2002 Sebring International Raceway

2002 was the fourth season for the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). The rules for the series followed those of the legendary 24 Hour of Le Mans which meant there were four classes.

Le Mans Prototype 900 (LMP900) – These were the purpose built race cars powered by a 6.0-litre normally aspirated or 4.0-litre turbocharged engine. The cars could weigh no less than 900-kilograms. Audi, BMW and Cadillac entered two factory supported cars. Privateer teams entered cars manufactured by Riley & Scott, Lola and Panoz.
Le Mans Prototype 675 (LMP675) – Introduced in 2001 was the LMP675 class for cars which could weigh no less than 675-kilograms. The rules were for the cars were written so that the two LMP classes (LMP900 and LMP675) would be contending for the overall win.
Grand Touring Sport (GTS) – This class included production-based cars such as the Dodge Viper GTS-R, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Saleen S7-R and Porsche 911 Turbo. The cars were permitted to use 8.0-litre normally aspirated or 4.0-litre turbocharged engines. These cars could weigh no less than 1,100-kilograms.
Grand Touring (GT) – The GT cars were also restricted to an 1,100-kilogram weight rule and had similar engine limitations as the GTS class. These were also production-based cars such as the BMW M3, Porsche GT3RS and Chevrolet Corvette C5-R. Unlike the GTS entries, competitors in this category could not use carbon fiber brakes.

The ALMS schedule included ten North American events in 2002. The opening round was the 12 Hours of Sebring. It was followed Sonoma, Mid-Ohio, Elkhart Lake and the inaugural National Grand Prix at Washington, D.C. After these weekends the championship headed to Canada with a stop at Trois-Rivieres and Mosport. The teams then travel west in September to compete at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The penultimate round will take place at the new Miami street circuit and the finale will be Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

2002 was the 50th Anniversary for the 12-Hours of Sebring. To honour this milestone, many special activities were planned:

the appearance of over thirty former Sebring winners
over 20 cars that had Sebring victories
the inaugural induction of drivers into the Sebring International Raceway Hall of Fame
a flyover by a B-17 as a tribute to the former WWII airbase known as Hendricks Field, which later became Sebring International Raceway

Sebring would mark the opening race of the 2002 American Le Mans Series season. Drivers would compete for twelve-hours around the seventeen-turn 3.74-mile road course.

The start of the 50th running of the 12-Hours of Sebring. Fifty-nine competitors head into Sebring International Raceway’s turn one. Leading the way are the two favourites for the overall and LMP900 class victory. The No. 1 Audi R8 started on the pole and was driven by Tom Kristensen, Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela. Sharing the second Audi was Johnny Herbert, Rinaldo Capello and Christian Pescatori.

As expected, Audi won the LMP900 class and overall at the 12-Hours of Sebring. When the pole-winning Audi encountered issues, it was the No. 2 Audi R8 shared by Johnny Herbert, Rinaldo Capello and Christian Pescatori that upheld the manufacturer’s honour. Despite challenges from the Champion Audi and Panoz, the trio captured the victory. This was Capello’s second win but for the other two drivers, it was their first victory.

After qualifying it appeared that the biggest threat to Audi’s domination would come from the KnightHawk Racing LMP675 MG Lola EX257. However, the car fell out of contention early and it became apparent that the LMP675 category belonged to the Intersport team. Drivers, Jon Field, Duncan Dayton and Mike Durand, went unchallenged and won the class by a margin of fifty-two laps – they finished seventh overall.

Corvette Racing’s goal was to win all major endurance sports car events. Their list included Le Mans, Daytona and Petit Le Mans but Sebring had eluded them, until 2002. The No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C5.R driven by Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell and newcomer, Oliver Gavin completed the team’s bucket list. The trio started first in the GTS category and had a relatively trouble-free run to the class victory.

The Alex Job prepared Porsches were the cars to beat in the GT category. The No. 23 entry shared by Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen started first in class and thirty-second overall. After their teammates encounter a flywheel problem late in the event, it was ‘clear sailing’ to the GT victory for the duo. This was Luhr’s third consecutive win which put him an exclusive group of drivers that have accomplished the same feat.

Several GT teams benefitted from the misfortunes of the of the No. 22 Alex Job entry. One of these was the Seikel Motorsport prepared Porsche GT3RS driven by Hugh Plumb, Andrew Bagnall and Philip Collin. With 45-minutes left in the race the trio was third but when the Alex Job Porsche encountered a mechanical issue, they inherited the runner-up position – albeit eleven-laps behind the class winners.

Finishing second overall and in the LMP900 category was the Champion Racing Audi R8. Drivers, Andy Wallace, Jan Lammers and Stefan Johansson, started fifth but lost a lap early in the contest. The remainder of the event was a concerted effort by the trio to get back on the lead lap. They were unable to make up the deficit but finished eight-laps ahead of the third place Riley & Scott MK IIIC of Jim Matthews Racing.

