2003 Sebring International Raceway

2003 was the fifth season for the American Le Mans Series. The rules for the series followed those of the legendary 24 Hour of Le Mans which meant there were four classes.

Le Mans Prototype 900 (LMP900) – These were the purpose-built race cars powered by a 6.0-liter normally aspirated or 4.0-liter turbocharged engine. The vehicles could weigh no less than 900-kilograms. Audi supported two teams. Privateers entered cars manufactured by Riley & Scott, Lola, Dallara and Panoz.
Le Mans Prototype 675 (LMP675) – Introduced in 2001 was the LMP675 class for cars that could weigh no less than 675-kilograms. The rules for the vehicles were written so that the two LMP classes (LMP900 and LMP675) would contend for the overall win.
Grand Touring Sport (GTS) – This class included production-based cars such as the Dodge Viper GTS-R, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Saleen S7-R and Ferrari 550 Maranello. The vehicles were permitted to use 8.0-liter normally aspirated or 4.0-liter turbocharged engines. These cars could weigh no less than 1,100-kilograms.
Grand Touring (GT) – The GT cars were also restricted to a 1,100-kilogram weight rule. This category also included production-based vehicles. Competitors raced cars such as the BMW M3, Porsche GT3RS and Ferrari 360 Modena. Unlike the GTS entries, teams in this category could not use carbon fiber brakes.

The ALMS schedule included nine North American events in 2003. The opening round was the 12 Hours of Sebring. It was followed by the first of two races at Road Atlanta, Sonoma and the series second visit to Trois Rivieres. The second Canadian event was held at Mosport, next up was Road America, then Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the Miami street circuit.

The final race of the 2003 American Le Mans Series season was Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. This event would determine many driving, team and manufacturer titles. It was also a qualifying event for the 2004 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the class winners receiving automatic invitations to compete in the French classic.

Sebring would mark the opening race of the 2003 American Le Mans Series season. Drivers would compete for twelve-hours around the seventeen-turn 3.74-mile road course in the 51st Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

With three consecutive victories at the 12-Hours of Sebring in would be difficult to bet against an Audi R8 not winning. Frank Biela was third quickest in qualifying but inherited the pole when the two Bentley Speed 8s were sent to the back of the grid for a rear diffuser issue. Sharing the Team Joest Audi R8 with Biela were Marco Werner and Philipp Peter. During the race, they battled with the Champion Audi but came out on top.

Three GT drivers beat the existing GT track record in qualifying. One of them was Sascha Maassen who was third quickest driving the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3RS. Maassen’s co-driver for the event was Lucas Luhr. During the race, the pair was challenged for the class lead by the White Lightning Racing Porsche. The duo was eventually able to pull away from the White Lightning team and won by a one-lap margin.

Claiming victory in the LMP675 category was the No. 20 Dyson Racing entry driven by Chris Dyson, Chad Block and 2001 class champion, Didier de Radigues. The team’s Lola EX257 would start fourth in class. During the race, the trio encountered a number of problems which included returning to the paddock for repairs to the suspension. But in the end, they had fewer issues and completed more laps than their competition.

The defending race winners, Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell along with Frank Freon won this year’s GTS category by a comfortable sixteen-lap margin. Ron Fellows performed the qualifying duties for the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C5.R and was second in GTS. Early in the race, their teammates and the No. 80 Ferrari battle for the lead. Mechanical issues took the two main combatants out of contention and gave the No. 3 Corvette the victory.

The Bentley Team became the favourites to win when they set the quickest time in the opening practice session – two-seconds faster than the defending race winners from Audi. The two Bentley Speed 8s qualified first and second, however, they were sent to the back of the grid after their rear diffusers failed technical inspection. The two entries drove through the field with the No. 8 Bentley finishing third overall and first in LMP GTP.

The DBA4-03S competed in the LMP675 category. Driving the car during qualifying was John Nielsen who was fifth fastest but would start second in class. Sharing the DBA4-03S with sports car veteran, Nielsen was Japanese driver, Hayanari Shimoda. Nielsen inherited the lead on lap-6 when James Weaver encountered problems. However, their race only lasted four hours. They finished third, despite suffering a mechanical issue.

The White Lightning Racing Porsche GT3RS shared by Johnny Mowlem, Nic Jonsson and Craig Stanton started fourth in the GT category. After twelve hours of competition, the trio finished second in class. However, they failed the post-race technical inspection. It was alleged that the fuel capacity of the car exceeded 100-liters. The team appealed and were reinstated after the procedure for measuring the fuel cell was challenged.

