American Le Mans Series

Petersen/White Lighting Heads North to Mosport

Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing continues to take the fight to the competition at every American Le Mans Series event in pursuit of the team’s first GT2 championship. Entering Sunday’s Grand Prix of Mosport, the Michael Petersen-owned team is just two points out of the lead with three races remaining in the 2005 season. Despite falling from the GT2 class point lead two races ago, the No. 31 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR came back with a strategic attack at the most recent race at Road America earning a stirring and emotional victory in a head-to-head battle. Drivers Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long are also embroiled in the driver championship fight that could earn each their first official ALMS titles as well. Like the Generac 500 at Road America, the battle at Mosport International Raceway could prove the perfect snapshot of the war for the title.

The 2.459-mile, 10-turn Bowmanville, Ontario, Can. facility is among the fastest road courses in North America and offers the perfect terrain for the Las Vegas-based operation to make another decisive blow. Thus far, fast circuits have given strong results for the two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winning team. The Westward Ho Casino Porsche has victories at the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the most recent round at Road America, both very fast circuits. Other podiums include second-place finishes at Mid-Ohio, Lime Rock Park and Infineon Raceway and the ultra-fast 24 Hours of Le Mans. They took third at Road Atlanta early in the season, falling off the podium only once all season with an eighth at Portland, the event in which they lost the points lead for the first time in 2005.

Like two generals studying maps of the most likely sites for upcoming conflicts, Petersen and team manager Dale White like what they see in the remaining fields of battle. Endurance races have always been a strength of the team. Sunday’s Mosport round is the final “sprint? race of the season at two hours and 45-minutes. With the ALMS point structure rewarding higher marks for endurance race success over the shorter races, Mosport will pay out 20 points for a victory. The final two events, the Petit Le Mans and the American Le Mans at Laguna Seca, are endurance races at 10 hours and four hours respectively. Petit will award an additional six points for a win (26 total) while the Mazda Raceway event yields four extra markers (24). With 70 points available in the next three races, the GT2 battle is likely to go down to the checkered flag at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on October 15.