Orbit Racing - Sebring Friday

2003 12 Hours of Sebring - Friday

ready to race

Orbit Racing is ready for the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, with one short 
practice remaining Friday evening.  The drivers say the team's two Porsche 
911 GT3 RS race cars are primed for the 12-hour endurance classic.  Leo 
Hindery, Peter Baron and Marc Lieb will drive the No. 43 YES Network Porsche, 
and Mike Fitzgerald, Jay Policastro and Joe Policastro will team in the No. 
42 Classic Industries Porsche.

"I've raced cars for a long time, and this is simply the best race car I've 
ever been in," Hindery said.  "[Team technical director] Tim Munday and Marc 
and Peter have got it set up just unbelievably well.  You can put power down 
early, it's very stable in high-speed turns and it has a lot of grip in the 
lower-speed turns.  I'm disappointed we're starting in the back because of a 
ride-height disallowance, but I think we'll do well."

Joe Policastro is confident of his car, too.  "The crew has done an 
outstanding job," he said.  "I think the biggest adjustment I need to make is 
between the seat and the steering wheel, and each time I'm out I'm getting 
better at that.  I'm looking at the data and trying to improve my line so I 
can pick up my times.  But we're ready to go."

tech update

Orbit Racing's technical director Tim Munday confirmed the No. 43 YES Network 
car will start at the back of the grid for the 12 Hours of Sebring, but he 
updated the reason for disallowance of the car's qualifying time.

"It turns out the car's ride height was the issue [sanctioning body] IMSA 
keyed on," he said.  "We took our measurements with our tires hot, but by the 
time we went through technical inspection, we had lost about four pounds of 
pressure on all the tires and it lowered the car to a millimeter off the 
specified height.  It's disappointing, but those are the rules and we always 
abide by them."

more turns

Three Orbit Racing drivers have added duties this weekend.  Peter Baron is 
driving Mika Hakkinen's 1993 Porsche Carrera Cup car in the SVRA historic 
race.  Mike Fitzgerald is competing in two World Challenge races, as well as 
the 12 Hours of Sebring.  Marc Lieb has perhaps the toughest job, 
representing Orbit Racing in a volleyball game between American Le Mans 
Series drivers and the Hawaiian Tropic group.

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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945