Audi have performed well so far in 2008 and the form should continue at MMP
Audi
Acura
Porsche
Click a link to go directly to that story!
Audi
Audi TDI Power helps overtaking
o Fourth round of American Le Mans Series close to Salt Lake City
o Audi R10 TDI with torque advantage
o Diesel sportscar continues to make headlines
Ingolstadt -- Three races, two wins: The results of the Audi R10 TDI in the 2008 American Le Mans Series 2008 are impressive. Boosted by two overall victories on the street circuits in St Petersburg and Long Beach, the Audi Sport North America team comes as championship leaders to Salt Lake City, Utah, where Audi's diesel sportscar has already played a leading roll twice.
Emanuele Pirro in particular made the headlines in the previous two years. In 2006, the Italian kept Lucas Luhr, at that time sill at the wheel of a lighter LM P2 Porsche, at bay during the dramatic closing stages and crossed the finish line as winner by a mere 0.318 seconds. Pirro managed quite probably the most spectacular start of the year at Miller Motorsports Park in 2007: Starting in eighth position with the Audi R10 TDI, he stormed into the lead before the first corner after overtaking every competitor, who had started in front of him, on the long start-finish straight.
The sensational manoeuvre was viewed frequently on many Internet based video portals afterwards. It was yet another impressive demonstration of the performance of Audi TDI Technology, which is long since established in Europe and is also launched on the American market at the end of 2008. The Audi R10 TDI, which is known as the "whispering revolution" in the USA because of its quiet engine, heralds Audi's diesel offensive on the US market.
The more than 650 hp V12 TDI engine powering the Audi R10 TDI provides its drivers with the same advantages that a TDI engine has in a road going Audi: reduced consumption, a pleasant low background noise and enormous torque which is available spontaneously.
The V12 TDI engine produces more than 1,110 Newton metres of torque, against which no other competitor has anything comparable to offer in the American Le Mans Series. At the start or during a re-start after a full-course yellow the Audi drivers always have a good chance of overtaking cars in front under acceleration thanks to TDI Power -- just as Emanuele Pirro succeeded in doing at Salt Lake City last year or, more recently, as Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner demonstrated to win in St Petersburg and Long Beach.
The race at Miller Motorsports Park is one of two races in the American Le Mans Series which are not held on a Saturday but on Sunday (18 May). It runs for the duration of two hours 45 minutes. The start is at 1:05 p.m. local time. SPEED broadcasts live in the USA, Motors TV in Europe.
Facts & figures
The Audi driver line-up at Salt Lake City
No.1 Frank Biela / Emanuele Pirro
No.2 Lucas Luhr / Marco Werner
Frank Biela about Miller Motorsports Park: "Salt Lake City is an extreme race track with a totally unique character. Even after 20 years of motorsport this circuit is something very special for a racing driver. It's unusual to find such a circuit packed with so many corners. It is quite difficult to learn the layout."
Interesting facts
The Audi R10 TDI contested its 25th race in Long Beach and celebrated its 14th overall victory in the process-- Salt Lake City is the final race for the Audi R10 TDI before the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 14/15 June ... Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro won the inaugural race at Miller Motorsports Parks with the R10 TDI in 2006 ... In 2008 the American Le Mans Series uses the outer track at Miller Motorsports Parks for the first time ... The race's official title is "American Le Mans Series Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix Presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels at Miller Motorsports Park" and suspiciously long into the bargain ... For Audi Sport the weekend of the 18 May is a "double header" event: In parallel to the ALMS race at Salt Lake City the fourth round of the DTM is held at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany.
Acura
ACURA SPORTS CAR LINEUP ADDS DE FERRAN FOR UTAH EVENT AND PATRON HIGHCROFT SEEKS SECOND STRAIGHT LMP2 WIN
Four Strong Acura Teams Primed For Highly-Competitive Race In Utah Grand Prix
TOOLE, Utah -- The Acura sports car teams have added a legendary driver and a new team to its arsenal as round four of the American Le Mans Series comes to the Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City on May 16-18.
Coming off a win at Long Beach by the Patron Highcroft team, the Acura squads seek another victory lane celebration on the smooth and fast 3.08-mile, 15-turn road course.
And this time, the Acura contingent have added former Indy 500 champion Gil de Ferran's new racing operation, which makes its ALMS debut on Sunday, May 18 at 1 p.m. (MDT). The race will be seen live on SPEED TV at 3 p.m. (EDT).
The state-of-the-art racing facility will host a stellar field of sports cars that includes the Acura teams of de Ferran Motorsports, Lowe's Fernandez Racing, Andretti Green Racing and the Long Beach-winning Patron Highcroft team.
