gaijin
08-03-2005, 01:03 AM
TWO IN A ROW FOR CHAMPION RACING'S BIELA, PIRRO
Portland - Trailing by 1.5 seconds with two laps left, Emanuele Pirro couldn't believe it. He closed quickly on Dyson Racing's No. 16 Lola, which lost fuel pressure while leading, to win the Portland Grand Prix on Saturday night in Round 6 of the American Le Mans Series.
Four miles proved to be the difference. Pirro clawed his way back from third place with about 30 minutes left to put himself in position to go by James Weaver on lap 136. Chris Dyson and Andy Wallace, who teamed in the pole-sitting No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola, finished second, about 10 seconds back. Weaver, who had led by more than four seconds in the waning moments, and teammate Butch Leitzinger finished third.
"I've known James (Weaver) since our Formula 3 days, and I like fighting hard with a guy with a lot of experience. I know I can push hard and still trust him to do right," Pirro said. "I was unhappy that I took the lead under those circumstances, I would have rather passed him under racing. But when I found out it was because he ran out of petrol I was happier because that means they took a risk and it didn't play out for them, and that's racing, that's another story."
"We are a young crew," Pirro said. "By each race, we are improving and improving and improving. The championship looks good for us."
Indeed it does. Pirro and Biela moved ahead of teammates Marco Werner and JJ Lehto in the P1 drivers championship standings. Fortune frowned on the defending race and series champions about 45 minutes in. As Werner attempted to go under the No. 4 Corvette Racing C6-R of Olivier Beretta, the Audi spun under braking. Werner was able to nurse the Audi back to the pits, and the crew had to replace the rear cover. Once Lehto got back on the track, the rear bodywork flew off as he moved past the No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen.
Lehto spun off the track and collected Terry Borcheller with him. Both cars retired from the race, handing the LMP1 drivers championship lead to Pirro and Biela.
In LMP2, the No. 37 Intersport Racing Lola won for the third time this year as Clint Field and Gregor Fisken drove past a stranded No. 10 Miracle Motorsports Courage near the two-hour mark. Field has now won three times this year and moved past Miracle's Jeff Bucknum and Chris McMurry for the drivers lead in P2.
"It's always a struggle to get a good match, but with great drivers at your disposal like Liz Halliday and Gregor Fisken that can adapt to my driving style, our car, and our team, it makes winning easier," Field said. "Gregor did a great job on his stint. He kept it safe and kept it clean and our team did a great job on the stops.
"I was plugging away two seconds a lap faster," he added. "So if the No. 10 car had held up, I was thinking it was going to be a great finish. We had a bit of the same troubles last year, we had a couple of wins but a couple of DNFs, so we know how it can be."
The ACEMCO Saleen's misfortune opened the door for another 1-2 finish in GT1 for Corvette Racing. Beretta and Gavin won for the second time this year, posting a 0.714-second victory over the No. 3 entry of Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell. The critical moment came during a pit stop at just about the two-hour mark when both cars pitted under caution. Gavin beat O'Connell out of the pits, and that's the way it stayed.
"At Sebring, we lost the race like this, and today we nearly lost it again," Beretta said. "The car was very difficult to drive. I'm very happy for the No. 4 crew, and we have the No. 3 car on the podium. So this is fantastic."
Gavin said the Corvette's steering wheel was bent, and the car wasn't nearly as smooth in the corners as it was before the incident. But thanks to quick and timely pit work, he said, the car never relinquished its lead from that point.
"The team did an amazing job today," Gavin said. "The car was quite badly damaged with the accident with the No. 1 car. It looked like we were going to have to make an unscheduled pit stop, but Olivier kept going and the pit crew worked their magic."
Third was the No. 5 Pacific Coast Motorsports Corvette C5-R of Alex Figge and Ryan Dalziel, the first podium for the first-year team. It also marked the first time three Corvettes climbed the podium in the ALMS.
In GT2, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas won their fourth straight race in their No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche. Not only did they finish comfortably ahead of the second place No. 43 BAM! Porsche of Martin Jensen and Wolf Henzler, they unofficially took the class points lead over Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister in the No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche, which finished eighth in class.
"I knew our strongest competitor was not on the same lap as us," Bernhard said. "It was a little better for us. I walked away from the BAM! car, and that allowed me to save my tires. It was a good thing because we had a yellow and everyone else pitted for tires."
Over the past two races, Bernhard and Dumas have led every lap, a span of 226 consecutive laps.
"It might have looked easy in the last two races, but it wasn't," Bernhard said. "It would have been a good battle with the No. 31 car. Everything is good at every track we go to. We have the experience."
