2010-05-30, The second round of the French endurance VdeV series was staged in Aragon, Spain. The Jetalliance team (Lichtner-Hoyer, Seefried, Eckert) knew how to conserve their performance of Mugello and finished in third overall position, which meant a class victory for the team´s Porsche 997 GT3 Cup. To summarize the weekend shortly: the team started from ninth on the grid and managed to climb up the ranks continuously. Due to a very quick pit stop crew, the low fuel consumption and a strategy which capitalized on these two factors, the team managed a fine podium finish. Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: "We have effectively used the strength of the Porsche, its stability and the low fuel consumption. Furthermore, we did not have any technical issues. All this combined set the basis for this top result."

2010-04-18, Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Vitus Eckert, and Marco Seefried conquered their class and achieved second overall position in the French VdeV Endurance Championship in Mugello. The second round of the championship was staged on the Italian track. The result encouraged teamowner Lichtner-Hoyer to wisecrack: "the long pause seemed to have a very positive effect on us." The success in difficult conditions (it rained for 4 hours during the 6 hour race) was related to a large extend to the perfect tactics of the team. The Jetalliance Porsche 997 GT3 Cup only came second to the Ferrari 430 GT2 of the French driver combination of Anthony Beltoise, Jean Paul Pagny, and Thierry Perrier.

Jetalliance Racing will perform a second guest appearance in this championship with the same driver line-up for the next round of the VdeV series. The third round will be hosted in Aragon, Spain on May 29th. Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer himself will edge a drive inbetween. He will guest drive the DTM Mercedes of Charouz in the Czech endurance championship for the next weekend in Brno.

2010-02-14, The newly formed band Miracle 66 has finished the works on their first single called Racing Song. A conjunction between Jetalliance Racing and the band is obvious. One of the drivers is the percussionist. Furthermore you can find the keyboarder working as a mechanic during the pitstops. The video can be watched here...

2010-01-20, For the first race of the 2010 season Jetalliance Racing travelled to the emirate of Dubai. The team's Porsche 997 GT3 Cup contested the 24 hour race, the fifth edition of the endurance race. The time of 2:08,723 set by Marco Seefried was good for 17th on the grid (9th in class A6). The majority of the teams grumbled because everyone was forced to change to Dunlop, the sole tyre supplier of the event. Also Jetalliance struggled with the untested tyres. The lack of grip cost time and furthermore the tyre was stressed too much. Consequently the durability deteriorated and it was hard to drive a complete 2 hour stint.

The team (Lukas Lichnter-Hoyer, Vitus Eckert, Martin Rich and Marco Seefried) gradually climbed up the ranks during the first third of the race to eventually run as high as in fourth position. Until the car was involved in an accident. Martin Rich was able to bring the damaged car back to the pits. The repair works grounded the car for one and a half hours in the garage. Consequently the car dropped down the order to the ranks between 50 and 60. Back out on the track, the team performed another three stints only to come to the conclusion to abandon the race. The car was too much out of balance to fight for a pursuit.

2009-07-27, A personal summary of Jetalliance Racing´s new driver Martin Rich of the 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps.

Yes, faithful readers, it’s true – I finally got onto the podium at Spa!! (For those with short attention spans you can probably stop reading here… :-)
For this year’s installment I joined the highly successful Austrian Jet Alliance team in the hope that we could, in some way, emulate their Le Mans podium success from earlier this year. My fellow drivers would be team stalwarts Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer (who shared that Le Mans podium), Vitus Eckert and Scottish pro Ryan Sharp (long-time GT1 partner of Karl Wendlinger). Certainly a line-up to keep me on my toes... and here they are at a particularly exciting briefing session:

The car was a three-year old 997 GT3 Cup Porsche running in national championship specification and therefore placed in the ‘catch-all’ G2 class. The competition within the class was small in number, but daunting to say the least. Firstly, two local bi-turbo Porsches which were far more powerful and belong to a team based at Spa. Then there were two Moslers – one driven by Mr Villeneuve – far more powerful than our car again, although very thirsty and less reliable so perhaps catchable over a race with good strategy? And finally, a thinly-veiled works Audi team running an R8 with a rash of pro drivers and the stated aim of seeing how the car compared “to the new generation of GT1 cars”! In fact, a quick look down the 39-strong entry list confirmed one thing – we had the slowest car on the grid... However, first things first, the main goal was going to be actually reaching the flag!