The Jim Matthews Racing Riley & Scott MK IIIC was piloted by Marc Goossens, Guy Smith and team owner, Jim Matthews. The car was gridded ninth in class and tenth overall for the start of the twelve-hour contest. Issues with the pole-winning Audi, the Panoz Motor Sport entries and Team Cadillac allowed the trio to capture the final position on the LMP900 podium and to finish third overall.

The GTS class Saleen S7R entries were penalized by the ACO as they did not meet the minimum street car production requirements. As a result, the Saleens were required to carry an additional 70 kilos and the air intake was restricted by 15-percent. Quickest of these cars was the No. 26 Konrad entry driven by Terry Borcheller, Toni Seiler and team owner, Franz Konrad. The trio could not maintain the pace of the Corvettes and finished second in class.

The No. 60 P.K. Sport Porsche GT3RS was another beneficiary of the Alex Job flywheel issue. Drivers, Fabio Babini, Robin Liddell and Giovanni Anapoli, started the twelve-hour classic thirty-sixth overall and fourth in the GT category. With the demise of the Alex Job car, they inherited third in GT. Of note, the trio was on the same lap as the runner-up’s from Seikel Motorsport Porsche and fourth place The Racer’s Group entry.

The defending series champion, Emanuele Pirro and his co-drivers, Tom Kristensen and Frank Biela had good reason to be optimistic about their chances of winning after qualifying on the pole. But it was not to be their race as the usually reliable Audi suffered a power steering failure. The team lost nineteen laps while the crew completed repairs. At the checkered flag, they were fifth overall and in the LMP900 class.

One of the more interesting entries at this year’s 12-Hours of Sebring was the Spyker C8 Double 12. The Spyker is manufactured by the Dutch company, Spyker Cars. The Double 12 was the competition version of their street car and is powered by an Audi V8 engine. Sebring was the debut for this car which was driven by Peter Kox, Derek Hill and Hans Hugenholtz. Unfortunately, an incident on lap-92 forced the team to retire.

Finishing a distant second in the LMP675 category was the No. 40 Racing Organisation Course prepared Reynard 2KQ. Sharing the Volkswagen powered Reynard was the father and sons team of Jeffrey, Ryan and Jeff Jones. The trio qualified fifth in class and in the race were running well until a problem with the right rear suspension caused the car to spin. With the issue resolved the team continued and finished twenty-fifth overall.

