Tom
02-05-2006, 12:07 PM
from www.americanlemans.com
Sebring, Fla. - In the first official testing for the 2006 American Le Mans Series, the three-day event this week at Sebring, the Pirelli-shod Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz Panoz Esperante headed the GT2 leaderboard with an astounding 2.02.585 lap time with Canadian Scott Maxwell at the wheel, more than two seconds quicker than the existing lap record for the class.
This year's GT2 championship is expected to be the most competitive yet, with up to five different car manufacturers and three different tire companies fighting for the title. The Multimatic team, underlining the seriousness of their effort, took the opportunity at Sebring to announce that established sports car star and ex-Formula 1 driver David Brabham is joining the team and will partner Maxwell for the whole season.
Of course, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring demands endurance as well as outright speed. Although individual lap times in test sessions can be deceptive, Peter Tyson, vice president of Advertising, PR and Motorsport for Pirelli Tire North America, was very enthused by the Panoz performance.
"Those times were set on endurance tires that showed virtually zero drop-off in performance over a full stint of driving, which means that both Pirelli and Panoz are surely going to be a significant force in the 2006 championship," commented Tyson.
The American Le Mans Series begins its 2006 season with the 54th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The 12-hour endurance classic is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. EST on March 18 at Sebring International Raceway and will be televised on SPEED Channel. American Le Mans Series Radio will have flag-to-flag coverage available at www.americanlemans.com, along with IMSA Live Timing & Scoring.
Sebring, Fla. - In the first official testing for the 2006 American Le Mans Series, the three-day event this week at Sebring, the Pirelli-shod Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz Panoz Esperante headed the GT2 leaderboard with an astounding 2.02.585 lap time with Canadian Scott Maxwell at the wheel, more than two seconds quicker than the existing lap record for the class.
This year's GT2 championship is expected to be the most competitive yet, with up to five different car manufacturers and three different tire companies fighting for the title. The Multimatic team, underlining the seriousness of their effort, took the opportunity at Sebring to announce that established sports car star and ex-Formula 1 driver David Brabham is joining the team and will partner Maxwell for the whole season.
Of course, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring demands endurance as well as outright speed. Although individual lap times in test sessions can be deceptive, Peter Tyson, vice president of Advertising, PR and Motorsport for Pirelli Tire North America, was very enthused by the Panoz performance.
"Those times were set on endurance tires that showed virtually zero drop-off in performance over a full stint of driving, which means that both Pirelli and Panoz are surely going to be a significant force in the 2006 championship," commented Tyson.
The American Le Mans Series begins its 2006 season with the 54th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The 12-hour endurance classic is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. EST on March 18 at Sebring International Raceway and will be televised on SPEED Channel. American Le Mans Series Radio will have flag-to-flag coverage available at www.americanlemans.com, along with IMSA Live Timing & Scoring.