ALMS: Another Penske 1-2 afterall!

[Plex]

In the final part of the race the LMP2 cars at the front stayed close to each other. Dumas, Fernandez and Briscoe were within four and a half seconds of each other. Both Audi�s were behind in fourth and fifth place, but Werner in fourth was already fifteen seconds behind Dumas.

Thirty-five minutes to go as Ryan Briscoe in the Porsche RS Spyder manages to squeeze through and take the second place from Fernandez. Race leader Dumas let Brabham unlap himself, trying to keep himself out of trouble.

Quite remarkably with thirty minutes remaining was the classification of the Team Cytosport Lola. After a disastrous start of their campaign at Long Beach, their first real race at Mid-Ohio could end on the podium.

In GT2 Gianmaria Bruni lost a lot of time as the Ferrari 430 GT2 ran out of fuel. Bruni had to select the reserve fuel tank, but didn�t. If Risi Competizione had a chance of winning this race, that chance seems to have gone now.

Marco Werner meanwhile overtook Adrian Fernandez, getting back on the overall podium. The two Porsches were still leading, nineteen seconds ahead of the Audi, but it looked promising for the remaining twenty-five minutes of the race.

Unfortunately for Audi the race for victory did not go to well, as Werner went off track at turn number four. He returned to the track quickly, but lost valuable seconds in his attempt to get ahead of one of the Corvettes.

More drama as we got towards the final fifteen minutes of the race. Bryan Herta slowed down suddenly, the right-rear tyre of the Acura exploded after hitting Guy Smith, while overtaking the Autocon Creation. Parts of the blown tyres and bodywork were thrown all over the track, with the leading Porsches nearly missing it. Herta made it into the pit lane, while the other drivers were doing whatever they could do to avoid picking up the debris.

At the front the Penske team was controlling the race, the cars within half a second of each other. Marco Werner was still fifteen seconds behind them in third place. With ten minutes remaining the German needed a miracle to win the overall. The GT1 leader at this point were Oliver Gavin in the nr 4 Corvette, while J�rg Bergmeister led the GT2 class in the Flying Lizards Porsche 997.

After just over two hours and forty-five minutes it was Romain Dumas who took the chequered flag, winning the race for Penske Racing. Second, 2.360 seconds behind Dumas, was Ryan Briscoe in the second Penske Racing Porsche. Just over fifteen seconds behind the winning Porsche it was Marco Werner finishing in third.

Flying Lizard Motorsport took the GT2 victory for Porsche, while the 4 Corvette took the GT1 honours.

ALMS - Mid-Ohio - Race (provisional)

#7 Penske Racing - Porsche RS Spyder - 134 laps
#6 Penske Racing - Porsche RS Spyder - 0:02.360
#2 Audi Sport North America - Audi R10 - 0:15.073
#15 Fernandez Racing - Lola B06/43 - 0:39.352
#1 Audi Sport North America - Audi R10 - 1:04.633
#16 Dyson Racing - Porsche RS Spyder - 133 laps
#20 Dyson Racing - Porsche RS Spyder - 133 laps
#9 Highcroft Racing - Acura ARX-01A - 132 laps
#06 Team Cytosport - Lola B06/14 - 128 laps
#26 Andretti Green Racing - Acura ARX-01A - 126 laps
#4 Corvette Racing - Corvette C6.R - 125 laps
#3 Corvette Racing - Corvette C6.R - 125 laps
#19 Van der Steur Racing - Radical SR9 - 119 laps
#45 Flying Lizards - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 118 laps
#62 Risi Competizione - Ferrari 430 GT2 - 116 laps
#61 Risi Competizione - Ferrari 430 GT2 - 116 laps
#44 Flying Lizards - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 114 laps
#54 Team Trans Sport - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 114 laps
#31 Petersen/White Lightning - Ferrari 430 GT2 - 113 laps
#12 Autocon Motorsports - Creation CA06/H - 97 laps
#37 Intersport Racing - Creation CA06/H - 96 laps
#13 Woodhouse Performance - Dodge Viper - 95 laps
#18 Rahal Letterman Racing - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 92 laps
#71 Tafel Racing - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 83 laps
#73 Tafel Racing - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 80 laps
#21 Panoz Team PTG - Panoz Esperante GTLM - 49 laps
#8 B-K Motorsports - Lola B07/46 - 18 laps

Planetlemans

[Plex]

Results from Autosport.com

Pos Drivers Make Cl. Laps
1. Bernhard/Dumas Porsche RS Spyder P2 134
2. Maassen/Briscoe Porsche RS Spyder P2 134
3. Pirro/Werner Audi AG/R10/TDI P1 134
4. Diaz/Fernandez Lola/B06-43/Acura P2 134
5. Capello/McNish Audi AG/R10/TDI P1 134
6. Leitzinger/Wallace Porsche RS Spyder P2 133
7. Dyson/Smith Porsche RS Spyder P2 133
8. Johansson/Brabham Acura/ARX-01a P2 132
9. Pickett/Graf Lola B06/10 AER P1 128
10. Franchitti/Herta Acura/ARX-01a P2 126
11. Gavin/Beretta Corvette C6.R GT1 125
12. O'Connell/Magnussen Corvette C6.R GT1 125
13. Pecorari/Van der Steur Radical / SR9/AER P2 119
14. Bergmeister/Van Overbeek Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GT2 118
15. Salo/Melo Ferrari 430GT Berlin GT2 116
16. Helary/Bruni Ferrari 430GT Berlinetta GT2 116
17. Neiman/Pechnik Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GT2 114
18. Pappas/Borcheller Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GT2 114
19. Enge/Mueller Ferrari 430GT GT2 113
20. McMurry/Willman Creation CA06H-Judd P1 97
21. Field/Berry Creation/CA06H/Judd P1 96
22. Lux/Wilson Dodge Viper GT2 95
23. Kelleners/Milner Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GT2 92
24. Henzler/Liddell Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GT2 83
25. Tafel/Farnbacher Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GT2 80
26. Auberlen/Hand Panoz Esperante GTLM GT2 49
27. Devlin/Bach Lola/B07-40/Mazda P2 18


Autosport

[Rory Phoulorie]

Diesel powah?!?

[Plex]

[Rory Phoulorie]

I thought the LMP2 air restrictor revised rule was supposed to favour the LMP1 class??

It wouldn't surprise me if Acura eventually dominates the LMP2 class and series.

[Plex]

I not sure, but Audi is facing some competition now...