ALMS: The first 75 - ZR-1 Net Registry Forums

gaijin · 09-12-2006

THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES: THE FIRST 75

Braselton, Ga. - It's hard to believe that the ninth annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda CX-7 will mark the 75th race in the history of the American Le Mans Series. Since the inaugural race at Sebring in 1999, the Series has seen a bevy of world-class drivers, teams and exotic sports cars go head-to-head in the ultimate test of man and machine.

A look at the first 74 Series events by the numbers reveals more than a few interesting statistics. For example, did you know that since the first race in Sebring a grand total of 675 different drivers have combined to post 34,474.37 miles (330 hours, 57 minutes) at 20 different venues? As if that's not enough, here is a sampling of a few other tidbits:

AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES STREAKS AND RECORDS
Â· Olivier Beretta, GT1 co-leader in the driver points championship, holds the all-time American Le Mans Series record for career victories (28) thanks to four GT1 wins in six 2006 events - Sebring, Houston, Mid-Ohio and a record fourth class win at Portland. He is three ahead of Corvette mates Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell, and Sascha Maassen (25) with JJ Lehto next (23). Maassen's teammate Lucas Luhr stands sixth all-time with 22, one ahead of Frank Biela (21). Next is Rinaldo Capello (20), Beretta's teammate Oliver Gavin (19), Timo Bernhard (17), Clint Field, Jorg Bergmeister and Emanuele Pirro (15), and Marco Werner (14).

Â· Olivier Beretta and teammate Oliver Gavin's eight-race win streak (2005 Portland through 2006 Mid-Ohio) is an all-time Series record.

Â· Penske Racing's Porsche RS Spyders finished 1-2 at Mid-Ohio this year as Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas posted the first overall Series win for an LMP2 car in their RS Spyder with Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr finishing second. Penske Racing became only the second non-LMP1 team to win an overall race in the history American Le Mans Series. Dyson Racing's James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger drove their P675 Lola to the only other overall win at Infineon in July of 2003.

Â· Liz Halliday's LMP2 class victory with Clint Field at Portland moved her past Milka Duno for the most Series wins by a female driver (6). Halliday and Field already have three victories (Sebring, Houston and Portland), a runner-up finish and a pair of third-place podium finishes to maintain their LMP2 driver points lead through six events.

Thirteen (13) women have competed in the American Le Mans Series in its history (Milka Duno, Belinda Endress, Davina Galica, Halliday, Kimberly Hiskey, Claudia Hurtgen, Cindi Lux, Melanie Paterson, Danica Patrick, Melanie Snow, Lyn. St. James, Amanda Stretton and Jennifer Tumminelli). In total, Series' female drivers have posted 71 starts, 15 wins, 30 top three finishes, 42 top fives, 64 top 10s, three Fast Qualifier and one Fast Lap. Halliday has already won the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans, and leads all Series female drivers with 12 top three finishes.

Â· Ron Fellows has started 54 consecutive American Le Mans Series races, an all-time Series mark that he extends with every start. Frank Biela and Sascha Maassen were the previous record holders (40).

Â· Corvette Racing's high-tech C6.R machine saw its 12-race winning streak end at Lime Rock. The team has equaled the Series' all-time record for consecutive victories regardless of class (ORECA Viper in 2000-01, also in GT1). Corvette's Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin won eight races in a row from July 2005 until the Lime Rock weekend to move past Karl Wendlinger for the all-time Series consecutive wins mark.

Â· Two drivers - Ron Fellows (2002, 2003, 2004) and Olivier Beretta (1999, 2000, 2005) - are the only three-time class champions in American Le Mans Series history. Six other drivers - Johnny O'Connell (2003, 2004), Marco Werner (2003, 2004), Sascha Maassen (2003, 2002), Lucas Luhr (2003, 2002), Frank Biela (2003, 2005) and Emanuele Pirro (2001, 2005) - have each won two Series titles.

Clint Field is the all-time winningest driver in LMP2 despite his youth (age 23), having won 15 times since he began racing prototypes at age 18 (2002). He passed his father Jon (11) in 2005 as the younger Field became the youngest prototype champion in IMSA and American Le Mans history.

As a team, Intersport has won more P2 events than any other competitor in the history of the Series (20) and is locked in a major challenge with factory-backed Penske Racing and its Porsche RS Spyder for the LMP2 drivers and team championships.

