March        ALMS 2007 The GT2 Battle Ahead Porsche v Ferrari
March marks the start of the American Lemans Series with the opening race, The Twelve Hours of Sebring. Like many race series over the past years Porsche have dominated in the GT2 class and have made up more than 50% of the starting grid, unfortunately like the Le Mans Series and the 2007 24 Hour Le Mans race itself Porsche will not be dominating the grid at the ALMS opener for 2007. In 2006 Porsche teams with their then aging 911 GT3 RSR's struggled to keep up to the pace of the new 2006 430 GT Ferrari. Porsche even lost out to Panoz in the 2006 24 Hours Le Mans race, the first time Porsche failed to take a top spot class finish for over a decade. Above the new 997 GT3 RSR at Spa 2006 With the launch of the new Porsche GT2 race car at Spa in 2006 the 977 GT3 RSR,  Porsche where hoping that that more GT teams would  opt to race the new car in 2007, unfortunately this was not the case and to add salt to the wounds even seasoned Porsche Teams like Petersen Motorsports White Lightning Racing (Right) decided to opt out of the Porsche package and change to racing the Ferrari 430 for 2007. Although the new 977 GT3 RS was very impressive and successful at Spa last year the Twelve Hours of Sebring will be the real test bed for Porsche against Ferrari not only that the Porsche was very fast in testing earlier this year but unfortunately not all the Ferrari teams tested their cars so we where left without a clear picture of how the cars will compare on the track together. Porsche and Ferrari have had many battles over the years and given us some of the most spectacular finishes at Le mans and many other races. This year the two sports car manufactures will going head to head in a battle that should keep each team on their toes all season. First year for Tafel Racing For a first-year effort in the American Le Mans Series, Tafel Racing had an extraordinary week at Sebring last week for the Series' three-day test session. The Cumming, GA-based team posted the fastest time among all GT2 cars during the week with one of its new Porsche 997 RSR racers, both of which will contest the full season beginning with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17. Apart from the two-car effort in the American Le Mans Series, there also is a matter of participating in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The program already has the green light. The Move form Porsche to Ferrari The move to the Ferrari F430 GT follows a long and successful history with Porsche. Since 1998, Petersen/White Lightning has campaigned Porsche 911-derived cars capturing 17 class wins, more than 20 podiums and prestigious victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (twice), 24 Hours at Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans (twice). And has won nine American Le Mans Series GT2 races. Petersen/White Lightning, also competed in its first Euromilhoes Dakar rally coming home in 23rd overall position in this year’s event, an impressive result for a team in its debut at “The Dakar”. Each year the number of Porsche Teams has reduced, back in 2004 their where seven Porsche teams with some teams fielding not one but two cars making a grand total of Twelve Porsche's in the GT2 field. This year only three teams will be racing the new Porsche 977 GT3 RSR for the full season, Flying Lizards will be racing two cars, Tafel Racing will also be racing two cars and Rahal Letermans Racing will be racing just the one, a grand total of only five. Farnbacher Loles and Team Trans Sport will be racing at Sebring but have not committed themselves for the full season. Make no mistake the 2007 American Lemans Series will be a real thriller to watch and and should be a battle that will go on to last race of season at Laguna Seca. I am not a betting man but I predict that the championship title will be won by The Flying Lizards or Petersen White lightning, Flying lizards came very close last year and will be fielding two Porsche's again in 2007 also for the first time in the teams history Petersen White Lightning (PWL) will also be fielding two cars. The second car of PWL will feature the same graphics but the opposite way round (Below) Below the Tafel Racing Team Crew work on the new 997 GT3 RSR during testing at Sebring back in January		porschesport.com Home News Porsche Art Links Contact us Forum Merchandise Monthly Feature Race Cars For Sale Rahal Letterman Racing to race in 2007 ALMS Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) (Below) announced this year a partnership with Bell Microproducts, a value-added distributor of a wide range of high-tech products, solutions and services, as the principal sponsor of its 2007 American Le Mans Series GT2 entry. RLR's Bell Microproducts Porsche GT2 entry will make its debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March, and will be piloted by veteran sports car drivers Ralf Kelleners and Tom Milner. Past Competition Not only have seasoned teams changed from Porsche to Ferrari but over the past years some big Porsche teams like J3 Racing, Bam Motorsports, The Racers Group, Pk Sport, Kyser Racing, Seikel Motorsports and for the first time in the ALMS history Alex Job racing pulled the plug on the series for 2007 DRAMATIC FINISHES, UPSETS ARE SEBRING TRADEMARKS After 1,184 miles of racing over 12 hours, negotiating 5,440 turns and making more than 7,000 gear shifts, the GT2 class at last year's Sebring 12-hour classic was decided by a margin of just five seconds. The 55th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 17th, will add yet another chapter in the history of this legendary event, second only to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in international prestige. Expect epic down-to-the-wire battles at Sebring. Over the past eight years, five times the overall victory margin at Sebring was less than 40 seconds. With four different classes of competition and a world-class field of cars and drivers, expect non-stop action on Sebring 3.7 mile, 17-turn circuit. The 2007 American Le Mans Series opens with the 55th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17 at Sebring International Raceway. The green flag will fall shortly after 10 a.m. with SPEED and Motors TV providing live coverage. The race also will be broadcast by American Le Mans Radio with IMSA Live Timing & Scoring available by clicking on the ALMS logo above.