CALIBRATION: THE SEBRING WINTER TESTS

The Sebring Winter Tests are a racing tradition. Once a year, typically in early February, the teams hoping to contest for a win at The 12 Hours of Sebring in mid-March show up at the track to test drivers, new suspension setups, tires, fuel consumption, aerodynamic bits and pieces, gearbox ratios, electronics, tire-changing drills and the patience of the Chief Mechanic and Team Owner.

This year, the Sebring Winter Tests were pushed back to the 22^nd (Monday) and the 23^rd (Tuesday) of February. Risi Competizione came to the tests to give their revamped Ferrari 430GTC, just back from the factory where it received the “Evoluzione” treatment (we will discuss the changes in a future column) , a few runs around the circuit to see how it measured up. This year, The 12 will be staged on the 20^th of March, so the Winter Tests, coming approximately a month before the race, provided a good opportunity to see how everyone’s development program was shaping up.

When we last left Risi Competizione (see Rear View Mirror for 2009) , the team had just come off a season in which it won the Triple Crown of Endurance Racing: the 12 Hours of Sebring; the 24 Hours of Le Mans; and the Petit Le Mans. But that was with the “old spec” car. The upgraded 430GTC has a broader track, a larger restrictor, and a few other tricks and Sebring is just the place to shake down such a car.

As expected at the Sebring Winter Tests, the usual suspects were present: BMW, with a pair of the E92 coupes; Porsche, in the form of 911 RSRs. Scott Sharp brought his 430 Ferrari to the meeting, and Jaguar’s XKRS, which was so not-ready-for-prime-time last year (although it did manage to take out the Risi Comp 430 in the final race at Laguna Seca, when Kaffer was closing in on a first) was back. The Doran Ford GT-R also made the starting lineup. Conspicuous by their absence was the Corvette Team; rumors swept the paddocks that Pratt & Miller had done a private session (or two) at Sebring with their revamped C6R for GT2 spec Corvettes. With that development work in hand, management chose to hold their results close and, instead, watch the other teams at work. But dodging the Winter Tests is a long and honored tradition among racing teams. Although the Lizards showed for the test, they had already run a private test session (or two) earlier in the year; no doubt Rahal’s BMW team did the same, bolstered by the money saved from racing in F1—nothing like saving a half-billion dollars or so to raise the spirits.

The Winter light is flat at Sebring and the air is grey early in the morning. Sunlight hangs at the edges of the track but never seems to acquire the right angle to really heat the place up. The Risi Comp trucks had pulled into Sebring on Sunday and by Sunday afternoon, the team was at full strength, with the techs arriving and hitting the ground running, immediately setting about the business of prepping the car for the testing sessions on Monday and Tuesday.

There were four official test sessions at the Sebring Winter Tests, two on Monday the 22^nd and two on Tuesday, the 23^rd. The two Risi regular season pilotes for 2010, Jaime Memo and Gianmaria “Gimmi” Bruni, were present for the first official track date of the newly revised 430GTC. The team did 61 laps in the first session, and when the session received the checkered flag, it was the No. 62 Ferrari 430GTC of Melo/Bruni that was fastest in the GT2 session, with a best time of 2:02.286. Second place went to Auberlan/Milner in a BMW E92, at 2:03.341 (best of their 54 laps). Third was home to Bergmeister/Long at 2:03.341. Who was going flat out and who wasn’t? Hard to say in this group, but, despite team strategies, bragging rights among drivers are powerful incentives and the best times always play well with sponsors and team owners.

The Second Session took place in the afternoon. All the team techs re-adjusted their hardware for the next session and when the dust had settled on the unforgiving mistress that is Sebring, Auberlen/Milner had edged into the top spot in their BMW E92, delivering a 2:02.584 lap for first in session. The big Bimmer wouldn’t see a sub 2:03 lap for the rest of the Winter meeting. Melo/Bruni were second with a 2:02.808 and Bergmeister/Long captured third with a 2:03.125 in their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Tuesday morning was crisp as the teams took advantage overnight to re-set various bits and pieces and put their best pace forward. Then the checkered flag finally dropped on the session, the proceedings had a déjà vu’ look: first place was taken by the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 430GT, with Melo/Bruni doing the honors; they delivered a 2:02.559. Next, in second position for the session, was another of the Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs, this one driven by Law/Neiman. The Lizards were flying and posted a 2:02.929. Third place in the session was captured by the extremely reliable Bergmeister/Long pairing, with a 2:03.021.

The morning results tallied, the teams took a break for lunch and further adjustments, and then reappeared for the final afternoon session. The results were consistently good for Risi Comp: Melo/Bruni again took fastest time in class for the session, with a 2:02.722. Second in the last session of the Winter Tests was another Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, this one driven by Sellers/Henzler, who posted a 2:03.227. And, in third, Sharp/Van Overbeek in a Ferrari 430, who managed a 2:03.236 to crack the top three in the final Winter Test.

What does it all mean? Risi Competizione’s Ferrari 430GTC posted the top time in three of the four sessions and was the only car to post all four times under the 2:03 mark. No team revealed anything that was not expected to the other teams. Risi Comp knew the BMW E92 was going to be faster, with a year’s worth of development and a lot more engineering and factory money available to it. We also knew that Porsche—without an RS Spyder program to support—would continue the relentless, detailed, development of the Porsche 911 platform. We also knew that Corvette will be on the pace when they show up for The 12 in March.

The test confirmed that the F430GTC in latest spec is still a very formidable on-track weapon, and the Melo and Bruni are just the right guys to push it (and the competition) to its’ limits. In Melo and Bruni, Risi Comp has the top GT2 drivers—we believe—in both Europe and America.

How this will all play out when the season starts in earnest, at Sebring, just a few weeks from now, we will have to wait and see, but fans of the Rosso Corsa can take some comfort in this fact: we came. We ran. We went fastest.

Next test: do it all again and do it longest, at The 12 on March 20^th.

We’ll be there. We’ll be ready. Let’s race.

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Don Pierce 2 March 2010 |

CALIBRATION: THE SEBRING WINTER TESTS

Don Pierce

2 March 2010 |