Rivera’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Wins in World Challenge GT Debut at Sebring
SEBRING, Fla. (March 20, 2009) – Tony Rivera, of Missouri City, Texas, became the first SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT driver to win in his series debut in five years, taking the season opener at Sebring International Raceway, part of the 57th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Starting third in the No. 97 Tax Masters / Mirage Group Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racer, Rivera moved to second behind polesitter Dino Crescentini’s No. 4 Stoptech/GMG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup on the standing start. By the end of the first lap, Eric Curran was in second in his No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette. The trio ran in that order until Curran made his move on Crescentini in Tune One on lap four. Rivera followed suit a lap later around the outside of Crescentini in Turn 15 with Brandon Davis putting his No. 10 Applied Computer Solutions/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang into third two corners later.
Curran’s lead ranged from one car length to as much as two seconds …Â Details
Car count has been a big topic of conversation at Sebring International Raceway this week, with the very real prospect of seeing much smaller fields than the 28 cars that started Saturday’s 12-hour American Le Mans Series opener.
The starting lineup had only four fewer cars than last year’s race and the most exciting battle on the 3.7-mile, 17-turn Sebring circuit was waged in the elite LMP1 class, with two Acuras, two Audis and two Peugeots competing for the overall title. But only the Acuras will be on hand in two weeks when the ALMS moves on to the streets of St. Petersburg, with the other two manufacturers leaving the series to concentrate on European sports car racing’s biggest event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
Audi and Peugeot may or may not return later this year …Â Details
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LOWE’S FERNANDEZ TAKES ACURA TO WINNER’S CIRCLE WITH AN IMPRESSIVE LMP2 CLASS WIN AT 12 HOURS OF SEBRING
New Acura LMP1 Cars Run Competitively In Initial Outing Before Retiring
SEBRING, Fla. — Drivers Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz have been close to Victory Lane so often in the American Le Mans Series they were just tired of collecting runner-up trophies. But Saturday, in the 57th running of the legendary Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, the Mexican racing stars stepped to the top of the victory podium.
Fernandez and Diaz, both of Mexico City, turned in a stellar performance on the tough tarmac of Sebring International Raceway by driving the No. 15 Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b sports car to the LMP2 class title. It marked Acura’s eighth LMP2 …Â Details