These rules put great stress on teams unfamiliar with European racing. Sports
car racing in Europe is fiercely competitive and rules often favor teams who
race in Europe. Team ORECA in France runs the Dodge Viper program and they
are very popular in Europe.
One week before the race ALMS sent each team the fuel specifications for the
ELF gasoline that was provided for the race. After analyzing the fuel specification
Corvette Racing engine builders were concerned about engine durability. They
made what last minute software changes that they could and hoped for the best.
Sebring held a two-day test session on Monday and Tuesday prior to Saturday's
12 Hour race. Corvette Racing spent both days testing how well their cars
performed to the course and fuel changes. Car #4 driven by Pilgrim/Collins/Freon
was experiencing high transmission temperatures. Car #3 developed an engine
miss on Tuesday and crew chief Bill DeLong and his crew finally had to switch
engines to correct the problem. Car #4 crew chief Frank Resciniti and his
crew worked on various fixes for the hot transmission and finally felt that
they cured the problem on Wednesday. Driver Andy Pilgrim reported lower transmission
temperatures during warm-ups and he thought the car would perform well in
qualifying.
In the past Sebring was known for huge starting fields.
Unfortunately, many of the starts were rolling roadblocks. This year only
forty-two cars were approved for qualifying and each car was a top entry.
Seventeen Prototypes (P), eight Grand Touring Sports (GTS) and seventeen Grand
Touring (GT engines under 4 litres) qualified.