Practice
As the driving started, I was apprehensive to say the least. I’d not really been out on track all year and whilst I was looking forward to trying out my newly-acquired knowledge from Rob Wilson’s training sessions, I was worried whether I would be able to keep up with my team mates. The extremely capricious Spa weather was not helping either as the (first of much) rain began to fall just before the first session.
Happily, my fears proved unfounded as I quickly settled back into a familiar track and car. I actually ended up quickest in the team in the first session, although I have to be fair and declare that I undoubtedly had the driest part of the session. More encouragingly, the drier second session saw me produce virtually identical lap times to Ryan and Lukas. Consistent driving across the team and no reliability issues with the car would surely pay off against the more powerful machines over 24hrs…

Qualifying
The words “damp squib” don’t even come close. "Ducks in inflatable dinghies" might. I’d been asked to go out at the start of qualifying and try for a quick lap ahead of Ryan. However, myself and the rest of the field had barely managed to get warmed up before the heavens opened with biblical majesty. I was half way round the track and could not even see out of the windscreen when the team cheerily informed me over the radio of “heavy rain in the pit lane”. I won’t print my response in a note that my mother might read… Everyone slipped, span, aqua-planed and crawled back to the pits and promptly refused to go anywhere for the rest of the session. Happily my warm-up laps had posted a time that was good enough for 29th overall and 3rd in class (behind one Mosler and the already ridiculously quick Audi). A positive start at least!
The rain eased somewhat for the night qualifying, but all the teams had long since given up any idea of beating the few dry times that had been set. Hence it was a case of go out, slide around for the required one timed lap each, and then an early bath. (Or a warmer bath if you’d been unfortunate to be outside in the aforementioned deluge…)

