American Le Mans Series

Porsche RS Spyder Sets New Qualifying Record

For the first time since 1999, Porsche race cars took the pole position in two different American Le Mans Series classes . LMP2 and GT2 . as the new Penske Porsche RS Spyder qualified by Sascha Maassen will start first in LMP2 and Romain Dumas put the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on the GT2 pole for Saturday’s Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway.

Maassen’s 106.56 mph lap broke the record set in 2003 by veteran Dyson prototype driver James Weaver in an AER-powered MG by more than two mph. Maassen, who will share the driving chores with Lucas Luhr for tomorrow.s four-hour race, was pleased to be on the pole and set a new class record, but he was more pleased that the car completed the last two days of practice and qualifying with no major problems.

“Although we have been testing for the last four months, these two days at Laguna have been our first real-world experiences for the Penske Porsche RS Spyder. The fact that we had no major problems is a credit to both the Penske and Porsche team members, and gives us a reason to be optimistic for tomorrow.s event,” said Maassen, whose scored his 11th pole in ALMS . the last one being at Petit Le Mans in 2003 in the Alex Job Porsche.

Co-driver Lucas Luhr and Maassen were two-time ALMS GT2 champions (2002 and 2003), and hold many ALMS records, including most ALMS GT2 class wins (Maassen . 22), most season wins as a team (Maassen/Luhr . 7 wins . 2002), and most wins at the same venue (Maassen and Luhr . four wins each at Sebring. In addition, Maassen is the only driver in the history of the American Le Mans Series to win his class every year the series has run (1999-2005). He hopes to keep that streak alive with an LMP2 victory this weekend. The engine is mated to a Porsche-engineered sequential six-speed constant mesh transmission. A structural part of the car, the gearbox is operated by a paddle shift system on the steering wheel and incorporates a triple-disc carbon fiber racing clutch.