American Le Mans Series

Porsche manages only 3rd on both grids at Road America

© American Le Mans Series

Romain Dumas (France), who shares the #7 LMP2 Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder with Timo Bernhard (Germany), and Jorg Bergmeister (Germany), who drives the #45 GT2 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with Wolf Henzler (Germany), both broke the track qualifying records in their classes, but it wasn’t quite enough to capture the pole for their Porsche teams for tomorrow’s Generac 500 at Road America.

All is not lost for Dumas/Bernhard, who will start in third position in LMP2, as they are only one-tenth of a second out of second place and four-tenths away from the class pole. The Acuras of Montagny/Rossiter and Fernandez/Diaz have the first two LMP2 grid positions in Acura prototypes. The #6 Patrick Long (USA)/Sascha Maassen (Germany) Penske Porsche RS Spyder also broke the track qualifying record, but in this age of ultra-competitive American Le Mans Series racing, Long’s qualifying time was good for sixth in class, more than a second off the pace.

“In a four-hour race, we will have four or five pit stops, several yellow flags, and other events that will ultimately determine the outcome of the race”, said Long, former ALMS GT2 champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner. “The Acuras are fast, but we can win if we drive smart and out-maneuver the competition”, said Long, who, with co-driver Maassen, is looking for his first win of the season. The Marino Franchitti (Scotland)/Butch Leitzinger (USA) Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder qualified seventh in class, while the team RS Spyder of Chris Dyson (USA)/Guy Smith (England) will start eighth.

In GT2, the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Bergmeister/Henzler qualified third, followed by the Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche of Dirk Werner (Germany)/Richard Westbook (England)/Bryce Miller (USA) in fourth. Two Ferrari 430s occupy the first two GT2 grid positions. Bergmeister, who has won in GT2 at Road America four times in his career, commented, In the No. 45, the car wasn’t where we wanted to be for qualifying so we still have some work to do before tomorrow. Even so, we were close to the pace of the No. 71 and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari (in second); I’m optimistic that we’ll have a great car for the race.”

Werner, who is the defending Rolex Grand-Am champion, was optimistic about his position. “I’m pretty confident with the lap I did. I think we did everything right; there was a short time for us to develop the car in the free practice and the track was new to Richard and me, so I don’t see where I could have made any more time. I’m feeling okay for the race, although we still have to work a little bit in the morning warmup to get the race setup,” Werner said.

The Flying Lizard team Porsche of Patrick Pilet (France) and Johannes van Overbeek (USA) was fifth in class, while the VICI Racing Porsche of Nicky Pastorelli/Francesco Pastorelli (both the Netherlands/Marc Basseng (Germany) were tenth and the Flying Lizard Porsche of Seth Neiman and Darren Law (both USA) was 11th. Generac 500 presented by Time Warner Cable Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Friday’s qualifying
1. Marco Werner, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 1:46.935, 136.28
2. Franck Montagny, Brignoles France; James Rossiter, England; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:47.345, 135.76
3. Marcel Fässler, Switzerland; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 1:47.579, 135.46
4. Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:47.639, 135.39
5. Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:47.736, 135.26
6. Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:47.774, 135.22
7. Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Simon Pagenaud, France; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:48.160, 134.73
8. Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:48.371, 134.47
9. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:48.492, 134.32
10. Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:48.586, 134.21
11. Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:49.454, 133.14
12. Ben Devlin, England; Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, FL; Lola B07 46 Mazda (P2), 1:51.187, 131.07
13. Ryan Lewis, UK; John Faulkner, Pittsford, NY; Gregor Fisken, Scotland; Lola B06-10 AER (P1), 1:51.359, 130.86
14. Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Creation CA07-002 Judd (P1), 1:55.540, 126.13
15. Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 2:01.235, 120.20
16. Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 2:01.876, 119.57
17. Terry Borcheller, Vero Beach, FL; Chapman Ducote, Miami, FL; Aston Martin Vantage (GT1), 2:04.562, 116.99
18. Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Dirk Mueller, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:06.083, 115.58
19. Jaime Melo, Brazil; Mika Salo, Finland; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:06.375, 115.31
20. Wolf Henzler, Germany; Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:06.415, 115.28
21. Richard Westbrook, England; Dirk Werner, Germany; Bryce Miller, Hoboken, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:06.593, 115.12 22. Patrick Pilet, France; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:07.522, 114.28
23. Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Panoz Esperante Ford (GT2), 2:07.742, 114.08
24. Jim Tafel, Alpharetta, GA; Alex Figge, Hollywood, CA; Pierre Ehret, Santa Rosa, CA; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:08.385, 113.51 25. Harrison Brix, San Jose, CA; Patrick Friesacher, Austria; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 2:08.725, 113.21
26. David Murry, Cumming, GA; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT-R (GT2), 2:10.330, 111.81 27. Nicky Pastorelli, Netherlands; Francisco Pastorelli, Netherlands; Marc Basseng, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:10.412, 111.74
28. Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:10.872, 111.35
29. Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Anthony Lazzaro, Acworth, GA; Doran Ford GT-R (GT2), 2:10.877, 111.35
30. Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Dodge Viper Comp Coupe (GT2), 2:11.803, 110.57
31. Paul Drayson, London, UK; Jonny Cocker, UK; Aston Martin Vantage (GT2), No Time.