Briefing

• New ACO regulations for 2009
• No test day, different practice schedule
• New driver, Darren Law
• Strong GT2 competition

2009 No. 80 Porsche on track

Eric Ingraham, Team Manager commented, "For 2009, our Le Mans program is about having a well prepared car, a well prepared crew, adapting to the changes (rules/schedule) and then having a good, clean run.

The only expectation that you can carry into the race at Le Mans is that anything can happen in the 24 hours, be it mechanically, on track, with our drivers, with other cars, with the weather. This year is as close to a "new year" as we've ever had at Le Mans. There are multiple regulation changes which will affect us. New pit stop rules require that require that we change tires with 2 mechanics and 1 gun, instead of the previous 4 mechanics and 2 guns. This will make the tire change longer and more complex, plus any errors cost much more time. In GT2, the cars are running at a heavier weight than in 2008 (and than in the ALMS) and will have smaller restrictors. We are also running an air conditioning system this year. As a result of these changes, we expect to see slower lap times than last year. "

Thomas Blam, chief strategist continued, "There will be no test day this year, and the practice schedule during race week is different than in 2008. For the first practice session the track (which is about 50% public roads) will be very dirty and it will take time to come up to speed. Also, a new rule for 2009 requires that you must start the race with the engine that you qualify with. Since two of our three practice sessions are qualifying sessions, it may limit how much time we can run on that day. The compressed schedule will make setup more difficult -- we'll have to adjust to the new regulations and other variables quickly."

Ingraham added,"In terms of the drivers, both Seth and Joerg have raced here multiple times but this will be Darren Law's first time at Le Mans. Darren and Joerg have also never driven together. However, Darren has significant long race expertise -- he won the Daytona 24 Hours this year overall -- and I'm confident he'll get up to speed quickly. Darren will need to run 10 laps during the practice session in order to qualify to drive for the race."

Ingraham continued, "In terms of the competition, there is a very strong GT2 field -- 10 Ferraris, 5 Porsches, a Spyker and an Aston Martin. The Porsches have historically had good runs here because of their reliability, and of course teams like Risi Competizione, which has won this race in GT2 before, will be tough competitors as always. There are a lot of quick cars with professional drivers that we'll have to contend with. At Le Mans we don't go into the race thinking about how to beat the competition, but rather about our own race strategy -- making sure the car is as fast and reliable as possible and that we are as prepared as possible. You could say that the only cars we need to focus on beating are the ones who are ahead of us at hour 20!"