The wait is nearly over for Muscle Milk Team CytoSport as it counts down to the start of its first full season of American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón competition.

After a promising partial season in 2009, the team is eager for the new season to start with the biggest race on the American Le Mans Series calendar at the famous Sebring circuit.

The team has previous experience at a major endurance race, having contested the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2008, but the 58th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida will be the first 12-hour event for Muscle Milk Team CytoSport.

For its first appearance at what is renowned as the toughest race of the season, the Muscle Milk squad can count on the experience of its crew and drivers.

German driver Klaus Graf will be making his fifth appearance at the 12-hour race, team owner and co-driver Greg Pickett is a former GTO class champion at Sebring, while the team’s third driver for the major endurance races of 2010, Sascha Maassen, is a four-time GT class champion.

All three drivers tested recently at the 3.7-mile track, the second longest on the schedule, and everyone was encouraged with the team’s performance ahead of next week’s race.

However, the team knows that the cars performance isn’t the only factor, especially in a 12-hour race. The team is looking forward to a trouble free run that will allow them to maintain its podium streak that started in 2009 with four podiums in four starts.

In order to continue its preparation for the season opener, Muscle Milk Team CytoSport will take part in a test session on Wednesday, March 17 before official practice begins on Thursday, March 18.

The 58th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh From Florida goes green on Saturday, March 20 at 10:30 am ET and will be broadcast live on SPEED from 10:00 a.m. – Noon and from 2:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).

What they have to say:

Greg Pickett, Owner / Driver #6 Muscle Milk Porsche RS Spyder
“I have great memories of Sebring having won there back in the GTO class in the 80s. It was a big victory for me that I enjoyed very much. Now more than 20 years later, racing at Sebring with Muscle Milk Team CytoSport will create more memories for me. It will be a very special race for us since it will not only be our first 12-hour race but it will also mark the start of our first full season of competition in the ALMS and I can’t wait for it to begin. (Thoughts on the Sebring track) Sebring, because of its surface, is very challenging and it’s the most difficult race on the ALMS calendar. We’ve tested at Sebring in the past weeks and the Porsche RS Spyder has been really good and I’m looking forward to a good race.”

Klaus Graf, Driver #6 Muscle Milk Porsche RS Spyder
“It will be the first time Muscle Milk Team CytoSport goes into the 12 hours of Sebring. As a group we’ve been to Le Mans so we’ve done a 24-hour race but with Sebring you come right out of the winter break and into a 12-hour race, which is the biggest race of the ALMS season. So it’s a big task for all the teams. Obviously we are entering our first full season this year and kicking it off with Sebring is quite special. It’s crazy, with all the spectators that come here it’s such a big race. I think with the Porsche RS Spyder we have the right package and the right car. 12-hour races, and especially this one with the track layout, its bumps and the way you have rubber pick up out there, it comes down to running clean all the way, minimizing the time in the pits and making no mistakes.”

Sascha Maassen, Driver #6 Muscle Milk Porsche RS Spyder
“I have good memories of Sebring winning in the GT class but the last two times there have not been so great. I told Klaus and Greg that I didn’t want to start the race because the last two years, when I was there with Penske and I started the race, I was the only driver getting in the car because we had to stop within the first hour! So I said no matter what I don’t want to start here, I don’t want to do it! That said the Muscle Milk Porsche RS Spyder is so near bullet proof now that we might have a good shot for the race. (Thoughts on the Sebring track) I don’t know if somebody can like Sebring really. It’s one of those love/hate tracks. It’s not the nicest track, it’s difficult and it’s a big challenge and that is something you have to cope with. The thing I like most about this race is when it’s finished, because it’s such a hard, hard race and 12 hours is long, it’s really long. And of course if you are on the podium at the end it makes things even better.”

Source : Muscle Milk Team Cytosport