GT Masters: Rast / Landman fellow surprise winner in dream final Marc A. Hayek amateur wins the FIA ​​GT Championship standings

Rast / Landman fellow surprise winner in dream final
Marc A. Hayek amateur wins the FIA ​​GT Championship standings
Reiter Engineering wins in the team standings
The finale of the ADAC GT Masters Hockenheim sat in the beautiful weather
spectacular finale of a thrilling season. The victory at the 16thand
final round of the 2011 season, secured by René Rast (24, Frankfurt) and
Stefan Landmann (A, 25) in promotion-pole Phoenix Racing Audi R8, as in
a dramatic finale to the last lap leading sovereign
Stuck brothers Ferdinand (20, A) and John (24, A) in Reiter Lamborghini
Gallardo ran out of fuel. The already crowned champions ahead as new
BMW ALPINA pilots Alexandros Margaritis (27, Cologne) and Dino Lunardi (32,
F) from LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler had also bad luck on Sunday
and dropped out after a technical defect.
Keyfacts, Race 16, Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg
Circuit length: 4,574 meters
Weather: sunny, 22 degrees
Pole Position: Alexandros Margaritis (LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler BMW
ALPINA B6), 1:40,074 min
Race Winner: René Rast / Stefan Landmann (Phoenix Racing Pole Promotion
Audi R8)
Fastest Lap: Daniel Keilwitz (Callaway Corvette Z06),
1.41,433 min
Stuck brothers lose victory in the last round
When you start to last season round of the FIA ​​GT Championship, the pilots moved in
nearly 40 vehicles a strong field of the "League of dream sports car" again
all the stops. Start the duel between the quickest in qualifying and new
Alexandros Margaritis champion and runner-up did not end until Johannes Stuck
in the third corner. Until then, the two provided a table top
Head-to-head duel, from the stucco finally emerged victorious.
Margaritis was not defeated and remained until the driver change, with only
0.7 seconds behind in striking distance for Lamborghini. But shortly after
the driver change the defect vicious hit on both the BMW ALPINA
to master new. Dino Lunardi had the garish green coupe with
Stop transmission defect.
Ferdinand Stuck drove so without pushing to the top of the believed safe
fifth win of the season against, but the beginning was the Motordrome
youngest son of Hans-Joachim "Christmas cake" Stuck in the last round of
Fuel from. Stuck in a slow ride crossed the finish line in fifth.From
Unfortunately for the brothers' Stuck benefited the Audi drivers René Rast and Stefan
Landmann, who with a strong ride and a good pit stop on
the second position had fought to the front. "Finally it once with the
Folded victory, luck was on our side today, "beamed compatriot
after his first victory in the ADAC GT Masters. "It is not nice,
to profit from the misfortune of the stucco and to win that way, but
Today we have a very good race and lucky, "said
René Rast.
ADAC Stiftung Sport Pilot Mario Farnbacher-funding on the podium
His strong debut in the FIA ​​GT Championship with fourth place in the first
ADAC Formula Masters race topped Movers and ADAC Stiftung Sport
Pilot Mario Farnbacher conveyor (19, Lichfield) on Sunday. In Farnbacher
ESET Racing Ferrari 458 Italia Mario Farnbacher drove together with
Teammate Niclas Kentenich (23, Neuss) in second place. In the first
Half of the race held Kentenich the Ferrari in the top-10, Farnbacher fought
After the driver change, with a furious drive to second place until
forward. Came in third place one ADAC Formula Masters
Promoted to the finish. Maximilian Mayer (19, Ingolstadt), could be composed
Maximilian Götz (25, Uffenheim) in the Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS MS
RACING their best ever placing in the ADAC GT Masters pleased.
And of Thurn und Taxis / Geipel secure the team championship rider
The champion of 2010, Albert von Thurn und Taxis (28, Regensburg),
could, together with Philip Geipel (24, Plauen) in this season not in the
Intervene title fight, Team Principal Hans Reiter made the finals but
but to cheer about. Von Thurn und Taxis / Geipel missed the podium as
Fourth only slightly, but it secured the victory in the Reiter Engineering
Team standings before the LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler and ABT Sportsline.
Strong comeback leads Keilwitz / Alessi in sixth place
Daniel Keilwitz (22, Villingen) and Diego Alessi (39, I) excelled at the finals in
Hockenheim in their Callaway Corvette with the greatest comeback.
After Keilwitz flipped in the starting phase of a competitor
was dropped to the FIA ​​GT3 European Championship back to the end of the field.
Together with his Italian team-mate struggled Keilwitz
forward again, finishing the race in sixth place in front of the rhino's
Leipert Lamborghini Gallardo by Mika Vähämäki (21, FIN) / David
Mengesdorf (20, Wolnzach) and the PRIMA team HEICO Mercedes-JOB
SLS Benz AMG with Lance David Arnold (25, Duisburg) and Andreas Zuber
(27, UAE).
Marc A. Hayek has secured victory in the Lamborghini with the amateur title
According to rank with a win in the amateur standings, Marc A. secured
Hayek (40, CH), the title in the amateurs. Together with team mate
Peter Kox (47, NL) in the amateur standings Hayek went to a
unchallenged start-finish victory. Wolfgang took second place Hageleit (38,
Under Roth) in a Porsche 911 from a CO2-neutral workx FROGREEN, when the
Finals for the first time on the podium in the amateur standings of the FIA ​​GT
Masters got up and just before the end of the race Corvette driver Hannawald
(36, Munich) relegated to third place. "I was the very start
nervous, I'm in the race but did not take any risk and I was very clear
focused on ensuring the title, "said Hayek, who only three
Years in the race car sits. The runner-up in the amateur standings went
Porsche 911 Pilot Swen Dolenc (44, Maulbronn) from the team PROFESSIONAL AUTO
Tech, who finished fourth in the finale. Oliver Mayer (53, Ingolstadt) was
after a drive-through penalty at the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Falcon
Ninth in the amateur standings and finished the season so as
Table of third parties. ADAC GT Masters Presse.
For more information visit www.adac gt masters.de

