Audi turns top time in morning practice

Posted by September 30, 2010No comments

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BRASELTON, Ga — Marcel Fassler in the No. 9 Audi R15 turned the top time in the morning practice session but no one is really sure what it actually means — except perhaps Audi and Peugeot. The morning session at Road Atlanta for the 13th Annual Petit Le Mans Powered By Mazda2 was flagged off with a light shower on some sections of a drying track. Noone really believes that this is the weather that they will be racing on — so that leaves plenty of conjecture as to the strategy of each of the teams. Fassler’s best lap was .059 seconds faster than the 07 Peugeot 908 HDI FAP that was driven by Marc Gene.

Third fastest in the session was Dindo Capelli in the No. 7 R15 Audi, a teence of 1.5 seconds behind the leader while the 08 Peugeot, driven by Pedro Lamy never really seemed to be “totally on the pipe” fore a complete lap, turned in a best lap that more than 10 seconds off the pace of the leading Audi. Emanuele Piro posted the fourth fastest P1 time in the Drayson Racing Lola Judd a little more than three seconds off the pace of Fassler.

In the highloy comnpetitive GT2 class the two Olivers of the Corvette Team stole the thunder of the rest of the field at Oliver Gavin in the No. 4 Vette peeled off the top time for the class at 1:21.412 while Olivier Beretta in the No. 3 Shark was .155 seconds off the pace set by his teammate. The No. 90 BMW with Andy Priaqulx had the third fastest GT2 time.

Normally an ultra competitive class, it seems obvious that the GT2 teams were doing a wide range of different testing options as Patrick Long in the Flying Lizards Porsche was more than four seconds off the pace and the fastest Ferarri was more than two seconds off the pace. Only 27 of the 45 entries took a turn on the track this morning.

One interesting note is that the Porsche 911 GT3 Hybrid with Romain Dumas behind the wheel turned a lap at 1:22.684 seconds. The highly touted “Green Machine” Porsche that uses a KERS system to give it up to 120 extra horses to the front wheels when the system is fully charged has drawn significant interest from media and fans alike.

Road Atlanta: titles, pride on the line

Posted by September 30, 2010No comments

BRASELTON, Ga — With the largest field in recent years (45 cars) queued for a weekend of competition, Road Atlanta  and the 13th Annual Petit Le Mans will close the American Le Mans Series for 2010 and at the same time will be the North American stop for the inaugural running of the International Le Mans Cup, the Automobile Club l’Ouest’s creation that will have its final race of the season in Asia.

Although rainy skies greeted racers this morning, all of the weather guessers have indicated that this is just a short drizzle of rain which arrived Wednesday evening and which by Thursday afternoon will have moved on leaving the weekend with perfect conditions, sun and 70 degree temperatures.

In yesterday’s testing the Peugeot took the top headlines with the fastest time (by more than a second) while the Audi’s were sandwiched in the second and third positions and the second Peugeot was in fourth. However, no one really knows who is showing their fiull hand and who is just getting ready for the 1,000 mile race on Saturday.

There are two test sessions today, one in the morning, where the track will be damp, and one from 7-9 pm where teams will get an opportunity to see the track in race conditions and also in night time conditions

CytoSport Muscle Milk Porsche on top again with Mosport win

Posted by August 29, 2010No comments

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada — Frank Sinatra said it best in his classic tune “That’s Life” for which the lyrics of the first stanza go:

That’s life, that’s what all the people say.
You’re riding high in April,
Shot down in May
But I know I’m gonna change that tune,
When I’m back on top, back on top in June.

Klaus Graf and Romain Dumas, drivers of the CytoSport Muscle Milk Porsche RS Sypder can relate to those words after taking the win at the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport in the second to last event of the American Le Mans Series in a race that was red flagged after 2:19 was complete due to a horrendous crash on the Andretti Straight dammaged the ARMCO barrier, taking out more than 25 yards of the protective fencing.

The Team has been through the rollar coaster of emotions over the last three events that began at the Mid-Ohio in Lexington, OH the first weekend in August when team driver Greg Pickett had an off-course excursion that saw him go into the tire barrier, wreck the car, and prang his back. While Pickett was “OK” after further tests showed his back injury he was forced to sit out the rest of the season.

