09-05-2006 | #1 |
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Road Atlanta
Posts: 371
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Mosport GP Race Results
CHAMPIONS: MCNISH, CAPELLO WIN AT MOSPORT
Bowmanville, Ontario - Another championship performance by Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello has delivered just that. The two Audi factory drivers clinched the American Le Mans Series' LMP1 championship with a victory Sunday at the Grand Prix of Mosport, their sixth of the season. The title is the first for Capello and second for McNish. With Sunday's 2.794-second win over Dyson Racing's Chris Dyson and Guy Smith, the Capello-McNish pairing leads Dyson's James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger by 49 points, the amount available for winning the final two Series rounds. So even if Weaver and Leitzinger win at Petit Le Mans and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - and McNish and Capello score none - the Audi drivers would win the tiebreaker by having more victories than their rivals. "I had a lot of success before - wins at Le Mans, at Sebring, at Petit Le Mans - but never the championship," said Capello, who watched McNish win the Series title in 2001 as his teammate. "Now to get that, it is really special. When I started with Allan he didn't have a lot of experience in North America, and we both grew together. Now six years later we are still here and winning races. That says a lot because you can lose competitiveness and lose patience, but we're still here and now we have this championship." The No. 2 crew played the race strategy perfectly. After pitting early in the race for tires and fuel, the Audi came in before the Weaver's and Leitzinger's Lola during the next cycle to take on a last tank of diesel fuel. That came after the No. 16 crew took on just fuel for their first stop, meaning it needed both rubber and fuel on its last stop. Although he was up against it late, Smith drove his way through the field and reduced what had been a 20-second deficit to six seconds with two minutes left. Smith posted the fastest race lap - a record 1:07.446 - but McNish did just enough to keep his pursuer at bay. "The Dysons really put the pressure on us when all they did was get fuel," McNish said. "I knew that we would have to stretch and I knew we were going to struggle when guy came out only 20 seconds behind. We had longer tires and we had more trouble with pickup and I gave it all she had." Which was enough, as it turns out. "I think the strategy was perfect," Capello said. "If you are lighter you can be easier on tires. I think they took a really clever strategy and they lost some time in the pit stop with problems with the tire. And they were very competitive and Guy Smith did a great last lap and they showed." In LMP2, Lucas Luhr and Romain Dumas teamed for their first victory as a tandem in Penske Racing's No. 7 Porsche RS Spyder. With Dumas driving the final stint, he beat fellow Penske driver Timo Bernhard across the finish line by 8.887 seconds. The win moved Luhr back into a tie for the class championship with Sascha Maassen, who drove to second place Sunday with Bernhard. The duo sits 5 points ahead of Intersport Racing's Clint Field and Liz Halliday, who finished third. "We decided before the race to focus on the LMP2 championship and not fighting with other guys," Luhr said. "That's what we did today and it's a great thing for the Penske Porsche team. The main point is for Porsche and Penske to win the championships." Halliday split the two Porsches earlier in the race with some of her best laps before a small fire in the pits forced a lengthy pit stop for repairs. By the time Field re-emerged from the paddock, it was too late. Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy won in GT1 from pole position with a one-lap victory over class leaders Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta of Corvette Racing. The Aston Martin Racing duo won for the second time this year, the first coming at Lime Rock Park. Sarrazin's winning pass came with about 20 minutes to go. He pitted from the lead at the 2:12 mark for fuel and tires and emerged from the pits trailing Gavin by just eight seconds. It took the Frenchman 10 minutes to catch the Corvette and make the pass. "With my new tires, I was able to chase down the Corvette," Sarrazin said. "We tested Monday and Tuesday, and the car was really good. We tried many tires with Pirelli. I was just concentrating on my car and pushing on every lap. With traffic, it was very difficult. I never really knew if it was possible to win, so I pushed as hard as I could." In the big picture, Gavin and Beretta increased their lead in the class championship to 18 points over Aston Martin's Tomas Enge, who finished third with Peter Kox, and Corvette Racing teammates Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell, who teamed for a fourth-place finish. Ferrari scored an historic 1-2 victory in GT2 as Johnny Mowlem and Stephane Ortelli drove their No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430GT to a 13-second win over their teammates Maurizio Mediani and Toni Vilander. It marked the third win for the No. 62 entry this season and the first for Ortelli and Mowlem as a tandem. The two Ferraris were 35 seconds ahead of the class-leading Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of Johannes van Overbeek, the drivers championship leader, and Marc Lieb. Risi now trails Flying Lizard by 2 points heading into Petit Le Mans. "I have to say that it was one of the easiest wins I've ever driven because Stephane drove so beautifully and the team got it right," said Mowlem, who won for the third time in the Series. "The full credit goes to Stephane and