American Le Mans Series

Team Peugeot Total takes 1-2 at Petit Le Mans

© Peugeot Sport

Team Peugeot Total won the final round of the American Le Mans Series and the second round of the Intercontinental Le Mans cup at Road Atlanta. In the 13th annual Petit Le Mans Powered By MAZDA 2 the French squad showed it had learned from Le Mans and previous American Le Mans Series and was able to beat Audi on what used to be their territory.

The race started without the Panoz Abruzzi, the ACS Express Ford GT and the Paul Miller Racing Porsche, while a couple of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars and the Libra Racing Radical started from the pit exit. Right at the start McNish overtook the #08 and moved into second place, while behind him the Dyson Racing Lola moved into the P2 lead. Unfortunately for McNish the pace of the Peugeots meant he was soon back in third again.

Three laps into the race the first teams started to hit trouble. The Libra Racing Radical SR9 IES was parked on the side of the track and transported back to the paddock. But the real trouble started just 20 minutes into the race when the Alex Job Racing Porsche of Bill Sweedler went of at turn 12, resulting in the first full course yellow. The RSR Jaguar #33 came in immediately with a problem – and was retired not much later. Not much later the sister car also returned to the pit with problems – an early retirement for the team. In the GT categories there were some avoidable contacts resulting in penalties for Risi and Rahal.

After one hour and pit stops it was McNish leading Petit Le Mans, ahead of Fässler and Wurz. Highcroft Racing, Green Earth Team Gunnar, Risi Competizione and TRG were leading in the other classes.
The GT2 cars were the centre of some drama in the first part of the race. The Rahal BMW #90 did not fire up after its pit stop and soon after there was drama for the #02 as it went through the gravel. A few minutes later David Murry hit the back of the Level 5 Motorsports #95 – and spun his Ford GT. The front of the GT2 field was however still very close – just a few car lengths separated the cars.

Marcel Fässler spun his Audi R15 TDI at Turn 10, just a few laps before Mika Salo did the same in the Risi Competizione, after a puncture.

However the second full course caution was due soon when André Lotterer – having taken over from Fässler clipped the curbstones trying to pass the CytoSport Porsche and dug into the grass. Severe bodywork damage for the Audi was the result and Lotterer had to crawl back to the pit.

As the race went green again Davidson was leading, with Brabham leading P2, Gavin leading GT2, Julian leading LMPC and Tim Pappas leading GTC. Just after the restart the OAK Racing Pescarolo 01 Judd spun and was then hit by the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid. A GT car then hit the CytoSport Porsche, causing two punctures on the left side and the car coming to a halt on the track. Full course caution number 3 was the result, fortunately the Porsche RS Spyder managed to continue. The safety car came back in just after three hours had been completed.

After the restart it was Capello in the lead – but Stephane Sarrazin wanted more. On the run down to turn 10 he made his move, hitting the Audi and spinning into the gravel. Bad call for the Peugeot driver. Further down the field Gunnar Jeannette’s championship hopes were dented when his FLM09 went behind the wall with a steering rack problem. Patrice Lafargue spun his OAK Racing car into the tires – but it was a rather harmless spin.

At 3:13 pm it was Ryan Eversley who went off into the gravel causing another full course yellow. And shortly after the green flag was shown the Libra Racing Radical SR9 – on its first lap after a very long pit stop – stopped and another brief full course caution was the result.

Just after the halfway point of the race (197 laps completed) Tom Kristensen managed to pass Marc Gené and immediately pulled away in order to chase the #08 car. After 200 laps it was the #08 leading the race, Patrón Highcroft Racing was leading LMP2, Level 5 Motorsports was in the lead in LMPC with Risi Competizione’s #61 and Black Swan Racing leading in GT2 and GTC. The five hour mark was passed after 215 laps were completed.

Tom Kristensen briefly led the race when the #55 Level 5 Motorsports FLM09 seemed to suffer a brake failure into turn 10 and the car slammed into the wall, Scott Tucker would now only have one car to focus on. In order to clear the track and get the damaged car back to the paddock the safety car came out yet again.

Soon after the green flag was shown again the seventh full course yellow was there when Luis Diaz stalled his PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports FLM09 on the hill in a rather dangerous position. After briefly getting a local yellow only the race director decided it was too unsafe and send out the Mazda RX-8 again.

