After an awesome 12 Hours of Sebring and roughly a month off, it’s back to green for the American Le Mans Series. Now on the opposite “coast”, the teams no take on the streets of Long Beach. Last year, we saw Corvette and BMW going at it in GT with BMW coming out on top. The same was said for Sebring. Obviously, we are rooting for Porsche come the GT war.

To kick-off the weekend, DOWNLOAD the all new Spotter Guide for Long Beach. Andy Blackmore has added back in driver helmets and the circuit map.

Once again oneighturbo.com has partnered up with Andy Blackmore to bring you this incredible guide / art! Along with Radio Le Mans, Daily Sports Car, Fourtitude, Ten-Tenths, SPEED, l’endurance and the American Le Mans Series, we hope you enjoy it.

If you intend linking to the guides then please respect the efforts of Andy and Spotter Guides and link to this page not directly to the guides (as these can be updated). Please do not modify the guide in any way.

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Riding the momentum of a top-five performance in the 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron season opener at Sebring, No. 48 Dunlop/Chopard/TOTAL Porsche 911 GT3 RSR co-drivers Bryce Miller and Sascha Maassen head for one of their favorite events, the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach on Saturday afternoon.

Miller and Maassen teamed with Rob Bell to finish fifth among ALMS competitors in the GT class at Sebring, which was the Paul Miller Racing team’s first event with its brand-new Porsche and new Dunlop tires.

Now it’s on to the Long Beach street circuit. Last year, street circuits were a strong point for Paul Miller Racing, as Maassen and Miller earned their best result of the season with a fourth-place performance on the streets of Baltimore.

At Long Beach in 2011, the team had a solid performance that saw Maassen lead the race during the pit-stop sequence. A top-10 result was within reach until Miller was punted off course by another car within 20 minutes of the checkered flag. As a result, he and Maassen were scored 12th in the final GT race standings.

“I am looking forward to Long Beach,” said Miller, who finished fifth in GTC at Long Beach in 2010. “Sascha is very fast on this circuit and I quite enjoy it. Our car and tire package is all new this year so at this stage in the season we have to be opportunist but not too aggressive. This philosophy applies well on a street circuit – with walls all around everywhere your race can end very quickly. It is an important race in the championship points battle and after the way in which our race ended last year my personal focus will be to avoid playing bumper cars.”

Maassen brings a strong record with him to his fourth career start at Long Beach. He finished second overall and in the LMP2 class in 2007 and was third in LMP2 in 2008 prior to last year’s race.

“We were the best-placed Porsche in Sebring and for sure we want to keep the momentum from there and bring it to this race,” Maassen said. “The Paul Miller Racing team has been very well prepared for street circuits last year and we know that we have to approach this race differently. We are very optimistic that with our new Porsche and our new Dunlop tires, we will have a good chance to have a good result here.

“Sebring is a special event and Long Beach is a special event. For us, everything was new at Sebring. We learned a lot during the week there and we made some adjustments for this race here. I am curious to see how we are in comparison to the other cars on the street circuit.”

Maassen and the rest of the team will begin to find out during the lone practice session of the weekend on Friday morning from 7:15 to 9:15 a.m. PT. Friday’s schedule also includes qualifying, which for the GT class runs from 5:20 to 5:35 p.m. PT.

Saturday’s race day activities include an autograph session at the team transporter in the ALMS paddock from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. PT followed by the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach, which takes the green flag at 4:30 p.m. PT. The race will be two hours in length.

The race will be televised live on Saturday, April 14 beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET and will also be available on ESPN3.com beginning at 7:15 p.m. ET. Qualifying will also be broadcast on ESPN3.com at 8:00 p.m. ET. Live timing & scoring data from every on-track session is available at AmericanLeMans.com.