American Le Mans Series, round 9 / Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, round 6 in Road Atlanta, USA Porsche secures vice-championship with second place

American Le Mans Series, round 9 / Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, round 6 in Road Atlanta, USA

Porsche secures vice-championship with second place

Stuttgart. A strong season finale for Porsche in the American Le Mans Series: At the thrilling 1,000 mile Petit Le Mans race in Road Atlanta, Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Patrick Long (USA) and Patrick Pilet (France) snatched second place in a heart-stopping final. At the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports, the trio were a mere six seconds shy of a GT class victory after more than nine and a half hours packed with tough fights for positions and many changes at the lead. Their second position secured the vice-championship for Porsche in the race series featuring the world’s fastest sports cars.

On the time-honoured circuit in the US state of Georgia, Joerg Bergmeister again showed nerves of steel, waiting until the penultimate lap before making his decisive move on the BMW in front of him. “In my last stint I speculated that I would be able to snatch the BMW,” said the five-time Road Atlanta winner. “I used the traffic after the safety car phase, took a risk and overtook him on the outside through Turn six. I’m pleased that I secured the decisive points to win the tyre manufacturers’ classification for Michelin.”

His teammates Patrick Long and Patrick Pilet had laid the foundation for this success with their faultless performances. “It was a fantastic experience to contest the Petit Le Mans for Flying Lizard Motorsports,” said Patrick Pilet. “Over the course of the race the balance of our car became better and better and towards the end it was virtually perfect. I’m totally happy.” Patrick Long added: “We stuck to our plan and kept out of any trouble so that we could attack in the last ten laps. This plan worked.”

Another decisive factor in this good result aside from the strong performance of the drivers was the perfect work of the pit crew. “The entire Flying Lizard squad did a tremendous job. Every single pit stop was incredible,” commented Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “Through their excellent effort, the team compensated very well for the handicap from the Balance of Performance measures that were again in place here. In a sensational push at the end, Joerg Bergmeister secured second place and this gave our partner Michelin the tyre manufacturers’ title. Well done to all those who contributed to this success.”

