The MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche co-driven by Sean Edwards, Henrique Cisneros and Carlos Kauffmann led the GTC class of the 60th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring for a very extensive period and it was looking like the MOMO Porsche was the car to beat at the end. Unfortunately the gods of racing were not with the #30 NGT Motorsport team and its drivers tonight and at 7:00 PM, three and a half hours before the end of the race, the MOMO car was involved in an accident that ended its chance of winning this historic event.

Henrique Cisneros was driving the car at the time in second place in the GTC class and was well on his way to another great stint until he approached turn 13. Suddenly the throttle cable got stuck and Henrique went straight into the tire wall.

It was a very violent impact but luckily Henrique Cisneros was unhurt and came out of the car on his own. The #30 MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche car was brought back to the garage on the flat bed and the crew started to work on the very badly broken car. Ten minutes after starting the repair, the decision was made to retire the car since the damage was too extensive to return to the race.

Henrique Cisneros came back to the team transporter and explained to his crew the real cause of the accident. He was of course very disappointed since he knew he had a potential winning car. He also explained that there was nothing he could have done to avoid the accident.

Henrique Cisneros, Carlos Kauffmann and Sean Edwards raced together here at Sebring last year and finished third in the GTC class. This year they all wanted to win this 60th anniversary race and their MOMO NGT Motorsport team led by Ramez Wahab really prepared a great car for this unique endurance event. The crew was also disappointed especially after leading the race for so long.

Carlos Kauffmann was ready for his last stint of the day when the accident happened. Kaufmann, like Cisneros, did a great job today and Carlos was also disappointed but knew that his teammate could not avoid that crash.

Sean Edwards did a fabulous job today proving once again that he is one of the top drivers of his generation. After scoring the GTC pole position yesterday, the driver from England had a very good first stint and led the race multiple times. Each time he was in the car he was showing his determination and ambition to win that race. Edwards was scheduled to drive the last stint of the day and he, like his two teammates, wanted to spray the Champagne at the end of the day on top of the podium like the MOMO car did 14 years ago at Sebring.

The #30 MOMO NGT Porsche finished 9th in the GTC class today. The other NGT Motorsport Porsche had a shot at a GTC podium finish tonight but an accident also ended its chance. The #031 NGT Porsche finished 8th.

Fourteen years ago, the #30 MOMO racecar, driven by Mauro Baldi crossed the 1998 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring finish line in first place. This historic victory was part of the North American endurance racing Triple Crown that saw MOMO’s co-drivers Gianpiero Moretti, Didier Theys and Mauro Baldi win three of the most recognized endurance races in the world, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the Six Hours of Watkins Glen, all in the same year.

Earlier this year, the world of auto racing lost one of its most popular stars: Gianpiero Moretti, the man who founded MOMO and helped define the term “gentleman racer,” passed away at the age of 71 in Milan, Italy.

After making a noticeable North American auto racing comeback at the 2012 Rolex 24 At Daytona with NGT Motorsport, MOMO is pleased to announce that the Italian company will sponsor the #30 MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in the GTC class of the 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.

“Momo is thrilled to once again be part of the historic Twelve Hours of Sebring event,” announced Marc Phaneuf, General Manager for MOMO Automotive Accessories Inc. “MOMO is synonymous with racing and the Twelve Hours of Sebring and the American Le Mans Series are the perfect testing grounds, ideal for current and future development. Driver safety, and driver comfort is our first priority and our upcoming ALMS racing program will provide optimal driver feedback for current and future development. The driver feedback translates to product development and will funnel its way down to our retail customers giving them the chance to drive with the best safety products available” added Marc Phaneuf.

“MOMO was a celebrated and iconic racing brand in the 1990s. The company founder was a highly respected and fierce competitor, making our entry to the American Le Mans Series very special. The #30 colors and livery pay a great tribute to the 1998 Sebring winning car of Mr. Moretti”.

The #30 MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup will be driven at the 60th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring fueled by Fresh from Florida by Henrique Cisneros and Carlos Kauffmann from Venezuela and Sean Edwards from England. The same trio of drivers competed with NGT Motorsport in the Twelve Hours of Sebring last year and finished third in the GTC class for their first race together, a performance that did not go unnoticed.