Bryce Miller

2011 – Finished 12th in GT class
2010 – Finished fifth in GTC class
Total Long Beach Starts: 2
Best Sebring Result: Fifth (2010)

Sascha Maassen

2011 – Finished 12th in GT class
2008 – Finished third in LMP2 class
2007 – Finished second in LMP2 class and overall
Total Long Beach Starts: 3

Photos: © 2012 Darren Pierson / DPerceptions

- Paul Miller Racing

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1. Paul Miller Racing Porsche to race on Motegi Racing Wheels

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Paul Miller Racing will debut a new set of wheels in every sense of the word at this week’s 60th Anniversary Twelve Hours of Sebring as the team announced today that its brand-new, Dunlop-shod No. 48 Chopard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR co-driven by Bryce Miller, Sascha Maassen and Rob Bell will utilize brand-new wheels from Motegi Racing.

Paul Miller Racing approached Motegi Racing last month with the challenge of building 20 new wheels in time for the 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron at Sebring. Just three weeks later, the race team now has five sets of Technomesh GT wheels in its arsenal.

“Joining forces with Motegi Racing is yet another exciting new relationship we are entering into for the 2012 season,” said team owner Paul Miller. “I am impressed with how quickly Motegi Racing was able to turn around our order and with the quality of the Technomesh GT wheels. They look fantastic on our new Porsche RSR, especially with Dunlop rubber around them, and we are all looking forward to seeing them perform throughout the 2012 ALMS season.”

“Paul Miller Racing has a long history of success with Porsche sports car programs and is the perfect technical partner for Motegi Racing to develop the best wheels for Porsche GT racing,” added Jody Groce, President of Wheel Pros, the company that owns the Motegi Racing brand. “We are excited to work with Paul Miller Racing on a wheel for the team’s new 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.”

Motegi Racing worked closely with the race team on critical dimensions for the new application, including brake clearance and load ratings. The Motegi Racing engineering team conducted thorough finite element method (FEM) analysis and produced detailed technical specifications on a new wheel to fit the car and the competition rules. Once Paul Miller Racing verified those specifications, the new Technomesh GT wheels were produced at the Motegi Racing facility in Italy and shipped to the team. It would have been nearly impossible for any other company to create wheels for a new application in such a short time frame, but Motegi Racing pulled it off.

“We have the right people and the right resources to make something like this happen,” said Jose Matiauda, Global Motorsport Director for Motegi Racing. “We have everything we need to react to the needs of the racing industry and make product at this speed, and we know how to do it without making mistakes.”

“I am very thankful for the cooperation from Motegi Racing and our team on this project,” contributed Bryce Miller. “With Motegi as our wheel partner we now have the resources necessary to react to the fast paced demands of the motorsport environment. I’m very much looking forward to driving on their wheel this year.”

Motegi Racing undertook a similar challenge to support a factory-backed Ferrari 458 GT3 that won the 2011 FIA GT3 championship and made its North American debut at the Daytona 24 Hours in January. The wheels performed flawlessly. The partnership between Paul Miller Racing and Motegi Racing could expand in the future to include a line of racing-inspired wheels for production vehicles sold through the Paul Miller Auto Group.

The new No. 48 Chopard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR will makes its competition debut at the Twelve Hours of Sebring. The season-opening round of the 10-race 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron takes the green flag at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 17.

- Photo: Bob Chapman/Autosport Image

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Paul Miller Racing and co-drivers Bryce Miller and Sascha Maassen have good reasons for optimism in the 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón season.

Heading into its second full season of ALMS competition, the team announced yesterday it would use Dunlop tires on a brand-new No. 48 Chopard/TOTAL/IPC Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Miller, Maassen and the Paul Miller Racing team will once again compete in the supremely competitive GT class for the full 2012 ALMS season.

“We are really excited to announce that we will be using Dunlop tires in 2012,” said team owner Paul Miller. “After learning a lot during our first season in GT last year, we expect to take a few steps forward in 2012. Dunlop has been successful in ALMS competition and we’re looking forward to adding to that record this season.”