Rounding off the excellent team result for Porsche at the 1,000 mile classic was Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) and his teammates Bryan Sellers (USA) and Martin Ragginger (Austria). Driving the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Falken Tire, they brought home fifth place. “I’m very pleased with this,” said Wolf Henzler, winner of the races in Mid-Ohio and Baltimore together with Bryan Sellers. “We drove a controlled race and didn’t take any unnecessary risks. I can look back on a good season with two victories to our credit. That was more than we had expected.” His factory pilot colleague Marco Holzer (Germany) and his American teammates Seth Neiman und Darren Law saw the flag in eighth place in the second Flying-Lizard Porsche.

Victory in the GTC class went to Porsche Supercup pilots Jeroen and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen (Netherlands) together with American Tim Pappas, who won the title. Petit Le Mans, which counts as a round of the GTE Am class of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, brought no luck for Porsche works driver Richard Lietz (Austria): With the Proton Competition-run Porsche 911 GT3 RSR he lay in the lead, but had to retire after 163 laps with a damaged drive system.


Statistics: 9th and final race in Road Atlanta, Georgia

Result GT class
1. Fisichella/Bruni/Kaffer (I/I/D), Ferrari F458 Italia, 367 laps
2. Bergmeister/Long/Pilet (D/USA/F), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 367
3. Werner/Auberlen/Farfus (D/USA/BRA), BMW M3 GT, 367
4. Magnussen/Gavin/Westbrook (DK/GB/GB), Chevrolet Corvette, 366
5. Henzler/Sellers/Ragginger (D/USA/A), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 365
6. Sharp/van Overbeek/Farnbacher (USA/USA/D), Ferrari F458 Italia, 365
8. Holzer/Neiman/Law (D/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 361
11. Maassen/Miller/Collard (D/USA/F), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 357

Result GTC class
1. J./S. Bleekemolen/Pappas (NL/NL/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 346 laps
2. Sweedler/Keen/Wong (USA/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 346
3. Pumpelly/Ende/Ludwig (USA/USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 345

Final standings GT class
Drivers
1. Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, BMW, 161 points
2. Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Chevrolet, 135
3. Dirk Werner, Bill Auberlen, BMW, 129
4. Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Porsche, 102
5. Wolf Henzler, Bryan Sellers, Porsche, 97
6. Jaime Melo, Toni Vilander, Ferrari, 83

Manufacturers
1. BMW, 180 points
2. Porsche, 162
3. Chevrolet, 139
4. Ferrari, 127

Teams
1. BMW Team RLL, BMW, 180 points
2. Corvette Racing, Chevrolet, 139
3. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche, 115
4. Team Falken Tire, Porsche, 97



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.

As part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the GTE Am class is also contested in Road Atlanta. The difference to the GT class: Vehicles in the 2010 technical specification may be entered and the rules stipulate that only one professional race driver per vehicle is permitted.

All classes 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.


