Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com
***IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship cars assembled on the back straight for a group photo on Wednesday evening. A total of 49 cars are set for this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
***Prototype Challenge teams received a pair of 45-minute test sessions during Tuesday’s promoter test day to come to grips with the new electronics and engine package. All seven cars took part in the test.
***As previously documented by Sportscar365, PC cars are now running a new Motec electronics package that includes the addition of traction control, telemetry and predictive lap times. Cars also feature an updated engine package that’s 30 pounds lighter.
***While both CORE autosport and JDC-Miller Motorsports ran the new systems in last month’s IMSA-sanctioned test at Sebring, the remaining teams have installed the electronics package, which is estimated to cost upwards of $40,000 per car.
***CORE autosport chief engineer Jeff Braun told Sportscar365 that each Motec wiring loom for the PC cars takes 80 man hours to build, with most teams having spent two to three full days in the upgrade process.
***2015 Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup GTD Champion Al Carter has been added to the No. 16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. “I was planning on watching this year’s 12 Hour from the Chateau Elan! Being tapped to drive alongside the likes of Spencer Pumpelly and Corey Lewis just makes the Sebring weekend all the more exciting now,” Carter said.
***Scott Pruett has been added to the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP in addition to his previously announced drive in the sister No. 31 car. Pruett told Sportscar365 it’s for precautionary measures, as it’s unclear how much Joao Barbosa will drive. The Portuguese driver only got his cast off on Monday after sustaining a fractured wrist last month in a hoverboard accident.
***Dream Racing Competition, which is set for its IMSA debut, has added Lamborghini factory driver Fabio Babini and fellow Italian Paolo Ruberti to its No. 27 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 this weekend alongside full-season drivers Larry DeGeorge and Lamborghini Junior Driver Cedric Sbirrazzuoli.
***Konrad Motorsport has set the lineup for its two Lamborghini Huracan GT3s. Franz Konrad, Terry Borcheller, Christopher Bruck and Josh Webster in the No. 28 car, with Pierre Ehret, Jurgen Krebs and Christopher Zoechling set to pilot the No. 28 Lamborghini.
***Team principal Franz Konrad told Sportscar365 that Borcheller could end up being part of their full-season lineup in the Blancpain Endurance Cup, alongside Webster and Zoechling in their Pro-Am Cup entry. A second Pro Cup entry is also possible for the season.
***Konrad will be taking delivery of two new Huracan GT3s, with both of its cars here at Sebring, including the No. 21 entry (which is on loan from Lamborghini), set to head back to Europe. A single-car entry for the two remaining Patron Endurance Cup rounds is still planned.
***DragonSpeed is likely to withdraw its reserve entry from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, according to team principal Elton Julian. The car, with nominated driver Henrik Hedman, currently sits as the 8th reserve. The team makes its LMP2 debut this weekend at Sebring.
***Julian said DragonSpeed has been given special dispensation from the European Le Mans Series to miss next week’s mandatory pre-season test at Paul Ricard due to its participation this weekend. The team is hoping to have a shakedown of the car in England on the Monday or Tuesday prior to the season-opener at Silverstone next month.
***The Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R, which sits as the 7th reserve, is also expected to be withdrawn from Le Mans, with Ben Keating having moved over to the Murphy Prototypes Oreca 03R Nissan for the race alongside Jeroen Bleekemolen and Marc Goossens.
***Panoz DeltaWing lead engineer Catherine Crawford and Mazda factory driver Joel Miller took part in a panel on Tuesday at the SxSW festival in Austin, discussing how motorsports fuels innovation in road cars. Edgar Farrera from Circuit of the Americas was also on the panel.
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