Sebring Saturday Notebook

***AF Corse’s Oreca 07 Gibson only ran two laps in Saturday’s opening Prologue session because it suffered an “electrical gremlin” according to driver Francois Perrodo. The original car, it has emerged, didn’t have its full array of parts – contributing to the breakdown – and was relying on the arrival of a spare chassis from a recent test at Barcelona.

***However, the delayed spare only arrived in the Sebring paddock at lunchtime today. AF Corse transferred the necessary parts across to its main car and completed 67 laps in the afternoon.

***The red flag caused by Michael Christensen in the opening session was the result of a broken throttle sensor on the No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR-19. “I hoped we could restart the car or do a power cycle, but it took more than that to fix it,” he told Sportscar365.

***The 2018-19 world champion also said that his car broke down right as torrential rain battered the circuit, meaning he avoided having to navigate the difficult conditions. “When I was stuck in the grass, it started raining. So it was perfect timing really.”

***Glickenhaus waited until shortly after the one-hour mark before hitting the track in session two but team principal Luca Ciancetti allayed any concerns. He said that “it took an hour to make a proper check” on the car’s systems. “We are using the Prologue to understand everything.” Glickenhaus is running with its new Bosch brake-by-wire system for the first time. 

***Vector Sport also waited for more than an hour to go out but, similarly, driver Ryan Cullen said the team was merely taking its time to check through some parts and connections.

***Jim Glickenhaus has brought a special watch to Sebring “for luck” ahead of his team’s first WEC race since Le Mans last year. The timepiece is the one that Fidel Castro gave to five-time Formula 1 world champion Juan Mangio Fangio following the Cuban revolutionary’s kidnap of the Argentinean driver before the 1958 Grand Prix held in Havana.

***Some transporters from IMSA and its teams have already arrived in the Sebring paddock. The IMSA paddock will start to be constructed from 7 a.m. on Sunday, although teams are only permitted to unload beginning on Wednesday morning.

***The No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid completed the most ground on Day 1 of the Prologue, with its total of 127 laps equating to 473.5 miles (762 km). It surpassed the sister No. 8 Toyota by a single lap.

***Balance of Performance adjustments could be possible between the Prologue and the start of race week, with Alpine Endurance Team principal Philippe Sinault stating they are working “in accordance” with the FIA and ACO to determine the BoP in the Hypercar class.

***A WEC bulletin states: “BoP decisions cannot be modified during an event (except for the 24 Hours of Le Mans), except for corrections of administrative mistakes – at the sole discretion of the WEC Committee.” The Prologue and 1000 Miles of Sebring are classified as different events.

***Several adjustments were made prior to the start of the weekend, including an increased hybrid activation threshold for the pair of Toyota GR010 Hybrid Le Mans Hypercar entries.

***Friday’s 1000-mile race is set to be the final outing for an LMP1 car at the Florida airfield circuit in a professional race setting, with Alpine’s A480 Gibson not expected to be grandfathered by the FIA for an additional season next year.

***Sinault said they got two days of “good testing” with its LMP1 car at Paul Ricard last month after only getting the car back from last year’s season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain in late January.

***Alpine Endurance Team was one of several European squads to have had their cars air-freighted to Sebring after the ship carrying the equipment turned around halfway through its mid-Atlantic journey.

***Patrick Lindsey and Fred Poordad have committed to five of the six WEC races this year in the No. 88 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19, with the two American drivers currently “place holders” for the 24 Hours of Le Mans according to Lindsey.

***Lindsey, who is making his first WEC start since winning the 2018-19 GTE-Am title, told Sportscar365 that it hasn’t yet been determined if they will contest the French endurance classic, as those drives typically come at a premium cost.

***Reigning IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge champion Jan Heylen is coaching Poordad this weekend and even turned some laps during the Saturday afternoon session. The duo claimed the Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro-Am class title last year.

***Gabriel Aubry is no longer contracted to the Alpine as its reserve driver. The Frenchman’s commitment consist of the WEC with Spirit of Race and a program in the European Le Mans Series with Team Virage.

***At Virage, Aubry will be reunited with the engineers he worked with during his time with Jackie Chan DC Racing in the 2018-19 WEC Super Season as JOTA will provide full technical support to the team during its LMP2 debut.

***Prema team principal Rene Rosin is at Sebring for the Prologue only, as he is due to head to Bahrain for next weekend’s FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 season-openers. Prema has two cars in F2 and three in F3 this year.

***There is a subtle nod to Prema’s sports car racing partner Iron Lynx, with the Italian organization’s three-pointed logo sitting at the tip of the nose on the No. 9 Oreca.

***Algarve Pro Racing co-owner Stewart Cox told Sportscar365 that he’s “super close” to confirming the remainder of the lineup for its ELMS LMP2 entries. Roman Rusinov was due to drive one of the cars prior to G-Drive Racing’s withdrawal.

“There’s several drivers [we’re in discussions with],” Cox told Sportscar365. “It’s not a question of if but when. Let’s be honest: in ELMS we had a car on the front row of the grid for every race last year so it’s not like people are not talking to us.”

***Radio Le Mans will be covering every on-track WEC session during race week, led by the commentary team of John Hindhaugh, Shea Adam and Joe Bradley.

***2014 WEC champion Anthony Davidson will make his debut as part of the official commentary team, alongside the returning Martin Haven, Graham Goodwin and Louise Beckett. Sportscar365 understands that Allan McNish, who served as the driver analyst in previous years, elected not to continue due to his increased commitments with Audi.

John Dagys and Davey Euwema contributed to this report