Public Relations and Media
Motorsportpress
Oliver Hilger

Margaritis / Lunardi make a masterpiece in the ADAC GT Masters

Margaritis / Lunardi make a masterpiece in the ADAC GT Masters

Ski Jumping Legend Hannawald in the race on Saturday's best amateur pilot
Amateur team championship and remain open until the last race
This was a true tour de force: Alexandros Margaritis (27, Cologne) and Dino
Lunardi (32 F) have been early in the championship in Hockenheim ADAC
GT Masters secured and sparked last year's title winner Albert of
Thurn und Taxis (27, Regensburg) and Peter Kox (47, NL) from.With perfect weather
drove the new BMW ALPINA B6 champions in the LIQUI MOLY Team
Engstler with a clear flag to flag win the title. The closest pursuer
The two new title holders, Ferdinand (20, A) and Johannes Stuck (24, A)
Reiter Lamborghini Gallardo occupied in second place, René Rast (24, Frankfurt)
and Stefan Landmann (25, A) secured in a thrilling final phase
Third place in the Audi R8 by Phoenix Racing Pole Promotion.
Keyfacts, Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg
Circuit length: 4,574 meters
Weather: sunny, 21 degrees
Pole Position: Dino Lunardi (LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler BMW ALPINA B6),
1.40,111 min
Race 1 Winner: Alexandros Margaritis / Dino Lunardi (LIQUI MOLY Team
Engstler BMW ALPINA B6)
Fastest lap: Dino Lunardi, 1.41,412 min
Start-finish victory for Margaritis / Lunardi from pole position
Dino Lunardi presented with a perfect start from pole position for the
Foundation for victory. The Frenchman turned in front of the Porsche 911-a-workx of
Sebastian Asch (25, Ammerbuch) into turn one, while Ferdinand
Stuck unlucky. The youngest son of Hans-Joachim "Christmas cake" Stuck had
Select the first corner and the winger went just wide in sixth
back from the opening lap. At the top of the Asch kept fighting for the lead
exciting because Lunardi could not be decisive of his pursuers
. sell Only shortly before the driver change to team-mate Alexandros
Margaritis were 3.1 seconds between the two leaders. But then
Asch had bad luck and retired after a collision with the Lamborghini of ex-
Master Peter Kox (47, NL). From there could Lunardi / Margaritis without pushing
to win and go to the title, the stucco-brothers saw the checkered flag
Finally, 11.5 seconds behind the BMW ALPINA bright green in second place.
"A perfect race," beamed Lunardi. "The tracks in this way to
win is just fantastic. I'm so relieved, because we wanted
necessarily prevent the title decision will be postponed so that the pressure
to us is not even bigger. "Alexandros Margaritis drove the BMW
ALPINA cross the finish line, while experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. "In
the last three rounds, it was an enjoyment, one hope and one fear,
that still happens. Opposite end of the race had all the drivers on the
Distance tire and brake problems, and I've never felt so right in the
Car obeys. Now celebrate! "
Podium finishes in the hotly contested final phase
Behind the Siegerduo were the other two podium finishes short
before the end of a hard-fought race. After the failure of the a-workx-Porsche
Asch / Ammermüller took Diego Alessi (39, I) and Daniel Keilwitz (22,
Villingen) in a Callaway Corvette, the role of pursuer. But after a
Tire failure three laps from the end of the race Keilwitz fell to No. 18
back. Also ADAC GT Masters debutant ADAC and Stiftung sports funding pilot
Mario Farnbacher (19, Ansbach) had together with Niclas Kentenich (23,
Neuss) in Italia Ferrari 458 Farnbacher Racing ESET unlucky.Farnbacher
impressed in the first half of the race with a strong third place, but after
a drive through penalty met the ADAC Formula Masters Movers
Kentenich with sixth place finish.
The stucco-brothers fought their way back up to the end of the race in second place
forward. "Against the BMW ALPINA we could do nothing today," said
Johannes Stuck. With a strong drive together with René Rast conquered
Stefan fellow Poles in the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 promotional recent
Podium. Last year's champion Albert von Thurn und Taxis (27,
Regensburg) finished with Philip Geipel (24, Plauen) in Reiter Lamborghini
Gallardo fourth place in front of Lance David Arnold (25, Duisburg) / Andreas Zuber (27,
UAE) in the best-ranked Mercedes Benz AMG SLS team of PRIMA JOB
HEICO.
ABT Audi drivers of bad luck.
The ABT-Audi R8-pilot Christopher Mies (22, Holy House) and Luca Ludwig
(22, Bonn), both of which started with title hopes in the race, had
however, bad luck. Mies had his title dreams buried early
as team-mate Christer Jöns (24, Ingelheim) was eliminated with a drive defect.
Ludwig's team-mate Jens Klingmann (21, glues) contributed three rounds
the end of the box with a racing tire damage.
Heart-stopping finale in the amateur standings
It was a photo finish to win in the amateur rankings. At the start and
Home straight on the last lap took Heinz-Harald Frentzen (44, Neuss) in
Callaway Corvette on a PROFESSIONAL AUTO TECH-911 by Daniel
Dobitsch (27, A) / Swen Dolenc (44, Maulbronn) over and secured to
his teammate Sven Hannawald (36, Munich) with only 0.066
Second lead before winning the amateur Dolenc. Corvette-pilot Toni Seiler
(53, CH) jumped as the third on the podium before the league leaders
the amateur championship, Marc A. Hayek (40, CH), was the fourth. With second place
Dolenc holds the title fight in the amateur standings open and shortened his
Hayek behind before the decisive race at 15 points. Bad luck
had Black Falcon-Mercedes driver Oliver Mayer (53, Ingolstadt), in the
first half of the race now retired and is third table.
Team standings remain exciting and amateur
Even the last race of the ADAC GT Masters promises on Sunday
plenty of power. In addition to the amateur ranking is also the title fight in the
Team standings still open. Reiter Engineering is almost four points ahead of the
LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler. In the last race of the season to start the new
Champions Margaritis / Lunardi before the stucco-brothers from the front row,
the second row divided by the Lamborghini Kox / Hayek and the Ferrari
Farnbacher / Kentenich.
ADAC GT Masters live on TV
The finale of the ADAC GT Masters 2011 at the Hockenheimring Baden-
Württemberg is the free to air TV channel on Saturday and kabel eins
Sunday at 11.45 clock live in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
transferred. The sports channel SPORT1 sends highlights of the ADAC GT Masters
the Hockenheimring in the ADAC Masters Weekend magazine on 8 October at
13.30 clock.ADAC GT Masters
For more information visit www.adac gt masters.de

