Bryce Miller Geared Up for Second Run at 24 Hours of Le Mans

Bryce Miller Geared Up for Second Run at 24 Hours of Le Mans
2011 Le Mans 24 first practice report
Patrick Long returns to the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Posted: 08 Jun 2011 03:36 PM PDT

Oneighturbo Bryce Miller LeMans Felbermayr 060811

Bryce Miller returns for another shot at one of the undisputed crown jewels of international motorsports this weekend as he teams with co-drivers Nick Tandy and Abdulaziz Al Faisal in the No. 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 RSR in the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11-12.

Miller and his No. 88 Porsche teammates will compete against many of the world’s top GT teams, drivers and manufacturers in the LM GTE Pro category. It will be Miller’s second time in the historic French endurance event following his Le Mans debut last year.

“There is an overwhelming spirit or aura about Le Mans that is so exciting and unique when compared to any other sports car races I have competed in,” Miller said. “The track itself covers so much territory and is so fast – you have this immediate respect for the place. I am just enjoying the feeling of Le Mans. It is a huge privilege to be here.”

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the second of four European rounds of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) in which Miller will compete with Team Felbermayr-Proton. He teamed with Horst Felbermayr Jr. in the No. 88 Porsche to finish fifth in the GTE Am class at the 1000 km of Spa last month and will also drive in the 6 Hours of Imola next month and the 6 Hours of Silverstone in September in addition to his full-time ride in the American Le Mans Series presented by Patrón.

Oneighturbo Bryce Miller Spa Felbermayr 060811

But it’s all about Le Mans this week, where scrutineering, autograph sessions and other pre-event activities will give way to on-track activity at the 8.469-mile, 38-turn Circuit de la Sarthe on Wednesday. So what did Miller learn on his first visit last year?

“I learned quite a lesson when I replied to my team that I would try my best to do another lap when steering fluid was spitting on my windscreen,” he said. “The lap here is so long that in many cases you cannot afford to predict trends or tempt fate – the cost can be too dire. By the end of that lap, I could barely see anything. The windshield was covered. That is one experience and piece of respect that I bring with me to the circuit this year.”

And what does Miller think about his and the team’s chances for success? After all, it is a particularly stout lineup of men and machinery in the GTE Pro class, which he got to see first hand during the official test day at Le Mans in April.

“I think our chances are reasonable,” he said. “While our driver squad is relatively inexperienced at Le Mans, we have the combined raw talent to do the job and our strength as a team unit I think showed at the official test days. Tandy and Al Faisal are both very approachable people and this always makes for a good work dynamic when trying to find a car setup everyone can agree on.”

The on-track action gets underway with practice on Wednesday at 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET), followed by Qualifying 1 at 10 p.m. local (4 p.m. ET). Thursday’s schedule features two more qualifying sessions, one from 7 to 9 p.m. local time (1 to 3 p.m. ET) and the second from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. (4 to 6 p.m. ET).

Friday features no on-track activity, but an immensely popular fan pit walk and drivers’ parade. Saturday’s race day schedule includes a 45-minute warm-up beginning at 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) with the race slated to begin at 3 p.m. local on Saturday afternoon (9 a.m. ET).

SPEED and SPEED.com will provide complete live coverage throughout the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the United States. Television coverage begins at 8:30 a.m. ET on Saturday and runs through 11:30 a.m. before switching over to SPEED.com streaming from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

SPEED television resumes from 3:30 to 8 p.m. on Saturday afternoon/evening, followed by another three-hour stretch of streaming from 8 to 11 p.m. SPEED television takes over again at 11 p.m. ET and will remain on the air through the checkered flag and post-race ceremonies at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday.

Live online timing & scoring from all on-track sessions is also available at lemans.org as well as live online audio on radiolemans.com.

- Bryce Miller

ALMS: Bryce Miller and Sascha Maassen ready for Long Beach sprint

2011 Le Mans 24 first practice report

Posted: 08 Jun 2011 02:17 PM PDT

Audi Le Mans

The ACO did not want times under 3:30. Nobody thought we would see fast times during practice today. Practice is for warm up, getting the car ramped up, new drivers exposed to the circuit, conditions and more.

