Sutherland Racing

Tom Sutherland Makes American Le Mans Series Debut at Sebring

Texas Christian University freshman and Los Gatos High School graduate Tom Sutherland, 19, of Los Gatos, California, made an impressive American Le Mans Series debut at the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. Sutherland, driving with Panoz Team PTG teammates Tommy Milner and Joey Hand, drove the #21 Panoz Esperante to a 9th place finish in the GT2 class race.

The race started auspiciously, with the team maneuvering their way up to fifth place after five hours at the historic 3.7-mile, 17-turn circuit. After a driver change, Sutherland took the car out and immediately knew there was a problem with the car, so made his way around the track and back into the pit. The team quickly analyzed the situation and found the housing for the differential had split, which required an extensive repair process that took over an hour.

Said Sutherland, "We were doing really well for the first few hours until a differential blew, but considering the magnitude of the problem, the crew turned the car around in a very short time. They also did an excellent job with all the pit stops and ensured the drivers were comfortable in the cockpit."
By the time Panoz Team PTG returned to the race, they were down to 14th position in their class. This is the point where the team really kicked it into gear. Team manager Tom Milner and engineer Brian Krem ran a great strategy and the crew worked together flawlessly, executing extremely fast pit stops. Hand, Milner and Sutherland were all driving well at speeds in excess of 105 miles per hour and a best lap time of 2:04.985, just two seconds off the fastest GT class lap of the day. Soon, Panoz Team PTG had moved back up to 9th position.

"We worked hard to regain 9th position, but then suffered engine problems that held us back quite a bit toward the final hours of the race, so we weren't able to advance above 9th place," said Sutherland. "But overall, we were all driving very competently, the team came together well, and I really feel we could have finished strong if we had been able to maintain a healthy car. I enjoyed the atmosphere at the race, and I certainly learned a lot throughout the week."

Next up for Panoz Team PTG is the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, the first of four races this season to take place on a temporary street circuit. "St. Petersburg will be an exciting race," said Sutherland, continuing, "I'm interested to see how the Advan tires work on the street circuit and how the Panoz handles in between walls, and I'm sure Tommy Milner and I will do well at St. Petersburg if we stay off the walls and out of the LMP cars' way. I was pleased with the progress I made over the week at Sebring, and I can't wait to get back into the Advan Panoz and improve some more at St. Petersburg."
The Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg will be broadcast on ABC from 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET on April 5.

Information about Panoz Team PTG can be found at www.ptgracing.com, information about Panoz Auto Development Company can be found at www.panozauto.com, and American Le Mans Series information can be found at www.americanlemans.com.