Black Swan withdraws from 12 Hours of Sebring

Black Swan Racing Porsche 997 GT3 RSR had suddenly disappeared from the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida entry list earlier this week.

Today team owner/driver Tim Pappas confirmed that the #54 Black Swan Racing car that had been entered for himself, Anthony Lazzaro and Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen has indeed been withdrawn. Instead of kicking off the season at Sebring the team will focus on additional testing and tire development with tire partner Dunlop, before making its race return to the series.

Pappas made it very clear though that the withdrawal of the car for the opening round of the 2010 American Le Mans Series does not mean the cancellation of the program for 2010. “Quite the opposite", said Pappas. “Despite a strong first outing at the Winter Test, Black Swan needs more work before its ready for competition in American Le Mans. Except for Bleekemolen, Black Swan was not in competition in 2009, so we have had lots of work to do behind the scenes to prepare and unfortunately, we just haven’t gotten everything done on time to feel confident for Sebring."