Petit Le Mans: PEUGEOT TAKES 4TH POLE OF THE SEASON

PEUGEOT TAKES 4TH POLE OF THE SEASON

Sunny conditions prevailed for what proved to be an exciting qualifying session. Back to full fitness after recovering from his bike accident, Anthony Davidson secured his second pole position of the season and the Peugeot 908’s fourth this year. Stéphane Sarrazin qualified in third position. With an extra point awarded for pole position, Peugeot now only needs eleven points to wrap up a second consecutive Manufacturers’ title. However, the narrow gaps between the leading cars point to a very close and hard-fought race.

A tight match

Pole position for Anthony Davidson

Anthony Davidson, Peugeot 908 no.7: “I am very pleased to take this pole position; it’s the best way to start the race. It’s going to be very close. History has so far repeated itself compared with last year, except that in 2010 my car finished second, so I hope we are going to gain a place this year! After injuring my shoulder in a bike accident, it’s a good comeback. The last seven weeks have been difficult. I had to pull out of my home race, so it’s really pleasing to set the best lap today. This is the first time that the three of us have raced together, Sébastien Bourdais, Simon Pagenaud and myself. We’ve got off to a good start. We work well together and the team has once again done a super job all week. The race will be very closely contested. We saw in the free practice sessions just how much attention we’ll have to pay to the traffic. The slightest error can be very costly here, so we’ll need to be really focussed from the start to the end.”

Stéphane Sarrazin, Peugeot 908 no.8: “The session didn’t go exactly as we had hoped, in spite of the fact our car was running very well. I was impeded by another prototype on my best lap. That cost me time, meaning that I ended up third. I am disappointed because with the performance level of our car, we deserved better. I’ve missed out on pole quite a few times now. Nonetheless, the race looks good, because with Franck Montagny and Alex Wurz we have defined a set-up that suits us all and which seems to be effective. Obviously, there is going to be a lot of traffic during the race, and that will be key. Every car will be difficult to overtake; we'll need to avoid making any errors if we’re to get a good result.”