Last weekend at Road America, the team was leading through the last before a combination of low fuel and a red-hot Drayson team caught them with less than a quarter mile to go in the race, as they finished in second place.

But there was no stopping the Muscle Milk Porsche RS Sypder this weekend as they were fastest in testing, turned top time in qualifying for the pole, and took the checkered flag in the abbreviated race.

In second place was the series leading Patron Tequila sponsored HPD Acura with David Brabhad and Simon Pagenaud doing the driving honors.

In the GT class, the winner was Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister in the Flying Lizards Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Risi Competizione’s Toni Vilander and Gimmi Bruni placed second in their Ferrari F430 GT. Vilander started from the rear of the grid due to Jaime Melo being removed from the entry due to an illness. Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner finished third for BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team.

The cause of the red flag was a crash involving Luke Hines in the then class leading GTC Porsche. Hines on the outside of the track was clipped by fellow Englishman Jonny Cocker in the Team Drayson Lola Judd coupe, sending him off the track and violently into the ARMCO barrier. The wrecked racer then richocheted back on to the track. Hines was shaken up by the crash but appeared to be physically ok after the race.

With but one race left on the series schedule, the Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta, nearly every class has something for drivers to race for beyond the victory at the race.

Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport
Mosport International Raceway, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
Sunday’s results
1. (1) Romain Dumas, Ales; Klaus Graf, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (1, LMP), 99.
2. (3) David Brabham, Maidenhead, GB; Simon Pagenaud, Montmorrillon, FR; HPD ARX-01c (2, LMP), 99.
3. (5) Tony Burgess, Toronto; Johnny Mowlem, London; Lola B06 10/AER (3, LMP), 98.
4. (8) Elton Julian, Santa Monica, CA; Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 95.
5. (10) Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Christophe Bouchut, France; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 95.
6. (4) Paul Drayson, London, GB; Jonny Cocker, Guisborough, GB; Lola B09 60/Judd (4, LMP), 95.
7. (2) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire; Lola B09 86/Mazda (5, LMP), 94.
8. (7) Christian Zugel, Holmdel, NJ; Frankie Montecalvo, Highlands, NJ; Oreca FLM09 (3, LMPC), 93.
9. (21) Andy Wallace, England; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Oreca FLM09 (4, LMPC), 93.
10. (6) Ricardo Gonzalez, Monterrey; Luis Diaz, Mexico City; Oreca FLM09 (5, LMPC), 92.
11. (11) Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield, DE; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (1, GT), 92.
12. (28) Toni Vilander, FInland; Gianmaria Bruni, Rome, IT; Ferrari 430 GT (2, GT), 92.
13. (12) Bill Auberlen, Redondo Beach, CA; Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; BMW E92 M3 (3, GT), 92.
14. (13) Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings, GB; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (4, GT), 92.
15. (15) Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (5, GT), 92.
16. (14) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Ferrari 430 GT (6, GT), 91.
17. (9) Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Chapman Ducote, Miami Beach, FL; Oreca FLM09 (6, LMPC), 91.
18. (17) Bryan Sellers, Braselton, GA; Wolf Henzler, Nuertingen, DE; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT), 91.
19. (20) Ed Brown, Las Vegas, NV; Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, FL; Ferrari 430 GT (8, GT), 90.
20. (27) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (9, GT), 90.
21. (19) Paul Gentilozzi, Lansing, MI; Marc Goossens, Huntersville, NC; Jaguar XKRS (10, GT), 87.
22. (24) Shane Lewis, Jupiter, FL; Lawson Aschenbach, West Palm Beach, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 86.
23. (23) Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Jeroen Bleekemolen, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 86.
24. (25) Bill Sweedler, Westport, CT; Mitch Pagery, Deerfield Beach, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 86.
25. (22) Bryce Miller, Summit, NJ; Luke Hines, Essex; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, GTC), 78.
26. (16) Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo, Monaco; BMW E92 M3 (11, GT), 48.
27. (18) David Murry, Atlanta, GA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Design Ford GT (12, GT), 48.
28. (26) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B06/10 AER (6, LMP), 43.
29. (29) Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (5, GTC), 32, Accident.

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