Audi wrapped up the P1 title at Mosport
Audi
Acura
Porsche
Corvette
Ferrari
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Audi
Ingolstadt/Mosport – Audi have prematurely clinched the LM P1 Manufacturers’ Championship in the American Le Mans Series with their third consecutive 1-2 victory. Before the last three races, the brand with the four rings is out of reach in the classifications for engine and chassis manufacturers.
Team Audi Sport North America’s two Audi R10 TDI prototypes were running with different strategies in the closing stages of the Grand Prix of Mosport (Canada). Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro used one of the two caution perdiods for an early and final refuelling stop. If another "yellow" had occurred, the strategy might have worked out for the two Italians, but it stayed "green" until the end forcing Pirro to reduce the engine power and save fuel in the final hour. While other cars, opting for a similar strategy, ran out of fuel before the end, the Audi driver was able to take advantage of the low fuel consumption of the TDI engine and crossed the finish line in second position with the last drop of Shell V-Power Diesel.
Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner applied a different strategy in the exciting race. They stayed on track during the second caution period and came to the pits later for their third schedulled refuelling stop. This dropped them to eighth position, but Lucas Luhr was able to make up half a minute in the closing stages with enough fuel and fresh tyres, gradually moving up the race order. Nine laps from the finish he overtook the leading Acura/Honda.
Marco Werner had passed his pole sitting team-mate Dindo Capello on lap seven when the Italian got stuck behind a slower car. He held a 24-second lead when the Safety Car entered the track for the first time. After the driver-change, Lucas Luhr was also able to open a gap before his lead was negated by another caution period.
The only incident for the winning Audi crew occured during the first pit-stop when Marco Werner touched the pit-wall while exciting the pits and damaging the front section of his R10 TDI. The German was nevertheless able to set a new lap-record in 1m 05.823s.
Luhr and Werner celebrated their fifth overall victory in the 2008 American Le Mans Series and their seventh consecutive class win. This means the two Germans have the LM P1 Drivers’ title almost in their hands. The next race takes place next Saturday (August 30) in Detroit (U.S. state of Michigan).
Quotes after the race at Mosport
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "It was a fantastic race with a difficult strategic decision in the final phase. All the more beautiful it is that we have now clinched a double victory in the American Le Mans Series for the third time in succession proving ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ – and this being achieved against very strong competition. Congratulations to the whole team, also on prematurely clinching the Manufacturers’ Championships."
Lucas Luhr (Audi R10 TDI #2): "That was a real challenge for me when I had to overtake almost all prototypes again at the end of the race. It worked out well. Our car was not in a perfect shape after our little mishap in the pits, and I really had to fight. Our engineer told me on the radio that I had to push like hell. I did, and fortunately it worked out."
Marco Werner (Audi R10 TDI #2): "I’ve not seen such a great race for quite a while. It was really exciting. It was nail-biting because we were not sure if we could bring the victory home. There were two different strategies for our two cars. It’s great that this gave us a 1-2 victory. It was really close in the end for Emanuele (Pirro) who opted for the ‘save fuel’ method. We went flat-out but had to pit under ‘green’. I dedicate this victory to our boys who worked a lot this week and put a great car on the wheels for us."
Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #1): "It was a difficult race because we gambled a little bit with the fuel. From one side it was good because we really used the last drop of Diesel that was in our tank. This allowed us to finish second on the very last lap. On the other side we lost the chance to fight for the victory as soon we had to back off and save fuel. This was a little bit frustrating, but it is a great result for Audi and we enjoy it."
Emanuele Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #1): "I really learned to save fuel during the stint. I was two steps of power down, but this was not enough and I had to roll the car into the corners. Despite that my lap times were good enough to keep the LMP 2 cars behind. I’m not happy about the race result because we had a fast car but we gambled and didn’t make it. I’m happy on how we managed the situation and I’m happy about the way I drove. I literally ran out of fuel at start and finish. It was good to finish second in these conditions."
Dave Maraj (Team Director Audi Sport North America): "It was definitely a team effort after rebuilding one car on Friday all the way into the night because of a damaged monocoque. The team performed extremely well and our four drivers were great. The complete team did a great job. I’m very pleased."
Acura
BOWMANVILLE, Ont., CA -- David Brabham and Scott Sharp stood in Victory Lane for the fourth time in the 2008 American Le Mans Series Sunday, but both drivers had to feel for fellow Acura pilots Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud following the Grand Prix of Mosport, northeast of Toronto.
