American Le Mans Series

Top-Ranked Petersen/White Lighting Portland Preview

Saturday night racing has long been a mainstay of American motorsports. On July 30th, Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing will help blaze new territory in that great tradition as the American Le Mans Series holds its first-ever, Saturday night, primetime sports car race.

With the tooth-and-nail battles that the GT2 class has provided this season, the two hour and 45-minute sports car race at Portland International Raceway promises to heat things up in true Saturday night fashion. Making the event on the 1.944-mile, 12-turn facility even more important is that it starts the final sprint to the ALMS championship, only five races away, for the No. 31 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Drivers Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long currently sit tied at the top of the ALMS GT2 driver standings while the Las Vegas-based team holds an 11 point lead in the entrant standings. With 109 points available, the battle is still very much up for grabs.

The team enters the Grand Prix of Portland with a chain of five-consecutive ALMS GT2 class podium finishes. The string, more than any other team in the class, includes the season-opening victory at the prestigious Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, four straight second-place finishes, two pole positions and a dominating five IMSA Cups, awarded to the highest finishing privateer entrant in each class. The only misstep to this point all season was a third in the second race of the season at Road Atlanta.

In what is widely considered the most competitive class in the ALMS, the No. 31 took the point lead at the first race and has not relinquished. In all, the team has run six races in 2005 including the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO)- sanctioned 24 Hours of Le Mans where it also finished second in class. The Grand Prix of Portland marks the team’s third race at Portland since joining the ALMS. It holds two six-place finishes (2000 and 2001) and took third after leading late in the going last season.

© 2005 Planetlemans.com.