Alex Job Racing - Petit Le Mans advance

Alex Job Racing will switch from sprint to endurance mode for the Petit Le 
Mans, final race in the American Le Mans Series 2002 season.  The 1000-mile, 
10-hour race is set for Oct. 12 on the 2.54-mile Road Atlanta road course in 
Braselton, Ga.
 
Greg Fordahl, engineer for the No. 23 McKenna Xybernaut Porsche, says the 
priority is to make the car safe and comfortable for drivers Lucas Luhr and 
Sascha Maassen.

"Our team needs to be extra careful," he said.  "Normally, we're very good 
preparers of the car but we need to inspect every critical component of the 
car, probably two or three times leading up to the race.  From an engineering 
standpoint, it's important to make the car very comfortable and very 
driveable.  The drivers will be in top form, so we need to provide a car that 
will be in top form, so it's not difficult to drive and doesn't tax them for 
the 10-hour race.

"Road Atlanta is a unique combination of mostly high-speed, very fast 
corners, so stability becomes paramount.  We would sacrifice a small amount 
of the ultimate performance if we could make the car more stable, therefore 
less threatful to drive.  It takes the stress away and makes the drivers 
sharper for a longer time."

Renaud Dufour engineers the No. 22 Porsche usually driven by Jörg Bergmeister 
and Timo Bernhard.  They will share the car with Marc Lieb for the Petit Le 
Mans.  "Timo and Jörg are pretty much the same in the car," Dufour said.  
"We'll have another driver at Road Atlanta so we'll try to make the car 
comfortable for the three drivers."

He noted the long race will require a different engineering strategy and car 
setup.  "It is a little bit different for a 10-hour race because we begin at 
noon and finish at 10 pm, so maybe we will use different tires during the 
afternoon and the night.  And I think we will go softer for the night after 6 
or 7 pm in order to get maximum level of grip," he explained.

"You have to think about all that can happen and you need to hope to be there 
for a long time.  You have to make the car fast for qualifying, safe for the 
afternoon, safe during the night.  A long race is a bit more difficult, but 
it's much more exciting!"

championship five

Alex Job Racing has swept the ALMS GT championships this season, winning the 
team and IMSA Cup titles and helping Porsche and Michelin win manufacturer 
championships.  Only the driver title remains to be decided at the Petit Le 
Mans.  Lucas Luhr has a one-point lead over Sascha Maassen, but the team 
hopes Maassen will gain a bonus point for driving the most laps in the final 
race, making them co-champions.