Positions after qualifying of Road-Atlanta Petit Le Mans 2011 :

1. Peugeot 908 #7 - Anthony Davidson - 1’07’’428

2. Audi R18 #1 - Timo Bernhard - 1’07’’558

3. Peugeot 908 #8 - Stéphane Sarrazin - 1’07’’881

4. Audi R18 #2 - Dindo Capello - 1’08’’013

5. Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP #10 - Nicolas Lapierre - 1’09’’777

Practical information: Sébastien Bourdais, Anthony Davidson and Simon Pagenaud will be driving the Peugeot 908 no.7 with blue rear-view mirrors. Franck Montagny, Stéphane Sarrazin and Alexander Wurz will share driving duties in the Peugeot 908 no.8, recognisable by its white rear-view mirrors.

Sébastien Bourdais and Franck Montagny will line up for the start on Saturday at 11.30am (local time)

Follow live coverage of the 1,000 miles or 10 hours of Road Atlanta Petit Le Mans (GMT-5) Live text : www.peugeot-sport.com Live timing and race: www.americanlemans.com Live race: www.lemans.org Live radio : www.radiolemans.com

Television: Eurosport International: 5.30pm-6.30pm/12.00am-3.30am (CET) Eurosport France: 5.15pm-6.30pm/12.00am-3.30am (CET) Speed Channel ESPN3

www.twitter.com/peugeotsport www.facebook.com/peugeot.sport www.peugeot-media.com www.lemans.org

Timing: GMT-5

Saturday, 1 October 2011 9.15am – 9.40am (CET: 3.15pm – 3.40pm): Warm up 11.30am (CET: 5.30pm): Start of the 14th edition of the Petit Le Mans race. 1,000 miles or 10 hours

A must-see race! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlefnx_ilmc-petit-le-mans-2011-teaser_auto

Peugeot Sport/ Para Prensa Autorizada y Acreditada.

Petit Le Mans: Audi tackles “Petit Le Mans” from the front row of the grid

Audi tackles “Petit Le Mans” from the front

row of the grid

􀀁 Timo Bernhard misses pole position by just 128 thousandths

􀀁 Dindo Capello takes position four for Audi

􀀁 Record field and record turnout at Road Atlanta

Ingolstadt/Road Atlanta, September 30, 2011 – Audi Sport Team Joest will tackle

the 1000-mile “Petit Le Mans” race at Road Atlanta (U.S. state of Georgia) from

the front row of the grid. Timo Bernhard was merely 128 thousandths of a second

short of clinching the pole position. This means that the Audi R18 TDI will be on

the front row again at its fifth race.

Qualifying on the 4.088-kilometer track at Road Atlanta was a mirror image of the

previous practice sessions: The world’s fastest diesel race sports cars from Audi and

Peugeot had constantly been taking turns at the front of the record field of

entrants. Three fastest times went to Audi and two to Peugeot.

The chase for times was similarly thrilling on Friday afternoon. First, the Peugeot

drivers posted the so far fastest laps of the whole week. Then Audi countered: Timo

Bernhard in the Audi R18 TDI designated as car number “1” managed to get

between the two factory Peugeot cars and secured position two on the grid for Audi.

Dindo Capello in the “sister car” – number “2” – was on a fast lap as well when he

caught a slower prototype, losing crucial time in the process. The Italian finished

the qualifying session on position four.

In Sunday’s race doing a good job of getting through the extremely heavy traffic on

the track will be more crucial than pure speed. 57 vehicles will be on the track at

Road Atlanta. Consequently, the fast LMP1 sports cars have to constantly overtake

and drive alongside the racing line. Therefore, Audi Sport Team Joest fully

concentrated on working out an optimum race set-up during the practice sessions.

For race day the organizers at Road Atlanta are expecting a record turnout. After an

extremely hot week in Georgia the weather forecast has predicted slightly cooler

temperatures. The race will start 11:30 local time (17:30 CEST) and covers a

distance of 1000 miles or a maximum of ten hours.

In the #1 Audi R18 TDI Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Marcel Fässler are

taking turns at the wheel, car #2 is driven by Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and

Allan McNish. With nine successes, Audi is the record winner of the “Petit Le Mans”

race. Marcel Fässler and Tom Kristensen are scheduled to drive the starting stints.