Â· Ron Fellows' GT1 pole at Houston has given him at least one fast qualifier in seven of eight American Le Mans Series seasons, an all-time Series record while Lucas Luhr has won at least one pole position in six straight American Le Mans Series seasons. JJ Lehto, Sascha Maassen, Olivier Beretta and James Weaver have won poles in five straight seasons while Oliver Gavin, David Brabham and Frank Biela have posted pole starts in four different seasons.

Â· Prototype veteran Frank Biela is the all-time leader for LMP1 victories with 21 after a win at Utah. Dindo Capello is second with 20 following his win at Mosport. JJ Lehto sits third with 19, followed by Emanuele Pirro (15) and Marco Werner (14).

Â· Porsche's 911 GT3 RSR built an eight-race GT2 winning streak in 2005 (Mid-Ohio through Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) before Multimatic Team Panoz posted a noteworthy 12 Hours of Sebring triumph in the Esperante GTLM in the 2006 opener. In the subsequent three events, a 911 GT3 RSR built a three-race win streak involving three different teams - Alex Job Racing (Houston), Flying Lizard Motorsports (Mid-Ohio) and Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning (Lime Rock then Road America).

Â· Defending GT2 champions Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister wheeled their Petersen/White Lightning Porsche home first at Lime Rock and Road America. The duo shares the all-time consecutive wins record in GT2 with Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen (2003) and Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas (2005).

ALL-TIME AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES STATISTICAL LEADERS
1. Johnny O'Connell is the all-time leader in career Series starts (71) followed by Ron Fellows (66), David Brabham (59), Terry Borcheller (58) and JJ Lehto (58). A total of 675 different drivers have made at least one career start in Series history.

2. Ron Fellows is the all-time leader in Series Top Three finishes with 54 and is ahead of teammate Johnny O'Connell (51). JJ Lehto (48), Olivier Beretta (47), Frank Biela (43), Sascha Maassen (41), Lucas Luhr (39) and Emanuele Pirro (35) are next. A collection of 258 different drivers have recorded at least one Top 3 finish in the American Le Mans Series.

3. Johnny O'Connell owns the Series all-time record for Top Five Finishes (63), with Ron Fellows (61) and JJ Lehto (56) next. Olivier Beretta (53) and Frank Biela (50) round out the top five chase. A total of 384 different drivers have recorded at least one Top 5 finish in the Series.

4. Johnny O'Connell continues as the all-time Top 10 Finishes leader with 69 over teammate Ron Fellows (66). JJ Lehto (58), David Brabham and Frank Biela (56) round out the top five. A total of 568 different drivers have at least one Top 10 finish in Series history.

5. Olivier Beretta remains the all-time Fast Qualifier leader (18). Corvette teammate Ron Fellows is second (16), followed by James Weaver (15), and Lucas Luhr (14) and Dirk Muller (13). Fifty-seven drivers have achieved Fast Qualifier honors, most recently Stephane Sarrazin in an Aston Martin DBR9 at Road America in GT1.

6. Olivier Beretta remains the all-time Series leader in Fast Laps (19), ahead of Timo Bernard (15), JJ Lehto and Oliver Gavin (13), Dirk Muller and Sascha Maassen (12) and Frank Biela (11). Sixty-five drivers have posted fastest race laps in Series history. The most recent addition to the record book was Guy Smith for Dyson Racing in a Lola B06/10-AER at Road America in P1. He repeated the effort in the next round at Mosport.

Â· In the 54-race history of the LMP2 class, AER-MG power has won 25 races, Judd 13, Nissan seven, Porsche six, Ford two and Mazda one. Lola EX257 chassis have won 14 races, Lola B2K/40 chassis have won 12 times, and the new Lola B05/40 has eight wins including three in 2006. Thus Lola chassis have scored 34 wins (62.96 percent) of the P2 total. Reynard 01Q and Porsche chassis have taken six wins each, Courage chassis five wins, and Pilbeam MP84 chassis three victories. The RS Spyder has finished first in class or overall in six of its first nine American Le Mans Series starts.

AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES MANUFACTURER-RELATED
1. Porsche continues to lead the all-time Series marque victory list with 67, and includes victories in LMP2 (6), GT1 (2) and GT2 (59) over Audi's 55 (50 for the R8 including farewell at Lime Rock and five wins for the new R10 TDI). Chevrolet ranks third with 45 wins. Lola ranks fourth among the marques with 37 wins.

2. Porsche also has notched 67 all-time Series pole positions, including 58 in GT2, one in GT1 and eight in LMP2. The Audi R8 holds the all-time race car record for most poles (39) with 42 overall for Audi. Corvette leads the GT1 ranks with 36 poles.

