News From The American Le Mans Series - Sebring 2013 AUDI’S FINAL SEBRING POSTCARD www.michelinalley.com 2 Well this could be the last time. This could be the last time. May be the last time. I don’t know. Oh no. Oh no. M. JAGGER, K. RICHARDS As the powerful field of Prototypes and GT cars A trio of top competitors will take on the Audis in what assembles for the 61st running of the Mobil 1 Twelve may prove to be the final LMP1 battle at Sebring. Hours of Sebring, the air is tinged with the sweet smell The 2012 ALMS P1 champion Muscle Milk Pickett of orange blossoms and the uncertainty of change and Racing Honda and the 2011 ALMS P1 champion Dyson transition. Racing Lola look forward to matching up against the Le For the 10-time Sebring winners from Audi, one of the Mans champions. most successful teams in endurance racing history, this Joining them at Sebring and for the full 2013 ALMS could be the final Sebring race as they focus on defending season will be the 2012 Petit Le Mans-winning Rebellion their new FIA World Endurance Championship crown. Toyota Michelin-shod team. Audi arrives at Sebring with a pair of exotic, Audi R18 Tires will again be part of the story as the Muscle e-tron quattro prototypes, which feature a turbocharged Milk squad makes the move from traditionally sized diesel/flywheel hybrid with electric wheel motors MICHELIN® tires to the latest MICHELIN “wide front” tires mounted on the front axle. already raced with great success by the Audi, Toyota and The Audi driver squad will be led by “Mr. Le Mans”, Tom Rebellion P1 teams. Kristensen, an eight-time winner of the 24-hour classic. Meanwhile, the Dyson squad makes the switch from He joins Allan McNish and Lucas di Grassi in the #2 car. Dunlop wide-front tires to Michelin for 2013. The defending Le Mans and WEC champions Marcel Tires are an important factor for Audi as well, as the Fassler and Benoit Treluyer are joined here by Oliver continued development of tires for the electric wheel Jarvis, to wheel the #1 Audi. motors mounted on the Audi front provide yet another “We’re in for a very emotional race weekend on which technical challenge for Michelin, which has won Sebring we’ll be taking the fans along on a journey into our past,” for the past 14 consecutive years and Le Mans for fifteen. said Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. In addition to the R18 e-tron quattros, Audi is expected “Sebring is where Audi’s sports car era that has been so to feature four other race cars and several drivers who successful began. We expect that with two current hybrid made Sebring history with Audi. models we’ll be battling for overall victory at the 12-hour Fans will savor the sights and the sounds of the Audis at race for the last time this year.” Sebring as a special era ends and a new future awaits. The merger of the American Le announcement of the proposed 2014 series will remain separate with 3 Mans Series and GRAND-AM sets classes. the ALMS GT Challenge class cars up an exciting new chapter in North The class structure in many ways joining the GRAND-AM GTs. American sports car and endurance defines the on-track product, team The new era of sports car racing is racing. Each series maintains its budgets and life spans for existing expected to kick-off with an exciting respective schedule and rules for cars. one-two punch, opening with the 2013, as preparations continue for Balancing the performance of 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona in January the combined series in 2014. the ALMS P2 and GRAND-AM DP and followed by the Twelve Hours of Leaders of the combined series are prototypes and defining the costs Sebring in March. working closely with manufacturers, and levels of technology are among Follow:www.michelinalley.com teams and promoters to create a the most sensitive pieces of the for details as they emerge. “best of the best” package for a big, new puzzle and are yet to be powerful series featuring a well finalized. promoted schedule of major events The PC Challenge class from ALMS featuring full fields of top cars, will continue to run as a separate manufacturers, teams and drivers in class, while the GT classes in each close competition. One of the first and most important steps in the process is the THE ROAD AHEAD YOUR TECHNICAL BRIDGE The Michelin Turn 17 Bridge critical to success at Sebring and the summer UHP tires – with an all-season leading onto the front straightaway 24 Hours of Le Mans, so Michelin tire. is the symbolic link from the Sebring engineers and developers wanted the “Our MICHELIN Pilot Sport family International Raceway pit lane new MICHELIN® Pilot® Sport A/S 3TM of Ultra High Performance tires are and paddock to the infield, where tire to exceed the performance