the entire Risi team. I thought we had the pace for the Porsche," Mowlem said. "I think they had to do another stop, and we were the slowest car on the straights because of our mapping. But we can get through the corners so quickly. That's racing, though." Ortelli was at the wheel for the start, which nearly turned into a disaster. He barely missed Kox's spinning Aston Martin, which was bumped by Fellows as the green flag fell. Ortelli jammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the GT1 entry, allowing Lieb to slip by and into the lead. "I think the start was more difficult for the Aston," Ortelli said. "I took the first option and braking. The Porsche was accelerating and naturally got past me. The other option was to run into the Corvette." The Porsche lost its lead when van Overbeek suffered a punctured tire, handing the lead to Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz' No. 51 Panoz Esperante GTLM, which went on to finish fourth for its best result of the year. The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans, scheduled for 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006. SPEED Channel will provide live television coverage, and American Le Mans Radio and IMSA Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com. Mobil 1 presents Labour Day Weekend Grand Prix of Mosport Bowmanville, Ontario, Mosport International Raceway Sunday's results 1. (2) Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Allan McNish, Scotland; Audi R10 TDI Power (1, P1), 133. 2. (4) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Lola B06/10 AER (2, P1), 133. 3. (1) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Rob Dyson, Pleasant Valley , NY; James Weaver, England; Lola B06/10 AER (3, P1), 133. 4. (6) Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Frank Biela, Germany; Audi R10 TDI Power (4, P1), 132. 5. (3) Lucas Luhr, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (5, P2), 131. 6. (5) Sascha Maassen, Germany; Timo Bernhard, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (6, P2), 131. 7. (9) Pedro Lamy, Portugal; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Aston Martin DB9 (7, GT1), 123. 8. (12) Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6.R (8, GT1), 123. 9. (10) Peter Kox, The Netherlands; Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Aston Martin DB9 (9, GT1), 123. 10. (11) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (10, GT1), 122. 11. (13) Stephane Ortelli, Monaco; Johnny Mowlem, England; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (11, GT2), 116. 12. (14) Toni Vilander, Finland; Maurizio Mediani, Italy; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (12, GT2), 116. 13. (17) Marc Lieb, Germany; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 116. 14. (18) Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Panoz Esperante GTLM (14, GT2), 115. 15. (16) Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; BMW E46 M3 (15, GT2), 115. 16. (15) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Tim Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (16, GT2), 113. 17. (21) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 112. 18. (20) Marcel Tiemann, Germany; Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (18, GT2), 111. 19. (7) Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B05/40 AER (19, P2), 101. 20. (8) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; John Graham, Canada; Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Lola EX257 AER (20, P1), 9, Accident. 21. (22) Justin Marks, Sacramento, CA; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; BMW E46 M3 (21, GT2), 8. 22. (19) Scott Maxwell, Canada; David Brabham, Australia; Panoz Esperante GTLM (22, GT2), 7, Accident. Unofficial Points LMP1 Allan McNish 155 Rinaldo Capello 155 James Weaver 106 Butch Leitzinger 106 Emanuele Pirro 66 Frank Biela 66 Chris Dyson 60 Guy Smith 60 Andy Wallace 48 Michael Lewis 41 Chris McMurry 41 Duncan Dayton 26 Tom Kristensen 26 Bryan Willman 12 LMP2 Sascha Maassen 139 Lucas Luhr 139 Liz Halliday 134 Clint Field 134 Romain Dumas 110 Timo Bernhard 110 Jamie Bach 40 Guy Cosmo 40 Jon Field 39 Emmanuel Collard 22 Alan Timpany 19 William Binnie 19 Rick Sutherland 19 Gunnar van der Steur 18 Ben Devlin 18 Elton Julian 16 Michael Vergers 16 Juan Barazi 16 Raphael Matos 14 GT1 Olivier Beretta138 Oliver Gavin 138 Tomas Enge 120 Ron Fellows 120 Johnny O`Connell 120 Stephane Sarrazin 118 Darren Turner 107 Pedro Lamy 102 Jan Magnussen 26 Jason Bright 22 Nicolas Kiesa 19 Andrea Piccini 16 Max Papis 16 Jean-Philippe Belloc 14 Terry Borcheller 14 Tom Weickardt 14 Peter Kox 13 GT2 Johannes van Overbeek 118 Jorg Bergmeister 102 Patrick Long 92 Wolf Henzler 91 Jaime Melo 78 Scott Maxwell 67 David Brabham 67 Joey Hand 66 Bill Auberlen 66 Mike Rockenfeller 64 Mika Salo 59 Seth Neiman 55 Klaus Graf 44 Darren Law 40 Marc Lieb 35 Lonnie Pechnik 31 Justin Marks 29 Bryan Sellers 29 Toni Viliander 26 Tom Milner 26 Sebastien Bourdais 26 Gunnar Jeannette 26 Stephane Ortelli 24 Jon Fogarty 22 Johnny Mowlem 20 Ralf Kelleners 19 Anthony Lazzaro 19 Marc Gene 18 Maurizio Mediani 16 Marcel Tiemann 16 Richard Dean 14 Tom Kimber-Smith 14 Lawrence Tomlinson 14 Graham Rahal 12 M Dominguez 12 Tim Bergmeister 10 Nic Jonsson 10 Jeroen Bleekemolen 9 Mike Hezemans 9 Tim Sugden 8 Jim Matthews 8 Jep Thornton 7 Mark Patterson 7 Spencer Pumpelly 7 Robin Liddell 4 |
09-07-2006 | #2 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New Berlin WI
Posts: 247
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Re: Mosport GP Race Results
That was one hell of a race. That penatly on the number 3 C6-R at the begining of the race was BS, the Austin turned into him.
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