Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing did what many thought would be impossible; they built a new Ferrari F430 GT from tub to race car in less than three days. Sam Andrus (St. Gerorge, UT) pulled into the paddock at approximately 10:30 (PT) this morning towing the freshly built No. 31 MMPIE/PAWS/Petersen Holdings/Michelin Ferrari F430 GT in the trailer behind him. There to greet Andrus was the crew that spent the last three days building the car from a bare chassis to finished, race-ready machine. Along with the team, numerous bystanders, well-wishers and disbelievers stood watching in amazement as the fully decaled and race-ready Michael Petersen (Las Vegas, NV) owned Ferrari was unloaded in the Long Beach Grand Prix paddock. The team is now ready to race in Saturday s one hour and 40 minute American Le Mans Series event.
The team convened at the team s shop in Pahrump. Nev. and began three-days of 24 hour workdays. Working in 16 hour shifts the crew disassembled the car totaled in a wreck at St. Petersburg, Fla. on March 31 and built the new car. Andrus left for the six hour drive this morning. The first obstacle of arriving at the track not only met but surpassed, the Dale White (Bozeman, MT) managed moved to its second, technical inspection. The team entered inspection within two hours of arriving at the track, bettering their goal by four hours. The first inspection yielded only two very minor infractions; a faulty “IMSA Light” system- the three lights on the each side of the car that designate a top-three running position- and a rear bumper that was mounted too-far inboard. These issues were quickly resolved and the Dennis Chizma (Las Vegas) led crew was cleared through on its second inspection.
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