ALMS Grand Prix of Sonoma May 17-19

[cfbjr]

I have a site set up with pictures from this weekends American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Sonoma that took place at Sears Point Raceway:

http://www.distantecho.net/alms/

Here's a brief synopsis of the action written by Sears Point:

SONOMA, Calif. Jan Magnussen survived a furious late charge by Johnny
Herbert to win the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Sonoma,
presented by Foster's Lager, Sunday at Sears Point Raceway.

Magnussen and co-driver David Brabham led most of the two-hour,
45-minute sports car endurance race in a Panoz LMP-1 Prototype. However,
Magnussen, while driving the final stint, withstood an assault by Herbert,
who tangled with a lapped car while challenging Magnussen at the finish
line on the last lap.

The Audi R8 that was co-driven by Herbert and Tom Kristensen was
credited with second place, just .482 second behind the winner. Herbert, who
withdrew from making a qualifying attempt at the Indianapolis 500 on
Sunday morning and flew to California to race at Sears Point, took over
the series point lead after two of 10 races.

Bryan Herta and Bill Auberlen finished third in another Panoz LMP-1,
giving former CART standout Herta his first podium finish in sports car
racing.

Ben Devlin and Dave McEntee drove a Lola B2K-Ford and scored a two-lap
win in the LMP 675 class for smaller Prototypes, while Ron Fellows and
Johnny OConnell led all the way in a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R to win
the GTS class by a lap. Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen won the GT class in
a Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

The race started under rain conditions, but the rain stopped and the
2.53-mile circuit was dry for the final third of the event.

Finish with starting position in parentheses, drivers, type car, laps
completed, reason out if any, winning time and margin of victory:
1. (3) David Brabham/Jan Magnussen, Panoz LMP-1, 83, 2 hours 47 minutes
11 seconds, .482 second.
2. (1) Tom Kristensen/Johnny Herbert, Audi R8, 83.
3. (10) Bill Auberlen/Bryan Herta, Panoz LMP-1, 82.
4. (9) Chris Dyson/James Weaver, Riley & Scott MkIIIA-Lincoln, 81.
5. (11) Ron Fellows/Johnny OConnell, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 81.
6. (19) Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 80.
7. (12) Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 80.
8. (8) Clint Field/Mark Neuhaus, Lola B2K40-Judd, 80.
9. (6) Didier de Radigues/John Graham, Panoz LMP07-Mugen, 79.
10. (8) Scott Maxwell/Milka Duno, Panoz LMP07-Mugen, 79.
11. (14) Mimmo Schiattarella/Emanuele Naspetti, Ferrari 550 Maranello,
79.
12. (17) Kevin Buckler/Marino Franchitti, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 79.
13. (18) Jorg Bergmeister/Timo Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 79.
14. (23) Justin Jackson/Mike Fitzgerald, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 77.
15. (2) Emanuele Pirro/Rinaldo Capello/Frank Biela, Audi R8, 77.
16. (13) Franz Konrad/Terry Borcheller, Saleen S7R, 76.
17. (24) Peter Baron/Leo Hindery, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 76.
18. (27) Tony Kester/Gary Schultheis, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 76.
19. (15) Ben Devlin/Dave McEntee, Lola B2K40-Ford, 75.
20. (28) Robert Julien/Gary Merzon, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 75.
21. (22) Tony Burgess/Philip Collin/Hugh Plumb, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 74.
22. (5) Steve Knight/Mel Hawkins/Chad Block, Lola EX257-AER MG, 73.
23. (4) Jon Field/Rick Sutherland, Lola EX257-AER MG, 72.
24. (20) Johnny Mowlem/Randy Pobst, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 69.
25. (21) Larry Schumacher/David Murry, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 62.
26. (29) Rich Grupp/Ryan Hampton, Lola B2K10-Mazda, 55.
27. (16) Spencer Trenery/Shane Lewis, Dodge Viper GTS-R, 52, accident.
28. (25) Vic Rice/Robert Orcutt, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 37, accident.
29. (26) Tom Weickardt/Marc Bunting, Dodge Viper GTS-R, 29, accident.

 

[BondoBob]

Very nice, thanks for the report. The big story on TV was the redesign of Sears Point. The manager of the track saying that everything other than the track configuration had been changed. Upgrading to the pit area, spectators stands and the like looked nice. Comments on your visit?



Bob

P.S. How does (and where does) your four point harness mount? I don't think you have a roll cage. Photos if possible! Thanks.

 

[cfbjr]

Thanks Bob,

The enhancements are spectacular! It is a very cool track layout to begin with. Now there are many seats where you can get a really good vantage point of the action and everyone can kind of spread out. I never felt like it was crowded. The main grandstands are huge and the little fold down seats are very comfortable. I was also invited to sit in one of the VIP suites at the top of the grandstands on Sunday. They are very comfortable inside and out and offer a really great view of the track. Of course, you can't complain about the free food and beer! It was perfect since it was raining pretty heavy most of the day on Sunday and my wife and I and a couple friends stayed nice and dry up there. You also get a really good view of the pits from the grandstands.

The seating that exists other than the grandstands are like amphitheater type seating. They are like terraces made from large concrete blocks and bark chips. You definitely need the seat cushions for these but it's large enough for you to get comfortable and with the stadium seat it was just fine. We moved around a lot on Saturday(practice and qualifying day) and sat in these seats for a long persiod. They are in places where you can get a really good view of the action on specific corners.

They have also replaced all of the bridges, except for one, with tunnels so less of the action is blocked by them. They also have several shuttle busses running all day to get you from one point to the other and out to the parking lots. They need to do a little more work on the parking lots so they don't get so muddy when it rains though. I had a huge amount of mud caked on my shoes just from walking through the parking lot to get to my car. That's where they need to focus their efforts next. I was also very happy I drove my Jepp Grand Cherokee because I don't know how well the MP3 would have handled that much slippery mud.

 

[cfbjr]

My harness attaches to the bolts with a ring on them that came with the harness. Basically, the bolts take the place of the bolts on the sides of the seat where the regular seat belt attaches. on the driver's right side of the seat the little plastic cover has to be removed to accomodate this and it's a tight fit between the center console and the seat. In the rear there is a strap that attaches to the rear seat belt strap anchor bolt. The rear strap connects to the top part of the harness with a regular seat belt connector so it can be unattached when not in use. The lap belts latch onto the ring bolts with these ltlle latch ends that work like a caribeener(sp?).
I'll try to snap some photos tonight if I get a chance, it's hard to explain without a picture. You're right though, no roll bar.