American Le Mans Series

Planetlemans analyzes the Detroit Sports Car Challenge

© American Le Mans Series

An Acura sweep, Porsche GT2 dominance and bitter results for both Audi and Ferrari were the main headlines for the ALMS Detroit Sports Car Challenge on Saturday. What seemed like an unusually long pit stop by Andretti Green was actually the master tactical set that would put ultra fast Franck Montagny for the maximum 2 hours on the XM-sponsored Acura and give Acura a precious overall victory at Penske’s home race.

In GT2 the Flying Lizard team would perform impeccable driving and pit stops to beat Tafel and Risi clearly, both Ferrari teams pestered by minor (but decisive) issues during the 2 hours 45 minute long race. The Lizards were close to a 1-2-3 which would have been historical but in the final stages the recovery of the Risi 62 car prevented that feature.

The Corvette parade on GT1 was won by the “Ollies” on number 4 this time around, it had been quite a drought for them lately so this should boost their confidence for the upcoming prestigious Petit Le Mans. The Bell Aston was never in contention and had to struggle also with several issues which saw them frequently on pit lane.

After the disqualification of the number 1 Audi, Intersport inherited the LMP1 victory, even if it was very far behind the LMP2 race. A black day for Audi which had both cars starting strong in a track that is not favorable to them: number 2 had an accident when Luhr could not brake properly on Turn 13 and number 1 was disqualified for a weight infringement after having finished a good 3rd overall.

The race started promptly with the 4 Acuras leading both Penske Porsches and both Audis (The 16 Dyson Porsche had decided to change tyres after qualifying and had been demoted to the back of the grid) and within 5 minutes we had our first full course yellow when the Aston Martin Vantage hit the wall early on.

After the first caution the Audis successfully attacked the Penske cars and started chasing the Acuras, the lead was with Scott Sharp on the Patrón Highcroft car slightly ahead of Simon Pagenaud on the number 66 De Ferran and James Rossiter on the Andretti Green bolid. GT2 was a dogfight between the 45 Lizard, 62 Risi, 71 Tafel and 46 Lizard on that order; all four cars separated by mere inches.

As the leaders hit traffic things got a bit complicated and the number 7 Penske car decided on an early pit stop in what would prove to be a very good move later on. A second caution then took place as Luhr hit the tyre walls as commented earlier. Many pit stops occurred with two of special notice : a new nose was mounted on the number 7 Penske Porsche and the Tafel 71 Ferrari had a starter motor failure and would not refire… win hopes over for one of the main title challengers.

As the green flag was waved the GT2 lead was with the PTG Panoz and right after with the Lizard 46 Porsche which had not been in the pits. The overall lead was atill disputed by highcroft and De Ferran, neither of the Acuras had been on the pits either and they were leading the remaining Audi and both Penske Porsches as the other two Acuras had gone down different avenues during the previous minutes: Luis Díaz had spun after “something broke on the car” and would come back to the pits crippled and out of contention while Andretti Green would exercise tactics by waiting until the 45 minute mark before getting Montagny out on the track after Rossiter’s stint.

Clearly, the AGR tactics was to have Franck on the car for the remainder of the race, a gamble that would rely on Franck’s quick pace to give them victory in the end after an error-free two hours of the Frenchman.

Right after half race the order inverted at the top as Simon Pagenaud overtook sharp for the lead. The Audi was still close but clearly could not make any advance on these two which were lighter and quicker on the twisty Belle Isle circuit. This was also evident as Romain Dumas got very close to the Audi on the 7 Penske car at this stage

As GT2 still had Lizard 46 leading followed now by a recovered 62 Risi Ferrari and the 44 Lizard, contact between the 6 Penske Porsche and the Black Swan Ford GT triggered the 3rd full course caution and almost a traffic jam to get into the pits. Almost everyone got in …except for Andretti Green who took the lead. The 7 Penske car got back in 2nd (now with Timo Bernhard driving) after a lightning fast pit stop and the Audi would overtake the Highcroft and de Ferran Acuras in the pits and retain 3rd after the stops.

A problem for the 62 Risi Ferrari at this stop (the driver’s door not closing thanks to previous contact between them and the PTG Panoz) would see the Lizards getting 1-2-3 on the road in a very dominant fashion.

A battle would unfold between Montagny and Bernhard, real wheel to wheel racing that would see the Frenchman resisting the attacks of the German, the latter being penalized later as he touched the 46 Lizard in a close traffic situation. As David Brabham on the Patrón Highcroft car overtook the Audi and Gil de Ferran had contact that damaged his Acura’s front end slightly the race satabilized into AGR, Highcroft, Audi, de Ferran. The 6 Penske Porsche would perform a late pit stop to let number 7 pass and lose less points to the Acuras while the 62 Risi Ferrari would overtake the 44 Lizards to get a late 3rd and prevent the 1-2-3 of the Porsche team.

After the Audis’s disqualifying by the officials the race became an Acura 1-2-3 in Penske territory, the old Fox’s team at least minimizing damage with that late tactical stop by number 6 which allows number 7 to retain the championship lead by a mere 2 points from the Patrón Highcroft team. A bad day for the Ferraris in GT2 as trivial issues got them out of contention leaving the Porsches to enjoy a clear victory. Good job by the Panoz as well, unfortunately their race ruined by a late spin.

Behind the top LMP2 teams a nice race with good pace by the B-K Lola Mazda in their last race (8th overall) with the “barchetta” as Petit Le Mans will see them in their brand new coupé.

The LMP2 and GT2 championships are still open as we go into Petit Le Mans on October 4th. Acura has shown again that they are on top level and Penske will have to work very very hard if they want to beat them at Petit. Audi will have to forget this race quickly and focus efforts on beating guest participants Peugeot over there; the French Lion having beaten the Ingolstadt team at every LMS race to date this could be a good opportunity for Audi to say farewell to the R10 in good fashion.

In GT2 the gap is a bit wider and the Lizards have demonstrated they are solid and it will be tough to prevent them to grab the championship. Many points are still up for grabs at Petit and Laguna Seca but the Ferraris would need a reliability boost to close the points gap. Both Tafel and Risi are potential winners but the Lizards are good finishers…

Here’s hoping for a few European teams to make the cross-over to Petit (peugeot is confirmed with 2 cars already), Corsa will debut their hybrid Zyteks so we should have a cracker of a race down there in October with these condiments to the outstanding LMP2 battle. The prospects could not be any more exciting.