Aston Martin dominates at Sebring

The traditional Winter Test was held in Sebring over the last two days. The best time is, unsurprisingly, to the credit of Lola Astin Martin. Highcroft, Rahal Letterman and Extreme Speed took the opportunity to unveil their new livery.

Published on 24/02/2010 à 12:10

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Like every year before the start of hostilities, the ALMS organizes the Sebring Winter Tests, an obligatory stage for many teams participating in the North American endurance championship.

This year among the main teams present we can mention in prototype Aston Martin which made the trip across the Atlantic with Adrian Fernandez, Chris Buncombe, Harold Primat and Stefan Mücke, Highcroft Racing which officially raced for the first time simon pagenaud on the HPD ARX01c, the Dyson team with a trio composed of Guy Smith, Chris Dyson and newcomer Andy Merick and the Cytosport Muscle Milk with its Porsche RS-Spyder. In GT2, this is the first appearance of Ferrari F430 from Scott Scharp's Extreme Speed Motorsport. Otherwise the usual competitors are there, namely Risi Competizione, Flying Lizard Motorsport and Rahal Letterman.

When it comes to new features, we can note that the Lola Aston Martin sports a “Lowe?s” sticker, a loyal sponsor of Adrian Fernandez, new recruit to the Gaydon firm. Several teams also took advantage of these tests to unveil their new colors. Highcroft Racing has a new partner just like Rahal Letterman. The Ferrari F430 ESM sports a black and green dress, entirely in the Patron colors.

Time-wise, no surprises to report. It is the Aston Martin which appears at the top of the timesheet in 1:46:894 despite a big crash by Primat during the last session. The beautiful Englishwoman is more than a second ahead of the Lola Intersport from the Field family. The HPD ARX01c driven by Simon Pagenaud is third, first P2, and completes its best lap in 1:48:153, an advantage of three tenths compared to the car from the Dyson team and more than a second compared to the Porsche RS Spyder.

In GT2 it is the Ferrari of the Risi Competizione team which dominates with a best lap completed in 2:02:286, but the BMWs and Porsches of the Flying Lizard Motorsport team are not far away, just like the two Extreme Speed Ferraris which are doing quite well for a first outing. The Jaguar XKR has more difficulty, fighting among the Porsches in the GTC category. A difficult start to the season ahead for the men of Rocket Sport.

But these times have a relative value, performance certainly not being the main goal of these teams who are above all present to accumulate experience in view of the 12 Hours of Sebring and the long endurance season which is announced.