|
Tafel Racing Takes Epic Ferrari vs. Porsche Battle to Road America for Four Hour Enduro |
|
Saturday, 02 August 2008 |
|
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc., August 1, 2008 - If one were to dream of the perfect, traditional-style road course, they would likely picture Road America. Fast, technical and tree-lined, Road America conjures images of dramatic battles of bygone eras. Few settings seem more appropriate to continue the epic Ferrari versus Porsche struggle for sports car supremacy than the four hour Generac 500 at Road America on August 9. Tafel Racing again enters a pair of Italian exotics that have lifted the "prancing horse" above its German rival on three occasions already this season. Fresh off a victory at Mid-Ohio on July 19, the No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Racing Ferrari F430 GTC shared by second-year team driver Dominik Farnbacher (Ansbach, Germany) and 2000 GT2 Series champion Dirk Müller (a native of Germany now living in Monaco) will be working to add the team's first American Le Mans Series endurance victory to its resume. Meanwhile, the sister car of Alex Figge (Denver) and Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) will target the first career GT2 podium for the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC. Both will fight a full field of GT2 competitors while besieged by a large consortium of prototypes on the classic circuit.
The Mid-Ohio victory, the No. 71 Bell Micro Ferrari's third of the season, showed that the Cumming, Ga.- based team could prosper at both the tight street circuits - their first two victories came on temporary courses at St. Petersburg, Fla. and Long Beach, Calif. - and the permanent road courses. Road America is the definition of permanent and traditional placing it among the elite, and fastest, circuits in the world with long straights, narrow turns and elevation changes. The demand on the drivers is intense. That pressure is equaled by the engineers who need to set up for a wide variety of corners balanced with outright speed and the need to reach the finish. Magnifying the trial is the requirement to keep the car competitive over the duration of the four hours. The track design itself offers both the mid-engine Ferrari and the rear- engine Porsche advantages and disadvantages suggesting another striking clash between the two legends.
The Generac 500 is the first "endurance" event on the American Le Mans Series schedule since the season- opening 12 Hours of Sebring - where the No. 73 Ferrari finished fourth, the No. 71 Bell Micro Ferrari seventh. However, with endurance races - events of four hours or greater - accounting for three of the remaining five races of the 11 stop season, a premium has been placed on balancing speed with reliability in the championship. However, at four hours in length, the Road America race leans more closely to an all-out sprint than an endurance event. The Generac 500 is one hour and 15-minutes longer than the traditional "sprint" race. Rounds eight and nine (Mosport and Detroit respectively) will hold to the traditional sprint format while the final two races will be the 1,000 mile/10 hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta and the four hour Monterey Sports Car Championship season-finale at Raceway Laguna Seca.
The Elkhart, Lake, Wisc. track first joined the American Le Mans Series in 2002 and became the second four hour endurance event on the schedule in 2007. Tafel Racing came to the 4.048-mile, 14-turn facility north of Milwaukee for the first time last year finishing on an American Le Mans Series podium for the second time in its first season in the Series.
|
|
Read more... [Tafel Racing Takes Epic Ferrari vs. Porsche Battle to Road America for Four Hour Enduro]
|
|
|
Tafel Racing and Watchmaker Ulysse Nardin Announce 2008 Partnership |
|
Tuesday, 29 July 2008 |
|
ATLANTA, July 29, 2008 - Tafel Racing and Swiss watchmaker Ulysse Nardin introduced a marketing partnership today for the remainder of the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. Team principal Jim Tafel (Alpharetta, Ga.) announced the relationship between the Le Locle, Switzerland timepiece artisans and the Cumming, Ga.- based race team for both 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), and the No. 73 Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 GTC raced by Jim Tafel and Alex Figge (Denver, Col.). The 160 year-old company becomes the official timepiece maker for GT2 class race team with season-long partner East Coast Jewelry continuing its role as official jeweler and watch retailer to the three-time American Le Mans Series race-winning team.
Ulysse Nardin (www.Ulysse-Nardin.com) joins other industry leaders at Tafel Racing including Bell Microproducts - an industry- recognized specialist in computer storage products; SolidWorks - the leading 3D CAD software solution worldwide; Under Armour - originators of performance, athletic apparel; Mother's - premium- grade polishes, waxes and cleaners; Ringer's Gloves - mechanic and specialty glove manufacturer; and Justice Brothers - worldwide distributor of car care products, fleet, farm, and industrial lubricants and cleaners. Technical partners with the Tony Dowe (Cumming, Ga.) directed team include Ferrari, Michelin Tires, BBS Wheels and Hella Inc. - providing aftermarket and special OE support to automotive, marine, consumer and heavy-duty lightning systems.
|
|
Read more... [Tafel Racing and Watchmaker Ulysse Nardin Announce 2008 Partnership]
|
|
|
No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Wins Mid-Ohio GT2; No. 73 Brings Home 8th |
|
Saturday, 19 July 2008 |
|
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.
|
|
Read more... [No. 71 Tafel/Bell Micro Wins Mid-Ohio GT2; No. 73 Brings Home 8th]
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
| Results 17 - 24 of 125 |
