Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Tafel Racing starts ALMS season with two Cars in Sebring 12 Hour Top-Seven: Debris Ends No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Ferrari Fight for GT2 Lead; Team Rallies for Seventh No. 73 Tafel Ferrari Overcomes Multiple Obstacles to Land Fourth

Press Release

San Jose Grand Prix

SEBRING, Fla., March 15, 2008 – Tafel Racing had high expectations entering today’s 56th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. The Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) owned operation had prepared both its No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC and the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC to the team’s exacting detail for the American Le Mans Series season-opener but external circumstances would work against them. The Cumming, Ga.-based group started second with the No. 71 Bell Micro Ferrari and fourth with the No. 73. At the end of the 12 hours of competition both Ferraris were running quickly but had to settle for results below their potential. The No. 71 Bell Micro Ferrari rallied from last in the GT2 class to take a hard-fought seventh while the No. 73 Tafel F430 GTC overcame a day of obstacles to finish with a fourth-place in class.

No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Ferrari F430 GTC

Drivers: Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany), Dirk Müller (a native of Germany now living in Monaco), Rob Bell (Northants, England)

The difficulties for the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC started 31 minutes into the 12 hour race. On the opening stint of the event, Dirk Müller ran over debris on the Sebring International Raceway. The impact of the debris damaged the front splitter and punctured the passenger-side radiator. An extended 21 lap pit stop to make repairs dropped the Bell Micro Ferrari from second-place to 14th in the GT2 class running order. Subsequent stops would drop the car further. The work was all uphill for trio of Rob Bell, Dominik Farnbacher and Müller as they dropped to 15th, last in class, 43 laps down to the leaders. Showing the dogged determination of champions, the Tafel/Bell Micro team did not stop attacking the 3.7-mile, 17-turn circuit turning lap times comparable to the class leaders. Lap-by-lap they fought their way back into the top-10, then the top-seven. The No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC took the Sebring checkered flag seventh in class earning valuable points towards the GT2 Team and Driver Championships; the primary goal of team for 2008.

No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC

Drivers: Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.), Pierre Ehret (who lives in Santa Rosa, Calif. but was born in Germany),Allan Simonsen (Danish-born but living in Melbourne, Australia)

Owner/driver Jim Tafel entered the race with the strategy to stay smooth and consistent. That strategy worked well for the No. 73 Tafel Ferrari F430 GTC. The greatest position move, and vindication of the plan, came in Hour Five when the GT2 leader made heavy contact with a another car also running in the topthree. The No. 73, being driven in sixth-place at the time by Allan Simonsen, immediately gained two spots to enter the top-four. Pierre Ehret took over driving chores shortly after and moved the car into the top-three. Jim Tafel kept the No. 73 within the top-five in the heated competition of the GT2 class despite a furry of challenges including a malfunctioning ventilation system on the car, a faulty radio and a lost passenger side mirror. An extended pit stop to replace the mirror, lost in hour seven, slowed the team’s progress. Once repaired, the No. 73 continued its forward progress. Simonsen was behind the wheel as the blue, white and silver No. 73 moved up to fourth in the race’s final hour. It marked the second time in two seasons of Sebring competition that the team, under the guidance of Technical Director Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.), finished Sebring with both cars running and in the top seven. With the highest-placing team car earning points towards the GT2 Team Championship, Tafel Racing is well positioned to begin the title chase. Tafel Racing will enter Round Two of 2008 American Le Mans Series, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Fla.), fourth in team points. The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will be run on Saturday, April 5 and broadcast on ABC.

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