This time next week we will witness one of the most eagerly anticipated motorsport  contests held in a long time. The 12 Hours of Sebring which is run round the old B17 bomber training base in the Central Highlands of Florida has become arguably the second most important date on the global sportscar/endurance calendar. At the sharp end there will be a mighty tussle betweeen factory efforts from Audi, Peugeot and Acura. We know what the French will bring to the table with their Stealth Bomber meets the Batmobile diesel powered 908s. They will have made minimal technical changes since the curious decision to fire designer Paolo Catone last September. Audi will have their brand new R15 making its debut but in typical fashion they have kept their cards close to their chest. We are now finding out that the powerplant is a V10 5.5 litre diesel and the balance of the car's specification will dripfeed out next week.

This is in complete contrast to the way that Acura have gone about things.

No "security theatre" so beloved of factory teams, no mechanics holding blankets or covers over the car to conceal the workings from observers. All completely pointless in the real world as their opponents will have a pretty good idea of what technology is being used from the first moment they see the car on the track. Acura took a completely different, more mature approach and invited the press to attend a reveal during the ALMS Sebring Winter Test.

Here they took the bodywork panels off and let everyone fill their boots with photos. They answered questions, helped to guide the less sure along the path to enlightenment and generally treated the project as an extension of their marketing campaign. Who would have thought that working with the press rather than treating them as enemies might ever catch on?

Back on track and in the pits the same openess was the style of the Patron Highcroft team.

So what do we see when we look closely at the ARX-02a? In simple terms we have a petrol powered light weight sportscar, which strives to maximise its handling and agilty to fight against the power and torque advantages of the French and German turbocharged diesels.

Why take this route when the conventional wisdom at the present is to stick a diesel in the back of the car and let the laws of physics do the rest? Well necessity is the mother of invention they say. Time and ultimately budget constraints would not allow the development of either diesel, hybrid or turbocharged solutions and therefore enlarging the existing LMP2 engine to 4 litres was the best choice.

The V8 engine, designated LM-AR7, is a development of the 2006 IRL unit that never raced. The engine has certain characteristics that have driven the overall design of the car in a particular direction. Although it will never match the torque of the oil burners, using high revs it will match their power output, though this brings potential reliabilty issues as the unit has a flat-plane crank. On the other hand the combination of compact size and low weight means that a radical approach can be taken with the balance of the car.

The most obvious change to a conventional approach is the use of rear wheel sizes at the front. This gives around 7% more rubber in contact with the track but in order for this to be exploited properly weight and downforce have to be transfered forward, this is made possible with the physical properties of the V8. It did not escape the management of the project that overall victories on North American tracks were likely by nimble LMP2 Porsches and indeed Acruras during 2007 and 2008. So that philosophy was carried over to the ARX-02a.

Another potential gain in the arrangement was explained to me by Hans Reiter, designer/constructor of the new Lamborghini Gallardo GT2, which has the same one wheel size configuration. There are plans to restrict the mechanics changing the tyres to two rather than four as is the case now, so the time lost in the pits will wipe out any advantage from sticking new rubber on, better then to get maximum performance from the boots on the car from the start.

The car is based on a Courage LC70/LC75 tub that was used by the Japanese company to race in the ALMS LMP2 calss over the past two seasons. It has been extensively developed and is now homologated as an Acura. The designer of the car is Nick Wirth who is well known from his time Formula One with Simtek and Benneton.

Wirth and his team have put a huge amount of time into developing the aerodynamic and handling package for the car, some 15 days in the wind tunnel at Indianapolis. This was supported by extensive use of CFD modelling, Wirth Research being one of the leading exponents of the application of this technology in the world.

The lead driver, David Brabham, explained to me last year that the set up and performance of the car could be made using CFD and that it was accurate to 1/10th of a second at a track like Lime Rock. Impressive stuff.

Topping off all the engineering talent is a driver line up to match. For Sebring, regulars David Brabham and Scott Sharp are joined by Indy 500 winner, Dario Franchitti, a combination that is as strong as any in the field.

There is a second Acura ARX-02a in the field at Sebring and indeed for the whole of the 2009 ALMS season. The guest driver is 2008 IRL Champion, Scott Dixon who will join team boss Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud, another top quality line up.

However as can be seen from the amount of visual material in this feature the Patron Highcroft Racing team really has its act together, hardly a surprise who photographic maestro, Rick Dole, is joined by a PR man of the calibre of Paul Ryan.

The whole team ethos is race hard, play hard, as shown above.

How will the Acura go in the race? Well Sebring is notorious as a car breaker, that's why Peugeot who have zero presence in North American are there for the second year. Both Audi and Acura have new cars so that should count against them but the standard of preparation exhibited by the factory teams is so high that it would be hard to imagine that at least one of each brand will not get a run to the flag. So a titanic battle is in prospect.

If there is anyway you can get along to see it youi should, events like this do not happen very often.

Tickets are still on sale though http://www.sebringraceway.com/

John Brooks 

Images courtsey of Rick Dole/Patron Hightcroft Racing

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