Signatech Nissan Takes 2nd in 12 Hours of Sebring...

The Signatech Nissan LMP2 car had set the pace in practice all week.

It qualified on the pole for its class by some three seconds.

It should have walked to victory.

But that's the great thing about endurance racing of any format be it road, desert, stage, etc.

It's not purely just the "fastest" car with the "best" driver that wins.  It takes a total team effort, tons of testing, lots of engineering, lots of skill and oh, yeah, a great deal of luck too.

This weekend luck was not with the Signatech Nissan team.  Unquestionably the team to beat, this was still the first event run in anger for the new Nissan LeMans team and it showed.  Two identical gearbox failures due to software problems, not mechanical problems erased leads of 10 and 5 laps at various points during the race and resulted in a second place finish in class and 30th out of 56 overall.  Honestly?  Not many out of the box efforts would be able to finish a race like this--not even close.  Completing 1,073 miles in 12 hours is no joke under any circumstances let alone racing conditions.

A second place at the 12 Hours of Sebring is an excellent way to start the 2011 LeMans season

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