MOMO selected one of the top North American Porsche teams, NGT Motorsport to represent the iconic brand for its 2012 American Le Mans Series program. Founded in 2004 by Ramez Wahab, NGT Motorsport won the 2011 IMSA GT3 team and driver Cup Challenge with Henrique Cisneros.

“MOMO NGT Motorsport is expecting to exceed its 2011 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring performance this year, especially with such a great sponsor as MOMO backing us up,” announced Ramez Wahab. “The MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche led the majority of the Twelve Hours of Sebring last year before finishing third and scoring the class track record in the race.”

In addition to the #30 MOMO Porsche 997 GT3 Cup entry in the Twelve Hours of Sebring, NGT Motorsport will enter a second Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in the GTC class, the #031 to be driven by Angel Andres Benitez Jr. and Angel Rafael Benitez Sr. from Venezuela and Nicki Thiim from Denmark. NGT Motorsport will also enter three cars in the 2012 Porsche GT3 Cup.

MOMO NGT Motorsport and its three drivers will participate in the test days to prepare for the 12 hour race on Monday and Tuesday, March 12-13 at Sebring International Raceway.

2011 IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Champion Henrique Cisneros is excited to return to Sebring after his great success last year. “The Twelve Hours of Sebring is the most challenging race of the year,” stated Henrique Cisneros. “I am excited to be back with MOMO NGT Motorsport with the same driver line up as last year, where we earned a third place podium finish. After another year of experience under our belts, we expect to win this prestigious event this year.”

2011 Porsche Carrera Cup Vice-Champion Sean Edwards is eager to get back to America to race on the legendary Florida racetrack where he almost won last year. “It’s great to be back racing the iconic MOMO NGT Porsche again,” said Sean Edwards. “The Twelve Hours of Sebring is an amazing race, we finished 3rd there last year and definitely have unfinished business, so we are aiming for the win. The GTC category looks very competitive, but we have a strong team and driver lineup for the race and will be going flat out all the way.”

Multiple IMSA GT3 Cup race winner and pole award winner Carlos Kauffmann is also looking to join his former 2011 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring teammates and hopefully share a win with them this year. “Being able to compete in this iconic race where we finished 3rd last year is awesome,” said Carlos Kauffmann. “Racing in the Twelve Hours of Sebring with a MOMO sponsored racecar is spectacular. I really want to enjoy the ride and help my teammates take our MOMO Porsche to the highest possible finish.”

In an effort to create an exciting “MOMO racing moment” for the thousands of fans that will gather at Sebring International Raceway, MOMO was able to secure at Sebring one of the former MOMO Ferrari 333SP prototypes raced by the late Gianpiero Moretti and Didier Theys. The two MOMO cars will be on display at the MOMO NGT Motorsport transporter during the ALMS driver’s autograph session Friday, March 16 at noon.

The 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón begins with the 60th Anniversary Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida on Saturday on March 17. The race, set for 10:30 a.m. ET and will be broadcast March 18 on ABC and shown live on ESPN3 and ALMS.com.

Follow the MOMO NGT Motorsport throughout the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring event and the ALMS season on Facebook.com/MomoMotorsport and on Twitter @MomoMotorsport

MOMO made a successful comeback at Daytona this weekend. The MOMO NGT Motorsport team had a great driver line-up with Porsche Super Cup and Porsche GT3 Cup Champions and Vice Champions Henrique Cisneros, Sean Edwards, Carlos Kauffmann and Nick Tandy. The MOMO team also had a very fast Porsche GT3 that really could have finished in the top five of the 50th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The team practiced well on Thursday and Friday and Sean Edwards was the qualifying driver. For his second participation in the Rolex 24 At Daytona Edwards was given the honor to qualify the No. 26 MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche GT3 on Thursday afternoon. Sean qualified the MOMO car in 13th place and he started the race from the 7th row before an estimated 80,000 spectators.

Sean Edwards was able to show his muscles and the competitiveness of his MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche. He went from 13th to leading the race after only 75 minutes of racing. Each of the drivers were able to run their stint without any major problems.

The MOMO NGT Motorsport team continued their problem free race and the drivers started to build top five finish expectations until 6:30 AM Sunday morning.

