Sebring ALMS Race

Sorry to all our rabid fans (cough, Yokohama employees, cough) that were anxiously waiting for the Sebring installment, but I have been swamped at the office and trying to get in as much snowboarding as possible before the snow melts. So without further ado.

What I forgot to bring: Baby powder for the feet, I love the dirty South

What I brought but did not use: Used everything (sometimes more than once) since we were there for so dang long.

Worst Sky Mall Item: SkiZ– See above, I have to laugh at this since as a snowboarder I can walk in my boots and carry my own gear, suckas

Best Sky Mall Item: Litter Kwitter – should be classified as worst item but the image in the ad moves it all the way across the spectrum

Now for the race info:

The big show was kind of a bummer for the GT2 team of the Yokohama-equipped RSR Jaguar. If you were watching the race on SPEED, you got to see the Jag loosing its fluids about every twenty minutes for 12 hours on the recap section. If only they zoomed out a little, we could have had the Yokohama logo on there for the repetition effect. But from a marketing aspect the car was a hit, it was on the cover of the program, the poster and everyone was talking about it. And the guys on the team really worked hard to keep the car going.

Ahhh, the growing pains of the first year. To put it in perspective, last year one of the BMW’s would not fire up at the Start Line at its second race That same car took Second place at Sebring this year so back off naysayers!

One of the other “rookie” cars did not fare well during the race either. Sorry to my friends at Falken, but I just happen to have my camera ready when it drove through the pits. Plus it was framed with a wall full of Yokohama banners.

For us the highlight of Sebring was the official debut of the season-long GTC class. And what a way to start, the good people at Alex Job Racing swept the podium . For us tire guys, this is a huge compliment: "The car ran great," Kelly said. "We were able to double stint our tires. “

To double stint tires means confidence in the product by the team and the driver because even in a 12-hour race the time to put in an extra pit stop can mean not making it to the podium. So thanks guys!

We also had the first two sessions of the Patron GT3 Challenge by Yokohama which were great and a press conference and a video shoot and as for all the shenanigans that went on during a week spent in Sebring that will have to wait for another post.

Although here is a picture of Ad Visor and I enjoying some down time during the race. Things to notice, delicious Mission Food products (a proud sponsor of one of the GTC cars), my comfortable shoes (c’mon Adidas, I need shoe deal!) and the motor oil ready to go (not the official track tip, but remember…be prepared)

Track Tip:

The grease pen is your best friend! Why because it can do anything and can help you out. See it in action used to mark where the air valve is on the tire for quick pressure checks. Much easier to spot when you are jumping out of a car after a run to take a pressure check, huh!


Can’t find you notepad, left it in the car, don’t have one? Write it down on the ground, grease pens can do that! You can come back to it and add it to your notebook when you have time. Genius!

Notice that I am not even going into the grease pen for set up use because there is a great article in the April 2010 issue of Roundel magazine for you to read on the topic.


That is all for now. Long Beach is right around the corner.