Abruzzi, debut postponed to Sebring 2011

Au Petit Le Mans, she made a furtive appearance. Finally, after completing a demonstration lap, she spent the weekend on display in the paddock. Its entry in the final round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in Zhuhai having also been cancelled, we will not see the Panoz Abruzzi evolve this season. However, the boss of the American firm that created these very original cars admits to being satisfied with having been able to present his latest creation at the beginning of October in Georgia.

“It was very important for us to unveil the Panoz Abruzzi at Petit Le Mans, says Don Panoz, founder of the brand of the same name and ALMS. I'm delighted that we were able to give fans a glimpse of the new car. Although it was planned to take part in the non-category event, we had not done any real testing, and did not want to take the risk of bothering the other teams who were competing in the championship. »

We will therefore have to wait until March 2011 to even drive this car in the United States, whose decoration is reminiscent of the GTR-1s of David Price Racing in 1997. It remains to be seen whether an invitation request will be submitted to the ?ACO in order, why not, to repeat the feat of the 24 2006 Hours of Le Mans, an edition which saw an Esperante GT-LM win in GT2.

“The 12 Hours of Sebring has always been considered the ultimate test for any team and car wishing to make it to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, continues Don Panoz. The demanding Sebring track is the ideal location for the final evaluation of our development program. »

La voiture sera confiée l?année prochaine au Britannique Ian James, lauréat 2004 de la catégorie LMP2 en ALMS, et au Suisse Benjamin Leuenberger, deuxième des 24 Heures du Mans en LMP2 l?an passé. Place désormais aux essais. Avec les Porsche, Ferrari, BMW and other Corvettes, the level of the GT2 category is extremely high in ALMS. The Panoz Abruzzi therefore has every interest in filing down the tarmac, to be ready for the 12 2011 Hours of Sebring.

“Now that the presentation at Road Atlanta is over, we are focused on our development program to best prepare the car for its racing debut at Sebring next year. With a significant winter testing program behind it, I expect the Panoz Abruzzi to play spoilsport in GT2 at Sebring. »

The competition is warned.