Brabham made another remarkable charge on the legendary 2.54-mile road circuit to capture the LMP2 class title with the No. 9 Patron Highcroft Acura ARX-01b prototype sports car. The victory for Brabham and Sharp closed them to within 10 points of LMP2 point leaders Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas with three races remaining in the season.
Brabham and Sharp's win was coupled with a second-place finish by Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz in the No. 15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura for the manufacturer's first 1-2 American Le Mans Series finish since Acura joined the road-racing tour last year. It was Fernandez and Diaz' top finishing position in 2008.
The two-hour, 45-minute contest saw some of the most sensational wheel-to-wheel action ever seen in the 10-year history of the American Le Mans Series. But it was the performance of former Indy 500 winner de Ferran that stunned the large Canadian crowd Sunday.
The personable Brazilian, who retired from the cockpit in 2003, drove a spectacular event to hold a 12-second advantage with just 10 minutes remaining. His No. 66 Panasonic ELS Surround Acura looked to be headed to a first ALMS win for the newly-formed de Ferran Motorsports squad. De Ferran played a fuel-strategy game against the likes of Brabham, Fernandez and the pair of Penske Porsches, and he drove brilliantly.
At the end, the overall-leading Audi of Lucas Luhr crossed the start/finish line just one second prior to the scheduled minimum race time of two hours, 45 minutes, necessitating the completion of another lap prior to the checkered flag. De Ferran's car ran out of fuel on the back straightaway on that final circuit and was relegated to a fifth-place finish in the LMP2 division.
Brabham and Fernandez then battled to the finish line, completing Acura's 1-2 placing.
Franck Montagny, co-driving with Englishman James Rossiter in the No. 26 XM Satellite Radio Andretti Green Acura ARX-01b, actually led the overall standings before a late-race pit stop consigned him to fourth in the LMP2 class. Early contact between Rossiter's XM Acura and a GT car hurt the aerodynamics of the AGR machine, but the French star wheeled the injured machine to a strong finish.
DAVID BRABHAM (#9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b): "What a phenomenal race today! The wheel-to-wheel action was as good as it gets. There was really world-class competition out there today. The racing with Romain [Dumas] was incredible as we passed back and forth. I guess they ran out of fuel like Gil. I feel bad for Gil's team. They were so close to winning. But we'll take this fourth win and close in on the point lead. Very exciting for us!"
SCOTT SHARP (#9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b): "The last two races have been about fuel, and our staff, led by Duncan [Dayton] and Rob Hill, did another great job of calling the right shot at the end. Our car was fast all weekend, but I got caught some bad traffic and that hurt us. David did his usual great charge to get the Patron Highcroft Acura to Victory Lane. This place is like a throwback to older racing with such fast turns. It's great for a driver."
LUIS DIAZ (#15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura ARX-01b): "We were very close to winning the race today. Our Lowe's Acura team had a great strategy and my car felt good. We had some great racing in the P2 class. Each race, we'll continue to learn about the Acura chassis on these fast tracks. We had the Lola last year, and the new chassis is very good. We think we can get better with each race."
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ (#15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura ARX-01b): "We had some problems with the battery and that hurt us a little. But the Lowe's Acura was fast today. We play a fuel game and I felt Luis had a good momentum. So he stayed in longer than some of the other Acura drivers, who switched [positions] after 45 minutes. I decided to save a little more fuel than Gil and David, or we might have had a shot for the win. Without the suspension problem at Road America, we should have three straight podium finishes. Second feels good."
FRANCK MONTAGNY (#26 XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b): "The XM car was not as fast as I would have liked due to the contact James had in the beginning of the race. We lost the front wing. We were able to race with anyone in our class until we had to pit late for fuel and tires. Our strategy came close at the end, but the race was one lap shorter than we would have liked. Another bad break."
JAMES ROSSITER (#26 XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b): "The XM car was good in my stint today. Unfortunately, I was racing with Sharp and we were passing a Ferrari in Turn Eight. I don't know if he didn't see me, but he ran into my car's left front. We lost a dive plane that hurt the aerodynamics a little bit. Overall, we just missed a bit on our fuel strategy and we had to settle for fourth."
SIMON PAGENAUD (#66 Panasonic ELS Surround Acura ARX-01b): "It shows how much racing can get you sometimes. We will take a lot from this weekend. We learned a lot the whole week. We had some problems, but team had a great strategy and the car was very good in the race. I thought Gil was outstanding today too."