The Patron Highcroft organization, with drivers David Brabham and Scott Sharp, comes to the Utah event following an exciting come-from-behind victory in the streets of Long Beach and a strong second place in the streets of St. Petersburg.
Taking on last year's dominating Penske Porsche team, Brabham fought from behind and past Romain Dumas on the next to last lap with a superb inside move in his No. 9 Acura ARX-01b, the latest version of the Wirth Research-designed Acura chassis.
The victory for Brabham set an ALMS record as the Australian driver became the first racer to win races in all four ALMS classes (LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2) in his career. Last year, the second generation star was the first driver to win pole positions in all four divisions in ALMS.
Sharp, the former IndyCar Series and Trans-Am champion, moved to ALMS this year and has quickly become a factor in the prototype divisions.
The No. 15 Lowe's Acura contingent of Mexican driving stars Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz, who drove wheel-to-wheel with winning Porsche throughout the Sebring 12-hour classic, put in a sensational run last year at Utah and recent testing could prove them a contender at Utah.
The Andretti Green Racing pair of Bryan Herta and Christian Fittipaldi, who led overall at Sebring last March before some overheating troubles, bring the No. 26 XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b to Utah in search of the team's first win since Sebring last year. Herta and Fittipaldi are two former open-wheel stars who give the ALMS tour new contenders for the LMP2 class.
De Ferran, the two-time CART champion, makes his return to driving after a four-year layoff. The popular Brazilian star retired in 2003 and, most recently, served as sporting director for the Honda Formula One team. Gil will team with young Frenchman Simon Pagenaud in the No. 66 Panasonic ELS Sound Acura ARX-01b sports car.
ACURA QUOTES:
DAVID BRABHAM (#9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-0ba): "It was good to have a Brabham back in the winner's circle at Long Beach. To win there for Patron in their title race and in the backyard of Acura was big for our team. Winning in four ALMS classes is great for me but it doesn't mean as much as this effort that the team put forth. The Long Beach win was a very exciting for me and the rest of the team. We are ready to go for another win. The Utah circuit is a super facility and great to race."
SCOTT SHARP (#9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b): "To get the first win this year for Acura and Patron, it's a big accomplishment. As strong as the Penske (Porsche) cars have been, we need to keep pushing, The Utah circuit is one of those tracks that just naturally feels good to me. I love the challenges and the high-speed corners. I can't wait to go there."
LUIS DIAZ: (#15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura ARX-01b): "We are anxious to get to the Utah track. We have had a fast Lowe's Acura in the first three races this year but we haven't finished like we have raced. A few things have cost us podium finishes. After some testing, we believe our Lowe's Acura is in position to win. Hopefully we can do that at Utah. We were very fast at Utah last year and I expect us to be the same this time. Adrian and I are ready for a strong finish."
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ (#15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura ARX-01b): "We have been a little frustrated in the early portion of the 2008 season because we have run very well in all of the races but we haven't finished well. So Luis and I are looking at Utah as a springboard for our season. Last year, we had a great car and I think we can do it again at Miller Motorsports Park. We love the circuit and the facility. Now, we would like to win there and show our car's speed."
BRYAN HERTA (#26 XM Satellite Radio AGR Acura ARX-01b): "The Utah track is a very different race course than the three street courses on the schedule that precede it. That track is wide open and it is much easier to get around the GT cars. It definitely lends itself more to the LMP1 cars. The views are amazing and it's truly a great racing weekend. The people who built the track spared no expense. It's great."
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI (#26 XM Satellite Radio AGR Acura ARX-01b): "I don't think we have exploited the true potential of the XM Acura yet. So far this season, the competition has shown to be tougher that ever and with an additional Acura team (de Ferran) this weekend, I think it is going to be even tougher."
GIL de FERRAN (#66 Panasonic ELS Sound de Ferran Motosports Acura ARX-01b): "I'm having a great time driving a race car again. But in addition, I am enjoying the out of the cockpit activities as a team owner. It's been a very fun project. I have to say the Miller Motorsports Park is a world-class facility. I have been to a lot of race tracks in the world, in Europe, Asia and South America, and certainly this race track is one of the best I have ever come across."
SIMON PAGENAUD (#66 Panasonic ELS Sound de Ferran Motosports Acura ARX-01b): "I am thrilled to be a part of de Ferran Motorsports and to drive with a legend like Gil. I can't wait to get to Utah and compete in the American Le Mans Series. This series has some of the most-sophisticated racing cars in the world, and drivers are some of the best in the world too. We are a new team and we are still learning about each other. So we would like to be competitive in our first race. Then move on from there. This is a tough series to win."
