ALMS Winter test – Wednesday

Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing opened the Sebring Winter Test in strong style Wednesday with the fastest times in both sessions with its Aston Martin-powered Lola. The exotic closed-top prototype turned in a best lap of 1:50.530 (120.510 mph) with team owner Greg Pickett, Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr sharing driving duties.

The Muscle Milk squad will race its new coupe for the first time in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr¢n next month as part of a 59-car field for the 59th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. In last year's race, the Aston Martin factory team drove the car to a third-place overall finish.

Dyson Racing's Mazda-powered Lola B09/86, another prototype coupe, was second quickest at 1:51.042 (119.955 mph). Chris Dyson, Guy Smith and Jay Cochran each drove Wednesday.

WHAT AN ENTRY: With a rich offering of dynamic grids over the years, this season’s running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida may top them all. An impressive list of full-season entrants in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr¢n will combine with the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup field for a 59-car grid, setting the stage for one of the most anticipated editions of America’s greatest sports car race.

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest – sanctioning body for the Le Mans 24 Hours – announced Wednesday the teams that will participate in the seven-round ILMC. Concurrently, ALMS sanctioning body IMSA released its list of full-season entrants for 2011. Together, it gives Sebring one of the largest and most diverse gatherings of sports cars it has seen in what will be its 59th running. It ties the largest Sebring field in the ALMS era, matching the 2002 grid.

WHAT THEY SAID: A collection of drivers, teams and officials from the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr¢n visited with media members at Sebring. A record 31 cars are participating in the annual Winter Test, only one of many pieces of noteworthy news making the rounds in the Series.

PICKETT'S PLEASED: Of all the motivating factors driving Greg Pickett to get back behind the wheel of a race car, one simply took the cake. “I didn’t want my career to end upside down in a Porsche!"

The annual Sebring Winter Test is the first time Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing’s owner/driver has been in the cockpit since a horrific crash that left Pickett on top of a tire barrier at Mid-Ohio in August. Wednesday, Pickett got his first lap in his team’s new Aston Martin-powered Lola coupe on the first day of the two-day test for the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr¢n.

“It’s a pretty little car," Pickett said. “We were brokenhearted to close the door on the RS Spyder, and Porsche was sad about it as well. The Lola really does feel different, and you can feel the extra weight (around 75 kilograms). It’s nice to be able to squeeze through the GT cars easier than we did last year. For an old guy like me, it’s more fun!"

Sebring Entries

LMP1
1 – Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R15 plus plus – Timo Bernhard, Marcel Fassler
2 – Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R15 plus plus – Tom Kristensen,Allan McNish
5 – Hope Racing – Oreca 01 SwissHy Tech Hybrid – Steve Zacchia,Oliver Lombard
7 – Team Peugeot Total – Peugeot 908 – Anthony Davidson
8 – Team Peugeot Total – Peugeot 908 – Stephane Sarrazin,Franck Montagny
10 – Team ORECA Matmut – Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP – Nicolas Lapierre, Loic Duval
12 – Rebellion Racing – Lola B10/60 Toyota – Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani
15 – OAK Racing – Oak-Pescarolo – Matthieu Lahaye, Guillaume Moreau, Pierre Ragues
24 – OAK Racing – Oak-Pescarolo – Jacques Nicolet, Richard Hein, Jean-Francois Yvon
01- Highcroft Racing – HPD ARX-01e – TBD
06 – Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing – Lola-Aston Martin – Greg Pickett, Klaus Graff, Lucas Luhr
016 – Dyson Racing – Lola B08/86 Mazda – Chris Dyson, Guy Smith
037 – Intersport Racing – Lola B06/10 AER – Jon Field, Clint Field
007 – Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin AMR-One – Stefan Mucke, Darren Turner

LMP2
26 – Signtech Nissan – Oreca 03 Nissan – Frank Mallieux
33 – Level 5 Motorsports – Lola-Honda – Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut, Luis Diaz
35 – OAK Racing – Oak-Pescarolo – Frederic da Rocha
05 – LNT – Radical SR9 Ginetta – Andrew Prendeville, Rusty Mitchell, Luke Hines
095 – Level 5 Motorsports – Lola-Honda – Scott Tucker

GT
50 – Larbre Competition – Corvette C6.R – Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal, Gabriele Gardel
51 – AF Corse – Ferrari 458 Italia – Giancarlo Fisichella
55 – BMW Motorsport – BMW M3 – Augusto Farfus
56 – BMW Motorsport – BMW M3 – Andy Priaulx
57 – Krohn Racing – Ferrari F430 GT – Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonnson
58 – Luxury Racing – Ferrari 458 Italia – Francois Jakubowski, Anthony Beltoise
59 – Luxury Racing – Ferrari 458 Italia – Stephane Ortelli, Frederic Makowiecki, Jean-Denis Deletraz
60 – Gulf AMR Middle East – Aston Martin Vantage – Fabien Griox, Roald Goethe, Michael Wainwright
61 – AF Corse – Ferrari F430 GT – Piergiuseppe Perzzni
62 – CRS Racing – Ferrari F430 GT – Pierre Ehret, Shaun Lynn, Roger Wills
63 – Proton Competition – Porsche 911 GT3 RSR – Richard Lietz
03 – Corvette Racing – Corvette C6.R – Olivier Beretta, Antonio Garcia
04 – Corvette Racing – Corvette C6.R – Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen
040 – Robertson Racing – Ford GT – David Robertson, Andrea Robertson
044 – Flying Lizard Motorsports – Porsche 911 GT3 RSR – TBA
045 – Flying Lizard Motorsports – Porsche 911 GT3 RSR – TBA
048 – Paul Miller Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 RSR – Bryce Miller
050 – Panoz Racing – Panoz Abruzzi – Ian James, Ben Leuenberger
062 – Risi Competitione – Ferrari 458 Italia – TBA
098 – Jaguar RSR – Jaguar XKR GT – PJ Jones
099 – Jaguar RSR – Jaguar XKR GT – Bruno Junqueria, Christano Da Matta
001 – Extreme Speed Motorsports – Ferrari 458 Italia – Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek
002 – Extreme Speed Motorsports – Ferrari 458 Italia – Ed Brown, Guy Cosmo
004 – Robertson Racing – Ford GT – David Murry, Anthony Lazzaro
008 – West Yokohama Racing – Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 – Nicky Pastorelli, Dominik Schwager

LMPC
018 – Performance Tech Motorsports – Oreca FLM09 – Anthony Nicolosi
036 – Genoa Racing – Oreca FLM09 – TBA
052 – PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports – Oreca FLM09 – TBA
063 – Genoa Racing – Oreca FLM09 – Eric Lux, Elton Julian, Christian Zugel
089 – Intersport Racing – Oreca FLM09 – Kyle Marcelli
005 – Core Autosport – Oreca FLM09 – Jon Bennett
006 – Core Autosport – Oreca FLM09 – Gunnar Jeannette, Ricardo Gonzalez

GTC
011 – JDX Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Nick Ham, Chris Thompson, Scott Blackett
023 – Alex Job Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Bill Sweedler, Leh Keen, Brian Wong
030 – NGT Motorsports – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Henrique Cisneros, Carlos Eduardo
032 – GMG Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Bret Curtis, James Sofronas, Jan Seyffarth
033 – Kelly Moss Motorsports – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Peter LaSaffre
054 – Black Swan Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Tim Pappas, Jeroen & Sebastiaan Bleekemolebn
066 – TRG – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – Duncan Ende, Spencer Pumpelly
077 – Magnus Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – John Potter, Craig Stanton