BRASELTON, Ga — Peugeot’s diesel-powered 908 HDi FAPs claimed a one-two victory after a grueling pace at this year’s 1000 mile Petit Le Mans brought to you by Mazda2 on the hilly Road Atlanta course. Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy led their sister car of Marc Gene, Anthony Davidson and Alex Wurz to the finish, with the R15 of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello, finishing two laps behind in third position.
The R15 would have most certainly been on the lead lap, and in the hunt for the overall win, but Capello, had to pit unexpectedly from the lead and hand over driving duty to McNish. A strange failure of Dindo’s helmet escape device caused his fire retardant balaclava to move over his eyes under braking. While the Peugeots had dominated in practice and in qualifying, on race day the Audis were more than a match for their French counterparts, leading through the first four hours of the race and signaling to the Peugeot team that this was a race that would require a near perfect performance if they were to win.
The Montagny, Sarrazin, and Lamy Peugeot had an easy run to victory after Peugeot decided to do a split strategy after the Audi encountered problems. The leading car was brought into the pits at the next safety car, while the second-place car was left out on track and lost time pitting under green flag conditions. The famed Road Atlanta race track saw the final battle between the Peugeot 908’s and the Audi R15’s. Next year both teams will be competing with new cars.
David Brabham and Simon Pagenaud and Marino Franchitti claimed the ALMS LMP title in the Highcroft Racing Acura HPD ARX-01c after their forth place finish. Their biggest competitor Klaus Graf, Lucas Luhr, and Sascha Maassen, finished seventh behind them in the a trouble-plagued Porsche RS Sypder that ran the entire race on seven cylinders.
The Chevrolet Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen and Emmanuel Collard got their first win of the season, when they beat out the Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 of Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander, who ran out of fuel on the last lap while leading the GT Category.
Final Results:
1. Franck Montagny, Grandvaux; Stephane Sarrazin, Ales; Pedro Lamy, Lisbon; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (1, P1), 394
2. Marc Gene, Barcelona; Alexander Wurz, Monte Carlo; Anthony Davidson, Brackley, Northamptonshire; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (2, P1), 394
3. Allan McNish, Monte Carlo; Dindo Capello, Canelli; Tom Kristensen, Monte Carlo; Audi R15 (3, P1), 392
4. Simon Pagenaud, Montmorrillon, FR; Marino Franchitti, Edinburgh, Scotland; David Brabham, Maidenhead, GB; HPD ARX-01c (4, P2), 383
5. Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B06/10 AER (5, P1), 383
6. Marcel Fassler, Gross; Andre Lotterer, Duisburg; Benoit Treluyer, Alencon; Audi R15 (6, P1), 377
7. Klaus Graf, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Monte Carlo; Sascha Maassen, Lontzen; Porsche RS Spyder (7, P2), 372
8. Jonny Cocker, Guisborough, GB; Emanuele Pirro, Monte Carlo; Paul Drayson, London, GB; Lola B09 60/Judd (8, P1), 369
9. Jacques Nicolet, Paris; Frederic Da Rocha, Cenon; Patrice Lafargue, Nantes; Pescarolo P01/Judd (9, P2), 359
10. Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings, GB; Emmanuel Collard, Paris; Jan Magnussen, Roskilde; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (10, GT2), 355
11. Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Dominik Farnbacher, Ansbach; Ferrari 430 GT (11, GT2), 355
12. Toni Vilander, Kankaanpaa; Gianmaria Bruni, Rome, IT; Ferrari 430 GT (12, GT2), 354
13. Bill Auberlen, Redondo Beach, CA; Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; Dirk Werner, Kissenbrück; BMW E92 M3 (13, GT2), 354
14. Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Marc Lieb, Ludwigsburg; Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield, DE; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (14, GT2), 354
