gaijin
07-05-2005, 08:10 PM
LEHTO, WERNER RETURN TO WINNING WAYS IN NEW ENGLAND GRAND PRIX
Lakeville, Conn. - JJ Lehto and Marco Werner returned to the top step of the podium in the American Le Mans Series on Monday, winning the New England Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park for their third victory in four races this season. Their No. 1 Champion Racing Audi R8 survived a packed track to win at Lime Rock for the second year in a row.
Champion Racing continued its momentum following an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month with another 1-2 ALMS finish, its third of the year. Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro ran less than a second behind the No. 1 car for the last hour.
Lehto moved back into a tie for the series lead with 23 career victories. He shares the honor with Corvette Racing's Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell.
Lehto and Werner led for the first 1:13 before James Weaver took the lead in the No. 16 Dyson Racing Lola he shared with Butch Leitzinger. But Weaver stalled in pit lane at about the two-hour mark. Once he got the car started again, Weaver was the fastest car on the track. After battling back from a lap down, a broken throttle cable ended his day with about 10 minutes to go.
"My tire pressure was low, which caused me to have a bit of an understeer," Lehto said. "James saw I was having trouble, and he's a clever guy, so he set me up and took advantage. It could have been any of the four prototypes (winning) here today. Infineon is a good track for both cars (Audis and Dysons). You have to get the car setup right, but its still up to the tires at that track."
In LMP2, the No. 10 Miracle Motorsports Courage of Jeff Bucknum, Chris McMurry and John Macaluso posted its first victory since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, the first ALMS race of the season. The car started on the pole and never lost its lead.
"At this race today I was not in my normal seat. They changed them when they went to Le Mans without me," Bucknum said. "I was really fatigued from sliding around. I could have stayed out longer, but it was just a good time to switch. I'm really happy that we could perform so well. Hopefully we can keep our good luck going."
Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin drove the No. 4 Corvette Racing Corvette C6-R to its first victory in the ALMS this year. The duo was second behind the No. 3 sister car of Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell in the last two ALMS rounds but finally broke through Monday. Beretta put his C6-R on the class pole and it stayed there all race.
"Everything went well," Beretta said. "We didn't have any trouble with the car and didn't make any mistakes. I'm very happy to win and happy to have the No. 3 car finish second. The C6 is very strong and very fast at Le Mans and the small tracks. Every race, we have been very strong. Everything has been perfect so far."
It actually was the second win in a row for the duo of Beretta and Gavin. They were the LM GT1 class winners at Le Mans in June with Jan Magnussen, their second straight victory at the world's most famous sports car race.
"We will try (to keep it going)," Beretta said. "The team is strong, and the car is strong. Our competition will be close. The C5 worked well at Infineon, and I think the C6 will do well. At every track, there is a learning curve. But I think we will be OK."
Despite crashing into the tire barrier coming out of Turn 8, the No. 3 Corvette Racing C6-R of Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell finished second. Early in the race, Fellows was trying to let faster cars pass when he slid off track, spun around and made contact on the right side of the Corvette.
The No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7R finished third. It marked the second straight podium finish for the duo of Terry Borcheller and Johnny Mowlem.
In GT2, the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche of Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas posted their second straight class win. The duo started second but took the lead for good with less than 45 minutes left when the No. 50 Panoz Esperante of Bill Auberlen and Robin Liddell pitted with damage to its right front.
"It was nice fighting. Overall, it was a very nice race," Bernhard said. "The short track managed a lot of overtaking and passing. You had no time to relax. I'm very happy we won it and very happy that the race went so well."
The No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Porsche of Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister finished second after starting on the pole. Coming in third was the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of Jon Fogarty and Johannes van Overbeek after the duo started eighth in class.
The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the Infineon Technologies Grand Prix of Sonoma presented by Ravenswood Winery, set for 11 a.m. PDT on July 17 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
NEW ENGLAND GRAND PRIX
LIME ROCK PARK
MONDAY, RACE RESULTS
1. (1) Marco Werner, Germany; JJ Lehto, Finland; Audi R8 (1, P1), 165.