The No. 86 Labre Competition Chereau Viper GTS-R qualified twenty-fifth overall and fourth in the GTS category. Sharing the Viper were French endurance racing veterans, Vincent Vosse, Christophe Bouchut and Jean-Luc Chereau. Benefitting from the misfortunes of the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C5.R, they were able to capture the final spot on the class podium and finish eleventh overall.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	LMP900	Capello/Herbert/Pescatori	Audi R8	Audi Sport	346	-
2	LMP900	Johansson/Lammers/Wallace	Audi R8	Champion Racing	345	-
3	LMP900	Goossens/Smith/Matthews	Riley & Scott Mk IIIC	Jim Matthews Racing	337	-
4	LMP900	Leitzinger/EFR/Weaver	Riley & Scott Mk IIIA	Dyson Racing	330	-
5	LMP900	Biela/Kristensen/Pirro	Audi R8	Audi Sport	327	-
6	LMP900	Collins/Vann/Wilson	Ascari KRZ1	Team Ascari	323	-
7	LMP675	Field/Dayton/Durand	MG Lola EX257	Intersport Racing	323	-
8	LMP900	Herta/Auberlen/Donohue	Panoz LMP01	Panoz Motor Sports	319	-
9	GTS	Fellows/O'Connell/Gavin	Chevrolet Corvette	Corvette Racing	317	-
10	GTS	Seiler/Konrad/Borcheller	Saleen S7-R	Konrad Motorsport	309	-
11	GTS	Vosse / Bouchut / Chereau	Dodge Viper GTS-R	Larbre Competition	309	-
12	GT	Maassen / Luhr	Porsche GT3RS	Alex Job Racing	306	-
13	GTS	Pilgrim / Collins / Fréon	Chevrolet Corvette	Corvette Racing	306	-
14	GT	Plumb / Bagnall / Collin	Porsche GT3RS	Seikel Motor Sport	295	-
15	GT	Babini / Liddell / Anapoli	Porsche GT3RS	P.K. Sport	295	-
16	GT	Nagel / Pace / Schumacher	Porsche GT3RS	The Racer's Group	295	-
17	GT	Masarati / Alexander / Demeroutis	Porsche GT3RS	P.K. Sport	291	-
18	GTS	Lewis / Goldrich / Fairbanks	Dodge Viper GTS-R	American Viperacing	289	-
19	GT	Borkowski / Baron / Hindery	Porsche GT3RS	Orbit	287	-
20	GT	Clement / Ahrle / Simmenauer	Porsche GT3RS	Larbre Competition	286	-
21	GT	Caffi / Riccitelli / Rosa	Porsche GT3RS	Seikel Motorsport	285	-
22	GT	Bernhard / Bergmeister / Lieb	Porsche GT3RS	Alex Job Racing	277	Mechanical
23	GT	Vance / Forgeois / Southard	Porsche GT3RS	Freisinger Motorsport	275	-
24	LMP900	Schroeder / Dyson / Dyson	Riley & Scott Mk IIIA	Dyson Racing Team	273	-
25	LMP675	Jones / Jones / Jones	Reynard 2KQ	ROC	271	-
26	LMP675	Fergus / Downing / Terada	AutoExe LMP-02	AutoExe Motorsports	267	-
27	LMP900	Collard / Bernard / Lehto	Cadillac Northstar	Team Cadillac	256	Mechanical
28	LMP675	Kane / Lally / Knight	MG Lola EX257	KnightHawk Racing	256	-
29	LMP900	Lupberger / Bell / Kolby	Ascari KRZ1	Team Ascari	255	-
30	GTS	Menu / Rydell / Enge	Ferrari 550	Prodrive	252	-
31	LMP900	Angelelli / Taylor / Tinseau	Cadillac Northstar	Team Cadillac	236	-
32	LMP675	Daoudi / De Fournoux / Smith	WR LMP 02	Welter Racing	232	Mechanical
33	GTS	Bingham / MacLeod / Rice	Saleen S7-R	Park Place Racing	228	Mechanical
34	GT	Negri / Garbagnati / Vannini	Ferrari 360 Modena	JMB Racing	228	-
35	GTS	Hezemans / Kumpen / Cappellari	Dodge Viper GTS-R	Carsport Holland	194	Mechanical
36	LMP900	Jeannette / Block / Jackson	Panoz LMP01	Gunnar Racing	148	Mechanical
37	LMP900	deRadigues/Lambert/Sutherland	Panoz LMP07	MBD Sportscar	146	Fire
38	GT	Rymer / Youles / Mowlem	Porsche GT3R	Harlow Motorsport	144	Mechanical
39	LMP675	Foster / Wankum / Bundy	Lola B2K/40	Kyser Racing	139	Accident
40	LMP675	Deletraz / Pillon / Smithson	Reynard 2KQ	ROC	134	Engine
41	GT	Wilson / Gleason / Dawson	Porsche GT3R	Cirtek Motorsport	134	Engine
42	GT	Schultheis / Willingham / Kester	Porsche GT3RS	Orbit	107	Accident
43	GTS	Gregg / Weickardt / Bunting	Dodge Viper GTS-R	American Viperacing	104	-
44	GT	Kox / Hill / Hugenholtz	Spyker C8	Spyker Squadron	92	Accident
45	LMP900	Duno / Maxwell / Graham	Panoz LMP07	MBD Sportscar	78	Mechanical
46	LMP900	Brabham / Magnussen / van de Poele	Panoz LMP01	Panoz Motor Sports	56	Mechanical
47	LMP900	Macaluso / Neuhaus / Brickell	Lola B2K/10	Intersport	53	Accident
48	GT	Murry / Jackson / Fitzgerald	Porsche GT3RS	J3 Racing	53	Accident
49	GT	Buckler / Schrom / Law	Porsche GT3RS	The Racer's Group	42	Accident
50	GT	Hayden / Griffiths / Earle	Porsche GT3R	Sebah Automotive	37	Engine
51	GTS	McKellar / Erdos / Johnson	Saleen S7-R	Graham Nash Mtspt	36	Mechanical
52	GT	Argetsinger/Hunter-Reay/Montermini	Ferrari 360 Modena	JMB Racing	28	Mechanical
53	LMP675	McMurry / Willman / Ehret	Pilbeam MP84	Team Bucknum Racing	21	Engine
54	LMP900	Theys / Lienhard / Baldi	Dallara SP1	Doran Lista Racing	20	Accident
55	GT	Fertl / Dumas / Amorim	Porsche GT3RS	Freisinger Motorsport	19	Fire
56	GT	Franchitti / Kelleners	Ferrari 360 Modena	MSB Motorsports	12	Engine
57	LMP675	Bucknum / Downs / Ziegelman	Pilbeam MP84	Team Bucknum Racing	11	Engine
58	GTS	Schiattarella/Naspetti/Cecotto	Ferrari 550	Team Olive Garden	11	Mechanical
59	GTS	Slater / Pickering / Brun	Saleen S7-R	Konrad Motorsport	44	Disqualified
60	LMP675	Veilleux / Julien / Merzon	Lola B2K/40	Porschehaus Racing	0	Did Not Start
61	LMP900	Mirro / Forgeois / O'Born	Norma M2000	Sezio Florida Racing	0	Did Not Start

Copyright Notice:

All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.