It’s March and the racing is ready to start for the exciting American LeMans Series (ALMS). Like NASCAR, their ‘Super Bowl’ is the first race and takes place at the historic Sebring Raceway for the 56th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, March 12-15. The racing community is ready to see a rematch of Audi and Peugeot who staged an exciting duel at LeMans. Peugeot was very impressive at the winter test at Sebring and could give Audi a run for their money. Tom Kristensen will be back to try to make it 5 wins and Audi will also have the speedy Lucas Luhr. Another player in the mix is the Penske Porsche. The P2 entry should be strong, however has never had any luck at Sebring. In the popular GT1 class, the popular Chevrolet Corvette team is back and they’ll be up against the historic English Aston Martin team. Tafel racing is loaded for bear as they switched to the quick Ferrari 430 and they’re bringing champion driver Dirk Mueller FIA GT2 champ from Europe to run in North America this year. GT2 is wide open with several teams able to stand on top of the winners podium. Most of the people I spoke to have indicated its going to be a 12 hour sprint race, no one will be able to pace themselves, everyone will be running flat out.
This year for the Sebring Sports Car Racing Hall of Frame the 2008 inductees will be ALMS, NASCAR and Indy 500 winning team owner Roger Penske, drivers Derek Bell, Hans Stuck and Dave Cowart. Also Audi will join the ceremonies on Friday, March 14, the day before the 56th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida.
The Andretti name is returning to the cockpit at Sebring as Marco Andretti will drive the Andretti-Green Racing XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b. Andretti will team with Bryan Herta and Christian Fittipaldi in the black and yellow Acura. “I’m really looking forward to getting into the XM Satellite Radio Acura,” said Andretti, who becomes ‘legal’ when he turns 21 on March 13. “I’ve had a chance to drive the car in a couple of tests and I’ve been very happy with it. The car has been really quick, fun to drive and has been incredibly durable.” The AGR Acura took the LMP2 class win at Sebring in 2007 in the first Series start for the team and Acura.
The 2008 American Le Mans Series season opens with the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, March 15. The race will start at 10 a.m. ET and will be broadcast live by SPEED, which will begin its coverage at 9:30 a.m. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA’s Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.
Eddie has been involved in motorsports for over 30 years as photographer, columnist, and driver. Eddie also is now a retired racer (well, retired unless a good ride pops up).
Eddie LePineOn The RoadUnited SportsCar Championship