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No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Wins Mid-Ohio GT2; No. 73 Brings Home 8th |
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Saturday, 19 July 2008 |
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LEXINGTON, Ohio, July 19, 2008 - Tafel Racing collected its third American Le Mans Series GT2 class victory today in the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. The No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC of Dirk Müller (a native of Germany living in Monaco) and Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) were rewarded with their third victory of the season - joining wins at St. Petersburg, Fla. and Long Beach, Calif. - after a brilliant pit strategy call jumped the car from fourth into a one lap lead with the team's first of two pit stops. The No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC co-driven by Alex Figge (Denver, Col.) and Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) made a sizeable leap through the field gaining four positions from their starting spot to finish eighth on the 2.25-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Tafel-Bell Micro on Mid-Ohio Podium No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC
Drivers: Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany), Dirk Müller (a native of Germany now living in Monaco)
The Bell Micro Ferrari brought home a victory after being at or near the top of the GT2 time sheets all weekend. Dominik Farnbacher, who qualified the car fourth, went on to set the fastest GT2 race time. Dirk Müller set the quickest GT2 time in the final morning warm-up before the race. From fourth on the grid, Farnbacher set to work in his typical quiet but quick fashion keeping on the tail of the three leading GT2 cars. Technical Director Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.) intuitively watched the calls from other teams on pit lane and played the strategy perfectly at the race's first of four caution periods. Farnbacher entered pit lane in fourth-place handing the Bell Micro Ferrari over to Müller approximately one hour into the two hour and 45-minute race. The pit crew returned the No. 71 back on track quickly with Müller taking advantage of Dowe's race strategy to springboard from fourth into the race lead. A misstep in the strategy of competitors, compounded by pit lane troubles, would further benefit Tafel/Bell Micro giving Müller a one lap lead he would never relinquish. The No. 71 finished ninth overall in the four-class event. It was the 11th career American Le Mans Series victory for Müller, the 2000 GT2 Champion, and the third for Farnbacher. It was the first Mid-Ohio win for either driver. With victories in 50 percent of the events this season, Farnbacher and Müller have moved to within four points of the lead in the GT2 Driver Championship chase with five races remaining.
No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC
Drivers: Alex Figge (Denver, Col.), Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.)
The No. 73 Tafel Ferrari F430 GTC started 12th in today's race - the car's fourth race of the season and the third with the Jim Tafel-Alex Figge combination. Tafel took the green flag and started his attack moving up to tenth before the first caution. Strategist David Fullerton called the No. 73 into the pits at the same time as the No. 71 sister car one hour into the event. Figge returned to the track in tenth and would be holding eighth-place 20 minutes later. An extended caution and unfortunate timing of another yellow flag - which dropped the car a second lap behind - kept Figge from gaining more spots in his third race since returning to the American Le Mans Series at Salt Lake City in May. The No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari would eventually have to settle for eighth-place in class, 18th overall, two laps behind their race winning teammates of Farnbacher and Müller.
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Read more... [No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Wins Mid-Ohio GT2; No. 73 Brings Home 8th]
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No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro to Start 4th, No. 73 12th in Tight, Hot Mid-Ohio GT2 Race |
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Saturday, 19 July 2008 |
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LEXINGTON, Ohio, July 18, 2008 - With less than three-tenths of a second separating the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC in fourth-place from the pole-winning Ferrari, qualifying for tomorrow's Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge showed just how intense the two hour and 45-minute event will be. Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) driving the Bell Micro Ferrari turned a lap of one minute, 20.324 seconds to earn the outside of the second row of the GT2 grid. Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.), making his first qualifying attempt of the season, lapped the 2.25-mile long, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course at 1:24.047 to place the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC 12th in the GT2 class.
