ALMS Round 1 - SEBRING 2007
THE 55TH RUNNING OF THE 12 HOUR ENDURANCE RACE.

Following delivery of the new LOLA chassis complete with the new AER developed MAZDA power unit, Ben and the B-K team where eventually able to put some laps on the Mazdaspeed backed entry for the 2007 American Le Mans Series( www.americanlemans.com ).

At a very cold and wet Snetterton circuit the car ran through a series of system checks putting in about 30 laps prior to being shipped to Sebring for the first round of the ALMS.

Ben declared himself delighted with the new package and was looking forward to Sebring and the start of a new campaign.

Monday the 12th March saw the new car take to the track at Sebring in what was to be a difficult but expected week of development and set-up in preparation for the gruelling 12 hour race at the notoriously bumpy circuit. As is always the case with a completely new package there was going to be teething problems, and this was not exeption. However the team led by Marcus Haselgrove and backed by strong support from AER, LOLA, and KUMHO worked through whatever problems cropped up and by raceday on Saturday the car sat on the grid ready to compete with the worlds best sportscars. Ben started the race from 10th on the grid sandwiched between the Fenandez Accura and the Penske Porsche.

10 am saw the lights go green and with a deafening roar the 2007 Sebring race was underway., Ben got a great start and managed to get infront of the Lowes Accura drven by Luis Diaz. This was a position he held onto for the first hour despite coming under pressure from Diaz and negotiating slower traffic. A problem with the throttle cable forced him to pit, with a quick look and an adjustment of the linkage, the car was refuelled and back out.

Ben continued through hour 2 without problems then handed over to his new team mate for the year Jamie Bach.

Jamie enjoying his first real spell in the car settled in very well and was set for a long stint behind the wheel until the throttle problems which had plagued the car earlier in the race returned. He pitted for what turned out to be a very lengthy stop with the car returning to the team awning for neccessary repairs. Jamie took to the track once more with the car again doing competitive lap times and encouragingly showing the potential that is still to come from this still very new package.

The 3rd driver Rafol Matos then took over from Jamie and was able to put in some impressive lap times, with the team now deciding to use the rest of the race as an opportunity to tune and develop the chassis. Rafol spent about an hour and half in the car before the throttle gremlins returned causing another lengthy pistop.With just under 3 hours remaining the car was back on track with Ben driving once again. With the sun now dissappearing Ben was lapping in the dark at a similar pace to the front running cars, again a sign for future encouragement. With an hour to run Jamie took over once more and without any more problems took the chequered flag at the 12 hour mark.

All in all a difficult week but one with plenty to celebrate. The whole team showed an incredible ability to overcome adversity and a spirit of never say die!! The crew had many late nights and long days but they succeeded in getting the car through the most difficult 12 hours of motor racing anywhere in the world.

Ben is really pleased with what the team has achieved in such a short period and is looking forward to round 2 at ST. PETERSBURG on the 31st March.