PUFF OF SMOKE RACING
car #569: ready for the 2009 season

2009

The American Le Mans Series celebrates its 100th race at Sebring International Raceway on March 21, with round 1 of the 2009 season. The annual running of the 12 Hours of Sebring is the premier motor racing event in the United States.

26 cars, 20 teams, and 74 drivers from 22 countries are competing in 2009.


To start the race, on pole:

LMP1: #66 Acura ARX-02a, drivers Gil deFerran / Scott Dixon / Simon Pagenaud
LMP2: #15 Acura ARX-01b, Lowe's Fernandez drivers Adrian Fernandez / Luis Diaz
GT1: #4 Corvette C6.R, drivers Oliver Gavin / Olivier Beretta / Fassler
GT2: #87 Porsche GT3 RSR, Farnbacher-Loles drivers Dirk Werner / Wolf Henzler / Richard Lietz

The other competitors:

LMP1: #2 Audi R15 TDI, Audi Sport Team Joest drivers Dindo Capello / Tom Kristensen / Allan McNish
LMP1: #08 Peugeot 908 HDI FAP, drivers Franck Montagny / Stephane Sarrazin / Sebastian Bourdais
LMP1: #07 Peugeot 908 HDI FAP, Team Peugeot Total drivers Pedro Lamy / Christian Klien / Nicolas Minassian
LMP1: #1 Audi R15 TDI, Audi Sport North America drivers Lucas Luhr / Mike Rockenfeller / Werner
LMP1: #9 Acura ARX-02a, Patron Highcroft Racing drivers Dario Franchitti / David Brabham / Sharp
LMP1: #12 Lola B06/10-AER, drivers Burgess / Willman
LMP1: #37 Lola B06/10-AER , drivers J.Field /

LMP2: #20 Lola B07/46-Mazda MZR-R, Dyson Racing drivers Butch Leitzinger / Devlin
LMP2: #16 Lola B09/86 Mazda MZR-R, Dyson Racing drivers Chris Dyson / Lally

GT1: #3 Corvette C6.R, Corvette Racing drivers Magnussen / Johnny O'Connell / Antonio Garcia

GT2: #62 Ferrari 430 GT, Risi Competizione drivers Mika Salo / Jamie Melo / Pierre Kaffer
GT2: #45 Porsche GT3 RSR, Flying Lizard Motorsports drivers Jörg Bergmeister / Patrick Long / Marc Lieb
GT2: #40 Ford GT MK 7, Doran drivers David Murray / Andrea Robertson /
GT2: #11 Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe,PrimeTime drivers Chris Hall / Holt / Joel Feinberg
GT2: #44 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Flying Lizard drivers Seth Neiman / Johannes Van Overbeek / Darren Law
GT2: #95 Ferrari 430 GT, drivers Gianmaria Bruni / Companc / Matias Russo
GT2: #007 Aston Martin Vantage, Drayson Racing drivers Cocker / Drayson
GT2: #90 BMW E-92 M3, BMW Rahal Letterman Racing drivers Auberlen / Hand
GT2: #92 BMW E-92 M3, BMW Rahal Letterman Racing drivers Mueller / Milner
GT2: #21 Panoz Esperante GTLM, Panoz Team PTG drivers Dominik Farnbacher / Ian James
GT2: #61 Ferrari 430 GT, Risi Competizione - Krohn Racing drivers / Van de Poele / Nic Jonsson
GT2: #28 Corvette C6, Riley drivers / Gigliotti

10:00am   television coverage begins on SpeedTV (2 hrs of coverage)
10:30am   start of race
                    #45 Bergmeister suffers bent left rear toe link after collision with #40 Murray
11:59am   first full-course caution, due to #9 David Brabham spinning and hitting #40 Robertson
12:00pm   break in television coverage, leading after 1.5 hours P1= #2 , P2= #15, GT1= #3, GT2= #87

2:00pm     television coverage continues on SpeedTV with 8:30 left in the race (9 hrs of coverage)
                   The #07 & #08 Peugeots are leading the race. The #2 Audi is in 3rd place.
                   In GT2, #62 Ferrari is leading, #92 BMW in 2nd, #95 BMW in 3rd.
3:00pm     #07 Peugeot pits to repair air conditioning fan
3:19pm     “the Porsche 911 is at the end of its development cycle - something new is coming from Porsche”
5:30pm     With 5 hours left, the Porsches are: 4th place #45, 5th place #44, 10th place #87 in the GT2 category.
7:30pm     Now driving in the dark, with 3 hours left, the running order is:
                        LMP1:  #2  #1  #08  #07  #9  #66(out)  #12  #37(out)
                        LMP2:  #15  #20(out)  #16(out)
                        GT1:  #3  #4
                        GT2:  #62  #95  #21  #45  #44  #61  #11  #40  #007(out)  #87  #92(out)  #28(out)  #90(out)
8:00pm     Sebastian Bourdais in the #08 Peugeot now leads LMP1, followed by the #2 and #1 Audis
9:00pm     With 1:30 remaining:
                        LMP1:  #08  #2  #1  #07  #9  #66  #12  #37
                        LMP2:  #15  #20  #16
                        GT1:  #3  #4
                        GT2:  #62  #95  #21  #45  #44  #61  #11  #40  #92  #28  #90
9:09pm     #45 Porsche / Lieb catches #21 Panoz / Ian James
9:18pm     #45 taken out by #21, pushed into the wall
9:30pm     With 1:00 hour remaining:
                        LMP1:  #08  #2  #1  #07  #9  #66  #12  #37
                        LMP2:  #15  #20  #16
                        GT1:  #3  #4
                        GT2:  #62  #95  #21  #45  #44  #61  #40  #11  #87  #007  #92  #28  #90
10:30pm   Checkered Flag
                        LMP1:  #2  #08  #1  #07(out)  #9(out)  #66(out)  #12(out)  #37(out)
                        LMP2:  #15  #20(out)  #16(out)
                        GT1:  #3  #4
                        GT2:  #62  #95  #21  #45  #44  #61  #40  #87  #11(out)  #007(out)  #92(out)  #28(out)  #90(out)

Puff of Smoke Racing's 2009 season schedule.

An excellent registry of the Porsche 911 (997) GT3 RS is available at  http://www.gt3rsregistry.com/.

Puff of Smoke Racing salutes the folks at Alex Job Racing.




Quotes…

Puff of Smoke Racing kindly declines any offers for sponsorship or advertising.