3. Porsche holds the all-time Series record for the longest race-winning streak - 21 (2002 Sebring through 2004 Mid-Ohio), and finished last season with eight straight victories (GT2 plus LMP2 triumph at the Laguna Seca finale).

4. Fifteen (15) different chassis marques have posted Series victories: Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Courage, Dodge, Ferrari, Lola, Panoz, Pilbeam, Porsche, Riley & Scott, Reynard, Saleen and Zytek, which joined that list with an LMP1 triumph at Laguna Seca in 2005.

5. Thirteen (13) different engines marques have won Series events: Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Judd, Mazda, AER/MG, Nissan, Porsche and Zytek.

6. With its 2005 Laguna Seca LMP2 victory in its inaugural run of the RS Spyder, Porsche became the first chassis marque to win in three classes: GT1, GT/GT2 and LMP2. Porsche also became the second engine marquee to win in three classes, behind only Ford, a winner in all four classes.

AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES ENTRANT-RELATED
1. Victories: Corvette Racing earned its 45th American Le Mans Series victory - an all-time Series mark for Entrant wins - with its win at Road America to extend its leadership over Alex Job Racing (37). Audi Sport North America (31), Intersport Racing (20) and Champion Racing (18) round out the top five, followed by Oreca (16), Dick Barbour Racing (15), BMW Motorsport (10), Dyson Racing, Panoz Motor Sports and Prodrive (9), Petersen/White Lightning (8), Miracle Motorsports and Penske Racing (6), and Joest Racing and BMW Team PTG (5).

2. Since its inception, 32 different entrants have posted American Le Mans Series victories. By class, the LMP1 ranks have produced nine different Entrant victors with 10 different winners in LMP2 and GT2 apiece, as well as seven different Entrant wins in GT1.

3. Ten (10) entrants have scored GT2 class wins. Alex Job Racing leads with 37, followed by Barbour Racing with nine, Petersen/White Lightning with eight, Team PTG Racing with five, BMW Schnitzer and Risi Competizione with four wins, Flying Lizard Motorsports, Panoz Motor Sports/Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz and The Racers Group with two victories each, and a single victory for Reiser/Callas.

The 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda CX-7, Round 9 of the American Le Mans Series, is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. EDT on Saturday, September 30. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT and 3 to 10 p.m. EDT with MotorsTV providing live coverage in Europe. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA Live Timing & Scoring.

