 |
|
 |
| Sebring Preview: Tafel Racing |
|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tafel Racing Opens 2008 American Le Mans Series Season with 12 Hour Challenge
Two-Pronged Ferrari Attack Creates Strategy to Bring Home 56th Running of Sebring
SEBRING, Fla. March 9 2008 - The 56th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida confronts Tafel Racing and the other American Le Mans Series GT2 class competitors with a unique set of challenges. Far longer than the two hour and 45-minute "sprint" races that the Series will contest at most events but half the distance of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the March 15th classic demands a unique approach to ensure success. The intense competition forces a full-throttle pace for 12 hours like the shorter events. Meanwhile, the 3.7-mile, 17-turn circuit, often called more daunting than Le Mans, demands care be given to the machine. In the balance is victory. In order to find success at the season-opening event, the Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) owned program must put the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC and the No. 73 Tafel Ferrari on the grid ready for flawless performances at full speed for 12 hours.
The Cumming, Ga.-based effort will seek its first American Le Mans Series victory with a two-pronged approach. The No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC will be driven by full-season pilots Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany), who is a former 24 At Daytona victor, and 2000 Series GT2 Champion Dirk Müller (a native of Germany now living in Monaco). They will be joined in the V8-powered, Michelin tire- shod Italian exotic by 2007 Le Mans Series GT2 Champion Rob Bell (Northants, England). In the No. 73 machine will be owner/driver Jim Tafel, 2005 24 At Daytona-winner Pierre Ehret (who lives in Santa Rosa, Calif. but was born in Germany) and 2007 Australian GT Champ Allan Simonsen (Danish-born but living in Melbourne, Australia). In 2007, at the team's first 12 Hours of Sebring, Tafel Racing placed two cars in the top-five earning its first podium with a third-place for the No. 71.
Lessons learned in several years of sports car racing as a team and decades of success by Technical Director Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.) provided much needed insight to overcome rookie jitters in '07. A keen attention to detail, a well thought out strategy and the fine-tuning of an already successful operation looks to overwhelm any sophomore slump. An off- season switch from Porsche to Ferrari and a wide- sweeping driver lineup makeover have brought about what appears to be major changes from the outside. However, only one adjustment has been made to the crew that took the program to third-place in the American Le Mans Series GT2 Team Championship. This continuity of the well-honed team provides its greatest asset towards accomplishing success at Sebring and throughout the season.
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
 |
|
