My Sebring Race Report...
Discussion
For those of you that are interested, he's my race report from Sebring....
2004 is up and running! A new team - Rollcentre Racing Sportscar team.... a new car - Dallara Judd LMP900.... world class opposition - 3 Audi R8's (the most successful sportscar of the modern era, unbeaten at Sebring for the past 4 years).... and one of the toughest races on the planet - The Sebring 12 Hours. It was always going to be a tough baptism but it turned out to be a huge success and a tremendous event for all of us on the Rollcentre Dallara squad.
Better still, with live TV coverage of the opening round of the American Le Mans Series both in North America & across Europe, and with around 100,000 fanatical spectators at the circuit, we were being watched by fans and backers on both sides of the Atlantic, quite literally, in their millions.
We had arrived at Sebring seven days before the event and after a week spent learning what works, and what doesn't, with the Dallara Judd, we arrived at raceday with a car that was comfortable to drive and as good as it could be over the punishingly bumpy circuit. Sebring is an old 'airfield' circuit and there are still elements of the circuit made up of the old concrete block sections that once made up the taxiways. Over these sections the car becomes very hard to control as it leaps from bump to bump at enormous speeds - Turn 1 and Turn 17 being the worst sections, at both these sections speeds are well above 100mph with the average speed of a quick 1m 52sec lap being 120mph.
We lined up sixth on a bumper 44-car grid, with the three Audi R8's, a very quick Dyson Lola, driven by sportscar legends Andy Wallace & James Weaver at the wheel and the Intersport Lola ahead of us. My teammate Joao Barbosa started for us and soon got settled in to a really fast yet consistent race pace. While the Audis battled it out, we were able to hang on to the Lola, as it fell away from the steamrollering R8's ahead. He had a great dice with James Weaver who really knows his way around this circuit, and things were looking very good indeed. Joao double stinted as planned - each 'stint' lasts 50 minutes - very comfortably and then it was my turn.
From the moment I hit the track the car was fantastic. The Dunlop tyres were proving to be absolutely superb, we were going harder and further between tyre changes than we ever thought possible.
I too settled into a quick, consistent pace as the times were coming quite easily. Even at this early stage we were giving the Audi boys something to think about. There were so many high points it seems almost churlish to point to one but this one was a really great moment where I finally got to overtake an Audi! I had caught Jamie Davies in the #88 R8 over the period of half an hour and nailed him on the brakes into Turn 17. We might not be quite on their ultimate pace over a full race distance but we were way closer than most people ever thought we would be at this very early stage in the 2004 race programme.
It was very, very busy out there, the closing speeds are tremendous and it eventually caught me out. In a 2002 race report I once described a Saleen S7 as being 'space shuttle like' in speed terms - nowadays since I've been driving the Dallara it seems like the Saleens (in the slower GTS category) are reversing at high speed towards you! I descended upon the battle for the GTS class lead between a Corvette and a Saleen at Turn 16 (a slow 2nd gear corner) with Jamie Davies still fixed firmly to the rear end of the Dallara. I dived for the apex as we turned into the corner, I thought the Corvette had seen me but he clearly hadn't. He turned in for the apex and we made contact. It wasn't a big impact but it was enough to put the GTS car off the course on the outside (he continued) and wiped off the dive planes (small carbon fibre winglets creating extra downforce) on the left front corner of the Dallara. It could have been much worse but it was still a bad moment. The Clerk of the Course deemed that I was to blame for the incident and I was called into the penalty box for a 40 second 'Stop & Go' penalty - I was livid. Livid that I had just undone all the good work that Joao and myself had worked on over the first three hours of the race.
I've learnt a lesson for the future though, and will be more careful and less heroic when passing slower cars who are racing for track position.
That little incident aside, things were just getting better and better as the race went on. Joao and I were double stinting throughout and Martin was getting some good times out of the car too. When the Dyson Lola hit trouble we climbed to fourth. Then we hit our first problem when the pins holding the left rear hub came out. It was bad but not fatal and the pins were quickly screwed back in so that the fresh wheel could be tightened on. We lost several laps to the Audis but then the #88 hit trouble too and needed to go behind the wall for driveshaft repairs. We got back all the time we lost with our own problem - and more - and emerged several laps to the good on the chasing pack, in a fantastic third place. It was almost too good to be true!
It was time to get our heads down but the Audi boys were doing exactly the same. The #88 rejoined and was soon up to 7th place but that wouldn't be good enough for them - we would have a battle on our hands to the finish. The times were still coming in; the car was very quick and very consistent. Confidence was high, but as always in these sorts of situations the nerves were jangling - especially since I knew the Clerk of the Course was watching my driving VERY carefully! As the Florida sun relinquished it's grip and fell below the horizon the challenge faced by the drivers is doubled. Sebring is dark, and I mean REALLY dark! There are several places where you struggle to see the exits of the corners. Combine this fact with that one of Britain's most experienced ex-Formula One drivers (and winner of the British Grand Prix in years gone by) - Johnny Herbert - is hunting you down in an Audi R8 you have the recipe for and exciting race! We were holding our own as the Audi carved its way back up the order to 4th place but 2 laps down, however it was making up time on us too slowly to catch us if we stayed out of trouble. It still seemed too good to be true!