Another contender benefitting from Team Bentley’s technical infraction was Champion Racing. The No. 38 Audi R8 shared by J.J. Lehto, Emanuele Pirro and Stefan Johansson would start second. During the twelve hours, the trio traded the top spot with the Team Joest Audi R8. An early pit-stop in the final ninety-minutes put them behind their competition. Unable to close the gap, they finished second – 13.493-seconds behind the winners.

The German team, Seikel Motorsport winners of the 2001 24-Hours of Le Mans entered two Porsche GT3RS. The quicker of the pair was No. 53 Porsche shared by Gabrio Rosa, Andrea Chiesa and former Formula One driver, Alex Caffi. They were gridded forty-third overall and eighteenth in the GT category. The trio ran a consistent pace and relatively trouble-free race. At the checkered flag, they were third in class.

There were three Ferrari 550 Maranellos entered in the GTS class but they were no match for the Corvettes. The quickest in qualifying was the No. 80 Ferrari shared by Darren Turner, Kelvin Burt and Anthony Davidson. They were gridded eighteenth overall for the start. During the race, the team fought the No. 4 Corvette for first in class. A series of issues took them out of contention and resulted in a runner-up place finish.

American Viperacing which had campaigned two Dodge Viper GTS.R the last couple of seasons was scaling back to one Viper but entering the new Pagani Zonda. Competing in the GTS category, the Zonda is manufactured at the Pagani factory in Modena, Italy. The car is powered by a V12 Mercedes-Benz engine. Unfortunately, the Zonda did not have an impressive debut. Drivers, Mike Hezemans and Anthony Kumpen, retired after six laps.

Sharing the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C5.R were Oliver Gavin, Kelly Collins and Andy Pilgrim. Gavin grabbed the GTS pole with the team started fifteenth overall. Early in the event, the team swapped the class lead with the No. 80 Ferrari. They were able to ‘shake off’ the Ferrari and their teammates to build a comfortable lead. Unfortunately, the trio retired with a transmission failure but completed enough laps to finish third.

Dyson Racing made their LMP675 debut at Mosport last season. The new Lola EX257 proved to be quick but unreliable. Despite the Lola’s lack of dependability, drivers of the No. 16 car, James Weaver, Andy Wallace and Butch Leitzinger were favoured to take the class win. In qualifying, Weaver won the LMP675 pole. He jumped into the lead but on lap-6 a steering rack issue resulted in a lengthy repair and took the team out of contention.