GIL de FERRAN (#66 Panasonic ELS Surround Acura ARX-01b): "It was particularly cruel when you consider that we missed the checkered flag by just about a second. That made us take another lap and we ran out of fuel. It was always going to be tight for us on fuel. But the team did a very good job working the numbers. I tried to keep the proper fuel reading that they wanted. And we ran great laps and saved fuel. We thought the race would end one lap sooner. Unfortunately, that didn't happen today. Our guys did great in calling all the right moves, including getting us back on the lead lap in the early portion of the race. We have been struggling all weekend with the car, but, in the race, it felt good. And our lap times were very good. I was feeling very comfortable in the lead and I had a good rhythm in the cockpit. It felt good to run up front again. I think we can do more of that in the future. It is a tough way to lose."
Porsche
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (Canada) - August 24 - While Porsche teams in both the LMP2 class and the GT2 class retained their points lead going into next week's Detroit Grand Prix, no one was really satisfied with the results of today Grand Prix of Mosport presented by Mobil 1.
In the LMP2 class, the Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyders finished third and sixth in class, with the Sascha Maassen (Germany)/Patrick Long (USA) car finished third - their fourth podium finish - and the Bernhard/Dumas car was sixth after running out of fuel on the last lap.
John Erickson, general manager of Penske Racing, was pleased that the number six Long/Maassen RS Spyder finished on the podium, helping both team and manufacturers points, but was disappointed that the right strategy for the number seven Bernhard/Dumas car did not work out.
"We knew it would be close on fuel at the end, so we came in with two minutes to go for a quick splash, and thought we could make it to the end. We didn't put in more fuel because we did want to lose additional track position, but the overall leading Audi passed the start- finish line just after the two-hour, 45-minute time limit, so the whole field had to do another lap. Romain made to within 100 yards of the finish with the extra lap, but he ran out of gas," said Erickson.
Bernhard ran a strong first stint, bringing the car in for his pit stop and driving change during a caution flag at the 44-minute mark, and quick work by the Penske crew got Dumas out of the pits ahead of all the Audis and Acuras and into the overall lead. Dumas lead the race overall during two separate stages of the event, and lead the class several times until the last shuffle of pits stops, when the car was pushed back to fifth in class. He worked his way back to challenge for second place before the splash-and-go and the fuel shortage at the end.
In the LMP2 driving championship point standings, Bernhard/Dumas now lead the Brabham/Sharp Acura drivers, who won the class at Mosport, by ten points, while Porsche leads Acura in the manufacturer points by six points.
The other two Porsche RS Spyders in the LMP2 class, the Dyson Racing entries, ran the race without incident, but suffered a variety of nagging problems to keep them off the podium, including some under-steering issues. The Chris Dyson/Guy Smith RS Spyder finished seventh in class, while the Marino Franchitti/Butch Leitzinger RS Spyder was eighth.
The GT2 contest was a rough and tumble affair, with the Melo/Salo Ferrari outlasting the Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Dirk Werner and Pierre Kaffer. Some of the best racing of the weekend was the battle between those two cars - the same two that battled at Road America two weeks ago when the Farnbacher Loles Porsche won the race.
"I'm very happy that we got another podium in our first ALMS season. I think it shows how amazingly the team works together and how good a package we have. With a little bit more luck in finding the right race setup, we could have had a chance to win the race, but today the Ferrari was just a little bit stronger. I had to fight very hard to go the speed I went; I couldn't do it over the whole stint. But we can be happy with the result because everything went right for us," said Werner.
The two leading GT2 cars in the series - the Mueller/Farnbacher Ferrari and the Henzler/Bergmeister Flying Lizard Porsche - also had a healthy scrap, with Mueller muscling his way past Bergmeister by bumping him off the track late in the race. Joerg held on to his car, but had to settle for fourth place against his rival. But the IMSA officials, who had warned both drivers earlier in the race about bumping and blocking, ruled that the Ferrari was guilty of avoidable contact, and awarded the Lizard Porsche third.
Bergmeister, a multi-time IMSA champion, thought justice had been done.
"That was one of the toughest fights that I ever had in a race car. I had to drive very defensively to make sure that the Ferrari would not get by. In doing that, I got more and more tire pickup so at the end I was struggling quite a bit. But we finished ahead of them in the points so that's all that counts. It's a little step, but a step in the right direction," he said.
The Lonnie Pechnik/Seith Neiman Flying Lizard Porsche was seventh after suffering a broken shock, while the Patrick Pilet/Johannes van Overbeek Lizard Porsche was ninth after a starter problem in the pits cost them value time. The Francesco Pastorelli/Nicky Pastorelli/Marc Basseng VICI Racing Porsche did not finish after Basseng suffered a broken right rear suspension at speed and could not continue, finishing 12th.
