[WEC] Sebring 2012 - March 14-17 (entries/news/rumours)

[The Badger]

Lamy in at Larbre in the Corvette GTE/AM class , with Canal-Bornhauser ..... brilliant news .

He should make that car sing .

Mücke-Fernandez-Turner for AMR ..... I expect great strides from them this year . Lots of face to save here .

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by The Badger

.

Mücke-Fernandez-Turner for AMR ..... I expect great strides from them this year . Lots of face to save here .

Agreed. Hopefully they will run two cars where entry numbers allow.

[Marcel ten Caat]

Originally Posted by jaguarista

yes, I agree with u, like jaguar fans are disappointed with the results of the RSR, but at the same time I was happy to see a Jaguar racing in the ALMS or 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Everyone would have been happy if the Jaguar had raced. But most of the time it failed to do just that.

[Simmi]

Looks like MotorsTV will be showing Sebring according to their twitter account which says 'it's an ALMS round so we're covering it'.

Hope that proves to be the case despite it being WEC.

[KlBD]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

Since he was a works driver for Toyota in NASCAR, he's been classified as Platinum. Yes, odd.

Also, interesting to see other classifications... Fisichella, Bruni, Bertolini and Heidfeld without an official classification (but all of them should normally go under Platinum), Olivier Lombard now classified as a Gold driver...

Olivier's upgrade is probably because of his LM24 class win with Greaves last year? I noticed some similar upgrades of the sort while going through the driver rating list recently.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Looks like MotorsTV will be showing Sebring according to their twitter account which says 'it's an ALMS round so we're covering it'.

Hope that proves to be the case despite it being WEC.

Wouldn't bet on anything but highlights.

[The Badger]

JWA 997 has Paltala-Simonsen in it , Im surprised about that , good news .

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by KlBD

Olivier's upgrade is probably because of his LM24 class win with Greaves last year? I noticed some similar upgrades of the sort while going through the driver rating list recently.

LMP2 LM class win and pace shown throughout 2011 I suspect, even the team were surprised with how quick he turned out to be at Le Mans last year compared to TK-S.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Lamy in at Larbre in the Corvette GTE/AM class , with Canal-Bornhauser ..... brilliant news .

He should make that car sing .

He already drove for Larbre @ Zhuhai 2010... and wasn't particularly impressive with the old Saleen. But considering how mediocre his co-pilots are, it's of course an improvement for the team

[joeb]

SEbring entries.

ALMS article says 64 entries, but entry list has 61 on it?

[Coach Ep]

No Black Swan in P2, nor Risi in GT. Also no hint of BAR1 or Genoa (or Intersport, Storholm London Project and Woordard for that matter) in LMPC. Also just 1 car from TRG in GTC.

Still provisional then?

[Speed-King]

I would think so... the corresponding article on the ALMS website mentions 34 cars for ALMS.

Also: Just one Dyson car so far.

[Fogelhund]

There should be an entry or two added, yes... Black Swan for example.

http://americanlemans.com/files/even...ring-Entry.pdf

I would expect only one Dyson car, until they take delivery of the second car midseason. P1 post Sebring is going to be....

[KlBD]

Level 5 will use the same 3 drivers in both cars? Like you guys said...provisional, right?

[KA]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

There should be an entry or two added, yes... Black Swan for example.

http://americanlemans.com/files/even...ring-Entry.pdf

I would expect only one Dyson car, until they take delivery of the second car midseason. P1 post Sebring is going to be....

Good to see Steven Kane in the Dyson car for Sebring- Any idea if he's likely to be part of their plans for the second car mid-season, or at Le Mans?

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by KA

Good to see Steven Kane in the Dyson car for Sebring- Any idea if he's likely to be part of their plans for the second car mid-season, or at Le Mans?

Really hoping they retain him. Surely with four seats up for grabs at Le Mans he must fit into one, hopefully alongside Guy.