If only endurance racing was that simple! Just as we thought we were relatively safe, the same problem happened again with the rear hub, we lost all of the advantage we'd held over the Audi and it was now a matter of seeing whether we could stay in touch to take advantage if they stumbled again. Sadly they didn't and we did. A freak failure of a throttle linkage cost us more time in the pits and dropped us down to fifth place, behind a factory-entered Corvette. It was time to go into very fast cruise mode, stay well ahead of the cars (several laps!) behind and keep going quickly enough to take advantage in case one of the four fabulous cars ahead of us on the road faltered.
Sadly, it was not to be. Martin took over from Joao for the last session and took the car to the flag. It was a strange feeling. If we'd have been told before the race that fifth place was on the cards, I'd have been very pleased, but having held third place and kept pace with the Audis for so long, somehow it felt like a failure. Seasoned observers in the pitlane and the pressroom said they were amazed at our performance and I'm sure when I look back at the race over the coming week I'll feel quite a buzz that we've finished so well in this gruelling event.
For the time being though it's good to remember that we came to race at Sebring to do two things...
1) To learn more about the team and the car and,
2) To make a big enough impression to ensure an entry for the car at Le Mans.
We learnt plenty about the team and the car - almost all of it good. On a lighter note, I've also learnt to check my ceiling for mosquitoes before retiring for the night and that there are alligators in the ditches next to Highway 27 - the main route into Sebring! (I saw 3 of them!!...)
Seriously though, here's hoping that we impressed those at the ACO who are responsible for choosing the 50 cars that will take to the track in June for the Le Mans 24 Hours. Fingers crossed....
Le Mans is where we take the car next - the Le Mans Prequalifying event on the 24th of April. That gives Michael (Cushty), Pete, John (Chief) and all the Rollcentre crew time to ship the car back to Europe and prepare the it for the high speed challenge that is Le Mans.
Many thanks to all the team for their hard work in Florida - the Team Manager, Colin Brunton, and the Race Engineer, Michael Talentire & mechanics, John, Pete and Stefan who averaged only 3 hours sleep per night - thanks guys.
Huge thanks are also due to my sponsors for without their support I wouldn't be in this position today. To Chris at Cobra and Robert at Jelson - Thank you very much.
All the best,
Rob
2004 is up and running! A new team - Rollcentre Racing Sportscar team.... a new car - Dallara Judd LMP900.... world class opposition - 3 Audi R8's (the most successful sportscar of the modern era, unbeaten at Sebring for the past 4 years).... and one of the toughest races on the planet - The Sebring 12 Hours. It was always going to be a tough baptism but it turned out to be a huge success and a tremendous event for all of us on the Rollcentre Dallara squad.
Better still, with live TV coverage of the opening round of the American Le Mans Series both in North America & across Europe, and with around 100,000 fanatical spectators at the circuit, we were being watched by fans and backers on both sides of the Atlantic, quite literally, in their millions.
We had arrived at Sebring seven days before the event and after a week spent learning what works, and what doesn't, with the Dallara Judd, we arrived at raceday with a car that was comfortable to drive and as good as it could be over the punishingly bumpy circuit. Sebring is an old 'airfield' circuit and there are still elements of the circuit made up of the old concrete block sections that once made up the taxiways. Over these sections the car becomes very hard to control as it leaps from bump to bump at enormous speeds - Turn 1 and Turn 17 being the worst sections, at both these sections speeds are well above 100mph with the average speed of a quick 1m 52sec lap being 120mph.
We lined up sixth on a bumper 44-car grid, with the three Audi R8's, a very quick Dyson Lola, driven by sportscar legends Andy Wallace & James Weaver at the wheel and the Intersport Lola ahead of us. My teammate Joao Barbosa started for us and soon got settled in to a really fast yet consistent race pace. While the Audis battled it out, we were able to hang on to the Lola, as it fell away from the steamrollering R8's ahead. He had a great dice with James Weaver who really knows his way around this circuit, and things were looking very good indeed. Joao double stinted as planned - each 'stint' lasts 50 minutes - very comfortably and then it was my turn.
From the moment I hit the track the car was fantastic. The Dunlop tyres were proving to be absolutely superb, we were going harder and further between tyre changes than we ever thought possible.
I too settled into a quick, consistent pace as the times were coming quite easily. Even at this early stage we were giving the Audi boys something to think about. There were so many high points it seems almost churlish to point to one but this one was a really great moment where I finally got to overtake an Audi! I had caught Jamie Davies in the #88 R8 over the period of half an hour and nailed him on the brakes into Turn 17. We might not be quite on their ultimate pace over a full race distance but we were way closer than most people ever thought we would be at this very early stage in the 2004 race programme.