At the restart Dindo Capello took off, leaving Franck Montagny stuck behind the GT2 cars. But the racing action didn’t last long when the #28 911 Design Racing Porsche of Loren Beggs went straight at turn 10a and ended up deep into the gravel trap. Fortunately he missed all the cars around him.

Just before two-thirds of the race were completed the green flag was shown again as the Peugeot and Audi’s were close to each other and battling for positions 1 to 4. Capello suddenly slowed down though and pulled into the pit at the end of the lap – his balaclava apparently causing the problem. As McNish exited the lane the Audi R15 TDI had lost a lap. Behind the overall leaders the GT2 battle was far from over. Corvette Racing moved into the lead, but Melo – a lap down – was the quickest driver on the track.

Unfortunately a ninth full course caution was a fact when Andrea Robertson ran wide and hit the barrier. Even though she managed to return to the track with damage to the left front of the Ford GT the race director threw the full course yellow’s before she was out of the wall. All teams used the caution to complete another pit stop.

After seven hours of racing it was now the #07 Peugeot leading the race. The other class leaders were the #1 HPD ARX-01c, the #62 Ferrari F430, the #95 Oreca FLM09 and the #54 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The Porsche 911 GT3 suffered a sensor problem though, resulting in an engine alert and as a result Andy Lally was able to close in.

With just over 100 laps left Marcel Fassler spun his Audi R15 TDI coming onto the straight, but after a complete 360 he managed to continue. In GT2 meanwhile the gap between the top three was still just a few tenths of a second. Porsche and BMW were sharing the GT2 championship lead, but would they win it?

Magnussen did his best to prevent a Ferrari victory and passed the Risi Ferrari of Gianmaria Bruni, while Andy Lally had managed to get his car back onto the GTC lead lap. In the following laps Lally and Bruni closed the gap to the respective GT class leaders and with 70 laps left Bruni was all over the Corvette again and Lally was only some twenty seconds behind the Black Swan Racing car.

Just after sunset Bruni passed Magnussen again and moved into the GT2 lead, but he was due in for a pit stop to hand over the car to Vilander, who would finish the race. Jan-Dirk Lueders spun his AJR Porsche coming onto the finish straight, but despite having lots of cars behind him he was missed by all.

After 8 hours of racing the lights were on on all cars as it was now racing in pure darkness. Andy Lally moved into the lead of the GTC class shortly after Pappas had handed over the car to Jeroen Bleekemolen and as Lally came back on track after his pit stop he was some six seconds ahead of the Black Swan Racing car.

With 50 laps left smoke was seen coming from the LMPC leading #95 Level 5 Motorsports FLM09. But the car continued, as it was still on its way to bring Scott Tucker the title. The gaps between the lead cars remained the same, but in GT2 the battle was not over yet.

Several teams completed yet another pit stop – resulting in Patron Highcroft Racing having to come in once more after speeding in the pit lane. He did so with just 20 laps left. A few laps later the #95 came in and the team started to check the engine bay, no rush as they were still leading the race and had plenty of time.

In the remaining laps the GT2 battle became a nerve wrecking fight as it turned out most teams had to come in once again for a splash and dash. The leading cars came in, while Pat Long stayed out in the Flying Lizards Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, a decision that could hand Porsche the title.

As the white flag was shown it was clear that Team Peugeot Total would take a well-deserved 1-2 victory at Road Atlanta again, this time a proper race victory (as opposed to 2009). And this is exactly what happened when the Peugeots crossed the line 2.54 miles later. The French manufacturer also increased their lead in the Intercontinental Le Mans cup by taking its second victory in two races.

The last lap turned out to be a lap too far for Risi Competizione as Toni Vilander pulled over on the run down to turn 10, the Finn running out of fuel. As a result it was Oliver Gavin who took the chequered flag in first place for Corvette Racing, ending their season with a victory at Petit Le Mans. Pat Long secured the GT2 drivers title for himself and Jorg Bergmeister, while BMW takes the manufacturers title.

Patron Highcroft won the LMP2 race and title. Team CytoSport 2nd and OAK Racing 3rd at Road Atlanta