Corvette
BOWMANVILLE, Ont., Aug. 24, 2008 -- Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connell continued their domination of the GT1 category in the American Le Mans Series today at Mosport International Raceway, scoring their seventh win of the season and their sixth straight victory in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R. The pair led their class in the Grand Prix of Mosport from flag to flag, finishing ahead of the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta. The No. 008 Aston Martin finished third, two laps behind the Corvettes.
"Getting through traffic was the key to this race," said Magnussen, who drove two stints in the two-hour, 45-minute race. "The ultimate lap time wasn't that important, but getting through traffic without losing time was crucial. I was so happy with the job that (crew chief) Dan Binks did on the radio, helping me all the time. Once or twice I looked in the mirror to check, but otherwise I just trusted him. Whenever he said it was clear, it was clear; when he told me to stay out, I stayed out. There's not a scratch on the car and another win in the record book -- perfect!"
O'Connell notched his 35th career ALMS victory and his sixth win at Mosport, becoming the most successful ALMS driver in the track's history. Magnussen tallied the 21st victory of his ALMS career. The pair first won together at Mosport in an LMP1 prototype in 1999, and they reprised their winning GT1 performance in last year's event.
"When Jan and I were teamed together in 1999, I was really looking forward to having another year to build on what we'd learned," said O'Connell. "That didn't happen, but to build on what we learned about each other last year at Corvette Racing, and then to carry that spirit into this year, is very cool.
"My stint started out really good, and we were able to attack hard at the start," O'Connell recalled. "I might have pushed the rear tires a little too hard and the car went loose, so mentally and physically it was a lot of work. We had a bit of a gap over the No. 4 Corvette, then the caution closed it up. The crew for the No. 3 Corvette did an incredible job to keep us out in front on the pit stops."
Both Corvettes pitted under caution at the 55-minute mark. The cars arrived in their pit stalls together, dropped off their jacks simultaneously, and left the pits nose-to-tail.
"I love watching this team operate in the pits, and the first pit stop was a consummate demonstration of how well prepared the Corvette Racing crews are," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "Both cars came in at the same time and left at the same time. It was awesome!
"When you look at today's result, it was a contest that either car could have won," Fehan noted. "At any given time in the race, one car might have been a few tenths of a second faster than the other, and that's great racing. I think the fans enjoyed it, and I know the team did, too. Now we're ready to head to Detroit for our hometown event."
O'Connell and Magnussen increased their lead in the GT1 drivers' standings to 27 points (171-144) over Gavin and Beretta with three races remaining.
"I am happy for the team, and both cars are okay," said Beretta. "We were fast again, the car is one piece, so let's move on to Detroit. At the end of the day, a 1-2 finish for Corvette Racing is good for everyone."
"Traffic seemed to be horrendous at times, and I kept losing out to Jan in that," Gavin reported. "We seemed to have the quicker car, and I could stick with him or gain a little when I got a clear track -- but it seemed the second guy through got held up a lot today. The LMP2 class was crazy; I was hit twice today by prototypes."
Ferrari
Last weekend, Ferrari netted two new and important wins in the international Grand Touring arena, coming out on top in the GT2 classes of the FIA GT Championship and the American Le Mans Series.
For the first time in the history of the FIA GT Championship, on the Rumanian street circuit in Bucharest, the event was run in two one hour long races. Victory in the GT2 class went to the CR Scuderia F430: Robert Bell and Andrew Kirkaldy, taking their first win of the season, beating by a whisker the championship leaders Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni (AF Corse,) who were slowed by brake problems. Behind them in both events, the Porsche 997 of Emmanuel Collard and Richard Westbrook. The result means that Bruni and Vilander maintain a solid lead in the classification and AF Corse is the top team with a 34 point lead over BMS Scuderia Italia and 42 over CR Scuderia.
The next round of the FIA GT series takes place at Brno in the Czech Republic on 14 September.
In the Grand Prix of Mosports, held at the eponymous circuit of Milville in New Jersey and counting as the eighth round of the American Le Mans Series, the Ferrari entered by Risi Competizione and driven by Jaime Melo and Mika Salo returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since the Le Mans 24 Hours, at the end of a perfect race, which was decided just a few kilometres from the chequered flag, thanks to some brave overtaking moves pulled off by Melo on the Dirk Werner-Pierre Kaffer Porsche. At the end of the race, the Tafel Racing Ferrari, driven by Dirk Muller and Dominik Farnbacher unfortunately dropped from third to fourth place, as it was deemed it had carried out an illegal overtaking move, thus promoting the classification leaders Jorg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler (Porsche 997) who thanks to the extra points gained, close the gap in the overall championship classification. The ninth round of the series takes place over the weekend of 30 August at the Detroit circuit.