GT
52. Ferrari 360 Modena
JMB - Peter Argetsinger, Weston, Fla.; Andrea Montermini, Monaco; Ryan Hunter-Reay, Boca Raton, Fla., 28 laps, mechanical.

56. Ferrari 360 Modena
MSB - Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; 12 laps, engine.

GTS
58. Ferrari 550 Maranello
Olive Garden - Mimmo Schiattarella, Italy; Emanuelle Naspetti, Italy; Johnny Ceccotto, Venezuela, 11 laps, drive shaft.

The Prodrive Maranello (Rydell, et al) actually qualified a creditable 5th in class, Rickard Rydell pulling out all the stops to get onto the grid only 3 seconds off Ron Fellows' 1:59.699 class pole lap in the Corvette. In the race, however, it wasn't able even to keep up with the best of the GT class Porsches. Finally classified 6th in GTS they were 54 laps behind the GT class winner and ten GT class cars finished in front of the supposedly-faster GTS class Maranello. That's not much to write home about.

The Modenas displayed a singular combination of unreliability and sluggishness. The fastest (Montermini) qualified 5th in class, a second and a half off Sasha Maasen's GT pole time in a Porsche 911 GT3 RS; the "paying driver" team of Vannini, Garbagnati and Negri ended up as the last running finisher after the "fast guys" broke before the clock struck noon. The Modenas were so slow it was apparent their only hope of a decent finish would be if the Porsches broke. Did I say "If the Porsches broke"? That ain't gonna happen (and even if some did break, there were so many of them sheer numbers reduced the probability of a decent finish to the functional level of zero.)

Overall impressions

Even the ultimate conclusion of the race was never in doubt. An Audi would win, it was just a question of which one; a Corvette would win GTS; a Porsche would win GT; a MG would win LMP675. There was enough diversity of cars -- even if there were "best" cars in each class -- to make it interesting. The Ascari/Judds acquitted themselves honorably, if conservatively. They were competitive with the general run of LMP900s . They ran consistently and finished only 23 laps behind the winning Audi. "Only 23 laps" is appropriate terminology in a race where the Audis simply had no competition. The Audis just ran off and hid from everyone else leaving the ultimate winner apparent to everyone by the second lap (as if there were any doubt after the first practice session) as the two factory Audis left the rest of the field in their dust.

Johnny Kane in the Knighthawk MG Lola EX257 LMP675 qualified a remarkable 3rd overall, beating the best of the LMP900 prototypes by 0.074 seconds (not including the factory Audis, of course). It took a whack early in the race and eventually succumbed to its injuries but the Banana Joe's Intersport MG of Jon Field, Duncan Dayton and Michael Durand finished 7th overall - on the same lap as the Ascari/Judd. Watch the MGs at Le Mans; they're a longshot for the overall win-- if the Audis break (fat chance, and if they do the team will already have identified the likely flaw and prepared for its rapid replacement.)

The Spyker team had a great presentation with their brushed-aluminum finish "C8 Double Twelve", about as misleading a name as could be. It's powered by an undersized Audi A8 to fit the letter of the GT rules but how they convinced ALMS/ACO officialdom to run in a production-based class is a mystery to all but Mr. Hugenholtz and Mr. Kox. They claim to have built 5 cars. One has been crashed for the ACO and they had three (race car, coupe and spyder prototypes) at Sebring. This is "production"? It would have qualified 4th in the HSR "Historic" field, just ahead of Charlie Morgenthaler's Buick Regal Winston Cup car.

Speaking of the Historics, HSR pulled in some twenty former Sebring winning cars for the Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration. The field consisted mostly of later Porsches but nicely salted with real historic cars such as the Ferrari 250P, Bruce McCaw's Maserati 450S, George Stauffer's GT40 Mk IV and Dr. Fred Simeone's Cunningham C4R. Jay Jessup brought an impeccable Maserati 200SI. John Giordano got everyone's attention with his 512S (1004) and Paul Facella had a well-turned out fully race prepared 308GTB (26535). Gerald Meier brought a Pantera. The official winner of the first Collier Trophy race (the overall winner was based on Index of Performance) was a Crosley Hot Shot. But the only Crosley at Sebring went home after practice, unfortunately unable to find a Spridget in the parking lot from which to steal a replacement for a rear brake drum. Overall, the HSR field was pretty disappointing. Some cars were little more than jalopies that run road courses instead of dirt ovals; scrofulous beaters. There were a few Alfas including Keith Goring's and Steve Piantieri's Giulietta Spiders and Ward Witkowski's 2000 GTV. Other than that, lots of Porsche 911s, a good dose of all-out race-prepared 914s and enough Bathtubs to stock a good-sized plumbing supply store.

It's a long and expensive weekend for historic racers, without much track time to show for it. HSR and Sebring could have attracted a better field that was appropriate to the race's 50th Anniversary.

Between Malaysia and Florida, it was also a long and expensive weekend for the Prancing Horse - without much to show for it.