ALMS: Penske hold off Audi at Elkhart Lake

[Plex]

Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard continued Penske Porsche's run of overall wins in the American Le Mans Series at Elkhart Lake.

The duo emerged on top of a thrilling, weather-interrupted, contest that ended with the top three cars covered by just 2.3 seconds after four hours of racing.

The LMP1 Audis finished second and third after swapping positions repeatedly in the closing stages.

Allan McNish had led the early laps from pole before losing his left rear tyre.

That handed the advantage to the second Audi, but at the final pit stops after an hour-long caution caused by a thunderstorm, the Porsche crew chose not to change tyres and managed to leapfrog their LMP1 rivals.

Bernhard then successfully held off the chasing Rinaldo Capello and Emanuele Pirro to secure the LMP2 Porsche's sixth successive overall win.

The second Penske Porsche and the Highcroft Acura completed the top five.

In GT1, Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin took a dominant victory, despite a late spin by Beretta. The duo have now won the class in seven of this season's eight rounds.

GT2 turned into a fuel-mileage race after the main contenders made their final stops just over an hour before chequered flag. Jamie Melo and Mika Salo eased the Risi Ferrari home just ahead of Tom Milner and Ralf Kelleners' Rahal-Letterman Porsche.

Pos Drivers Car Laps
1. R.Dumas, T.Bernhard Porsche RS Spyder 96
2. R.Capello, A.McNish Audi R10 TDI 96
3. E.Pirro, M.Werner Audi R10 TDI 96
4. S.Maassen, R.Briscoe Porsche RS Spyder 96
5. D.Brabham, S.Johansson, D.Dayton Acura ARX-01a 94
6. C.Dyson, G.Smith Porsche RS Spyder 94
7. B.Leitzinger, A.Wallace Porsche RS Spyder 94
8. A.Fernandez, L.Diaz Acura Lola BO6 94
9. B.Herta, M.Franchitti Acura ARX-01a 94
10. G.Pickett, K.Graf AER Lola B06-10 91
11. J.Bach, B.Devlin Mazda Lola B07-40 91
12. O.Gavin, O.Beretta Corvette C6.R 91
13. J.O'Connell, J.Magnussen Corvette C6.R 90
14. D.Theys, F.Lienhard Maserati MC12 88
15. M.Salo, J.Melo Ferrari 430 GT 87
16. R.Kelleners, T.Milner Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 87
17. P.Dumbreck, D.Mueller Ferrari 430 GT 87
18. W.Henzler, R.Liddell Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 87
19. J.Van Overbeek, J.Bergmeister Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 86
20. E.Helary, G.Bruni Ferrari 430 GT 86
21. T.Pappas, T.Borcheller Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 85
22. J.Tafel, D.Farnbacher, N.Swartzbaugh Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 83
23. S.Neiman, D.Law Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 81
24. C.McMurry, B.Willman, M.Lewis Lola EX257 AER 76
25. B.Auberlen, J.Hand Panoz Esperante 75
26. J.Field, C.Field, R.Berry Creation CA06H Judd 48

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