The seventh round of the American Le Mans Series is the Generac 500 at Road America, set for 3 p.m. EDT Aug. 21 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. The race will be broadcast on SPEED Channel. Qualifying is scheduled for 2:55 p.m. EDT Aug. 20. American Le Mans Radio, and Live Timing and Scoring will be available at www.americanlemans.com.
Portland Grand Prix
Sunday, Portland International Raceway
Unofficial results
1. (4) Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi R8 (1, P1), 138.
2. (1) Andy Wallace, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola EX257 AER (2, P1), 138.
3. (2) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; James Weaver, England; Lola EX257 AER (3, P1), 136.
4. (5) Gregor Fisken, Scotland; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B05/40/AER (4, P2), 133.
5. (8) Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6-R (5, GT1), 132.
6. (9) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6-R (6, GT1), 132.
7. (7) Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Riley & Scott MRK IIIC (7, P1), 131.
8. (12) Alex Figge, Hollywood, CA; Ryan Dalziel, Scotland; Corvette C5-R (8, GT1), 131.
9. (11) Fabrizio de Simone, Italy; Mika Salo, Finland; Maserati MC12 (9, GT1), 130.
10. (15) Romain Dumas, France; Timo Bernhard, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT2), 126.
11. (17) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Martin Jensen, Denmark; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (11, GT2), 125.
12. (18) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Jon Fogarty, Palo Alto, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (12, GT2), 125.
13. (14) Michele Rugulo, Italy; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Dodge Viper (13, GT1), 124.
14. (21) Robin Liddell, Scotland; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (14, GT2), 124.
15. (22) Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Christophe Tinseau; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (15, GT2), 123.
16. (23) Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; Michael Galati, Olmsted, OH; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (16, GT2), 121.
17. (19) Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 121.
18. (13) Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Courage Mazda (18, P2), 118.
19. (16) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (19, GT2), 114.
20. (20) Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Ian Baas, Noblesville, IN; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (20, GT2), 95, Broken Axle.
21. (6) Jeff Bucknum, Lake Havasu City, AZ; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Courage C-65 (21, P2), 86.
22. (10) Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Johnny Mowlem, England; Saleen S7R (22, GT1), 48, Accident.
23. (3) Marco Werner, Germany; JJ Lehto, Finland; Audi R8 (23, P1), 48, Accident.
Unofficial points
LMP1
Emanuele Pirro 104
Frank Biela 104
Andy Wallace 93
Chris Dyson 90
Marco Werner 87
JJ Lehto 87
James Weaver 85
Butch Leitzinger 85
Tom Kristensen 26
Allan McNish 22
Guy Smith 16
Tom Chilton 10
Hayanari Shimoda 10
Michael Lewis 10
Bryan Willman 10
LMP2
Clint Field 76
Jamie Bach 65
Guy Cosmo 65
Jeff Bucknum 62
Chris McMurry 62
Jon Field 36
Ben Devlin 29
Ian James 26
Liz Halliday 20
Gregor Fisken 20
Gunnar van der Steur 16
Erik van der Steur 13
GT1
Ron Fellows 114
Johnny O`Connell 114
Olivier Beretta 107
Oliver Gavin 107
Johnny Mowlem 65
Terry Borcheller 65
Alex Figge 57
Ryan Dalziel 57
Michele Rugolo 38
Tom Weickardt 38
Darren Turner 26
Stephane Ortelli 26
David Brabham 26
Max Papis 22
Jan Magnussen 19
Ralf Kelleners 16
David Empringham 12
Jean-Philippe Belloc 10
Stephane Sarrazin 9
Pedro Lamy 9
Peter Kox 9
Fabrizio De Simone 0
Mika Salo 0
GT2
Romain Dumas 96
Timo Bernhard 96
Patrick Long 90
Jorg Bergmeister 90
Jon Fogarty 69
Joh. van Overbeek 69
Robin Liddell 51
Tim Sugden 49
Justin Jackson 39
Wolf Henzler 31
Bill Auberlen 31
Nic Jonsson 28
Lucas Luhr 26
Marino Franchitti 24
Mike Rockenfeller 23
Ian Baas 21
Seth Neiman 21
Lonnie Pechnik 21
Bryan Sellers 21
Randy Pobst 21
Darren Law 19
Michael Cawley 17
Marc Sluszny 16
Martin Jensen 16
Tracy Krohn 16
Andrew Thompson 14
Michael Vergers 14
Juan Barazi 14
Spencer Pumpelly 12
Steve Ivankovich 12
Andy Lally 12
Tony Burgess 12
Christophe Tinseau 8
Michael Galati 6
Scott Maxwell 5
Sascha Maassen 4
Rick Skelton 1
Portland - Trailing by 1.5 seconds with two laps left, Emanuele Pirro couldn't believe it. He closed quickly on Dyson Racing's No. 16 Lola, which lost fuel pressure while leading, to win the Portland Grand Prix on Saturday night in Round 6 of the American Le Mans Series.
