Sebring: Porsche Motorsports hour nine report

Maassen/Luhr Still Strong In Alex Job Porsche After Nine Hours At Sebring

SEBRING, Florida - March 16, 2002 - Only a couple of pit stops stand between the #23 Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche 911 GT3 RS and a second straight win in the GT class at the Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring.

After nine hours, Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr are still two laps ahead of the field in their #23 Alex Job Porsche with only three hours left. The team's #22 Porsche of Timo Bernhard/Jorg Bergmesiter/Marc Lieb are second, and the #52Seikel Motorsport Porsche of Hugh Plumb/Andrew Bagnall/Philip Collin is third. The #53 Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RS of Gabrio Rosa/Alex Caffi/Luca Riccitelli, which ran third for many hours, fell to ninth after suffering transmission problems.

The #43 Orbit Racing Porsche of Hindery/Baron/Borkowski , currently seventh in GT, has a loose drivers seat which the team plans to anchor down in the next round of pit stops.

The 50th annual Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring is being broadcast live on the Speed Channel (formerly know as Speedvision) network, with the race concluding at 10:30 PM EST. The race will be broadcast in Europe on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, March 24, at 20:00 Central European Time on the Eurosport television network. The 12-hour event is also being broadcast live online on the American Le Mans Radio Network, which can be accessed on the Web at www.americanlemans.com. That same American Le Mans Series web has live timing and scoring during the race event.

The official Porsche web site - www.porsche.com - has information on the 12 Hours at Sebring for all the Porsches entered, and will file stories and photos during and after the race. Porsche web site uses should choose "North America" on the home page when prompted to choose a country, then choose "motorsports," then "news" to find the ALMS updates. A section of the Porsche web site - reached directly by going to www.porsche.com/motorsport - brings the users to Porsche's international motorsports site, where they can choose between U.S. news, technical information and schedules, and European series material.

Nine Hour GT Standings - 50th Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring

#23. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 234 laps

#22. Timo Bernhard, Germany; Jorge Bergmeister, Germany; Marc Lieb, Germany; Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 232 laps

#52. Hugh Plumb, Chadds Ford, Penn.; Philip Collin, Park Ridge, Ill.; Andrew Bagnall, New Zealand; Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 225 laps

#67. Larry Schumacher, Cincinnati; Bob Nagel, Tampa; Jim Pace, Jackson, Miss.; The Racers Group Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 224 laps

#60. Robin Liddell, England; Fabio Babini, Italy; Giovanni Anapoli, Italy; P.K. Sport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 222 laps

#61. Piers Masarati, England; Basil Demeroutis, England; Keith Alexander, New York City; Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 221 laps

#43. Leo Hindery, Hillsborough, Calif.; Peter Baron, San Mateo, Calif.; Mike Borkowski, Scottsdale, Az.; Orbit Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 220 laps

#85. Bernard Simmenauer, France; Herve Clement, France; Andre Ahrle, Germany; 917 Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 216 laps

#53. Gabrio Rosa, Italy; Alex Caffi, Monaco; Luca Riccitelli, Italy; Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 214 laps

#58. Howard Vance, Powell, Ohio; Stephen Southard, Powell, Ohio; Georges Forgeois, New York City; Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 209 laps

#32. Jon Vannini, Woodside, Calif.; Andre Garbagnati, Monaco; Oswaldo Negri, Miami; Ferrari 360 Modena, 158 laps

#12. Peter Kox, The Netherlands; Derek Hill, Santa Monica, Calif.; John Hugenholtz, The Netherlands; Spyker C8 Double 12, 144 laps. (DNF - engine)

#99. Chris Gleason, Johnstown, Penn.; Paul Dawson, Switzerland; Rob Wilson, England; Cirtek Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R, 134 laps (DNF - engine)

#65. Johnny Mowlem, London, England, Terry Rymer, London, England, Mike Youles, London, England, Harlow Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 126 laps (DNF - transmission)

#42. Gary Schultheis, Boca Raton, Fla.; Tony Kester, Beverly Shores, Ind.; Grady Willingham, Birmingham, Ala.; Orbit Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 107 laps (DNF crash/suspension)

#79. Justin Jackson, Buford, Ga.; Mike Fitzgerald, Fountain Hills, Az.; David Murry, Atlanta; J3 Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 98 laps (DNF crash/suspension)

#66. Kevin Buckler, Sonoma, Calif.; Michael Schrom, Ghent, N.Y.; Darren Law, Phoenix; The Racers Group Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 66 laps (DNF crash/suspension)

#29. Bart Hayden, England; Stephen Earle, San Antonio, Tex.; Mark Griffiths, England; Sebah Automotive Ltd. Porsche 911 GT3 RS 37 laps (DNF - engine).

#31. Peter Argetsinger, Weston, Fla.; Andrea Montermini, Monaco; Ryan Hunter-Reay, Boca Raton, Fla.; Ferrari 360 Modena, 28 laps (DNF - engine)

#57. Romain Dumas, France; Ni Amorim, Portugal; Hans Fertl, Germany; Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 19 laps (DNF - engine)

#33. Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Ferrari 360 Modena, 12 laps (DNF - engine)

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