Audi and Peugeot decided to ignore all that and drop times that would’ve been saved for qualifying. Even Franck Montagny was quoted saying

“This will depend on the weather. If it’s pretty cool, but the track is dirty. I could see a pole in 3:25.5.”

Both teams showed very fast times for the first two hour practice session.

Oneighturbo 2011 24hr LeMans 060811

In the beginning, it was a back and forth between the two diesels. The no2 Audi R18 TDI held the front for most of the time. At one point Peugeot was holding a 1-2-3-4 with the Audi’s 5-6-7.

In the last two minutes Mike Rockenfeller dropped a 3:27.986 to top his teammate into second.

GTE Pro:

BMW set the top times in GTE Pro with Corvette not far behind. The IMSA Matmut Porsche was doing great but an off at Porsche Curves, sent them to the garage and eventually back to their home 2 hours away.

GTE Am:

Aston Martin’s Giroix was at the top while the no81 Flying Lizard Porsche showed a strong performance coming in second. Darren Law was at the wheel.

24 Hours of Le Mans: Hour 7 race report from Audi

Patrick Long returns to the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Posted: 08 Jun 2011 08:23 AM PDT

Flying Lizard Troy Lee Designs,

Patrick Long returns to Circuit de la Sarthe, in Le Mans, France to attempt his 3rd career victory in Les 24 Heures du Mans this week. Victorious in the GT class in 2004 in his maiden attempt and again in 2007, Long is making his 8th consecutive start at Le Mans and will drive for Flying Lizard Motorsport for the first time in France since 2006. Joining him in the #80 car will be longtime teammate Joerg Bergmeister and Lucas Luhr, both Germans.

This year at Le Mans, Flying Lizard will field two cars, and are reviving the tradition of the ‘art car’ for the most prestigious endurance race in the world. Similar to their 2007 effort, the Lizards have again retained Troy Lee Designs to create special liveries for its cars. This year, Troy Lee designed liveries which pay homage to the 28 Porsche-driving winners of Le Mans. Patrick’s #80 car is a stunning candy metallic orange and blue, and the #81 of Seth Neiman, Darren Law and Spencer Pumpelly is candy metallic blue; both cars feature the flags of the native countries of the 28 Porsche drivers to have won at Le Mans. Fittingly for the race that features the Mulsanne Straight, as Troy Lee himself says, “they look like they’re going 200mph standing still.”

Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Troy Lee

Patrick said, “This year at Le Mans is extra special for me for two reasons: first, it’s great to be back with the Lizards at Le Mans, and second because we’ll get to drive Troy’s amazing car in the race. He has created a tribute to the overall winners in Porsches and I think quite a few of the drivers who are listed on the car will be at Le Mans to see it and take some photos. It’s special to carry the names of some of the greats. We have a lot of momentum and excitement going.”

“I haven’t driven with the Lizards here at Le Mans since 2006 when I drove with Seth and Joerg, so it’ll be good to team up with Joerg and Lucas Luhr and my ‘regular’ team this year. They’re such a hard- working, spirited bunch of guys, and we all have extra motivation at Le Mans. Lucas is a name that’s pretty familiar around Porsche circles and having him join us just brings a wealth of energy, experience and success, and beyond all that he’s a close friend.”

“We’ll struggle a bit for straight line speed but where we do struggle for top speed we’ll make up for in reliability and really smooth work in the pits. Certainly our strategy will be to be there at the end and to win it in traditional endurance form. I wouldn’t put any money on qualifying on the pole, but that hasn’t been our way of winning races for the last couple of years. I’m not losing any sleep over that. It’s always festive the entire week at Le Mans, and I think this year will be exceptional.”

The 24 Hours of Le Mans starts Saturday, June 11 at 3pm GMT, and runs until Sunday, June 12 at 3pm GMT. American television coverage will be on SPEEDTV, beginning at 8:30am ET. For live blog updates and team radio communications, visit Flying Lizard Motorsport, or follow @FlyingLizard_ms on Twitter.