American Le Mans Series, round 2 in Long Beach, USA

American Le Mans Series, round 2 in Long Beach, USA

Patrick Long fastest Porsche pilot

Stuttgart. On the street circuit of Long Beach/California, Porsche works driver Patrick Long (USA) posted the fourth quickest time in qualifying for the second round of the American Le Mans Series. Last year’s winner shares driving duties for Saturday’s race in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports with his factory pilot teammate Joerg Bergmeister (Germany). With the Falken Tire squad’s 911 GT3 RSR, Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) claimed the fifth grid spot.

“I managed a perfect lap without making the slightest mistake and our car’s set-up was excellent,” said Patrick Long, reigning GT champion with Joerg Bergemeister. “Now we want to fight for a podium result in tomorrow’s race.”

“We had an accident right at the start of free practice and therefore couldn’t simulate the qualifying,” said Wolf Henzler, who teams up with American Bryan Sellers. “For this reason the qualifying session wasn’t really a hundred percent.”

The race takes off on Saturday at 16.30 hours local time (01.30 CET).


Qualifying result
GT class
1. Joey Hand (USA), BMW M3 GT, 1:19.090 minutes
2. Jan Magnussen (DK), Chevrolet Corvette, + 0.047 seconds
3. Bill Auberlen (USA), BMW M3 GT, + 0.357
4. Patrick Long (USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.373
5. Wolf Henzler (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.975
6. Johannes van Overbeek (USA), Ferrari F458, + 1.077
8. Sascha Maassen (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 1.556
13. Seth Neiman (USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 6.453

GTC class
1. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 1:23.179 minutes



Facts and Figures

This is the American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was created in 1999 for sports prototypes and GT vehicles. The regulations correspond to those of the Le Mans 24 hour race:

GT class: This most popular class amongst car manufacturers is traditionally extremely well supported: Slightly modified standard sports cars with 440 to 500 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 – 1,325 kilograms (e.g. Porsche 911 GT3 RSR).
GTC class: This class is reserved for vehicles from one-make race series (e.g. Porsche 911 GT3 Cup).
LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 750 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms.
LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with ca. 440 hp and an 825 kg minimum weight.
LMPC class: Prototype brand trophy series for the ORECA FLM 09.

All race cars start together but are classified separately. This ensures racing that is exciting and constantly changing with many overtaking manoeuvres. Points are awarded only for placings in each class.


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Oliver Hilger