Orbit Racing - Petit Le Mans race half-distance

good start!

Orbit Racing had a strong start to the 1000-mile Petit Le Mans.

Randy Pobst started the No. 42 Classic Industries Porsche 911 GT3 RS last on 
the grid, 17th in the GT class, and moved steadily through the field to first 
in class after 70 minutes.  He dropped back to second before handing over to 
Jay Policastro, who drove the second stint, followed by Joe Policastro.  Pobst 
started his second stint at 3h45, eighth in class.

Peter Baron started the No. 43 YES Network Porsche third in GT but slipped 
back to sixth as he struggled with a vibration in the car.  Mike Rockenfeller 
drove a double-stint from 1h to 3h, moving up one position, and Leo Hindery took 
the third shift.  Baron returned just before the four-hour mark and held 
fifth.

Randy Pobst

"Last to first!  It just shows that Orbit put together a really good Porsche. 
 The Michelin tires were as good as anything out there.  I took it carefully 
at first; I was with some drivers who weren't very experienced.  I had to work 
my way through there, but we got a couple of lucky yellows that closed the 
gap and I was running with the leaders.  We're on our plan, just run clean.  I'm 
very pleased to see that the 42 car is almost as fast as any [GT] car out 
there."

Mike Rockenfeller

"My first stint in the race was quite a long one.  It was a bit unlucky at 
the beginning - another car spun in front of me and to avoid the crash I went 
full on the brakes and had one or two flat spots on the tires.  It's quite long 
in the car, but with the cooling suit we have, it's quite relaxed to drive.  
There's a lot of traffic and we have some vibration on the brakes, but the rest 
of the setup is good.  We're position five so anything is possible."

stagger stuff

Orbit Racing is sporting different tire combinations on its two Porsches.  
Michelin engineer Robbie Holley explained:  "We stagger compounds to help the 
corner that's not working as much.  If you get a lot of right-front wear, you go 
up to a harder compound to try to make the tire last longer.  It also makes 
the left front get a little more grip with a softer tire and it balances the 
front of the car.  On the 42 car, we're running three compounds - a soft on the 
right front, medium on the left front and right rear, and a hard compound on 
the left rear.  On the 43 car, we're running medium on the left side and soft 
on the right, but we're fixing to change the left front to a soft compound to 
try to correct an understeer."