of the born from endurance racing with thousands of fans are gathered for the current offering and the competition technologies and innovations we have opening race of the 2013 American Le by significant margins. developed in open competition at Mans Series. They targeted excellent braking Sebring and Le Mans,” said Don Byrd, For Michelin, the link reflects both in both wet and dry conditions, vice-president, marketing, Michelin the success of Michelin technical exceptional handling and overall Americas Small Tires (MAST). partner teams from BMW, Audi, performance. “The fans at Sebring know and Porsche and Peugeot who have As a result, the MICHELIN Pilot appreciate total performance and that claimed 14 consecutive overall Sport A/S 3 tire designed for the street is exactly what the new MICHELIN victories at Sebring and its latest vehicles driven by many sports car Pilot Sport A/S 3 tire delivers for consumer offering. and performance enthusiasts even enthusiasts and their own vehicles. Delivering exceptional performance meet or exceed the best dry handling Enjoy the bridge.” in a wide range of conditions is performance of top competitors’ 4 Top Manufacturers, Drivers, Teams Make GT Shine! KEEP THE CHANGE Transition is the word for the in preparation for a championship 2013 season as American Le attack in 2013 with a driver line-up Mans Series manufacturers and featuring Dominik Farnbacher, teams prepare for the merger of Kuno Wittmer, Marc Goossens and the ALMS and GRAND-AM series Tommy Kendall. and unified classes and events for One the most successful teams 2014. in international sports car One group expected to remain competition returns for the 2013 virtually untouched is the current season. GT class of ALMS, where top The Risi Competizione Ferrari manufacturers, teams and drivers with former Viper and Corvette have delivered some of the best ace Olivier Beretta and Matteo competition in the world. If it is Malucelli is back after a one-year not broken, why fix it? hiatus. Risi once again teams with Still, change is the one constant Michelin as it seeks its fourth in racing and the GT field gathered Sebring GT victory since 2007. here at Sebring reflects change as Shock waves rolled through well. the blogosphere last month when The defending ALMS GT the 2012 ALMS GT runner-up and champions from Corvette Racing Petit Le Mans winning Extreme will rely on the proven Corvette Speed Motorsports Ferrari team C6.R-Michelin combination for announced an immediate switch champions Oliver Gavin and to the P2 class beginning here at Tommy Milner and teammates Jan Sebring with a pair of HPD-Honda Magnussen and Antonio Garcia in prototypes. 2013, while Corvette develops the But the Ferrari banner has exciting new seventh-generation been seized by Alex Job Racing Corvette Stingray-based race car as the ultra-successful team joins for 2014 competition. with West Racing, Yokohama and Taking a different route, the drivers Townsend Bell and Bill equipe’ and expects to enter the defending Sebring GT champions Sweedler. ALMS GT fray at Monterey with from BMW Team RLL, present a Another big surprise saw the Patrick Long, Tom Kimber-Smith spanking new pair of V8 powered Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche and Michelin. BMW Z4 GTEs and a switch to team step down to GTC class Adding to the GT field will be two MICHELIN® tires for 2013. competition, but Porsche loyalists factory Aston Martins with Stefan Joining Bill Auberlen and Dirk fear not as the Derrick Walker- Mucke, Darren Turner, Bruno Müller will be Maxime Martin, led Falken Porsche, with Bryan Senna aboard the #97 and Dane John Edwards and Joey Hand. Sellers and factory man Wolf Cameron, Paul Dalla Lana and A highly anticipated change for Henzler, continues an aggressive Billy Johnson in the #007. Aston Sebring fans arrives in the form of development program and Paul Martin Racing last won at Sebring a potent pair of cars from the SRT Miller Racing moves to Michelin in 2005 and won the pole last year Motorsports Viper factory team with Marco Holzer joining Bryce at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. returning to Sebring after a 12- Miller aboard. The GT field here at Sebring is year hiatus. Meanwhile, the double- due to include eight top teams The Riley-prepared Vipers defending PC champion CORE from six different manufacturers entered four ALMS rounds in 2012 autosport team picks up the FLM and three tire makers. 5 Top Manufacturers, Drivers, Teams Make GT Shine! KEEP THE CHANGE That includes factory pairs of Chevrolet Corvettes, SRT Vipers, new BMW Z4 GTEs and Aston Martin Vantage GTEs to take on top independent Ferraris from Risi and AJR and Porsches from Walker and aggressive R&D and testing, and an Miller.