71 Tafel Ferrari profile 2000 American Le Mans Series champion Dirk Müller (a native of Germany living in Monaco) will join Farnbacher in Saturday's race as the two Germans fight for their third class victory of the season. The two victories - St. Petersburg (Fla.) and Long Beach (Calif.) - came from the fourth starting position. Open- wheel standout Alex Figge (Denver), making his return to the American Le Mans Series with Tafel Racing, will share the No. 73 Tafel Ferrari with Jim Tafel. Figge and Tafel will be sharing the car for the third time this season tomorrow.
The tight competition was only half the story during today's two practices and single, 20-minute qualifying session. The heat was equally intense for the competitors. With a cloudless sky and temperatures in the 90s (F), the temperature tried drivers' physical conditioning and the grip of the Michelin Pilot racing slicks. With conditions expected to be as hot, or hotter, than today for Saturday's 2:30 PM (ET) start, the temperature inside the cockpit could reach into triple digits inside the cockpit. With their heart rate exceeding that of a marathon runner, the drivers, wearing triple layer fire-retardant suits, will need to take additional precautions to avoid the potential impact of the summer weather.
The tight competition was only half the story during today's two practices and single, 20-minute qualifying session. The heat was equally intense for the competitors. With a cloudless sky and temperatures in the 90s (F), the temperature tried drivers' physical conditioning and the grip of the Michelin Pilot racing slicks. With conditions expected to be as hot, or hotter, than today for Saturday's 2:30 PM (ET) start, the temperature inside the cockpit could reach into triple digits inside the cockpit. With their heart rate exceeding that of a marathon runner, the drivers, wearing triple layer fire-retardant suits, will need to take additional precautions to avoid the potential impact of the summer weather.
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Tafel Racing Looking Forward to Wide-Open Mid-Ohio ALMS Weekend |
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Thursday, 17 July 2008 |
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LEXINGTON, Ohio, July 15, 2008 - Competition in the American Le Mans Series is always wide-open. Now, even at the season midpoint, everything in the GT2 class is still wide-open. Who can win on any given track? Which will be most dominant, Ferrari or Porsche? Who will prevail at the end of the season? None of these things has a forgone conclusion. While Saturday's Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge officially marks the second-half of the season, Tafel Racing attacks each weekend with the same intense focus on victory that it opened the year with in March. With two victories already this season, the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC driven by Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) and Dirk Müller (a native of Germany living in Monaco) is looking to add to its podium string in the two hour and 45-minute feature on July 19. With two races now under their belts as teammate, Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Alex Figge (Denver) are looking to the familiar confines of the Ohio track to take the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC onto its first podium of the season. Lexington's Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course provides an ideal setting for a wide-open assault for both cars.
71 at Lime Rock After last weekend's grueling battle of survival on the narrow confines of Lime Rock (Conn.) Park, Tafel Racing is looking forward to the wide-open spaces of the American Midwest. At 2.25-miles long, the 13-turn Mid-Ohio facility is three-quarters of a mile longer than the tight Lime Rock course. The difference in length, run-off room and wider track surface is like walking from a cave to a pasture for drivers trying to race in 400+ horsepower machines in four distinctly different classes. Unlike last weekend's fifth round of the 11 race season, Mid-Ohio gives drivers room to challenge for position while making way for the quicker Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) within the multi- class race.
Last weekend's race left few teams in the Series without some level of repair to be made before heading to Mid-Ohio. For Tafel Racing, Technical Director Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.) decided that the damage to the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Ferrari was too great and the work to critical to be done 'in the field'. The team opted to return to its Cumming, Ga. headquarters to mend the bodywork just behind the driver-side door. The body of the beautiful No. 73 Ferrari had already been spoiled with a hard impact into the tire barrier during Lime Rock's second practice session. The David Fullerton-led No. 73 crew worked diligently and returned the ride to Figge and Tafel by race morning warm-up. Although suffering additional battle scars during the event, the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari requires only cosmetic repairs prior to traveling to Ohio.
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Read more... [Tafel Racing Looking Forward to Wide-Open Mid-Ohio ALMS Weekend]
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