Race Day
As always, the pre-race build up included a driver parade where the teams sit on the back of open-topped cars to wave to the crowds on a lap of the circuit. I mention it only so that you have the joy of imagining 39 teams sat in open-topped Saabs when, half way round the circuit, the weather decided that an ark would be more appropriate once again. Cue a “parade” of now-closed-roof cabriolets containing four race drivers in the back seat or, in our case, four drivers clinging pointlessly onto a pair of golf umbrellas trying not to let go of them or the car as it careered around the circuit. You couldn’t write such farce…. Of course, in true Spa form, by the time the cars took to the grid, the sun was shining again.
Lukas took the first stint and delivered the sort of fast, reliable performance that was going to be required throughout if we were to have any success. Even another rain shower didn’t break his stride as he avoided an unscheduled pit stop and stayed out on slick tyres. As he handed the car over for my first stint, we were fourth in class, behind the Audi and Moslers but ahead of the two Porsches. The first part of my run was nice and quiet – no dramas (apart from a slight panic at the (spare) wheel nut one of the mechanics left balanced on the windscreen!!) and a pace to match that of Lukas. Half way into the stint the race was interrupted by a moderately long safety car period for the recovery of the leading Corvette which had decided to have a fairly major “off” at the top of Eau Rouge. I dived into the pits to refuel and then settled into what was expected to be another full stint.
However, as the clouds began to darken it was clear that the weather had other ideas. Sure enough, roughly half way through this tank of fuel, the heavens opened again with a ferocity to match that of the qualifying session. I was grateful for the previous experience as the entire field grappled to slow themselves down and simply try to get back to the pits in one piece for wet tyres. However, as I rounded the infamous Blanchimont corner I found that some had been less successful at this – four cars in various states of repair, including the two Moslers! I didn’t see the accident, but one of the Mosler drivers I spoke to later was in no doubt as to which North American former F1 World Champion was to blame… Villeneuve's car was out on the spot whilst the other Mosler would continue after a delay for repairs. Thus as I trundled into the pit lane to hand over to Ryan we had moved into second in class after only three hours.
Ryan then delivered a superb performance on the wet track to help cement our position in the class. Vitus then did likewise with the final 'single' stint as the sun set and the race rolled into the night. Once darkness had fallen the team intended to move onto double stints to give each driver a good rest between their own runs. Lukas therefore took over from Vitus while I sat in the garage awaiting my 2-5am graveyard shift! (The downside of being the newbie in the team...) Night had fallen before the rain had had a chance to dry, leaving a strange combination of damp track with dry line and heavy mists. Despite all this, Lukas had continued our good run with another quick trouble-free stint and I jumped in with us still securely in second place, albeit with the chasing Mosler still circulating quickly. And so it was out into that most magical of driving experiences which only Spa at night can offer. The mist ebbed and flowed lap by lap and with the heaviest amounts sitting on the fast curves back towards the pits, it certainly added to the excitement when deciding whether or not to back off slightly! The stint was a joy and passed quite quickly – still without drama – and I was pleased to consistently lap only a couple of seconds back from the day-time pace. That being said, given the lateness of the hour I wasn’t too sorry to eventually pass the baton to Ryan and curl up in the sleeping bag for a while.
As the sun rose the car continued to run well. Ryan’s night stint had seen the team undertake the scheduled brake pad change, dropping us back temporarily to third in class – although it was only a matter of time before the Mosler did the same and the place was taken back. We were now also flirting with a top-twenty place overall – no mean feat in itself. By mid morning the Mosler had been pulled into its garage with gearbox issues which would allow us to build a comfortable lead over our only serious rival. Then came the first real mechanical concern – Vitus was reporting that the throttle response was playing up, with the car hiccoughing on half-throttle. His pace continued to be fine, but clearly this was not good news. However, with the class position relatively secure, the team rightly decided to take no risks and called him into the pits. After a few minutes and lots of pointing and murmuring the ECU was replaced and, hey presto, the problem was gone! My final stint arrived around midday and with second in class virtually assured – and no hope of catching the Audi which was by now in an incredible third place overall – it really was a Sunday afternoon drive. Nice and steady, with no risks to car or driver. It was quite amusing to see the more relaxed camaraderie that begins to appear this long into such a race – cars that had previously forced their way past aggressively now waved cheerily out of the windows or flashed their indicators as a thank you for a courteous making-way! The car continued its faultless run and I handed over to Ryan before Lukas took the wheel for the final hour.
The last half an hour or so seemed to last as long as the rest of the race! However, the car refused to let us down and finally at 4pm, Lukas crossed the line with the pack of finishing cars. The feeling on the pit wall was just sensational!! And of course, not only did we finish, but I even got to walk out onto a podium that had previously eluded me at every try – an equally great feeling as we bathed in the champagne!
So what can I say other than an enormous “thank you” to the whole team for a fantastic performance? My first finish in this historic race, second in class (and only to a car that was 20secs a lap faster), a brilliant 17th overall and even the record of least pit stops from the finishing cars! It really couldn’t have been much better and I’ll be grinning about this one for a long time to come.
Future plans are still uncertain, but it’s hard to imagine not going back next year and I daresay a team reunion will be on the cards in the not too distant…

Martin

2009-06-14, Incredible scenes in the Jetalliance Racing pits at the finish of the 77th edition of the Le Mans 24 hour race: After being the first Austrian team since 1972 to start this classic race, team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Thomas Gruber and Alex Müller reached their big goal in their Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 – third place and a podium finish in the GT1 class, cheers and rejoicings were boundless...But it all started with serious problems – starting driver Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer had to come into the pits after the very first lap because of malfunctioning electronics. The alternator needed to be changed. About 25 minutes or six laps lost. Shortly thereafter the next malfunction, this time the fuel pump, Lichtner-Hoyer ground to a halt out on the track, but got the car going again – almost an hour and a half were lost...

