A heavy crash during last weekend’s 12 Hours of Sebring has left the Tower Motorsport LMP2 team led by Peter Baron with several imposing problems to resolve. Timothe Buret’s solo crash late in the race saw the No. 8 ORECA 07-Gibson fly into the Turn 1 tire barriers at unabated speed, roll, and land on its wheels.
Once the car came to a stop, its bodywork had been destroyed, suspension was damaged, and an array of wounds had been recorded throughout the chassis. The dominance and popularity of ORECA’s 07 LMP2 car, coupled with the low availability of parts direct from the manufacturer, means most teams are unwilling to sell the French prototypes or make a significant number of spares available to rivals.
“The sum of all parts needed is more than the price of a new car, but the biggest drama is we wouldn’t be able to get a new car before our next round, which would be Watkins Glen at the end of June,” Baron told RACER. “So we’re looking hard for all the good, used parts we can find, but they’re coming at a premium, so there’s no easy way to resolve this.”
Baron and car owner/driver John Farano are left to continue the search for solutions as the clock winds down towards the six-hour race on June 27 in upstate New York.
“We want to soldier on and we’re modeling what to do with new or used parts,” Baron said. “And our plan was to get a new car for Daytona next year, but we’re trying to not dip into that budget right now, so there’s a lot to figure out. But we’ll get something together and push for being back at Watkins Glen.”