ALMS
Robertson Racing race report
Sebring 12 Hours
Edited: Jun 1, 2018, 12:49 PM
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Robertson Racing delighted with hard fought eighth at Sebring
#040 Robertson Racing Doran Ford GT: David Robertson, Andrea Robertson, Boris Said
Photo by: Eric Gilbert
Robertson Racing emerged from a battle of attrition in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón season opener – the 59th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida – today to take an excellent eighth place GT class finish.
The Atlanta-based squad’s #040 Ford GT driven by David Robertson, Andrea Robertson and Boris Said recovered from a mechanical problem, which in turn helped incur an unavoidable pit-lane penalty under Safety Car conditions, to work their way back up through the field and into the top ten by the chequered flag.
It was a mature performance from all three experienced drivers and their crew who avoided the pitfalls that effected many of their manufacturer-backed GT class rivals at an event regarded by many as the toughest test in modern endurance racing.
Indeed, while this was not Robertson Racing’s highest placed ALMS result, Team Manager Andrew ‘H’ Smith described it as their finest all-round performance since entering the Series four seasons ago.
Andrew ‘H’ Smith (Team Manager): “Although the outcome for the #004 car was obviously disappointing, this is a great result for #040 crew which is generally considered our gentleman driver line-up. To get to the end is just awesome and provides a fantastic boost for the team which has worked so hard all week. We’ve still got a little way to go but the overall performance was the best I’ve seen since we started the operation in 2007.”
Andrea Robertson (#040): “I am elated! The field was so big and particularly strong this year. Going into the race we had the odds stacked against us but the Michelin tyres worked so well throughout. We saved the best set for my last stint and the car was brilliant to drive. Racing at night is always a challenge but one, as Boris (Said) reminded me, I’ll have another chance to do at the Le Mans 24 Hours later this year. Eighth place is just fantastic. We have been here for well over a week and everyone has worked so hard. We have had our share of hiccups, electrical and mechanical gremlins. You name it, we’ve had it and fixed the problem. The GT class is extremely tough and large this year and with the number of red flags during testing I felt robbed of track time as I was never able to get more than a three or four lap run in. The team deserves the result and hopefully we can work our way towards a podium. Amazing!”
The team’s second entry of David Murry, Anthony Lazzaro and Colin Braun showed good pace throughout but was often the subject of poor luck. Despite losing several laps early on, the #004 Ford GT was brought back into contention for a solid top ten finish by a combination of excellent driving and customary accomplished pit work, before a rare mechanical failure late in the race ended their hopes.
Colin Braun (#004): “I really enjoyed working with Robertson Racing this weekend. They’re a seriously professional group of guys and I’m really impressed by the amount of hard work they put in. I feel frustrated that it was one of those weekends when nothing would go quite right. We then had a glimmer of hope in the race where we could have finished in a decent position, but it was not meant to be.”
Robertson Racing’s focus now switches to freighting both cars to France for the Le Mans 24 Hours test day on April 24.
-source: robertson racing
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