Timo Bernhard captured the GT pole driving an Alex Job Racing-prepared Porsche GT3RS. Sharing the Porsche with Bernhard was Jorg Bergmeister. The No. 24 car jumped into an early lead - followed by their teammates and the White Lightning entry. After just two hours into the race, they pitted with a transmission oil cooler problem. They lost over thirty-minutes for repairs but were able to return to the race and finish fifth in class.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	LMP900	Biela / Werner / Peter	Audi R8	Infineon Team Joest	367	-
2	LMP900	Lehto / Johansson / Pirro	Audi R8	Champion Racing	367	-
3	LMPGTP	Herbert / Brabham / Blundell	Bentley Speed 8	Team Bentley	363	-
4	LMPGTP	Smith / Capello / Kristensen	Bentley Speed 8	Team Bentley	362	-
5	LMP900	Beretta / Jeannette / Papis	Panoz LMP 01	JML Team Panoz	352	-
6	LMP900	Salo / Kane / McCarthy	Audi R8	Audi Sport UK	351	-
7	LMP900	Theys / Lienhard / van de Poele	Dallara SP1	Doran Lista Racing	336	-
8	GTS	Fellows / O'Connell / Freon	Chevrolet Corvette	Corvette Racing	332	-
9	LMP900	Maxwell / Graham / Leuenberger	Panoz LMP 01	JML Team Panoz	324	-
10	GT	Maassen / Luhr	Porsche GT3RS	Alex Job Racing	320	-
11	GT	Mowlem / Stanton / Jonsson	Porsche GT3RS	White Lightning	319	-
12	LMP900	Lewis / Drissi / Cosmo	Riley & Scott MKIIIC	American Spirit Racing	318	-
13	GTS	Turner / Burt / Davidson	Ferrari 550	Prodrive	316	-
14	GT	Rosa / Caffi / Chiesa	Porsche GT3R	Seikel Motorsport	312	-
15	GT	Gregoire / Babini / Pescatori	Ferrari 360 GT	JMB Racing	311	-
16	LMP900	Andrews / Keen / Oberto	Lola B2K/10	Taurus Sports Racing	307	-
17	GT	Bernhard / Bergmeister	Porsche GT3RS	Alex Job Racing	307	-
18	LMP675	de Radigues / Block / Dyson	Lola EX257	Dyson Racing	306	-
19	GT	Gleason / Wagner / Bunting	Porsche GT3RS	The Racer's Group	299	-
20	GT	Barff / Hay / Stanton	TVR Tuscan T400R	DeWalt Racesport	297	-
21	GT	Buckler / Pace / Salazar	Porsche GT3RS	The Racer's Group	293	-
22	GT	Fitzgerald / Policastro / Policastro	Porsche GT3RS	Orbit Racing	292	-
23	GT	Pumpelly / Lally / Ivankovich	Porsche GT3RS	Zip Racing	290	-
24	GT	Rice / Ehret / Schrom	Porsche GT3RS	The Racer's Group	288	-
25	LMP900	Matthews / Goossens / Magnussen	Riley & Scott MKIIIC	Jim Matthews Racing	284	Mechanical
26	GTS	Gavin / Collins / Pilgrim	Chevrolet Corvette	Corvette Racing	283	Mechnical
27	GT	Earle / Manfredi / Garbagnati	Ferrari 360 GT	JMB Racing	283	-
28	GTS	Belloc / Weickardt / Altenburg	Dodge Viper GTS-R	Carsport America	280	Mechanical
29	GT	Lloyd / Collin / Shep	Porsche GT3RS	Seikel Motorsport	278	Transmission
30	LMP675	Field / Dayton / Durand	Lola EX257	Intersport Racing	266	-
31	GT	Forgeois / Clark / Vance	Porsche GT3RS	T2M Motorsport	263	Suspension
32	GTS	Konrad / Nearn / Seiler	Saleen S7.R	Konrad Motorsport	249	-
33	GTS	Davies / Kox / Enge	Ferrari 550	Prodrive	245	Clutch
34	GT	Franchitti / McGarrity	Ferrari 360 GT	Risi Competizione	243	Accident
35	GT	Donaldson / Hayden / Fisken	Porsche GT3RS	P.K. Sport	240	-
36	GT	Zacharias / Lewis / Davis	Ferrari 360 GT	ACEMCO Motorsports	233	Transmission
37	GT	Said / Jones / de Quesada	BMW M3	Alegra Motorsports	141	Engine
38	GT	Foster / Nyberg / Skelton	Porsche GT3RS	Hyper Sport	125	Driveshaft
39	GT	Simon / Hugenholtz / van Schoote	Spyker C8 12R	Spyker Squadron	103	Engine
40	GTS	Erdos / Chaves / Pickering	Saleen S7.R	Graham Nash Motorsport	97	Transmission
41	GT	Liddell / Masarati / Warnock	Porsche GT3RS	P.K. Sport	74	Engine
42	LMP675	Shimoda / Nielsen	WR LMP-02	RN Motorsports	73	Mechanical
43	LMP900	James / Roussel / Ziegelman	Norma M2000-2	Sezio Florida Racing Team	71	Transmission
44	GT	Daoudi / Lechner, Jr. / Fomenko	Porsche GT3RS	RWX-Yukos Motorsport	70	Engine
45	GTS	Naspetti/Cecotto/Schiattarella	Ferrari 550	Team Olive Garden	59	Transmission
46	GT	Murry / Jackson / Cunningham	Porsche GT3RS	J-3 Racing	57	Mechanical
47	LMP675	Devlin / Workman / Paterson	Lola B2K/40	Marshall Cooke Racing	50	Engine
48	GT	Borcheller / Kelleners / Lazzaro	Ferrari 360 GT	Risi Competizione	39	Wheel
49	LMP675	Weaver / Leitzinger / Wallace	Lola EX257	Dyson Racing	39	Steering
50	LMP675	Willman / Bucknum / McMurry	Pilbeam MP91	Team Bucknum	37	Electrical
51	GT	Baron / Lieb / Hindery	Porsche GT3RS	Orbit Racing	26	Engine
52	LMP900	Dumas / Herta / Stirling	Reynard 01Q	Team Nasamax	14	Engine
53	LMP900	Campbell-Walter / McKellar, Jr.	Lister Storm LMP	Lister Storm Racing	10	Engine
54	GTS	Hezemans / Kumpen	Pagani Zonda GR	Carsport America	6	Engine
55	LMP900	Field / Sutherland / Macaluso	Lola B2K/10	Intersport Racing	196	Disqualified

Copyright Notice:

All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.