15. Olivier Beretta, Monte Carlo; Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Antonio Garcia, Barcelona; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (15, GT2), 354
16. Marco Werner, Kreuzlingen; Burt Frisselle, Aspen, Colorado; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 354
17. Jaime Melo, Milan; Mika Salo, Monte Carlo; Giancarlo Fisichella , Rome; Ferrari 430 GT (2, GT2), 353
18. Romain Dumas, Ales; Mike Rockenfeller, Monte Carlo; Timo Bernhard, Dittweiler; Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid (3, GTH), 350
19. David Murry, Atlanta, GA; Rob Bell, Northamptonshire; Anthony Lazzaro, Atlanta, GA; Doran Design Ford GT (4, GT2), 349
20. Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Marco Holzer, Lochau; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (5, GT2), 348
21. Bryan Sellers, Braselton, GA; Martin Ragginger, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (6, GT2), 347
22. Andy Lally, New York, NY; Duncan Ende, Los Angeles, CA; Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 337
23. Jeroen Bleekemolen, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Haarlem; Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 337
24. Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Chapman Ducote, Miami Beach, FL; David Ducote, Houston, TX; Oreca FLM09 (7, LMPC), 336
25. Andrew Davis, Lilburn, GA; Ryan Eversley, Winder, GA; John Potter, Salt Lake City, UT; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 332
26. Shane Lewis, Jupiter, FL; Lawson Aschenbach, West Palm Beach, FL; Jerry Vento, West Palm Beach, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, GTC), 330
27. Ed Brown, Las Vegas, NV; Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, FL; Joao Barbosa, Portugal; Ferrari 430 GT (5, GT2), 329
28. Doug Baron, Pacific Palisades, CA; Rene Villeneuve, Woodland Hills, CA; Loren Beggs, Montclair, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (6, GTC), 325
29. Robert Rodriguez, Zephyr Cove, NY; Galen Bieker, Burbank, CA; Kris Wilson, Huntington Beach, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (7, GTC), 324
30. Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Design Ford GT (8, GT2), 315
31. Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Andy Priaulx, Guernsey; BMW E92 M3 (9, GT2), 315
32. Ricardo Gonzalez, Monterrey; Luis Diaz, Mexico City; Ryan Lewis, Indianapolis, IN; Oreca FLM09 (8, LMPC), 311
33. Bill Sweedler, Westport, CT; Romeo Kapudija, South Barringon, IL; Jan-Dirk Lueders, Barrington Hills, IL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (10, GTC), 310
34. Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Christophe Bouchut, France; Mark Wilkins, Toronto, ON; Oreca FLM09 (9, LMPC), 310
35. Frankie Montecalvo, Highlands, NJ; Eric Lux, Jacksonville, FL; Alex Figge, Denver, CO; Oreca FLM09 (10, LMPC), 307
36. Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Christian Zugel, Holmdel, NJ; Elton Julian, Santa Monica, CA; Oreca FLM09 (11, LMPC), 287
37. Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire; Andy Meyrick, Chester; Lola B09 86/Mazda (12, P2), 192 (gearbox)
38. Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Tony Burgess, Toronto; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola B06 10/AER (13, P1), 157
39. Marc Goossens, Huntersville, NC; Ryan Dalziel, Orlando, FL; Paul Gentilozzi, Lansing, MI; Jaguar XKRS (14, GT2), 82 (cooling)
40. Butch Leitzinger, Rebersburg, PA; Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, CA; Andy Wallace, England; Jaguar XKRS (15, GT2), 16 (cooling)
41. Andrew Prendeville, Chatham, NJ; Harri Toivonen, Helsinki Finland; Peter Dempsey, Dublin; Radical SR9/IES (16, P2), 6 (oil pressure)
42. Brandon Davis, Henderson, NV; Boris Said, San Diego, CA; Townsend Bell, Santa Monica, CA; Doran Design Ford GT (17, GT2), 0
43. Luke Hines, Essex; Pierre Ehret, Tegernsee; Bryce Miller, Summit, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (11, GTC), 0
44. Ian James, Phoenix, AZ; Benjamin Leuenberger, Switzerland; Panoz Abruzzi (12, GT2), 0
45. Matt Downs, North Mankato, MN; Antonio Downs, Minneapolis, MN; Lucas Downs, North Mankato, MN; Oreca FLM09 (18, LMPC), 0
