SIMON PAGENAUD/No.66 de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX 02A LMP1 continued his domination into the third day of the American Le Mans Series Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway. Although his time of 1;45.671/126.052 mph wasn’t his fastest lap of the test, it was fastest for the mid-morning session. Pagenaud’s co-drivers for the test and the upcoming Twelve Hours of Sebring race are owner GIL de FERRAN and 2008 Indy Racing League IndyCar champion, SCOTT DIXON, from Down Under.
Second on the charts and in P1 was Patron Highcroft Racing in No.9 Acura ARX 02a. The drivers are DAVID BRABHAM and SCOTT SHARP, and joined for the test and the 12 hour race, DARIO FRANCHITTI, who is returning to road racing after giving it a go in NASCAR.
The Dyson Racing updated Lola 08 86 Mazda made its debut Wednesday morning and was third overall, first in the LMP2, with a time of 1:49.462/121.686 mph. This car was purchased from BK Motorsports, The updates are refinements, and if one looks closely, the differences can be seen. A new Lola Mazda is coming, in time to be ready for Sebring in March.
CHRIS DYSON was driving for the entire 100-minute morning session. His teammates will test in the remaining two Wednesday sessions: BUTCH LEITZINGER, GUY SMITH, MARINO FRANCHITTI and BEN DEVLIN, who is just that – a test driver. While some of the drivers have already tested the new Mazda, Franchitti will be getting his first seat time Wednesday. The regular drivers for the season in the two Dyson cars are Dyson and Smith in No.16, and Franchitti and Leitzinger in No.20. Devlin, who came from BK Motorsports, will run at Sebring and Petit Le Mans and continue in his testing role for the team.
LUIS DIAZ of Mexico turned the second fastest LMP2 time in the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01B. His teammates are MICHEL JOURDAIN, who will be racing with the team in the two long races, and owner ADRIAN FERNANDEZ, who did not go out in the session.
RICHARD LEITZ/No.87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche 911 RSR was the fastest of the eight GT2 cars on course, with a time of 2:02.960/108.328 mph. His teammates are WOLF HENZLER and DIRK WERNER. Leitz, from Austria, will run the two long races with the team.
Second in GT2 was No.45 Flying Lizards Motorsports Porsche 911 RSR. The team has three cars for the test, but only two went out in this session. The third, No.44, sat out.
This is the sixth year for Flying Lizards, which is based at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma CA. Two of the five drivers are Porsche factory drivers – JORG BERGMEISTER and PATRICK LONG, who are being reunited after a successful season several years back. So it’s back to the future for the lads. A third driver, MARC LEIB, is joining the team for the Sebring race, and he is also a factory driver, in Europe.
One other GT2 car didn’t go out in the session – No.28 LG Motorsports Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6, with drivers LOU GIGLIOTTI-Owner, TOMY DRISSI, MARC GOOSSENS, and RANDY RUHLMAN.
Two more ALMS test sessions are scheduled for Wednesday.