Disappointing race for the title defenders
Stuttgart. The detour of the American Le Mans Series to Canada was not rewarded with success for the Porsche teams: After their second position in Lime Rock, the Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) went home empty-handed from round four of the season on the Mosport International Raceway close to Toronto. The best-placed Porsche team was factory pilot Wolf Henzler (Germany) and America’s Bryan Sellers who secured fifth place in the GT class with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by the Falken Tire squad.
With Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, four-time Mosport winner Joerg Bergmeister made a clean start and at times even took the lead. But during a pit stop after the halfway point in the 2:45-hour race, the #45 vehicle lost fluid from the power steering unit. Following the repairs, Patrick Long rejoined the race with a nine-lap gap to the GT front-runners to finally see the flag in twelfth place. This yielded zero points for the title defenders.
“Our car ran very well over the whole weekend,” said Joerg Bergmeister. “During my stint we were always in the top three and even had the lead. But when I tried to avoid a slower competitor, I spun, we lost the lead and then the power steering went. It was simply bad luck.” Patrick Long said: “After the pit stop we collected a lot of data but unfortunately no points.”
At his maiden race in Mosport, Porsche factory pilot Marco Holzer (Germany) took over the wheel of the second Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports from his American teammate Seth Neiman while in 14th and pushed through to finish eighth. The GTC class victory went to Americans Spencer Pumpelly and Duncan Ende in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Round 5 of the American Le Mans Series takes place on 6 August in Lexington in the US state of Ohio.
Statistics: 4th race in Mosport, Canada
Result GT class
1. Magnussen/Gavin (DK/GB), Chevrolet Corvette, 121 laps
2. Melo/Vilander (BRA/SF), Ferrari F458 Italia, 121
3. Werner/Auberlen (D/USA), BMW M3 GT, 121
4. Müller/Hand (D/USA), BMW M3 GT, 121
5. Henzler/Sellers (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 120
6. Beretta/Milner (MC/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, 119
8. Holzer/Neiman (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 118
10. Maassen/Miller (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 117
12. Bergmeister/Long (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 113
Result GTC class
1. Pumpelly/Ende (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 112 laps
2. von Moltke/Pierce (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 112
3. Faulkner/Pappas (IRL/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 111
Points’ standings GT class
Drivers
1. Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, BMW, 80 points
2. Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Chevrolet, 57
3. Dirk Werner, Bill Auberlen, BMW, 46
4. Jaime Melo, Toni Vilander, Ferrari, 41
5. Olivier Beretta, Tommy Milner, Chevrolet, 39
6. Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Porsche, 34
Manufacturers
1. BMW, 83 points
2. Chevrolet, 61
3. Ferrari, 52
4. Porsche, 50
Teams
1. BMW Team RLL, BMW, 83 points
2. Corvette Racing, Chevrolet, 61
3. Risi Competizione, 41
4. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche, 40
Facts and figures
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 550 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 exciting and diverse racing with many overtaking manoeuvres. Points are only awarded for placings in each class.
Public Relations and Media
Motor and Sports Press
Oliver Hilger
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