But the Jetalliance crew never lost heart, rejoining the race in an almost hopeless position. Subsequently Lichtner-Hoyer, Gruber and Müller reeled off their laps. The bad luck was all used up, giving way to better fortune. First the Alphand Corvette ran into difficulties, then the factory Corvette of Marcel Fässler & co. retired with just two hours to go – now, for the first time, the team was in a podium position – and with great trepidation, the closing stages of the race began. But the Aston Martin lasted – and just after three o’clock in the afternoon, Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer crossed the finish line third in the GT1 class. The dream result had become reality, the biggest success in the history of Jetalliance Racing was in the bag!Team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer:“After seven horrifying hours our team spirit has finally prevailed. We never gave up, and for that we were rewarded. Of course we were lucky in the end – but crossing the finish line is all that counts at Le Mans. And we managed to do that. Congratulations to the entire team!”

Thomas Gruber: “For me as an amateur the sense of achievement is certainly double. It’s like you’re playing tennis and then celebrate a win at Wimbledon. Standing on the rostrum really was such a great moment. It will live on in my memory for ever.”

Alex Müller: “We never gave ourselves up, we always kept on fighting. Our crew of mechanics really worked their arses off for us – thanks a lot for that. We had a lot of bad luck early on, but toward the end of the race the tide began to turn.”

2009-06-12, A strong performance by the Austrian Jetalliance Racing team in qualifying for the 77th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Alex Müller put the Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 into third place of the GT1 class in the first qualifying session - as expected, this result did not change during night qualifying. Hence the trio Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Thomas Gruber and Alex Müller will start the "24 Hours" from third on the grid tomorrow!

Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: "We were able to test a few things in night qualifying and gained some important insight, especially concerning tactics. In any case we're very confident going into the race. We're the first Austrian team at Le Mans since 1972. That also constitutes something of an obligation. That's why we're going to give our all to get to the finish." To help achieve this, the crew will receive massive support tomorrow: About sixty people will travel to France Saturday morning to keep their fingers crossed! Today is a day of rest in Le Mans - although the traditional drivers' presentation is on the agenda in the town itself.

2009-06-10, The 24 hours of Le Mans – an event which leaves no one cold. The probably hardest and toughest endurance race in the world has written many triumphs, tragedies and dramas over its history. And when the starting signal for the 77th edition will be given this coming Saturday (June 13th), another illustrious milestone – at least from an Austrian perspective – will be added. Because Jetalliance Racing will be the first Austrian team on the grid since 1972! Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Alex Müller and Thomas Gruber in their Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 will try to sell themselves in the best possible way in the GT1 class. After three months of preparation and a successful final rehearsal at Spa, the “Day of Truth” is finally approaching: Team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “We really tried to leave nothing to chance, from logistics and mechanics to us drivers who have completed a tough fitness programme. Now I hope that we’ll be rewarded for it with 24 hours free of accidents and breakdowns. If we manage to do that I’m not worried about the final result at all, since we would certainly be running up front in our class then.” The fiercest competition will come from the Corvette factory – a fact that Germany’s Alex Müller is well aware of: “It will be the final major appearance of these cars. A total of four will be on the grid, two of those true works entries. They will be a tough nut. Of course we’ll have to try and come through the 24 hours unscathed, if possible. On the other hand we’re going to have to push a little to be able to beat them. It’s a very thin edge. Strategy will be decisive.”
“Project Le Mans” already got underway on Friday – when the Jetalliance convoy set out to France. Scrutineering will be on Tuesday’s agenda, followed by free practice on Wednesday and qualifying on Thursday. Friday will be a day of rest as far as competition is concerned – everyone will be heading to town then for the traditional drivers’ parade, autograph sessions etc. And on Saturday from 2 p.m. things will get underway for real.

