Sebring: MSB Motorsport qualifying report

2002 12 Hours of Sebring Sebring International Raceway Quick finish The No. 33 Ferrari 360 Modena GT will start 10th on the GT grid for Saturday's 12 Hours of Sebring race. The MSB Motorsport team's qualifying run was delayed by an electrical ...

2002 12 Hours of Sebring
Sebring International Raceway

Quick finish

The No. 33 Ferrari 360 Modena GT will start 10th on the GT grid for Saturday's 12 Hours of Sebring race. The MSB Motorsport team's qualifying run was delayed by an electrical problem, but Ralf Kelleners of Germany came up to speed quickly in the final minutes of the session. His final lap of the qualifying session was the team's fastest of the week, covering the 3.7-mile Sebring International Raceway in two minutes 10.913 seconds.

"Every day we get out on the track, we learn and improve a lot," Kelleners said of the new team. "We're happy with the qualifying position. We still have some work ahead of us, but I think this will probably be our race speed."

Kelleners will drive with Marino Franchitti of Scotland. "I think Ralf's done a fantastic job with the time he had," Franchitti said of the qualifying effort. "We're coming forward with the car and improving every session. The next session we'll devote more time to the race setup and make sure we can run consistently for the whole stint. Hopefully, we can maintain this kind of pace through the race."

Winning at Sebring

Kelleners scored an overall podium finish at Sebring in 2001. He says teamwork is the key to winning the 12-hour endurance classic.

"To have a good result at the end of the race, first of all you have to finish," he noted. "Second, you have to have a team that works well in the pit stops and a car that is reliable. It doesn't make much difference which car you race, GT or prototype, you always want to do the best job possible. We have to hope that we'll have a good clean run and that fortune is on our side."

Rookie view

Franchitti is excited about his first visit to the historic Sebring track.

"Sebring is very bumpy, but it has a great atmosphere," he said. "I don't know it too well yet, but every lap's more fun to drive. It's a difficult course because you have bumps in some places and smooth in others, slow and fast corners. It's a real challenge for the team and the engineers to get the car to work everywhere."