Action Express Racing Completes a Successful 2 Day Test at Sebring
Action Express Racing completed successfully the IMSA sanctioned test at Sebring International Raceway. The teams Mustang Sampling and Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototypes both turned laps in the two-day session at the historic central Florida airfield turned raceway.
The two on-track sessions Thursday morning saw the North Carolina based team picking up in a familiar position, with the team placing both Corvette DPs at the top of the charts. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering DP paced the first session with Dane Cameron, Eric Curran and Scott Pruett with a lap of 1:52.306. The Mustang Sampling DP placed second on the charts with Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque with a 1:52.421.
In the Thursday afternoon session, the Mustang Sampling DP claimed the top-spot with a 1:51.965 turned in by Portuguese driver Filipe Albuquerque. The Whelen Engineering DP was second with a lap of 1:52.191.
"I felt very comfortable with the car from the beginning today," said Albuquerque. "Definitely a different feel with these Continental Tires, and more downforce to the car helped me. Certainly coming from my other cars with a lot of downforce I really like that feel. Sebring is always very special for everyone. In the beginning I was finding myself with all the bumps, but after a few laps I was in a pretty good rhythm and enjoying like hell this track."
Following his first laps around Sebring International Raceway, veteran Scott Pruett was all smiles when asked about the Whelen Engineering Corvette DPs performance around the weathered surface.
"We each got a couple runs this morning, just a way to get all the drivers fitted to the car," said Pruett. "I can tell you it's nice to have a car that can get through the bumps around this track, that's the biggest thing I noticed right away. Without a doubt one of the most stable cars I've driven around here which makes this track a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to tomorrow but so far so good."
The team took a slightly different approach on Friday morning as much of their objectives had been accomplished on Thursday afternoon. First sending the Whelen Engineering Corvette DP onto the track for the sessions opening hour, and then the Mustang Sampling Corvette DP for the next hour.
In the final session of the two-day test, Scott Pruett jumped into the Mustang Sampling Corvette DP to log some valuable laps in the car he piloted for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Team manager Gary Nelson described the decision.
"Whenever you prepare for a long, grueling endurance race you want to have options available to you," said Nelson. "Certainly having a veteran driver like Scott, he can adapt quickly to jumping between cars, particularly when ours are as close to identical as what they are, so we just wanted him to have laps in both cars should the need arise for him to pilot the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP in the 12 hours."
Following the two-day test, Whelen Engineering Corvette DP driver Eric Curran felt confident in the team's chances to compete for a second consecutive victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
"We had a really good Whelen Engineering Corvette DP right off the truck," said Curran. "When we unloaded we had a green race track with all the rain on Wednesday, but as the track rubbered up and we got closer to race like conditions, our car was still really good. We should be in a great position to compete for the win in a few weeks."
The Mustang Sampling Corvette DP led the final session of the day with a lap of 1:51.989, a lap turned by Brazilian driver Christian Fittipaldi.
Missing from the Action Express Racing driving lineup was defending series champion João Barbosa. The Portuguese driver and Florida resident was on hand to take part in the team's debrief sessions and spent time on the scoring stand taking in as much information as he could to prepare for the event.
"It's certainly no fun being at the track and not being able to drive our Mustang Sampling Chevrolet Corvette DP," said Barbosa. "The car has been fast for most of the test and Filipe (Albuquerque) and Christian (Fittipaldi) have been able to get in quite a few laps and provide the team with some good data to help us prepare for the 12 hours in a few weeks.
"The perspective has not changed for me much not being in the car, we usually get plenty of time to sit on the box during a test and watch what the other drivers are doing in the car. I just know that it's not as much fun as getting to drive."
Action Express Racing will return to Sebring International Raceway March 17-19 in hopes of defending their 2015 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victory. The win last season ended a 50-year drought in overall victories for Chevrolet, as Corvette DPs swept the podium in North Amercia's oldest endurance race.
Contact:
kzimmerman@hi-revracing.com
