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The
#91 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R driven by: Dominik Farnbacher, Marc
Goossens and Ryan Hunter-Reay at this year's Sebring 12 Hours. Photo by:
Rainier Ehrhardt. (Image source: motorsport.com)
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Talk 'bout getting your Pre-season conditioning
in, as several of the 'BIG BOYZ IndyCar drivers barely had time to rest 'N relax
before beginning Indy Cars annual Spring Training which began this Monday at
Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, (March 17-18) which is
mandatory for all full season participants.
As the following drivers participated in the
just concluded 12-hours of Sebring (March 15) just down the road in Florida
this past Saturday: Sebastian Bourdais, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, Ryan
Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Simon Pagenaud and Justin Wilson with IndyCar
interlopers Townsend Bell and Martin Plowman all taking part in the endurance
classic, appropriately the second ever newly mergified Sports Car series race following
the Grand-pappy Day-Toner' 24hr enduro.
Going for two in-a-row was le 'Hamburgular,
nee Sebastain Bourdais, aka 'SeaBass, who won this year's Tutor United Sports
Car Championship's TUSC) season opener, (the
Rolex 24 at Daytona aboard the No. 5 Action Express Racing's Corvette DP.
While the entry I was most interested in was
the second 'Cheepster-mobile, with Chip Ganassi having decided to enter a
second racecar for Scott Dixon, 'TK Follow Your Schnoz (Kanaan) and Sage Karam;
certainly a Star Studded affair with the reigning IndyCar, Indy 500 and Indy
Lights champions behind the wheel.
And thanks to Trackside Online
I learned that one of my favourite IndyCar Piloto's "Symone Pagenoe"
(Simon Pagenaud) was contesting the race once again aboard the Scotty Sharp
owned Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) Honda ARX-03b fresh off of his first
rally race class win which he snared incredibly upon home soil in Viva la France
the weekend prior...
Whilst another of my personal favourites
Justin 'B-I-G UNIT Wilson was once again at the controls of Michael Shank's
Ford "Eco-boost" Ford powered Riley DP; as I still get a chuckle
every time I think of 'Ol Papa Tomaso's prophetic words 'bout there's NO such
thingy as Economy in motor racing; Hooah!
Ryan "the Dude" Hunter-Reay, the
Other Ryan (Briscoe) and Townsend Bell were all campaigning different GT
machinery, with RHR piloting a monster Dodge Viper, Briscoe a Corvette C7R,
(with co-drivers Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia) and Bell a Ferrari 458
Italia; while "Plowie" (Martin Plowman) was co-driving a Prototype
Challenge (PC) car.
And whilst it shouldn't have been surprising
that once again Bourdais was on Pole, after all having led the way in practice,
it was another ex-IndyCar racer's name that caught my eye, as Bruno "NOT
MARS!" Nee Junky; Err Whineybags Junqueira had captured the Pole for the
PC class for RSR Racing, while fresh off of his Indy 500 ride for Sarah Fisher
Hartman Racing announcement, 'TAG, aka Alex Tagliani's name was spotted as one
of the frontrunners in the race's early hours, albeit having been stopped for
the #33 Dodge Viper burning itself to the ground!
Another past IndyCar driver's name being
spotted on the entry list was 'Rafa (Raphael) Matos piloting the No. 38
Performance Tech Motorsports PC-class challenger with further investigation revealing
that 'TAG is piloting the 'Seester Rockesports Racing PC chassis of class Pole
winner Junqueira, with the two past Champ Car protagonist's driving for Paul "GOOFY" Gentilozzi.
And another
ex-Champ Car pilot named Jan "Van Hagar" Heyland was spotted in the
mix of GT cars, running one of the plethora of Porsche's 911 Panzerwagons,
while past competitor and current IndyCar driver Justin Wilson's Michael Shank
Racing's entry was forced to start from the rear of the field due to its
primary Sports Car driver 'Oz Negri not having completed enough of the required
nighttime driving distance during practice.
Meanwhile Leigh Diffey of 'Peacock-lite fame
(NBCSN) gave 'MAGS Jr's father Jan Magnussen a Shout-out near 12:30AM (Pacific)
after a brief interview with his son who'd stuck his McLaren fourth Down Under
in Melbourne in his debutant F1 'Qualie session, with Diffey claiming that
'MAGS Senior would be partying the night away after completing the 12 Hours of
Sebring by watching his son on the 'Telie...
At the six hour mark, Ryan "Razzle Dazzle"
Dalziel led
the way aboard his ESM Honda ARX-03b followed by another past IndyCar driver
named Christian Fittipaldi behind the wheel of the Corvette DP he was sharing
with Bourdais and 'JB, (Joao
Barbosa) while Alex Brundle was third at the
keyboard of his Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan. And yeah, that's Martin
"BillyBob" Brundle's son - with Kanaan's Riley-ford fourth and
Pagenaud's Honda fifth.
Unfortunately Tagliani was involved in a
wreck not of his own doing, as the 'Kuhnaidiun unsuccessfully swerved to avoid
another spinning competitor and the two were collected in the wreck sewn PC
class, which ultimately saw only two
class competitors fighting for the class honours at the end of the race.
And then it was a Franchitti sweeping to
overall victory, albeit not Dario, but 'lil brother Marino taking the chequer's
for Chip Ganassi aboard the #01 Riley-Ford DP with co-drivers Scott
"Scooter" Pruett and Memo Rojas, giving Ford its first Sebring
victory since 1969! Also Pruett's first win on the notoriously bumpy circuit,
whilst Y'all will just have to read the link below for more info upon the other
class winners...