Sebring: Max Papis hour four notes

The thunderstorms which came through Sebring, Florida yesterday cleared up for today's 10:30 a.m. (EST) start of the 51st annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring race. Olivier Beretta started the No. 10 JML Panoz LMP01 from the sixth spot on the grid. As of 2:30 p.m., it has been a caution-free race.

Beretta drove a smooth double stint with no drama. Italian Max Papis was handed the car at 12:15 p.m. in the seventh position on lap 53. At 1:03 p.m., on lap 76, Papis had to make a pit stop two laps early after he radioed the crew reporting a tire problem. After fueling and changing all four tires, the crew discovered a stone had punctured the left rear tire. Papis maintained the sixth overall position during his driving stint and pit again for a full stop at 2:00 p.m. on lap 105. Gunnar Jeannette took the wheel from Papis in the sixth position.

"It took about 10 to 15 laps to get up to speed in the car, and learn more about the car in race conditions," said "Mad Max" Papis. We are a little slower than the Audis, but not by much. We're running at our own pace. I'm pretty happy. There haven't really been any problems, other than avoiding a few slower GT cars. We've picked up our pace from earlier about 1-1/2 seconds. I was coming down the straight when I felt the tire feel different. It's good to know I still have my feeling ability for tire changes. We're just going to continue at a solid pace," added Papis.

-mp-