Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Late miscue costs RLR potential podium finish

Press Release

SEBRING, Florida - A bittersweet weekend came to an end for Rahal Letterman Racing’s Bellmicro Porsche GT2 program in an abrupt manner. With less than ten minutes remaining in the two-hour and forty-five minute Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, Tom Milner clipped the Turn 11 wall and sustained damage to the car’s right rear tire and suspension ending what was a stellar run by the first year program. Milner and his teammate Ralf Kelleners had driven through the GT2 class and were running a strong second, less than a second behind class leader Risi Competizione and former F1 driver Mika Salo.

Forced to start last in the GT2 Class and the ALMS field after a practice accident, RLR’s driver duo pushed their Porsche through the class field avoiding the mishaps and troubles that plagued the other teams. At the half-way point, only three GT2 cars remained on the lead lap and that was dropped to a single pair when Petersen White Lightning’s Tomas Enge suffered a heavy crash on lap 93.

With the track conditions deteriorating due to debris and changing conditions, Milner, the 21-year-old American, began to reel in the class-leading Ferrari, closing to within less than a second. "This is an unfortunate ending to a promising day,” said Milner. “The Bellmicro Porsche was great and the pit strategy was great. Overall there were a lot of positives for a team in its second ALMS race. After the last restart with the tires going down I was getting a lot of pick-up on them. I saw the Ferrari in front of me was having trouble, and I was too, as far as getting any grip back. I had gained some ground and I felt like I had a great shot at catching the Ferrari. I had one lap under green and I turned in for [Turn] 11 and right away the car stepped out a little bit. I caught it but I was too close to the wall, and just by inches I caught the right rear hit and that was it. The car itself didn't break. This was a result of track conditions or maybe I picked something up on the tires. We had a good car, if not a car to win our class, then at least a car capable of finishing on the podium. We will take the positives and head for Long Beach where hopefully we can finish strong like we did at Sebring."

Veteran driver Ralf Kelleners started the race and pushed RLR into the top-five before the driver change at sixty minutes into the race.

“You have to look for the positives at a time like this,” said Kelleners. “We had a car that was, if not a winning car one that was certainly able to finish on the podium. We were one of the fastest Porsche cars and we seemed to have neutralized the advantage that the Ferrari’s had at Sebring. This is the first of three straight street races for our series and that bodes well for our team since we obviously have a pretty good car for the street courses. It is disappointing that the day ended like it did, but in the big picture, even with the trials we faced, this has been a good weekend for our team.”

Risi Competizione No. #62 entry driven by Mika Salo and Jamie Melo captured the GT2 class win followed by Flying Lizard Motorsport’s Johannes van Overbeek and Jorg Bergmeister a lap down. Audi Sport North America won the LMP1 and the overall competition led by Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish. Penske Racing won the LMP2 and Corvette Racing won the GT1 class.

Up next for the ALMS is the series inaugural visit to the Long Beach Grand Prix April 11-13.