09-12-2006	#1
gaijin Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Road Atlanta Posts: 371	ALMS: The first 75 THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES: THE FIRST 75 Braselton, Ga. - It's hard to believe that the ninth annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda CX-7 will mark the 75th race in the history of the American Le Mans Series. Since the inaugural race at Sebring in 1999, the Series has seen a bevy of world-class drivers, teams and exotic sports cars go head-to-head in the ultimate test of man and machine. A look at the first 74 Series events by the numbers reveals more than a few interesting statistics. For example, did you know that since the first race in Sebring a grand total of 675 different drivers have combined to post 34,474.37 miles (330 hours, 57 minutes) at 20 different venues? As if that's not enough, here is a sampling of a few other tidbits: AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES STREAKS AND RECORDS Â· Olivier Beretta, GT1 co-leader in the driver points championship, holds the all-time American Le Mans Series record for career victories (28) thanks to four GT1 wins in six 2006 events - Sebring, Houston, Mid-Ohio and a record fourth class win at Portland. He is three ahead of Corvette mates Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell, and Sascha Maassen (25) with JJ Lehto next (23). Maassen's teammate Lucas Luhr stands sixth all-time with 22, one ahead of Frank Biela (21). Next is Rinaldo Capello (20), Beretta's teammate Oliver Gavin (19), Timo Bernhard (17), Clint Field, Jorg Bergmeister and Emanuele Pirro (15), and Marco Werner (14). Â· Olivier Beretta and teammate Oliver Gavin's eight-race win streak (2005 Portland through 2006 Mid-Ohio) is an all-time Series record. Â· Penske Racing's Porsche RS Spyders finished 1-2 at Mid-Ohio this year as Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas posted the first overall Series win for an LMP2 car in their RS Spyder with Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr finishing second. Penske Racing became only the second non-LMP1 team to win an overall race in the history American Le Mans Series. Dyson Racing's James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger drove their P675 Lola to the only other overall win at Infineon in July of 2003. Â· Liz Halliday's LMP2 class victory with Clint Field at Portland moved her past Milka Duno for the most Series wins by a female driver (6). Halliday and Field already have three victories (Sebring, Houston and Portland), a runner-up finish and a pair of third-place podium finishes to maintain their LMP2 driver points lead through six events. Thirteen (13) women have competed in the American Le Mans Series in its history (Milka Duno, Belinda Endress, Davina Galica, Halliday, Kimberly Hiskey, Claudia Hurtgen, Cindi Lux, Melanie Paterson, Danica Patrick, Melanie Snow, Lyn. St. James, Amanda Stretton and Jennifer Tumminelli). In total, Series' female drivers have posted 71 starts, 15 wins, 30 top three finishes, 42 top fives, 64 top 10s, three Fast Qualifier and one Fast Lap. Halliday has already won the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans, and leads all Series female drivers with 12 top three finishes. Â· Ron Fellows has started 54 consecutive American Le Mans Series races, an all-time Series mark that he extends with every start. Frank Biela and Sascha Maassen were the previous record holders (40). Â· Corvette Racing's high-tech C6.R machine saw its 12-race winning streak end at Lime Rock. The team has equaled the Series' all-time record for consecutive victories regardless of class (ORECA Viper in 2000-01, also in GT1). Corvette's Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin won eight races in a row from July 2005 until the Lime Rock weekend to move past Karl Wendlinger for the all-time Series consecutive wins mark. Â· Two drivers - Ron Fellows (2002, 2003, 2004) and Olivier Beretta (1999, 2000, 2005) - are the only three-time class champions in American Le Mans Series history. Six other drivers - Johnny O'Connell (2003, 2004), Marco Werner (2003, 2004), Sascha Maassen (2003, 2002), Lucas Luhr (2003, 2002), Frank Biela (2003, 2005) and Emanuele Pirro (2001, 2005) - have each won two Series titles. Clint Field is the all-time winningest driver in LMP2 despite his youth (age 23), having won 15 times since he began racing prototypes at age 18 (2002). He passed his father Jon (11) in 2005 as the younger Field became the youngest prototype champion in IMSA and American Le Mans history. As a team, Intersport has won more P2 events than any other competitor in the history of the Series (20) and is locked in a major challenge with factory-backed Penske Racing and its Porsche RS Spyder for the LMP2 drivers and team championships. Â· Ron Fellows' GT1 pole at Houston has given him at least one fast qualifier in seven of eight American Le Mans Series seasons, an all-time Series record while Lucas Luhr has won at least one pole position in six straight American Le Mans Series seasons. JJ Lehto, Sascha Maassen, Olivier Beretta and James Weaver have won poles in five straight seasons while Oliver Gavin, David Brabham and Frank Biela have posted pole starts in four different seasons. Â· Prototype veteran Frank Biela is the all-time leader for LMP1 victories with 21 after a win at Utah. Dindo Capello is second with 20 following his win at Mosport. JJ Lehto sits third with 19, followed by Emanuele Pirro (15) and Marco Werner (14). Â· Porsche's 911 GT3 RSR built an eight-race GT2 winning streak in 2005 (Mid-Ohio through Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) before Multimatic Team Panoz posted a noteworthy 12 Hours of Sebring triumph in the Esperante GTLM in the 2006 opener. In the subsequent three events, a 911 GT3 RSR built a three-race win streak involving three different teams - Alex Job Racing (Houston), Flying Lizard Motorsports (Mid-Ohio) and Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning (Lime Rock then Road America). Â· Defending GT2 champions Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister wheeled their Petersen/White Lightning Porsche home first at Lime Rock and Road America. The duo shares the all-time consecutive wins record in GT2 with Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen (2003) and Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas (2005). ALL-TIME AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES STATISTICAL LEADERS 1. Johnny O'Connell is the all-time leader in career Series starts (71) followed by Ron Fellows (66), David Brabham (59), Terry Borcheller (58) and JJ Lehto (58). A total of 675 different drivers have made at least one career start in Series history. 