2. (4) Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi R8 (2, P1), 165.
3. (6) Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6-R (3, GT1), 159.
4. (7) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6-R (4, GT1), 157.
5. (22) Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Johnny Mowlem, England; Saleen S7R (5, GT1), 156.
6. (8) Andrea Bertolini, Italy; Fabio Babini, Italy; Maserati MC12 (6, GT1), 156.
7. (10) Alex Figge, Hollywood, CA; Ryan Dalziel, Scotland; Corvette C5-R (7, GT1), 155.
8. (14) Romain Dumas, France; Timo Bernhard, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT2), 154.
9. (5) Jeff Bucknum, Lake Havasu City, AZ; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Courage C-65 (9, P2), 154.
10. (13) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT2), 153.
11. (20) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Jon Fogarty, Palo Alto, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (11, GT2), 152.
12. (2) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; James Weaver, England; Lola EX257 AER (12, P1), 151.
13. (18) Ian Baas, Noblesville, IN; Randy Pobst, Gainesville, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 151.
14. (21) Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; Tim Sudgen, England; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (14, GT2), 150.
15. (17) Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (15, GT2), 150.
16. (9) Ben Devlin, England; Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Lola B2K/40 AER (16, P2), 148.
17. (19) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 148.
18. (15) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Robin Liddell, Scotland; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (18, GT2), 148.
19. (16) Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (19, GT2), 141.
20. (3) Andy Wallace, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola EX257 AER (20, P1), 121.
21. (11) Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Courage Mazda (21, P2), 114.
22. (12) Michele Rugulo, Italy; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Dodge Viper (22, GT1), 11.
UNOFFICIAL POINTS
LMP1
Marco Werner 74
JJ Lehto 74
Emanuele Pirro 64
Frank Biela 64
James Weaver 62
Butch Leitzinger 62
Andy Wallace 61
Chris Dyson 58
Tom Kristensen 26
Allan McNish 22
Guy Smith 16
Tom Chilton 10
Hayanari Shimoda 10
LMP2
Jeff Bucknum 46
Chris McMurry 46
Jamie Bach 36
Jon Field 36
Clint Field 36
Guy Cosmo 36
Ben Devlin 29
Ian James 26
Gunnar van der Steur 16
Erik van der Steur 13
GT1
Olivier Beretta 71
Oliver Gavin 71
Ron Fellows 62
Johnny O`Connell 62
Johnny Mowlem 52
Terry Borcheller 52
Alex Figge 38
Ryan Dalziel 38
Darren Turner 26
Stephane Ortelli 26
David Brabham 26
Michele Rugolo 22
Max Papis 22
Tom Weickardt 22
Jan Magnussen 19
Ralf Kelleners 16
David Empringham 12
Jean-Philippe Belloc 10
Stephane Sarrazin 9
Pedro Lamy 9
Peter Kox 9
Andrea Bertolini 0
Fabio Babini 0
GT2
Patrick Long 71
Jorg Bergmeister 71
Romain Dumas 56
Timo Bernhard 56
Jon Fogarty 46
J. van Overbeek 46
Tim Sugden 43
Robin Liddell 33
Nic Jonsson 28
Justin Jackson 27
Lucas Luhr 26
Bill Auberlen 23
Darren Law 19
Ian Baas 18
Randy Pobst 18
Michael Cawley 17
Marc Sluszny 16
Tracy Krohn 16
Marino Franchitti 16
Andrew Thompson 14
Michael Vergers 14
Juan Barazi 14
Seth Neiman 13
Lonnie Pechnik 13
Spencer Pumpelly 12
Steve Ivankovich 12
Andy Lally 12
Tony Burgess 12
Bryan Sellers 11
Mike Rockenfeller 10
Scott Maxwell 5
Sascha Maassen 4
Wolf Henzler 2
Rick Skelton 1
Lakeville, Conn. - JJ Lehto and Marco Werner returned to the top step of the podium in the American Le Mans Series on Monday, winning the New England Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park for their third victory in four races this season. Their No. 1 Champion Racing Audi R8 survived a packed track to win at Lime Rock for the second year in a row.
