American Le Mans Series, round 5 in Lexington, USA Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long on the second grid row Stuttgart. The Porsche works drivers Jo

American Le Mans Series, round 5 in Lexington, USA

Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long on the second grid row

Stuttgart. The Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) take up the fifth round of the American Le Mans Series on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course from the second row of the grid. With the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports, Joerg Bergmeister, two-time winner at Mid-Ohio, set the fourth quickest time in the GT class qualifying on the 3.621 kilometre circuit in America’s Midwest.

“To start from the second row is not so bad considering the strong competition. If we get away well we could probably make up one or two positions,” said Joerg Bergmeister. “The 15 kilogram weight handicap that we were handed prior to Mid-Ohio costs us about two-tenths of a second per lap. But we’re still hoping that the better strategy of our Flying Lizard crew can make the difference over the race distance.”

At the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR run by the Falken Tire squad, Bryan Sellers (USA) posted the ninth quickest time. Sellers shares driving duties for the race on Saturday with Porsche factory pilot Wolf Henzler (Germany). Sascha Maassen (Germany) claimed the 13th grid spot with Paul Miller Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Two places behind him is Seth Neiman from America in the second Flying Lizard Porsche.

The race starts on Saturday at 15.30 hours local time (21.30 hrs CEST) and runs over 2:45 hours, with a live broadcast on www.americanlemans.com.


Qualifying result

GT class
1. Joey Hand (USA), BMW M3 GT, 1:20.539 minutes
2. Dirk Werner (D), BMW M3 GT, + 0.116 seconds
3. Jaime Melo (BRA), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.206
4. Joerg Bergmeister (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.378
5. Oliver Gavin (GB), Chevrolet Corvette, + 0.405
6. Guy Cosmo (USA), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.529
9. Bryan Sellers (USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 1.382
13. Sascha Maassen (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 2.545
15. Seth Neiman (USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 4.173

GTC class
1. Spencer Pumpelly (USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 1:29.521 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 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 according to their respective classes. This ensures exciting and diverse racing with many overtaking manoeuvres. Points are only awarded for placings in each class.


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Oliver Hilger