Dagys)
“Watching Dirk in his first stint, it seemed like everyone was driving into him today,” Priaulx said. “I thought it was going to be a long day. But we clawed our way back and was lucky with the setup and were lucky with the second safety car that got us back into contention. Then it was just a question of delivering the performance and we did that in every stint.”
While facing stiff competition from the pole-sitting AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT as well as the two Corvette Racing C6.Rs and Risi Competizione’s new Ferrari F458 Italia, the Scott Roembke-led crew appeared to have a slight edge on pace, even if it was marginal at times.
Hand, who added a Sebring class victory to his overall win at the Rolex 24 with Chip Ganassi Racing in January, knew there was something special from the moment he climbed in the brand-new car this week.
“When I got in the car on Monday, I told these guys that this is a good race car,” Hand said. “When it’s comfy, I can go quick and do it for a long time. BMW Team RLL and BMW Motorsport worked really well together during the off-season and built two really good cars.”
The No. 55 BMW of Bill Auberlen, Dirk Werner and Augusto Farfus rallied to second, thanks to Werner’s late-race move on the No. 03 Corvette Racing C6.R of Olivier Beretta, who along with co-drivers Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia completed the podium in third.
BMW’s win came extra sweet as the Bavarian manufacturer now holds a commanding lead in the ILMC Manufacturers’ Cup, nine points ahead of Corvette, which will contest the seven-round global championship with only a single privateer entry.
The ACO’s new GTE-Am category made its debut this weekend for ILMC competitors, with Krohn Racing’s Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Michele Rugolo picking up top honors. The trio finished 19th overall, in what was a flawless race for the lime green Ferrari F430 GT.
The David Brown-led squad, who will contest the entire seven-round ILMC, enjoyed a spirited battle with the pole-sitting No. 63 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Richard Lietz, Gianluca Roda and Christian Ried before it hit trouble in the second-half of the race.
“It’s a dream come true,” Jonsson said. “The guys did a fantastic job over the winter when we decided to go ILMC with the Ferrari. We have a fantastic engineering staff. The crew has been flawless. The Proton Porsche have good drivers, so they’ll be stiff competition on the European tracks.”
Only two of the five class starters took the checkered flag, adding to rate of attrition in this year’s 12-hour enduro.
Genoa Racing scored its first victory in LMPC after a dominating performance by the team’s No. 036 Oreca FLM09 of Dane Cameron, Michael Guasch and Jens Petersen. The trio, who came home an impressive ninth overall, finished 44.314 seconds ahead of the second-placed No. 005 CORE Autosport machine of Jon Bennett, Frankie Montecalvo and Ryan Dalziel.
Top honors in GTC went to the No. 054 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Tim Pappas, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen and Damien Faulkner. The defending class champions edged out the No. 066 TRG entry of Duncan Ende, Spencer Pumpelly and Alain Li by just over one-minute.
Next up for the stars and cars of the ALMS will be the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 15-16, while the ILMC continues its global tour in Spa-Francorchamps on May 5-7.
RESULTS: Twelve Hours of Sebring
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at askdagys@gmail.com
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