Porsche
PORSCHE RS SPYDER, 911 GT3 RSR NEED NEW SET-UP FOR MODIFIED MILLER MOTORSPORTS COURSE NEAR SALT LAKE CITY; PORSCHE-ACURA AND PORSCHE-FERRARI RIVALRIES CONTINUE
ATLANTA -- May 13 - When owner Larry Miller had famous sports car course architect Alan Wilson design Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City four years ago, he wanted to make sure the facility was versatile enough to accommodate many different needs - sports car racing, motorscycle racing, club racing, corporate and private facility rentals and more.
For the first two years of the American Le Mans Series' appearances at Miller Motorsports Park, the cars ran the full course, which was a 24-turn, 4.5-mile race circuit - the longest on the 11-race schedule. Other configurations include breaking up the full course into two 2.24 mile circuits, each with their own challenges, but for the ALMS feature race this Sunday, the teams will use the fourth choice - a 15-turn, 3.048-mile course which goes around the outer section of the full course, eliminating all of the infield turns.
Sunday's event, known as The Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels will start at 3:05 PM EDT, and will be carried live nationally on SPEED channel (3:00 PM - 6:00 PM EDT). All track sessions starting Friday morning will be scored live on www.americanlemans.com, and qualifying and race action will be broadcast on American Le Mans radio, also at www.americanlemans.com. Photos and race stories on the Porsche competitors will be filed at www.porschemotorsport.com (click on motorsports news).
Despite the shortened version of the track, the twisty circuit is still regarded as one of the most demanding on the calendar.
"It has actually become more difficult to find the optimal set-up," says Sascha Maassen (Germany), who secured overall victory with the Penske Porsche RS Spyder last year after claiming an LMP2 class win at the debt on this track in 2006. With his team mate Patrick Long (USA) he tested here in Salt Lake City last month as the engineers tried to find the best possible set-up for the 476 hp sports prototype from Weissach for this new challenge.
His impressions: "A great track. Despite the shortening of the circuit there are still a lot of corners that suit us very well. But you also drive on the long straight more often and that is certainly not to our advantage."
Patrick Long agrees with this assessment but is equally as optimistic: "We don't have to take a back seat. In the past we have found solutions to tougher problems than this."
Penske Racing, based in Mooresville, North Carolina, will field two RS Spyder at Miller - Sascha Maassen and Patrick Long will drive the #6 RS Spyder, with their teammates Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) in the matching #7 car. The Bernhard/Dumas tandem are first in the LMP2 class point standings after the first three races of the season, with an overall win (Sebring) and two class wins (Sebring and St. Petersburg). Porsche in the also first manufacturers chassis and engine points and Penske Racing leads the teams championship.
The Poughkeepsie, New York-based Dyson Racing has also entered two Porsche RS Spyders - one for Chris Dyson (USA) and Guy Smith (Great Britain), and the other for Butch Leitzinger (USA) and Marino Franchitti (Great Britain).
After two street races in St. Petersburg and Long Beach, the series now returns to a permanent race track in Salt Lake City, which is the first of five straight races on traditional course (Salt Lake City, Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, Road America and Mosport). Sascha Maassen explains the greatest difference.
"On a city circuit you are more mentally stressed because you know exactly where you must not make a mistake otherwise you end up in the wall. As a contrast you've got a lot of corners on this circuit with correspondingly high lateral acceleration. It doesn't matter how well you have trained - after a couple of corners your neck hurts," said Maassen.
After testing last month, Maassen added that the car should be ready to go, but the team will still have to work hard in practice on Friday to sort out final details.
In the GT2 class for modified production sports cars, the Sebring winner Joerg Bergmeister from Germany and his compatriot Wolf Henzler are looking for their second victory of the season to vault them back into the points lead. With the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports, they were narrowly beaten by a tenth of a second by the Ferrari 430 in Long Beach to cross the finish line second.
Flying Lizard team mates Johannes van Overbeek (USA) and Patrick Pilet (France), and Darren Law (USA) and Seth Neiman (USA) will field the other two cars entered by the Sonoma, California-based team. The Lizards trail the Tafel Ferrari team by a two points in the team championship, and Bergmeister/Henzler are only six points behind Tafel's Mueller/Farnbacher in the driver points. Ferrari leads Porsche in GT2 manufacturers championship by a single point. Farnbacher Loles Racing, with offices in Danbury, Connecticut and facilities at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, has entered a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for German drivers Dirk Werner and Marc Basseng, who have a third-place finish to their credit from St. Petersburg.
VICI Racing, with race shops in Germany and Miami, Florida, will have Americans Craig Stanton and Nathan Swartzbaugh at the helm for its Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
The American Le Mans Series continues on its upward trend in 2008: An average of 106,000 spectators came to the first three races of the season, marking an increase of 3.2 percent over last year. The number of television viewers in the USA rose by 37 percent, bolstered by flag-to-flag coverage by SPEED at Sebring and two races on ABC-TV.