Second place GT excluded from Sebring results

BRASELTON, Ga. (March 20, 2003) -- The White Lightning-Petersen Motorsports Porsche, which had finished second in the GT class in Saturday's American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, has been excluded from the final race results due to a technical violation.

Officials of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), the sanctioning body for the American Le Mans Series, said that the onboard fuel capacity in the Porsche 911 GT3 RS exceeded the maximum allowable capacity of 100 liters. The car was driven in the race by Johnny Mowlem, Nic Jonsson and Craig Stanton.

As a result of the exclusion, the Seikel Motorsport Porsche driven by Gabrio Rosa, Alex Caffi and Andrea Chiesa has been elevated to the runner-up position in the GT class behind the winning Alex Job Racing Porsche of Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr.

Moving to the final podium finishing position (third) is the JMB Racing USA Ferrari 360 Modena of Stephan Gregoire, Fabio Babini and Christiano Pescatori. All other GT class competitors also move up one position in the final order.

Cars were inspected Sunday at Sebring International Raceway after being held overnight due to the late finishing time of the race. IMSA procedures require for the team entrant to be formally notified prior to the announcement of a penalty, and White Lightning-Petersen Motorsports entrant Dale White could not immediately be reached for the final notification and subsequent inquiry. Officials said that the entrant has the right to appeal under IMSA rules.

Petersen Motorsports to appeal IMSA decision
The Petersen Porsche Sebring second place reinstated

-alms/imsa-