Four miles proved to be the difference. Pirro clawed his way back from third place with about 30 minutes left to put himself in position to go by James Weaver on lap 136. Chris Dyson and Andy Wallace, who teamed in the pole-sitting No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola, finished second, about 10 seconds back. Weaver, who had led by more than four seconds in the waning moments, and teammate Butch Leitzinger finished third.
"I've known James (Weaver) since our Formula 3 days, and I like fighting hard with a guy with a lot of experience. I know I can push hard and still trust him to do right," Pirro said. "I was unhappy that I took the lead under those circumstances, I would have rather passed him under racing. But when I found out it was because he ran out of petrol I was happier because that means they took a risk and it didn't play out for them, and that's racing, that's another story."
"We are a young crew," Pirro said. "By each race, we are improving and improving and improving. The championship looks good for us."
Indeed it does. Pirro and Biela moved ahead of teammates Marco Werner and JJ Lehto in the P1 drivers championship standings. Fortune frowned on the defending race and series champions about 45 minutes in. As Werner attempted to go under the No. 4 Corvette Racing C6-R of Olivier Beretta, the Audi spun under braking. Werner was able to nurse the Audi back to the pits, and the crew had to replace the rear cover. Once Lehto got back on the track, the rear bodywork flew off as he moved past the No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen.
Lehto spun off the track and collected Terry Borcheller with him. Both cars retired from the race, handing the LMP1 drivers championship lead to Pirro and Biela.
In LMP2, the No. 37 Intersport Racing Lola won for the third time this year as Clint Field and Gregor Fisken drove past a stranded No. 10 Miracle Motorsports Courage near the two-hour mark. Field has now won three times this year and moved past Miracle's Jeff Bucknum and Chris McMurry for the drivers lead in P2.
"It's always a struggle to get a good match, but with great drivers at your disposal like Liz Halliday and Gregor Fisken that can adapt to my driving style, our car, and our team, it makes winning easier," Field said. "Gregor did a great job on his stint. He kept it safe and kept it clean and our team did a great job on the stops.
"I was plugging away two seconds a lap faster," he added. "So if the No. 10 car had held up, I was thinking it was going to be a great finish. We had a bit of the same troubles last year, we had a couple of wins but a couple of DNFs, so we know how it can be."
The ACEMCO Saleen's misfortune opened the door for another 1-2 finish in GT1 for Corvette Racing. Beretta and Gavin won for the second time this year, posting a 0.714-second victory over the No. 3 entry of Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell. The critical moment came during a pit stop at just about the two-hour mark when both cars pitted under caution. Gavin beat O'Connell out of the pits, and that's the way it stayed.
"At Sebring, we lost the race like this, and today we nearly lost it again," Beretta said. "The car was very difficult to drive. I'm very happy for the No. 4 crew, and we have the No. 3 car on the podium. So this is fantastic."
Gavin said the Corvette's steering wheel was bent, and the car wasn't nearly as smooth in the corners as it was before the incident. But thanks to quick and timely pit work, he said, the car never relinquished its lead from that point.
"The team did an amazing job today," Gavin said. "The car was quite badly damaged with the accident with the No. 1 car. It looked like we were going to have to make an unscheduled pit stop, but Olivier kept going and the pit crew worked their magic."
Third was the No. 5 Pacific Coast Motorsports Corvette C5-R of Alex Figge and Ryan Dalziel, the first podium for the first-year team. It also marked the first time three Corvettes climbed the podium in the ALMS.
In GT2, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas won their fourth straight race in their No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche. Not only did they finish comfortably ahead of the second place No. 43 BAM! Porsche of Martin Jensen and Wolf Henzler, they unofficially took the class points lead over Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister in the No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche, which finished eighth in class.
"I knew our strongest competitor was not on the same lap as us," Bernhard said. "It was a little better for us. I walked away from the BAM! car, and that allowed me to save my tires. It was a good thing because we had a yellow and everyone else pitted for tires."
Over the past two races, Bernhard and Dumas have led every lap, a span of 226 consecutive laps.
"It might have looked easy in the last two races, but it wasn't," Bernhard said. "It would have been a good battle with the No. 31 car. Everything is good at every track we go to. We have the experience."