It was very, very busy out there, the closing speeds are tremendous and it eventually caught me out. In a 2002 race report I once described a Saleen S7 as being 'space shuttle like' in speed terms - nowadays since I've been driving the Dallara it seems like the Saleens (in the slower GTS category) are reversing at high speed towards you! I descended upon the battle for the GTS class lead between a Corvette and a Saleen at Turn 16 (a slow 2nd gear corner) with Jamie Davies still fixed firmly to the rear end of the Dallara. I dived for the apex as we turned into the corner, I thought the Corvette had seen me but he clearly hadn't. He turned in for the apex and we made contact. It wasn't a big impact but it was enough to put the GTS car off the course on the outside (he continued) and wiped off the dive planes (small carbon fibre winglets creating extra downforce) on the left front corner of the Dallara. It could have been much worse but it was still a bad moment. The Clerk of the Course deemed that I was to blame for the incident and I was called into the penalty box for a 40 second 'Stop & Go' penalty - I was livid. Livid that I had just undone all the good work that Joao and myself had worked on over the first three hours of the race.
I've learnt a lesson for the future though, and will be more careful and less heroic when passing slower cars who are racing for track position.
That little incident aside, things were just getting better and better as the race went on. Joao and I were double stinting throughout and Martin was getting some good times out of the car too. When the Dyson Lola hit trouble we climbed to fourth. Then we hit our first problem when the pins holding the left rear hub came out. It was bad but not fatal and the pins were quickly screwed back in so that the fresh wheel could be tightened on. We lost several laps to the Audis but then the #88 hit trouble too and needed to go behind the wall for driveshaft repairs. We got back all the time we lost with our own problem - and more - and emerged several laps to the good on the chasing pack, in a fantastic third place. It was almost too good to be true!
It was time to get our heads down but the Audi boys were doing exactly the same. The #88 rejoined and was soon up to 7th place but that wouldn't be good enough for them - we would have a battle on our hands to the finish. The times were still coming in; the car was very quick and very consistent. Confidence was high, but as always in these sorts of situations the nerves were jangling - especially since I knew the Clerk of the Course was watching my driving VERY carefully! As the Florida sun relinquished it's grip and fell below the horizon the challenge faced by the drivers is doubled. Sebring is dark, and I mean REALLY dark! There are several places where you struggle to see the exits of the corners. Combine this fact with that one of Britain's most experienced ex-Formula One drivers (and winner of the British Grand Prix in years gone by) - Johnny Herbert - is hunting you down in an Audi R8 you have the recipe for and exciting race! We were holding our own as the Audi carved its way back up the order to 4th place but 2 laps down, however it was making up time on us too slowly to catch us if we stayed out of trouble. It still seemed too good to be true!
If only endurance racing was that simple! Just as we thought we were relatively safe, the same problem happened again with the rear hub, we lost all of the advantage we'd held over the Audi and it was now a matter of seeing whether we could stay in touch to take advantage if they stumbled again. Sadly they didn't and we did. A freak failure of a throttle linkage cost us more time in the pits and dropped us down to fifth place, behind a factory-entered Corvette. It was time to go into very fast cruise mode, stay well ahead of the cars (several laps!) behind and keep going quickly enough to take advantage in case one of the four fabulous cars ahead of us on the road faltered.
Sadly, it was not to be. Martin took over from Joao for the last session and took the car to the flag. It was a strange feeling. If we'd have been told before the race that fifth place was on the cards, I'd have been very pleased, but having held third place and kept pace with the Audis for so long, somehow it felt like a failure. Seasoned observers in the pitlane and the pressroom said they were amazed at our performance and I'm sure when I look back at the race over the coming week I'll feel quite a buzz that we've finished so well in this gruelling event.
For the time being though it's good to remember that we came to race at Sebring to do two things...
1) To learn more about the team and the car and,
2) To make a big enough impression to ensure an entry for the car at Le Mans.
We learnt plenty about the team and the car - almost all of it good. On a lighter note, I've also learnt to check my ceiling for mosquitoes before retiring for the night and that there are alligators in the ditches next to Highway 27 - the main route into Sebring! (I saw 3 of them!!...)
Seriously though, here's hoping that we impressed those at the ACO who are responsible for choosing the 50 cars that will take to the track in June for the Le Mans 24 Hours. Fingers crossed....
Le Mans is where we take the car next - the Le Mans Prequalifying event on the 24th of April. That gives Michael (Cushty), Pete, John (Chief) and all the Rollcentre crew time to ship the car back to Europe and prepare the it for the high speed challenge that is Le Mans.
Many thanks to all the team for their hard work in Florida - the Team Manager, Colin Brunton, and the Race Engineer, Michael Talentire & mechanics, John, Pete and Stefan who averaged only 3 hours sleep per night - thanks guys.
Huge thanks are also due to my sponsors for without their support I wouldn't be in this position today. To Chris at Cobra and Robert at Jelson - Thank you very much.
All the best,
Rob
Yes, Le Mans entry for Rollcentre Racing is great news 
I've also updated my website - www.robbarff.com - with a full Sebring report and images courtesy of David Lord.
Many thanks for all your support,
Rob
I've also updated my website - www.robbarff.com - with a full Sebring report and images courtesy of David Lord.
Many thanks for all your support,
Rob
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff