So the Pagani Zonda R isn’t quite a street car. It’s not quite a race car either. Kind of like the Ferrari 599XX and the Radical SR8LM. Only it’s not. It’s faster. It’s sexier. The sounds from the exhaust are out of this world. And it laps the ever famous Nurburgring in a blistering six minutes and forty-seven seconds. That’s eleven seconds faster than Ferrari’s self proclaimed “fastest production derived” car (the 599XX). What’s it take to do such damage in a Zonda R? How about a Mercedes-Benz AMG v12 producing 750hp in a full carbon chassis weighing just 2358 lbs. And one more secret Pagani had up their sleeve…
Pagani was clever – they hired Marc Basseng for their excursion. Marc is a driver with a load of experience at the Nurburgring and from EVO reports, he figures there may still be six seconds left on the table. 6′40″ from Pagani’s Zonda R! Take that Italy…errr Ferrari!
We all recall the nail biter GT2 finish from the 2007 12 Hours of Sebring where the Risi Competizione Ferrari 430GT driven by Jaime Melo just edged Jorg Bergmeister in the Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. If you don’t you, or are just itching to watch it once more check out the video:
So was 2009 as intense? Starting with LMP1, Audi rose again. Their R15 TDI piloted by Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen crossed the checkered flags 22 seconds ahead of Peugeot. In any normal race 22 seconds would be a clobbering. I said clobbering, yes. But let’s think about this. Was it really a clobbering? After 12 hours of sweat the gab was only 22 seconds. That’s pretty amazing. Not quite as dramatic as Melo and Bergmeister in 2007, but close enough that if McNish made an error, Franck Montagny could have possibly brought his French machine back to the top.
LMP2 wrapped up with the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing grasping it’s first LMP2 victory for Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz, Acura’s second in three years at Sebring. Their Acura ARX-01b consistent all race long while Dyson Racing’s two Mazda-powered Lola B09/86 coupes struggled and left the race at laps 127 and 149 with mechanical issues.
In GT2 it was all Italy with the Risi Competizione Ferrari 430GT taking 1st followed 2 laps behind by the Advanced Eng/Pecom 430GT. The Risi Ferrari started at the back of the field, making it’s way through the pack and taking the lead during the second hour and never once looked back. The surprise, pleasant to many of us, was to see PTG’s Panoz Esperante GTLM take 3rd after a hard fought battle with the Flying Lizard’s Porsche late in the race. PTG’s Panoz finished the race with 329 laps completed, just one lap down from the second place Advanced Eng/Pecom Ferrari. It’s great to see the Panoz doing well after so long. Personally, I would have loved to have seen the Viper and the Ford GT be more competitive.
So how about GT1? Seriously, nobody cares anymore.
What makes a 12 hour drive to Atlanta and weathering a gas shortage worth it? Simple, the opportunity to witness the 2008 Petit Le Mans trackside. Perfect weather, one of the most amazing circuits and the latest in sportscar technology again combined to produce yet another racing classic. Thanks to Allan McNish, spending a day on the red Georgia clay couldn’t have been any better.
The titanic struggle between Audi and Peugeot resumed on our side of the pond for the second time in 2008. This time it didn’t fail to disappoint on the track. Firing the first first bullet on Friday, the No. 07 Peugeot of Minassian, Klien and Sarrazin uncorked the 908 HDi FAP to put it on pole in stunning fashion over the McNish led No.1 and Werner led No. 2 Audi R10 TDI’s. We were all left wondering if Audi Sport NA had anything for the lone Pug. Hope for Audi fans took a major hit on raceday as McNish shunted his R10 during morning warm-up hopelessly relegating the #1 to the garage for serious repairs. At 11:15AM Minassian brought the field down for the green, with McNish finally emerging from the paddock onto the hot pit two and a half laps down. It was the #2 Audi that shadowed the Peugeot throughout the early stages, even managing to log laps in the overall lead as they both conservatively controlled the pace.
Meanwhile, the savvy spectators had their eyes on McNish blitzing the field, carving his way back into contention ripping through traffic. Watching from the back straight bridge, it was magical to watch the No. 1 weaving left and right lap after lap overhauling everyone and everything at 195mph. At the end of his first stint McNish managed to get one of their laps back and Capello and Pirro managed to chip away thanks to timely safety car periods and perfect pit strategy. While the spotlight was on the 07 Peugeot and No. 2 Audi, the McNish, Capello and Pirro trio finally found themselves on level ground as the sun began to set, storming their way back and positioning themselves for the unthinkable.
After 8+ hours of running, Werner, Klien and McNish were 1-2-3 in the queue behind the safety car readying for a 40 minute trophy dash as the electricity began to build and became palpable throughout the race. It didn’t take much time for Klien to take advantage of the the big Peugeot topend to get by Werner in what a lot of us thought was the race. Desperate, McNish squeezed his way by the team car and set his sights squarely on the HDi FAP 908. Making full use of his fresher tires McNish aggressively made use of the traffic to pull up to No. 07’s rear wing, flashing his lights and filling his mirrors as he tried to break Klien’s rhythm hustling the R10 for all its worth. On full-kill, McNish forced his way through like a bulldog, capturing the head of the field for the first time slicing to the inside of turn 6 giving Klien no choice but to relent. With all eyes in the turn 10 complex switching from the big screen to the track, sure enough it was McNish in the No. 1 into the 10A brake zone first. He was through after 9 hours!
Klien, as expected, regrouped and chased the Audi as McNish made the R10 as wide as possible and even squeezed the Pug to the grass at nearly 200mph. In full darkness, the nearly silent trio came slashing down into the 10A brake zone lap after tense lap. Then as if the last to first drive wasn’t amazing enough, somehow McNish dug even deeper and started to gap the supposedly superior 908, he was putting on a clinic and the crowd loved it, cheering him on as the gap grew larger. A record 11th caution flag gathering up the field wouldn’t derail McNish’s quest. As if he was shot out from a cannon, McNish stomped out any anxiety as he took the race by the throat on a monster of a restart. Screaming to the 1000 mile mark in commanding fashion, McNish slammed the door and capped the most epic drives in recent memory. From 2.5 laps down to the Peugeot, the No. 1 Audi had done it.
After such a monumental finish, I’m not sure how one could top this year’s running of Petit Le Mans, but I thought the same thing last year after Audi and Porsche slugged it out. Given this event’s history of one upping itself every year, RFD won’t miss 2009 for the world. We suggest any racecar fan to do the same!