Champion Racing continued its momentum following an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month with another 1-2 ALMS finish, its third of the year. Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro ran less than a second behind the No. 1 car for the last hour.
Lehto moved back into a tie for the series lead with 23 career victories. He shares the honor with Corvette Racing's Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell.
Lehto and Werner led for the first 1:13 before James Weaver took the lead in the No. 16 Dyson Racing Lola he shared with Butch Leitzinger. But Weaver stalled in pit lane at about the two-hour mark. Once he got the car started again, Weaver was the fastest car on the track. After battling back from a lap down, a broken throttle cable ended his day with about 10 minutes to go.
"My tire pressure was low, which caused me to have a bit of an understeer," Lehto said. "James saw I was having trouble, and he's a clever guy, so he set me up and took advantage. It could have been any of the four prototypes (winning) here today. Infineon is a good track for both cars (Audis and Dysons). You have to get the car setup right, but its still up to the tires at that track."
In LMP2, the No. 10 Miracle Motorsports Courage of Jeff Bucknum, Chris McMurry and John Macaluso posted its first victory since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, the first ALMS race of the season. The car started on the pole and never lost its lead.
"At this race today I was not in my normal seat. They changed them when they went to Le Mans without me," Bucknum said. "I was really fatigued from sliding around. I could have stayed out longer, but it was just a good time to switch. I'm really happy that we could perform so well. Hopefully we can keep our good luck going."
Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin drove the No. 4 Corvette Racing Corvette C6-R to its first victory in the ALMS this year. The duo was second behind the No. 3 sister car of Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell in the last two ALMS rounds but finally broke through Monday. Beretta put his C6-R on the class pole and it stayed there all race.
"Everything went well," Beretta said. "We didn't have any trouble with the car and didn't make any mistakes. I'm very happy to win and happy to have the No. 3 car finish second. The C6 is very strong and very fast at Le Mans and the small tracks. Every race, we have been very strong. Everything has been perfect so far."
It actually was the second win in a row for the duo of Beretta and Gavin. They were the LM GT1 class winners at Le Mans in June with Jan Magnussen, their second straight victory at the world's most famous sports car race.
"We will try (to keep it going)," Beretta said. "The team is strong, and the car is strong. Our competition will be close. The C5 worked well at Infineon, and I think the C6 will do well. At every track, there is a learning curve. But I think we will be OK."
Despite crashing into the tire barrier coming out of Turn 8, the No. 3 Corvette Racing C6-R of Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell finished second. Early in the race, Fellows was trying to let faster cars pass when he slid off track, spun around and made contact on the right side of the Corvette.
The No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7R finished third. It marked the second straight podium finish for the duo of Terry Borcheller and Johnny Mowlem.
In GT2, the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche of Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas posted their second straight class win. The duo started second but took the lead for good with less than 45 minutes left when the No. 50 Panoz Esperante of Bill Auberlen and Robin Liddell pitted with damage to its right front.
"It was nice fighting. Overall, it was a very nice race," Bernhard said. "The short track managed a lot of overtaking and passing. You had no time to relax. I'm very happy we won it and very happy that the race went so well."
The No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Porsche of Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister finished second after starting on the pole. Coming in third was the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of Jon Fogarty and Johannes van Overbeek after the duo started eighth in class.
The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the Infineon Technologies Grand Prix of Sonoma presented by Ravenswood Winery, set for 11 a.m. PDT on July 17 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
NEW ENGLAND GRAND PRIX
LIME ROCK PARK
MONDAY, RACE RESULTS
1. (1) Marco Werner, Germany; JJ Lehto, Finland; Audi R8 (1, P1), 165.
