Sunday s Le Mans Series opener, the 1,000 Kilometers of Monza, is two days away, but the Horag Racing team has already recorded an impressive performance at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza this week no matter what happens on race day.
When Didier Theys fired up the Judd engine in the team s Lista Office-sponsored Lola B05/40 No. 27 to participate in the first practice session here Friday afternoon, it was a testament to the Swiss team s expertise and teamwork. When the car arrived at Monza on Thursday morning, it was the first day the crew had seen the car since loading it up in its transporter after the grueling Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring ALMS season opener in Sebring, Fla. in the United States around 2:30 a. m. on March 18. Despite the lack of time the crew was still able to get the car on the track here at Monza on Friday, allowing Eric van de Poele to post the fourth-fastest time in the LMP2 class in the second practice session late Friday afternoon with a 1:43.075.
Right after finishing seventh in class at Sebring the car was strapped into its transporter and the rig was driven to New York City, where truck, race car and equipment were put on a ship for their transatlantic voyage back to Europe on Monday, March 19. The original schedule showed the turnaround time to prepare the car for Monza after the trip to America would be just four working days, which would have been tight as it was. However, even those workdays disappeared due to unexpected delays in getting the car cleared by the U. S. Department of Homeland Security (an agency created after the 9/11 tragedy), and storms at sea.
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