[The Badger]

I thought Bleekamolen had re-signed for Black Swan for this year , but he is down for Rebellion ? Or is this only cuz its a WEC round ?

Love to see him in the Lola/HPD for the season !!!

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Really hoping they retain him. Surely with four seats up for grabs at Le Mans he must fit into one, hopefully alongside Guy.

+1

[pach233]

Can't believe what a giant clusterf*** this is. They're actually going to do podiums for 9! different classes? Ridiculous that there's 3 different classes for the same types of car (GTE ALMS, GTE Pro, GTE AM.) So if for example AF Corse is the highest GTE finisher and a Corvette or any other ALMS entrant finish 2nd in "GTE," are they both considered to have won their class? Would Corvette (or FL or BMW RLL) even celebrate that "victory?"Absolutely ridiculous. I was all for the joint races and the ALMS relationship with the ACO but I'm coming around on the separate entities deal.

Really disappointed about not seeing Risi. I know they haven't ruled out the rest of the season yet but it doesn't look good. Hope Black Swan and Libra make it also.

They won't even publish a combined list? Its like the FIA/ACO is embrassed to be associated with the ALMS. I was initially excited about WEC no doubt. But after seeing the ELMS grid an what it appears to be doing to the regional series, I'm coming around further and further to Fogelhund and AGD's points. As much as I'm hoping they're incorrect.

[The Badger]

The WEC is going to turn Sebring into one hell of a race , which wouldnt happen if it was left up to the ALMS as a stand alone series .

Im sure every team and driver will be happy with their podium result , at the end of the day .

[MitchZ06]

Is it just me or is there really only one Corvette Racing Vette listed on the entrylist? (#4)

[pach233]

Originally Posted by The Badger

The WEC is going to turn Sebring into one hell of a race , which wouldnt happen if it was left up to the ALMS as a stand alone series .

Im sure every team and driver will be happy with their podium result , at the end of the day .

On your first point, oh yeah no doubt. And as someone that will be at the race I am extremely grateful to have the WEC there. I just wish there would be some mutual respect there.

On your 2nd point I need to disagree. I don't think Lucas Luhr or Guy Smith will be happy with their podium which in their case is essentially a participation ribbon. And if AF Corse, BMW RLL, Corvette or FL celebrate a victory in class while not being top GTE overall then I have to say they are a lot less competitive and prideful than I thought.

[AGD]

Originally Posted by pach233

Can't believe what a giant clusterf*** this is. They're actually going to do podiums for 9! different classes? Ridiculous that there's 3 different classes for the same types of car (GTE ALMS, GTE Pro, GTE AM.) So if for example AF Corse is the highest GTE finisher and a Corvette or any other ALMS entrant finish 2nd in "GTE," are they both considered to have won their class? Would Corvette (or FL or BMW RLL) even celebrate that "victory?"Absolutely ridiculous. I was all for the joint races and the ALMS relationship with the ACO but I'm coming around on the separate entities deal.

All these different classes could make sense if the ALMS and WEC run different rules within a class. The ALMS may have a Wang, but I don't think the have the balls to give Muscle Milk and Dyson regs that will allow them to have a good shot at an overall win. If they did that, it would be a nuclear move and the WEC may never forgive the ALMS even if they gave them the latitude to do it in the first place. What about P2? Will the ALMS regs "solve" the ACO P2 turbo regs problem? Will there be different regs for GT too? We'll see I guess. It will be a messy soup of classes though.

[Duff_44]

Originally Posted by MitchZ06

Is it just me or is there really only one Corvette Racing Vette listed on the entrylist? (#4)

They are both on the list. The (normally) #3 car is using #03 for Sebring, because Audi is using #3 for their 3rd car.

[broadrun96]

The teams almost have to celebrate any win though for their sponsors, how would it look for them to be just milling around? The sponsor reps probably don't know classes never mind sub-classess, for them a win is a win.