Orbit & partner BAM! - Le Mans final qual

Thursday 10 June
final qualifying

Orbit Racing, in partnership with BAM! ( British American Motorsport), will 
start third on the GT grid for this weekend's 24 Heures du Mans. Mike 
Rockenfeller qualified the No. 87 YES Network Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with a lap time of 
four minutes 9.079 seconds on the 13.65-km circuit. His first qualifying attempt 
was hampered by an adjustable spring on the right-front suspension that 
locked, and by two prototype cars that slowed in front of him. His second run was 
quicker, but just short of improving his position. Leo Hindery and Marc Lieb 
will share driving duty with Rockenfeller through the 24-hour race.

"We are third on the grid; obviously, I'm not happy," Rockenfeller said. "It 
felt like it was a good car for pole. I had traffic in the chicane, [costing] 
maybe three or four tenths, but I still thought it was a good lap. I don't 
know why, I have to look at the data and maybe I'll see where I lost the time. 
The guys did a great job and the car felt good, but I don't know why it was so 
slow."

Brit power

The Two Wheel All Terrain Society of Great Britain is providing major fan 
support for Orbit Racing and team partner BAM! at Le Mans. The group created a 
stir across from the team pit during qualifying, with loud horns, bright yellow 
shirts and huge banners. In preparation for the race, the group posted a poll 
on its website (the-twats.com). Despite the best efforts of the rival 
Freisinger Motorsport fan club, the YES Network Porsche emerged as the GT favorite. 
The team hopes the poll is accurate ...

tech talk

Les 24 Heures du Mans will be the first 24-hour race for the new Porsche 911 
GT3 RSR. The car features "massive improvements", according to Uwe Brettel, 
president of Porsche Motorsport North America, including aerodynamic changes, a 
sequential gearbox, better brakes and a new suspension.

"It has better balance and it's better to drive, more accurate," he said. 
"We're quite sure the RSR will be very good here. So far, at the other race 
tracks we've raced this year, we've seen an improvement in lap times. There is no 
race track in America you can compare to Le Mans, so it's something unique. The 
cars are designed for all sports-car racing, but if Porsche designs a car, 
the baseline is also to do Le Mans. If a car is really good for customer sport, 
it has to be a compromise for all requirements and tracks, but Le Mans is most 
important for marketing value."

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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945