The big excitement of Thursday afternoon at Sebring between the two test sessions was the appearance of the DeltaWing making its first laps in public. Has a page in the history of motor sport been turned today in Florida?

There was a buzz during the lunch break at Sebring. A compact mass of reporters, photographers and cameramen jostled on the pit lane when the tarp that covered the all black DeltaWing was slowly drawn back. After months of speculation on the viability of this project, the long-awaited car made its public debut. The car will be seen again in June at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with an invitation to compete (unclassified) in the pinnacle of the endurance calendar. Painted black, and badged Nissan - the engine of the project - and Michelin as tyre supplier. Accompanied by his brother Dario, the Scots driver Marino Franchitti slid behind the wheel of car #0. Technicians of the Japanese manufacturer brought to life the 1.6-litre turbo engine and the DeltaWing slipped onto track for its second run, the first having taken place privately last week in California.

Two short demonstration laps, proved that the car does run. Ben Bowlby, technical director could not hide his emotion, surrounded by Don Panoz who has join the ranks of partners of the project, Darren Cox, director of Nissan Europe and Nick Shorrock, boss of the competition department at Michelin. "We are here to demonstrate that a race car can consume half the fuel, use half the tyres, weigh half as much", Bowlby explained, before thanking the Automobile Club de l'Ouest. "Without the opportunity provided by the ACO in creating the '56th pit' this machine would have never have emerged." Cox hailed "the beginning of a great story" and Shorrock described the special tyres used, 10 cm wide at the front (4 inches) compared with 36cm used on the Audi LM P1! Shortly after, Franchitti confided that he had been amazed at the ease of driving. There is still a lot of work to do on the DeltaWing before the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The machine must meet the safety standards imposed - starting with a crash test - and must demonstrate a minimum level of performance before being allowed to take the start of 80th 24 Hours of Le Mans. "By participating in this project," concluded Don Panoz, "I will be living a dream."

Photo: SEBRING (FLORIDA, USA), 12 HOURS OF SEBRING, Thursday, March 15, 2012. The story continues on the track at Sebring with the first public test of the DeltaWing.