Orbit Racing - Miami preview

Monaco & Miami

Orbit Racing will be close to home for the next American Le Mans Series race. 
 The team has logged thousands of miles across North America - and across the 
Atlantic - this season, but it will travel just 80 miles from its home base 
in Jupiter, Fla., to Miami for the Sept. 27 race.  Joe and Jay Policastro of 
Latrobe, Pa., will drive the No. 42 Classic Industries Porsche 911 GT3 RS.  
Peter Baron of Deerfield Beach, Fla., will team with Marc Lieb of Niefern, 
Germany, in the No. 43 YES Network Porsche.

After the logistical nightmare of transporting the team, race car and 5000 
pounds of equipment to Europe for the prestigious 24 Heures du Mans (where Orbit 
Racing savored a second-place GT finish), team owner Rodger Hawley 
acknowledged preparation for a home race is easier.  But he said the big attraction is 
the city of Miami.

"Miami could become the biggest race on our calendar," he said.  "People 
associate it with [Formula One race venue] Monaco and I think that association is 
a lot closer than people realize.  Miami has a unique mentality - it's a South 
American, living, enjoying community.  It's a community that embraces events; 
they've got basketball, football, hockey and every other event.  It's a 
community that likes to go out and do things."

cool running

The new configuration of the 1.22-mile Miami street circuit incorporates a 
longer front straight - great for speed, tough on brakes.  To combat the rigors 
of street racing, the Orbit Racing Porsches will sport new brake rotors 
similar to those used on the bigger prototype race cars.

Orbit technical director Tim Munday explained, "The straight is longer, 
that's why it's going to be even harder on brakes than it was last year.  We fit 
extra brake cooling ducts into the car and we're running new prototype-style 
front rotors.  They're better for cooling and long life of the part itself."

new view

Joe and Jay Policastro will drive the Miami street circuit for the first time 
this week, but they'll take advantage of the team's previous experience.

"We are going to get there early so we can walk the track a few times," Joe 
Policastro said.  "The compressed schedule does not give us a lot of time to 
find the 'sweet spots' of the track; we need to use every second of track time 
to get familiar with the course.  I am sure Rodger and the crew will have the 
car set up to the max based on last year's experience.  We will be doing a lot 
of note-comparing with our other team drivers."

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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945