for This Weekends 12 Hours of SebringDebut ALMS GTC Race for New Tullys Coffee Porsche GT3 Team Set for Saturdays 61st Sebring ClassicDempsey Del Piero Racing completed a productive third day of testing Wednesday at Sebring International Raceway, in preparation for the teams debut in Saturdays 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida, with its No. 10 and No. 27 Tullys Porsche 911 GT3s.
The newly formed team, led by Italian soccer star Alessandro Del Piero and actor and race car driver Patrick Dempsey, is contesting the full American Le Mans Series (ALMS) season in the GTC class in addition to Junes 24 Hours Le Mans. The teams No. 10 Tullys Porsche 911 GT3 will be driven this year by experienced Porsche GTC class competitor Michael Avenatti and 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Champion Andrew Davis who will be joined this weekend at Sebring by multi-year GT3 Cup Champion Bob Faieta.
Dempsey will co-drive the No. 27 Tullys Porsche 911 GT3 with four-time Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Andy Lally. Dempseys long-time racing partner Joe Foster will join the team this weekend at Sebring. Dempsey first tested the No. 27 Porsche last month at Sebring and returned for a one-day session this past Monday. He has spent the last two days back in Los Angeles on the Greys Anatomy set but will rejoin his teammates for the rest of the Sebring weekend tomorrow.
It was really worth it on Monday to build on what we did the last time we were here, Dempsey said. It is tough to just kind of fly in, do the day, fly back and do two days on set and then take a red eye back, but I think it will give me time to think about everything. I am starting to digest it all, starting to visualize it all a lot more and get some conditioning done inside the car. I have seen a big gain since the last time we were here and Andy has done a great job coaching, great support and insight.
Avenatti, a key partner in the new Dempsey Del Piero Racing collaboration, has seen solid progress on and off the track over the last three days.
I think the team is really coming together pretty quickly, Avenatti said. The entire crew has done a phenomenal job in pulling this thing together. It is getting better every day here at Sebring and I am pretty excited about the season. Clearly, we have a great crew, a great team, these guys are dedicated and working hard and I couldnt be more positive about where we stand right now.
Avenatti and Davis first raced together in 2012s season-ending Petit Le Mans in a GTC Porsche 911 GT3.
We have the Dempsey Del Piero Racing squad together for the first time, Davis said. There is always a short time when a team first jells together, but with this team being so experienced, it has happened very quickly. We have made progress every session with the car, each time we go out the car feels better, we are just kind of methodically chipping away.
Lally and Foster have handled the testing duties in the No. 27 in Dempseys absence.
As a new team to the class, and a new team to Porsche, we are still climbing a very steep learning curve, Foster said. We are learning a lot about the cars and, big picture wise, I think we are doing just fine. The No. 27 was fastest for a time in Tuesday practice and we ended up close to the front. We are really just focused on the race and trying to not lose it as much as win it.
After Tuesdays solid showing, the No. 27 sat out Wednesdays lone late-afternoon practice session as the team focused on race preparation and Dempseys return to Sebring Thursday morning. The No. 10 ranked in the top five in the one-hour Wednesday run that began at 5 p.m. EDT.
On-track action for Dempsey Del Piero Racing resumes Thursday with a one-hour practice session at 10:15 a.m. and concludes with the only night practice for the race from 89:45 p.m. EDT.
About Dempsey/Del Piero Racing: A fulltime and year-round enterprise supported by Tullys Coffee, Dempsey Del Piero Racing is a professional international sports car auto racing team with operational bases in both Los Angeles and Atlanta in the United States.