The logistic expenditure is enormous at any rate: About 30 team members will be on location, another 50 or so VIP guests and fans will arrive on Saturday. They will be flown in directly to Le Mans on a specially chartered AUA plane. There are still some tickets available for the fan trip. Reservations and further info: lemans@jetalliance.at

But Le Mans is also a journey to the unknown for Jetalliance Racing – it is the first time for all three drivers – and the fulfilment of a childhood dream... Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “We’ve always been ardent racing fans. And when I started racing myself I knew – I had to drive in Le Mans one day. I’ve achieved this goal. Stage 2 will be to see the chequered flag. And whatever comes next will be the famous icing on the cake!” In a word: a podium finish – and Jetalliance Racing’s next great love affair with Le Mans would be perfect...

2009-05-10, The dress rehearsal for Le Mans was a success! Jetalliance Racing got to the finish of the “1000 km of Spa”, part of the 2009 Le Mans Series, in spite of many problems – clinching a place on the podium: Team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Alex Müller and Thomas Gruber took third place in GT1 with the Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9!
After a very gratifying qualifying – Alex Müller had put the Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 onto the GT1 pole yesterday – there were various troubles in today’s race: First the entire electronics had to be changed because of the engine misfiring – time lost in the pits: more than half an hour. Then Thomas Gruber ended up in the gravel trap after a spin, more time lost. But at the end of the day, after crossing the finish line and taking third place in the GT1 class, there was a sense of achievement after all!

Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “Virtually everything that could go wrong did go wrong this weekend. That’s why we’re even more pleased with this result.”

2009-05-09, The first hurdle has been taken! Jetalliance Racing will start tomorrow’s “1000 km of Spa” from pole position in the GT1 class! Alex Müller did not miss his chances in today’s qualifying: On the tarmac of the Ardennes track, the German driver set a fantastic fastest lap time in the GT1 class with the Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 of the Lower Austrian team. In 2:17.344 minutes he was nine tenths of a second faster than second-placed Englishman Peter Kox in the Lamborghini!

Alex Müller: “I’m happy about any fastest lap – but this one is very special. Because this result will certainly boost the self-confidence of the entire team for tomorrow’s race.” The Jetalliance crew of Müller, team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer and Thomas Gruber will therefore start the six-hour race, second round of the 2009 Le Mans Series, from the best starting position in GT1. The race will get under way at 12.50 p.m., a 20 minute warm-up will be held at 8.30 a.m.

Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “The result of qualifying is great, of course, but a very tough task is in store for us tomorrow. On the one hand our Aston Martin’s handling has completely changed because of the aerodynamic modifications, on the other hand the large field of cars guarantees spectacular overtaking manoeuvres all through the race.”

2009-03-28, The green light for the 77th edition of the Le Mans 24 hour race will be given on June the 13th at 4 p.m. And for the first time since 1972 an Austrian team will be taking part as well – Jetalliance Racing! “When we founded the team about three and a half years ago, Le Mans was one of our big goals. I wouldn’t have dared to dream back then that this might become reality so quickly. That’s why I’m delighted with the invitation by the organizing ACO”, team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer says. “That’s not only the reward for our achievements in motorsports but also a recognition of our professional work.”