“Our preliminary test to evaluate the tires and the relationship going forward was a positive experience,” said Bryce Miller. “The chemistry between their engineers and us seems to work quite well and we’re excited about the potential to move forward and develop a Porsche tire with them.”

Dunlop had an outstanding 2011 season. ALMS drivers and teams using Dunlop tires won championships in the LMP1 and GT classes. Dunlop also won the ALMS LMP1 tire manufacturers championship and the LMP2 championship in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) and narrowly missed the ALMS GT tire manufacturers championship. The tire constructor enters its fourth year of ALMS competition in 2012.

Dunlop Motorsport Project Manager, Ben Michell, stated: “We have ambitious plans in 2012 to build on our championship-winning successes, and we see Paul Miller Racing as the perfect partner to help develop our tires for the latest specification Porsche. Dunlop are proud of our multiple championship wins in ALMS in 2011, and we are delighted that the team has chosen Dunlop as they drive for success in 2012.”

The new tire partnership is only half of what’s new at Paul Miller Racing for 2012. The other exciting addition is a 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, which is visibly wider than its predecessor and includes other significant modifications.

“It has been a privilege to watch Paul Miller Racing grow over the past several years, and Porsche Motorsport North America is proud that the team has chosen to contest the American Le Mans Series GT class in a 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR,” said Jens Walther, president of Porsche Motorsport North America. “It was great watching the progress of the team in 2011 during its first year in ALMS GT and even better that they are now stepping up with a new car and the new tire manufacturer. We believe in competition and welcome Dunlop as a new tire manufacturer on the RSR – there are now three Porsche customer teams with four cars on three different tires.”

The new, Dunlop-shod No. 48 Chopard Porsche makes its public debut in this week’s annual American Le Mans Series winter test at Sebring International Raceway. The test will represent the first seat time in the car for Miller and Maassen, and they’re eager to get going.

“I haven’t driven the new car, but I’ve heard a lot of good things,” said Bryce Miller. “There has been some necessary changes made to the car that bring it up to date with some of the changes that the competitors have made to their cars in recent years. The refresh was really necessary and most everyone is generally excited about the changes that have been made.”

“I am really excited about the new Porsche car and the new Dunlop tires,” added Maassen. “It’s going to change the game for us. We are optimistic that we will improve, and I am very happy that the Paul Miller team decided to let me be part of an interesting and promising program in 2012!”

The 2012 ALMS season begins with the 60th Anniversary Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring fueled by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, March 17.

Photo: 2012 © James Boone | oneighturbo.com

- Paul Miller Racinga

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1. Gallery: Sebring Winter Test 2012

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A dreary Wednesday morning greeted the teams and the first of two winter test days for the American Le Mans 2012 season. Morning temps were hovering around 55* with the first session starting 8-11:30AM ET. These two days will be a bit more laid back in terms of competition as lots of data is being collected vs top times.

Falken Tire, Paul Miller Racing and Flying Lizard will be giving the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR its first laps. Both Falken and Paul Miller will also be testing new tires. Falken with its new AZENIS and Paul Miller is now running Dunlop.

It is somewhat refreshing to see the new 911 GT3 RSR running naked and that ass…

In the first session, it was Ferrari and Corvette out front with the BMW’s sneaking in the top six at the end.

Patrick Long had the top Porsche spot in seventh with a 2:02.638.

10th – no44 Flying Lizards – 2:04.099
11th – no17 Falken Tire – 2:04.581
14th – no48 Paul Miller Racing – 2:06.727

We’ve conned our contributing photographer, James Boone, into hanging out down at Sebring and taking some pics for everyone. More from the second session after its completion. Enjoy!

Second session ended up a Ferrari sweep. Extreme Speed Motorsports’ Johannes van Overbeek was the fastest GT driver in the Ferrari F458 Italia setting a time of 2:01.401.

Green Hornet Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup went quickest at 2:07.334 in GT Cup over TRG’s entry of Rui Aguas, Rob Kauffman and Spencer Pumpelly.

Photo: 2012 © James Boone | oneighturbo.com

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