LEXINGTON, Oh — Perhaps not since the Revolutionary War has the Union Jack been planted on Ohio soil — but young Jonny Cocker took the  Judd powered Lola Team Drayson car around the Mid Ohio circuit with the fastest time for the qualifying session turning a lap of 1:10.034 (116.069 mph) Friday. It was the first ALMS pole for the team and sixth different pole winner in six races. The time was not only top time of the day but it was also a new track record.

Cocker and the Drayson Team had turned fast laps during practice practice earlier in the day and with Cocker pushing on the “go-juice” the Green Dragon went to the front of the class for the first time this season. Along side the British Team will be the Dyson Racing Lola B09 with a Mazda powerplant, that appeared to have the pole position locked up before Cocker made his late session charge. Cocker toppped the Mazda by .932 second.

During the previous day the Muscle Milk Porsche had a serious crash apparently due to a mechanical failure that cause driver Greg Pickett to drive into the tire wall at high speed, flipping the car and taking the team out of the race. Pickett only suffered minor bumps and bruises but the car will need to be rebuilt for the next race of the series.

In third in qualifying was the Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-1c Honda but this was not to be there day as Simon Pagenaud was unable to run with the top dogs on this day. Cocker and team owner and co-driver Paul Drayson will have their hands full on the Mid-Ohio course as the team has had its trouble getting through a race without having mechanical problems.

In the GT class it was the Ferarris that set the top time with the Corvettes in third and fourth. The top eight GT cars were within one second of each other.

All photos by Dave R. Johnson.

LAKEVILLE, Cn — Images from the race at Lime Rock by the dynamic duo of Dave R. Johnson and his daughter Leigh F. Johnson. Enjoy!

Muscle Milk Porsche Spyder

Seen here taking the LMP2 class victory at Sebring, the team was the overall LMP winner at the ALMS race at Lime Rock.

LAKEVIEW, Cn — Getting the aid of the “Racing Gods of Lime Rock” the Muscle Milk Porsche Spyder driven by Klaus Graff (along with Greg Pickett) survived a late stop-and-go penalty at Lime Rock Race Park to earn its first overall victory in the American Le Mans Series and a break a three-win streak by pole-setter Patron Highcroft Honda, driven at the time by David Brabham (along with Simon Pagenaud).

The Patron Team with Brabham at the wheel had just reeled in the Porsche and was within striking distance. As they passed the start-finish line, Brabhad saw an opening and tried to move along side the Muscle Milk car, which would have ostensibly blocked Klaus with a slower GT car directly in front of him.  Klaus reacted to the traffic a little slower than Brabham, and confessed that he did not know that Brabham and the Honda were that closeto him  in a post race interview.

When Klaus moved to his right, he made contact with the Honda and push Brabham into the weeds at around 150 mph. While Klaus got a stop-and-go penalty for not paying attention, the Honda’s right rear tire, which had apparently been problematic during the last 20 minutes, deflated. Brabham limped back to the pits to replace the tire. Klaus sped back to the pits to serve the stop-and-go and left the pits just as the Honda arrived.

Klaus had a 30 second lead with less than five minutes to go in the race and that was it.

Earlier in the race, the Drayson Racing Team with Jonny Cocker at the wheel  jumped into the lead, showing a burst of brilliance before a combination of niggling five and dime problems cost it too much time in the pits for repairs. Once the Lola Judd was out of the picture the race between the Honda and Porsche.

In the GT class it was a Germanic day, with a Porsche and two BMWs topping the podium as Patrick Long and Joerg Bergmeister took victory. It was a hard-fought battle with their teutonic counterparts that put the Long-Bermeister team back on top of the points race in the GT class. Fourth place went to Pierre Kaffer and Mika Salo, in a Ferrari 430 GT. They were a lap down to the Porsche when the checkered flag dropped.

American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix
Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn.
Saturday’s results
1. (2) Greg Pickett, Crystal Bay, NV; Klaus Graf, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (1, LMP), 171.
2. (1) Simon Pagenaud, France; David Brabham, England; HPD ARX-01c (2, LMP), 171.
3. (29) Elton Julian, Santa Monica, CA; Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 162.
4. (9) Tom Papadopoulos, Long Island, NY; Alex Figge, Denver, CO; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 162.
5. (8) Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (1, GT), 161.
6. (18) Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; Bill Auberlen, Redondo Beach, CA; BMW E92 M3 (2, GT), 161.
7. (25) Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E92 M3 (3, GT), 161.
8. (13) Pierre Kaffer, Germany; Mika Salo, Finland; Ferrari 430 GT (4, GT), 160.
9. (14) Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (5, GT), 159.
10. (17) Andy Wallace, England; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Oreca FLM09 (3, LMPC), 158.
11. (15) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Ferrari 430 GT (6, GT), 157.
12. (22) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT), 157.
13. (10) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Bryan Sellers, Braselton, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT), 156.
14. (24) Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 152.
15. (21) Marc Goossens, Huntersville, NC; Ryan Dalziel, Orlando, FL; Jaguar XKRS (9, GT), 152.
16. (23) Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Jeroen Bleekemolen, Netherlands; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 151.
17. (16) Ed Brown, Las Vegas, NV; Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, FL; Ferrari 430 GT (10, GT), 150.
18. (26) Jerry Vento, West Palm Beach, FL; Shane Lewis, Jupiter, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 149.
19. (20) Christian Zugel, Holmdel, NJ; Tom Sedivy, Raleigh, NC; Oreca FLM09 (4, LMPC), 146.
20. (27) Bret Curtis, Valencia, CA; James Sofronas, Newport Beach, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, GTC), 146.
21. (30) Luke Hines, England; Bryce Miller, Summit, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (5, GTC), 140.
22. (5) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B06/10 AER (3, LMP), 140, Mechanical.
23. (28) Bill Sweedler, Westport, CT; Romeo Kapudija, Lincolnwood, IL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (6, GTC), 123.
24. (4) Paul Drayson, England; Jonny Cocker, England; Lola B09 60/Judd (4, LMP), 113.
25. (19) David Murry, Atlanta, GA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Design Ford GT (11, GT), 110.
26. (7) Brian Wong, Newport Beach, CA; Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Oreca FLM09 (5, LMPC), 108.
27. (12) Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (12, GT), 35, Accident.
28. (11) Jaime Melo, Milan; Gianmaria Bruni, Italy; Ferrari 430 GT (13, GT), 22, Accident.
29. (3) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Lola B09 86/Mazda (5, LMP), 7, Mechanical.
30. (6) Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Christophe Bouchut, France; Oreca FLM09 (6, LMPC), 0.