2. Ron Fellows is the all-time leader in Series Top Three finishes with 54 and is ahead of teammate Johnny O'Connell (51). JJ Lehto (48), Olivier Beretta (47), Frank Biela (43), Sascha Maassen (41), Lucas Luhr (39) and Emanuele Pirro (35) are next. A collection of 258 different drivers have recorded at least one Top 3 finish in the American Le Mans Series. 3. Johnny O'Connell owns the Series all-time record for Top Five Finishes (63), with Ron Fellows (61) and JJ Lehto (56) next. Olivier Beretta (53) and Frank Biela (50) round out the top five chase. A total of 384 different drivers have recorded at least one Top 5 finish in the Series. 4. Johnny O'Connell continues as the all-time Top 10 Finishes leader with 69 over teammate Ron Fellows (66). JJ Lehto (58), David Brabham and Frank Biela (56) round out the top five. A total of 568 different drivers have at least one Top 10 finish in Series history. 5. Olivier Beretta remains the all-time Fast Qualifier leader (18). Corvette teammate Ron Fellows is second (16), followed by James Weaver (15), and Lucas Luhr (14) and Dirk Muller (13). Fifty-seven drivers have achieved Fast Qualifier honors, most recently Stephane Sarrazin in an Aston Martin DBR9 at Road America in GT1. 6. Olivier Beretta remains the all-time Series leader in Fast Laps (19), ahead of Timo Bernard (15), JJ Lehto and Oliver Gavin (13), Dirk Muller and Sascha Maassen (12) and Frank Biela (11). Sixty-five drivers have posted fastest race laps in Series history. The most recent addition to the record book was Guy Smith for Dyson Racing in a Lola B06/10-AER at Road America in P1. He repeated the effort in the next round at Mosport. Â· In the 54-race history of the LMP2 class, AER-MG power has won 25 races, Judd 13, Nissan seven, Porsche six, Ford two and Mazda one. Lola EX257 chassis have won 14 races, Lola B2K/40 chassis have won 12 times, and the new Lola B05/40 has eight wins including three in 2006. Thus Lola chassis have scored 34 wins (62.96 percent) of the P2 total. Reynard 01Q and Porsche chassis have taken six wins each, Courage chassis five wins, and Pilbeam MP84 chassis three victories. The RS Spyder has finished first in class or overall in six of its first nine American Le Mans Series starts. AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES MANUFACTURER-RELATED 1. Porsche continues to lead the all-time Series marque victory list with 67, and includes victories in LMP2 (6), GT1 (2) and GT2 (59) over Audi's 55 (50 for the R8 including farewell at Lime Rock and five wins for the new R10 TDI). Chevrolet ranks third with 45 wins. Lola ranks fourth among the marques with 37 wins. 2. Porsche also has notched 67 all-time Series pole positions, including 58 in GT2, one in GT1 and eight in LMP2. The Audi R8 holds the all-time race car record for most poles (39) with 42 overall for Audi. Corvette leads the GT1 ranks with 36 poles. 3. Porsche holds the all-time Series record for the longest race-winning streak - 21 (2002 Sebring through 2004 Mid-Ohio), and finished last season with eight straight victories (GT2 plus LMP2 triumph at the Laguna Seca finale). 4. Fifteen (15) different chassis marques have posted Series victories: Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Courage, Dodge, Ferrari, Lola, Panoz, Pilbeam, Porsche, Riley & Scott, Reynard, Saleen and Zytek, which joined that list with an LMP1 triumph at Laguna Seca in 2005. 5. Thirteen (13) different engines marques have won Series events: Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Judd, Mazda, AER/MG, Nissan, Porsche and Zytek. 6. With its 2005 Laguna Seca LMP2 victory in its inaugural run of the RS Spyder, Porsche became the first chassis marque to win in three classes: GT1, GT/GT2 and LMP2. Porsche also became the second engine marquee to win in three classes, behind only Ford, a winner in all four classes. AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES ENTRANT-RELATED 1. Victories: Corvette Racing earned its 45th American Le Mans Series victory - an all-time Series mark for Entrant wins - with its win at Road America to extend its leadership over Alex Job Racing (37). Audi Sport North America (31), Intersport Racing (20) and Champion Racing (18) round out the top five, followed by Oreca (16), Dick Barbour Racing (15), BMW Motorsport (10), Dyson Racing, Panoz Motor Sports and Prodrive (9), Petersen/White Lightning (8), Miracle Motorsports and Penske Racing (6), and Joest Racing and BMW Team PTG (5). 2. Since its inception, 32 different entrants have posted American Le Mans Series victories. By class, the LMP1 ranks have produced nine different Entrant victors with 10 different winners in LMP2 and GT2 apiece, as well as seven different Entrant wins in GT1. 3. Ten (10) entrants have scored GT2 class wins. Alex Job Racing leads with 37, followed by Barbour Racing with nine, Petersen/White Lightning with eight, Team PTG Racing with five, BMW Schnitzer and Risi Competizione with four wins, Flying Lizard Motorsports, Panoz Motor Sports/Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz and The Racers Group with two victories each, and a single victory for Reiser/Callas. The 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda CX-7, Round 9 of the American Le Mans Series, is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. EDT on Saturday, September 30. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT and 3 to 10 p.m. EDT with MotorsTV providing live coverage in Europe. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA Live Timing & Scoring.