2. (4) Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi R8 (2, P1), 165.
3. (6) Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6-R (3, GT1), 159.
4. (7) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6-R (4, GT1), 157.
5. (22) Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Johnny Mowlem, England; Saleen S7R (5, GT1), 156.
6. (8) Andrea Bertolini, Italy; Fabio Babini, Italy; Maserati MC12 (6, GT1), 156.
7. (10) Alex Figge, Hollywood, CA; Ryan Dalziel, Scotland; Corvette C5-R (7, GT1), 155.
8. (14) Romain Dumas, France; Timo Bernhard, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT2), 154.
9. (5) Jeff Bucknum, Lake Havasu City, AZ; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Courage C-65 (9, P2), 154.
10. (13) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT2), 153.
11. (20) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Jon Fogarty, Palo Alto, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (11, GT2), 152.
12. (2) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; James Weaver, England; Lola EX257 AER (12, P1), 151.
13. (18) Ian Baas, Noblesville, IN; Randy Pobst, Gainesville, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 151.
14. (21) Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; Tim Sudgen, England; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (14, GT2), 150.
15. (17) Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (15, GT2), 150.
16. (9) Ben Devlin, England; Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Lola B2K/40 AER (16, P2), 148.
17. (19) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 148.
18. (15) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Robin Liddell, Scotland; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (18, GT2), 148.
19. (16) Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (19, GT2), 141.
20. (3) Andy Wallace, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola EX257 AER (20, P1), 121.
21. (11) Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Courage Mazda (21, P2), 114.
22. (12) Michele Rugulo, Italy; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Dodge Viper (22, GT1), 11.
UNOFFICIAL POINTS
LMP1
Marco Werner 74
JJ Lehto 74
Emanuele Pirro 64
Frank Biela 64
James Weaver 62
Butch Leitzinger 62
Andy Wallace 61
Chris Dyson 58
Tom Kristensen 26
Allan McNish 22
Guy Smith 16
Tom Chilton 10
Hayanari Shimoda 10
LMP2
Jeff Bucknum 46
Chris McMurry 46
Jamie Bach 36
Jon Field 36
Clint Field 36
Guy Cosmo 36
Ben Devlin 29
Ian James 26
Gunnar van der Steur 16
Erik van der Steur 13
GT1
Olivier Beretta 71
Oliver Gavin 71
Ron Fellows 62
Johnny O`Connell 62
Johnny Mowlem 52
Terry Borcheller 52
Alex Figge 38
Ryan Dalziel 38
Darren Turner 26
Stephane Ortelli 26
David Brabham 26
Michele Rugolo 22
Max Papis 22
Tom Weickardt 22
Jan Magnussen 19
Ralf Kelleners 16
David Empringham 12
Jean-Philippe Belloc 10
Stephane Sarrazin 9
Pedro Lamy 9
Peter Kox 9
Andrea Bertolini 0
Fabio Babini 0
GT2
Patrick Long 71
Jorg Bergmeister 71
Romain Dumas 56
Timo Bernhard 56
Jon Fogarty 46
J. van Overbeek 46
Tim Sugden 43
Robin Liddell 33
Nic Jonsson 28
Justin Jackson 27
Lucas Luhr 26
Bill Auberlen 23
Darren Law 19
Ian Baas 18
Randy Pobst 18
Michael Cawley 17
Marc Sluszny 16
Tracy Krohn 16
Marino Franchitti 16
Andrew Thompson 14
Michael Vergers 14
Juan Barazi 14
Seth Neiman 13
Lonnie Pechnik 13
Spencer Pumpelly 12
Steve Ivankovich 12
Andy Lally 12
Tony Burgess 12
Bryan Sellers 11
Mike Rockenfeller 10
Scott Maxwell 5
Sascha Maassen 4
Wolf Henzler 2
Rick Skelton 1