The seventh round of the American Le Mans Series is the Generac 500 at Road America, set for 3 p.m. EDT Aug. 21 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. The race will be broadcast on SPEED Channel. Qualifying is scheduled for 2:55 p.m. EDT Aug. 20. American Le Mans Radio, and Live Timing and Scoring will be available at www.americanlemans.com.
Portland Grand Prix
Sunday, Portland International Raceway
Unofficial results
1. (4) Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi R8 (1, P1), 138.
2. (1) Andy Wallace, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola EX257 AER (2, P1), 138.
3. (2) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; James Weaver, England; Lola EX257 AER (3, P1), 136.
4. (5) Gregor Fisken, Scotland; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B05/40/AER (4, P2), 133.
5. (8) Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6-R (5, GT1), 132.
6. (9) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6-R (6, GT1), 132.
7. (7) Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Riley & Scott MRK IIIC (7, P1), 131.
8. (12) Alex Figge, Hollywood, CA; Ryan Dalziel, Scotland; Corvette C5-R (8, GT1), 131.
9. (11) Fabrizio de Simone, Italy; Mika Salo, Finland; Maserati MC12 (9, GT1), 130.
10. (15) Romain Dumas, France; Timo Bernhard, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT2), 126.
11. (17) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Martin Jensen, Denmark; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (11, GT2), 125.
12. (18) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Jon Fogarty, Palo Alto, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (12, GT2), 125.
13. (14) Michele Rugulo, Italy; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Dodge Viper (13, GT1), 124.
14. (21) Robin Liddell, Scotland; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (14, GT2), 124.
15. (22) Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Christophe Tinseau; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (15, GT2), 123.
16. (23) Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; Michael Galati, Olmsted, OH; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (16, GT2), 121.
17. (19) Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 121.
18. (13) Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Courage Mazda (18, P2), 118.
19. (16) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (19, GT2), 114.
20. (20) Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Ian Baas, Noblesville, IN; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (20, GT2), 95, Broken Axle.
21. (6) Jeff Bucknum, Lake Havasu City, AZ; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Courage C-65 (21, P2), 86.
22. (10) Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Johnny Mowlem, England; Saleen S7R (22, GT1), 48, Accident.
23. (3) Marco Werner, Germany; JJ Lehto, Finland; Audi R8 (23, P1), 48, Accident.
Unofficial points
LMP1
Emanuele Pirro 104
Frank Biela 104
Andy Wallace 93
Chris Dyson 90
Marco Werner 87
JJ Lehto 87
James Weaver 85
Butch Leitzinger 85
Tom Kristensen 26
Allan McNish 22
Guy Smith 16
Tom Chilton 10
Hayanari Shimoda 10
Michael Lewis 10
Bryan Willman 10
LMP2
Clint Field 76
Jamie Bach 65
Guy Cosmo 65
Jeff Bucknum 62
Chris McMurry 62
Jon Field 36
Ben Devlin 29
Ian James 26
Liz Halliday 20
Gregor Fisken 20
Gunnar van der Steur 16
Erik van der Steur 13
GT1
Ron Fellows 114
Johnny O`Connell 114
Olivier Beretta 107
Oliver Gavin 107
Johnny Mowlem 65
Terry Borcheller 65
Alex Figge 57
Ryan Dalziel 57
Michele Rugolo 38
Tom Weickardt 38
Darren Turner 26
Stephane Ortelli 26
David Brabham 26
Max Papis 22
Jan Magnussen 19
Ralf Kelleners 16
David Empringham 12
Jean-Philippe Belloc 10
Stephane Sarrazin 9
Pedro Lamy 9
Peter Kox 9
Fabrizio De Simone 0
Mika Salo 0
GT2
Romain Dumas 96
Timo Bernhard 96
Patrick Long 90
Jorg Bergmeister 90
Jon Fogarty 69
Joh. van Overbeek 69
Robin Liddell 51
Tim Sugden 49
Justin Jackson 39
Wolf Henzler 31
Bill Auberlen 31
Nic Jonsson 28
Lucas Luhr 26
Marino Franchitti 24
Mike Rockenfeller 23
Ian Baas 21
Seth Neiman 21
Lonnie Pechnik 21
Bryan Sellers 21
Randy Pobst 21
Darren Law 19
Michael Cawley 17
Marc Sluszny 16
Martin Jensen 16
Tracy Krohn 16
Andrew Thompson 14
Michael Vergers 14
Juan Barazi 14
Spencer Pumpelly 12
Steve Ivankovich 12
Andy Lally 12
Tony Burgess 12
Christophe Tinseau 8
Michael Galati 6
Scott Maxwell 5
Sascha Maassen 4
Rick Skelton 1