BAM! - Sebring preview

BAM! is set for its American Le Mans Series debut, in the season-opening 
Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The experienced British/American crew will field 
the No. 43 YES Network Porsche 911 GT3 RS for Leo Hindery, Jr. of New York, 
Peter Baron of Deerfield Beach, Fla. and Mike Rockenfeller of Neuwied, Germany. 
The March 20 race will be Rockenfeller's first start on the 3.7-mile Sebring 
International Raceway road course in Sebring, Fla.

Hindery is ready. "After what seemed like a very long winter of 
accelerator-foot malaise, we are back at Sebring which - if Le Mans is the heart of our 
sport - is our sport's soul," he said. "Just think what my emotions would be if 
we had ever actually done well here! Racing at Sebring is such an honor. This 
year, we will be trying to finally give it its proper due."

Leo's laps

Hindery has generously offered to share his racing knowledge at ALMS tracks 
this season. His Sebring insight:

"At last October's Petit Le Mans, I got to teach my new co-driver, the 
brilliant young Mike Rockenfeller, the secret to turns 10A and 10B [brake earlier 
than Hindery does]. Now, on his first visit to Sebring, I get to teach him about 
Sebring turn 17, which, if done badly, can cause a driver's hair (and nerve) 
to fall out. I hold the record for never going through turn 17 the same way 
twice in a race, let alone twice in a row, but the winter has given me a clear 
visual, which I plan to try out. I have asked Rockenfeller to watch me from 
near the turn and learn - after, however, first alerting the medical team to 
similarly pay close attention."

fit to race

Mike Rockenfeller got an extra boost last month at the Porsche Motorsport 
fitness camp in Locarno, Switzerland. He and the other Porsche factory drivers 
trained six to eight hours each day for a week, including hours of running, 
cycling, weights and agility training.
 
"It was good for team spirit," Rockenfeller noted. "It was hard, but good 
preparation for the season. We are all fit and everyone knows that's very 
important, especially for Sebring. I heard it's harder than Le Mans - 12 hours at 
Sebring is like 24 hours at Le Mans."

second shot

Peter Baron will introduce a new slingshot at Sebring. His giant slingshot, 
made of strong rubber tubing, has become a Le Mans tradition, as he catapults 
thousands of t-shirts across the track to fans in the grandstands. He says the 
slingshot now is ready for U.S. tracks.

"Our results from pre-season testing have shown our accuracy and distance 
have both been improved by more than 50 per cent," he said. "We're confident we 
can reach new groups of fans, which has never been done before with ordinary 
surgical tubing."

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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945