Preparations at the JAR headquarters in Oeynhausen are in full swing since the entry was officially confirmed. The crew of mechanics is working almost round the clock on the Aston Martin DBR9, which has to be specially modified for the Le Mans race: a smaller fuel tank, air conditioning, changes to the aerodynamics and so on and so on... “We’re right on target. Now the countdown is on”, says Lichtner-Hoyer, who has also made a decision concerning the driver line-up. Apart from the team owner himself, Alex Müller and Thomas Gruber will be on board in France! Both drivers have been part of the JAR family for quite some time. Lichtner-Hoyer has already celebrated some great results with the 30 year old Müller in 2008, for instance a second place in Oschersleben, his first FIA GT podium finish. On the other hand Lichtner-Hoyer has also partnered the 49 year old Thomas Gruber from Vienna in many endurance races. In 2008 Gruber took the overall “Endurance” title of the Porsche Sportscup. For all three drivers it is the first Le Mans start. Therefore Lichtner-Hoyer & Co. imposed a special fitness programme on themselves, but they will also co-drive a race together beforehand.

The “6 Hours of Spa” as a dress rehearsal
In order to be ideally prepared for Le Mans, the triumvirat will contest the “Six Hours of Spa” Le Mans Series event as a kind of dress rehearsal. Lichtner-Hoyer/Gruber already competed there in 2007 at the wheel of an Aston Martin DBR9, finishing fifth in class back then. The race takes place from May 8th to 10th.

The chequered flag is the target
Everyone at Jetalliance Racing is aware of just how tough this race is: “We’re realistic enough to know that, coming from a different form of racing to the world’s toughest and most difficult endurance race, we might have to learn the hard way. We have great respect, but we’re going to France highly motivated. We took the first step by gaining an entry, now we want to follow up with the next one. That is to say, our goal is to cross the finish line on Sunday. If we manage to do that, a top result in the GT1 class is possible.”

2009-02-27, Now it is confirmed! Jetalliance Racing will compete in this year’s 24 hour classic at Le Mans (June 13th, 14th)! The organizing ACO confirmed the entry on their web site yesterday! A total of 82 teams had applied, 15 were already nominated back in January, afterwards 67 teams contested for the remaining 40 spots up to yesterday’s announcement, since only 55 will be admitted. Le Mans is the oldest 24 hour race, first run in 1923. Austrian drivers were victorious three times (Jochen Rindt in 1965, Dr Helmut Marko in 1971 and Alexander Wurz in 1996), twice (Karl Wendlinger in 1999 and Richard Lietz in 2007) they won their class.

“I’m obviously delighted”, team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer beams with joy, “this race is the absolute highlight. Both for the Jetalliance Racing team as well as for me personally. I was in France twice as a spectator so far – now we’ll be there as participants. It's a dream come true for the entire team.”

After waiting in vain for an invitation last year, it came just the sooner this year. “It’s also a great honour for us to be able to compete in this toughest and most traditional of all the endurance races. Especially since we’re the only Austrian team and the first since 1972”, Lichtner-Hoyer says. He is both the project’s initiator and its financier. “Everything’s privately financed at the moment but I’m confident that I’ll be able to win over one or the other partner for this incredibly well-covered event.”

With the publication on the Internet, after which Lichtner-Hoyer’s phones would not stop ringing, the team’s preparation in every direction has begun as well. For instance, the Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 now has to be modified to meet the new ACO regulations in a hurry. This means that among other things the aerodynamics need to be changed and that an air-conditioning system has to be installed.
The driver line-up will also soon be resolved. At the moment Lichtner-Hoyer is the only certain driver, the other two will be decided on in the next couple of days. A travel package for fans and VIP guests is also being worked on (please direct inquiries to lemans@jetalliance.at).

Approached about his objectives, Lichtner-Hoyer appears completely relaxed: “My goal in racing has always been to compete in Le Mans with this team – this target’s now imminent. As far as the race is concerned, our aim has to be to drive 24 hours without any major problem and go all the way to the chequered flag. Then the rest will follow by itself.”

Please note: The presentation of team and drivers will take place in about four weeks’ time in Oeynhausen. An invitation will follow in due time!

