American Le Mans Series

Care Racing, Larbe Competition to bring 550 Maranello to Sebring

The sight and sound of an ALMS race-winning Ferrari 550 Maranello will soon be once again seen and heard in North America, driven by three reigning Championship title holders.

A collaboration between Care Racing Development, owners of one of the most successful GT cars in recent years, and Larbre Competition GTS Champions in the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series with the same car will see a 6-litre, V12 engined Ferrari enter the 12 Hours of Sebring on the 19th March, driven by an all-star line up of Champions.

Frédéric Dor of Care Racing explained why the Florida classic is so important. “Our cars have been enormously successful over the last three years, thanks to the professionalism and commitment of our racing partners in the different series.

“We have won Championships (FIA and LMES), the 24 Hours of Le Mans (GTS) and several races in the ALMS including Petit Le Mans, but never Sebring. We believe that Jack Leconte and Larbre are capable of achieving that victory although we know that we face some excellent competition and a tough 12 hours of racing.”

Jack Leconte of Larbre Competition is keen to expand upon and profit from the experiences gained with the Ferrari 550 last year.

“This is a very refined race car, whether you are talking about the aerodynamics or the suspension, the engine-gearbox unit or the transmission. Everything is spot-on and perfectly reliable.

“At Larbre we also believe in bringing all the right ingredients together for ultimate success and a vital part of this is the driver line-up. To win a difficult race like Sebring you must have drivers who are experienced, fast and reliable and I think we have found three who are perfect for this.

“Christophe Bouchut (LMES GTS Champion) will be with us once again and he will be partnered by Fabrizio Gollin (FIA GT Champion) who brings with him so much experience of this car from his years with BMS Scuderia Italia.

I am also very pleased to say that Sébastien Bourdais (Champ Car World Series Champion) will join us, which is very exciting news for the series and fans alike. Sébastien’s home town is Le Mans so he has sportscar blood in his veins, and luckily for us he has also a great deal of experience at Sebring from his Champ Car testing. I think he will have no trouble adapting to the car in a very short time and we will have a really magnificent driving team.”

While Larbre Competition’s plans for the remainder of the 2005 season have yet to be confirmed, Care Racing has already placed 5 of their Ferrari 550s.