Following a routine pit stop and a brake change, a MOMO NGT Motorsport crew member discovered that the car had a damper problem and the car was immediately pushed back to the garage for repair. Sean Edwards was behind the wheel at the time and was 10th before the incident. Unfortunately the problem cost the team several positions and after a 20-minute repair job, the 26 MOMO car restarted in 17th place.

After that problem that put the car too many laps down, the MOMO NGT Motorsport drivers were never in contention to come back in the top ten. Another problem 51 minutes before the end of the race forced the 26 car driven at the time by Nick Tandy to visit the garage because of a battery problem. The problem was fixed by the crew and Carlos Kauffmann was able to return to the track and cross the finish line for the MOMO NGT Motorsport team.

Led by team owner Ramez Wahab, the NGT Motorsport team raced and finished its first Rolex 24 At Daytona. The next major rendez-vous for the MOMO NGT Motorsport team is the MOBIL 1 12 Hours of Sebring next March.

Team Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon with its drivers Sean Edwards, Khaled Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen, and Thomas Jager, beat strong competition from BMW, Ferrari, Audi, Mercedes and Porsche to win the seventh edition of the 24 hour race in Dubai. With a new distance record of 628 laps (3385 miles) Black Falcon scored the first 24 victory for Mercedes since 1989 at Le Mans and the first for the Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, only a year after its debut in the 24 hours of Dubai.

This year’s edition of the 24 hour race in the Arab emirate of Dubai was full of international teams and drivers at their best. From the start of the race, Black Falcon’s SLS was amongst the fastest and fought all the way from 15th up to 1st position in the first hour. Later in the race they lost their advantage, because it was too far away from the pit lane entry at the beginning of a code 60 and therefore could not take full advantage of a pitstop. The competition took advantage of the situation and drove past Black Falcon. Several tactical ploys by the drivers and team were able to regain the lost time and get the lead back eventually.

Sean Edwards was the one to regain the lead before midnight with a great move around the outside of another Mercedes SLS. Over the next few hours Khaled Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards and Thomas Jager built their lead up. Even so, after 18 hour of the race, the top three cars (Mercedes, BMW, Mercedes) were covered by only 7 seconds! Good tactics from the team, excellent pit stops from the crew and fast driving, combined with the high reliability of the SLS meant that after 24 hours, the first overall victory for Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon was achieved.

Sean Edwards:
“What an amazing race we had, it was such an amazing fight all the way to the end! I am so happy to win my first 24 hour race and to help Mercedes get the first for the SLS. Everyone performed flawlessly from the team and drivers, which is what you need in modern endurance racing, no mistakes. We spent the least time in the pits and won the race because of it.”

Khaled Al Qubaisi:
“To have won the 24 hours of Dubai is a great feeling. The victory was hard fought, the race was very tight and the competition very high. Therefore, the race for the whole team was incredibly demanding. Nevertheless, everybody in the team did a great job, and my dream team of drivers performed outstandingly. It was such a great feeling to cross the finish line after so much hard work to achieve the result we really deserved!”

NGT Motorsport has announced MOMO as primary sponsor for the team’s No. 26 GT class entry in the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 at Daytona to be run Jan. 28-29 at Daytona International Speedway. The MOMO brand is closely associated with the great history of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, having achieved an overall win in the event back in 1998.

The No. 26 MOMO Porsche GT3 entry will be driven by Porsche Carrera Cup standouts Nick Tandy and Sean Edwards, 2011 IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Champion Henrique Cisneros and multiple IMSA GT3 Cup race winner and pole award winner Carlos Kauffmann.
The car bears bears a striking resemblance to that of the MOMO Ferrari teams from past Rolex 24 events, including the 1998 race-winning Ferrari 333SP. Gianpiero Moretti, who had made it a personal goal to win the Rolex 24, finally won the event that year in his 15th attempt in a Kevin Doran-prepped machine. He was joined by drivers Mauro Baldi, Arie Luendyk, and Didier Theys.

NGT Motorsport was founded in 2003 by Ramez Wahab and has competed actively in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge ever since. The Miami, Fla.-based team won team and driver IMSA GT3 championships in 2010 and 2011 and has participated successfully in various other endurance races. The team will make its Rolex 24 debut in January.

Rolex 24 At Daytona takes place January 26 – 29, 2012
European viewers can catch the race Live on Motors TV.