2009-01-10, A good start to the season for Jetalliance Racing: Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Ryan Sharp (SCO), Alex Müller (GER), Thomas Gruber and Vitus Eckert in their Porsche 997 finished the 24 hour race in Dubai sixth overall today out of the 75 teams that started, also making them the most successful Austrian team! Victory in Dubai went to the German team of Land Motorsport, led by Carsten Tilke, son of Hermann Tilke, the renowned Grand Prix circuit architect.

Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “Seeing the chequered flag of a 24 hour race is always an achievement, and when you finish as the best Austrian team on top of that, the pleasure is double. Especially since we finally managed to finish this race in our fourth attempt.” But Jetalliance Racing is nonetheless railing against its fate a little – because with a bit of luck, much more would have been possible. After all the team had already been running in third position during the night, and in fifth place near the end of the race.

Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “We were consistently improving all through the night, climbing all the way up to P3. Then we encountered some bad luck – first we received a time penalty for speeding in the pits, then Ryan Sharp had a tyre failure. This dropped us back down to fifth place. And with two laps to go, we got a very dubious time penalty, which cost us another position. But all things considered, it has nevertheless been a very positive performance. Our entire team deserves praise.”

2009-01-08, Jetalliance Racing claimed eighth place in today’s qualifying for the 24h race in Dubai, with Germany’s Alex Müller setting the JAR team’s fastest lap time. Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Ryan Sharp (SCO), Alex Müller (GER), Thomas Gruber and Vitus Eckert in the Porsche 997 will therefore get tomorrow’s race under way from the fourth row of the grid. The race will start at 2 pm (local time).

Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “We’ve seen in free practice and in qualifying that we’re certainly not among the quickest in our Cup car. That’s why we’ll solely rely on consistency in tomorrow’s race and hope that there won’t be too many pace car periods. Because then we’ll have the advantage of needing fewer fuel stops in comparison to high-performance cars such as the Porsche RSR. What’s also good news: All five drivers are coping well with the car.”

2009-01-05, Almost by tradition Jetalliance Racing will start the new season with the 24 hour race in Dubai. This time it is a crew of five that will be fighting for a top result: In addition to team owner Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, Ryan Sharp (SCO), Alex Müller (GER), Thomas Gruber and Vitus Eckert will be competing in a Porsche 997, the very same car that Gruber took to victory in the Endurance classification of the 2008 Porsche Sportscup. The countdown in the Emirates starts on Thursday (January 8th) with free practice and qualifying, the race will get under way on Friday (January 9th) at 2 p.m. (local time).

Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “We’re optimistic ahead of Dubai. I believe that we’re well prepared. If we escape major incidents, a top five result should be possible in the end. If everything works out, we might even finish on the podium.” And what will Jetalliance Racing be doing after that race? Following intense deliberations at the JAR headquarters in Oeynhausen over the past few weeks, these initial decisions have been made:

Jetalliance Racing will not enter the 2009 FIA GT Championship, therefore the option to extend Karl Wendlinger’s contract has not been picked up.

Jetalliance Racing will compete with two new Porsche 997 Cup in the newly established Porsche Challenge. This series will be run to the regulations of the Carrera Cup on six race weekends supporting the Porsche Sportscup. The cars will be driven by Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer and Thomas Gruber.

Additionally Jetalliance Racing has entered two cars for the “Sportscup Endurance” (also supporting the Porsche Sportscup). The pairings for these two-hour long races have also been fixed already: one car will be driven by Lichtner-Hoyer and Gruber, the other by Eckert and star architect Alexander Serda. Also planned are participations in various endurance races such as the 24 hours of Spa and the 12 hours of Budapest. Furthermore JAR is trying hard to get a starting spot in the 24 hours of Le Mans.

Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “2009 will be a transition year for us. The FIA GT Championship – which will have new regulations starting in 2010 – is hence of no interest to us this year, since it is also too expensive. It just does not make any sense to make such a huge investment once more in a period of global recession. But we will continue to probe the market until March and can by all means envisage further engagements – also in other pro events.”