Quotes after qualifying

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “In the past few days the gaps

between us and our main rival, Peugeot, became smaller and smaller. In qualifying

the difference was merely a tenth of a second. We’ve put one of our cars on the

front row. There was just a tiny bit missing, but we all know that that’s not crucial

for the outcome of the race here. But it’s good to see that we’re on an equal footing

in terms of performance capability. That’s a good base for the race.”

Timo Bernhard (Audi R18 TDI #1): “I’m really pleased. Two weeks ago, at

Silverstone, I also drove the qualifying session but we were a bit unfortunate with

the weather conditions. That’s why I wanted to drive in qualifying again – either here

at Road Atlanta or at the ILMC finale at Zhuhai. I managed a good lap; it was at the

limit from the beginning to the end. I’m happy that Marcel (Fässer) will be starting

from the front row in our car tomorrow – and very much look forward to the 1000

miles.”

Romain Dumas (Audi R18 TDI #1): “It was a very close qualifying session. Even in

the previous sessions the top cars were constantly taking turns at the top and were

always within fractions of a second. Qualifying has shown that things are continuing

this way. The race will be equally crazy. It’ll be about getting through without

making mistakes. Qualifying isn’t crucial but it has shown that we’ve got a car with a

good set-up.”

Marcel Fässler (Audi R18 TDI #1): “For the moment we’re very happy because we’ve

continuously made progress from one session to the next. We’ve found a good setup

that all three of us can handle well. So it seems like we’ve taken the right

approach, as Timo (Bernhard) did a fantastic job of driving in qualifying and posted a

really good time. It shows that our car is competitive.”

Dindo Capello (Audi R18 TDI #2): “All in all, qualifying went well. I was happy with

the car. Unfortunately, I had some traffic on the first few laps. I then deliberately

dropped back a bit in order to have a gap in front of me. Afterward I must have

wanted too much and overdrove the car a bit. That cost a few tenths of seconds.

Still, we’re pleased. It’s important to be fast in the race, and particularly in traffic.

That’s what we’ve been working on over the past two days.”

Tom Kristensen (Audi R18 TDI #2): “Petit Le Mans 2011 promises to become an

incredibly captivating race. We’re in for a lot of heavy traffic. It’ll be a truly thrilling

battle on this challenging track. If you apply the number of cars here to the length

of the Le Mans track, then that equates to a field of 270 cars. That shows what we

can expect in the race. Tomorrow will be a strenuous day. In addition, the track

conditions will slightly change because the outside temperatures will drop from

almost 30 to about 20 degrees centigrade, according to the forecast.”

Allan McNish (Audi R18 TDI #2): “With almost 60 cars on the track, Petit Le Mans

is real stress. In the practice sessions we fully concentrated on developing the

optimum set-up for the race. Tom (Kristensen) was very happy with the car in the

night practice session. He’ll drive the start tomorrow, which is in an important

factor. Dindo (Capello) was also fast all the time. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve felt

very comfortable with the car’s set-up right from the beginning. Balance is good.

That’s important for the race.”

Ralf Jüttner (Technischer Direktor Audi Sport Team Joest): “We knew that the

situation would be difficult for us in qualifying. Things have been tight all weekend.

However, due to the heavy traffic it was hard to really judge the performance

capabilities without. We’re pleased with the result because the time posted by Timo

(Bernhard) is very good. It’s even faster than we’d expected. Dindo (Capello) did a

lap that would have been good enough for third place. Unfortunately, he had some

traffic in turn five. It’s more important though that we’ve been doing a good job

with the cars up to this point and that they’re doing well in traffic. The squad has

been working hard over the past few nights and that has paid off. We’re in a good

position. It’ll probably be a thrilling race.”

Qualifying results

1 Bourdais/Pagenaud/Davidson (Peugeot) 1m 07.428s

2 Bernhard/Dumas/Fässler (Audi R18 TD) 1m 07.556s

3 Montagny/Sarrazin/Wurz (Peugeot) 1m 07.881s

4 Capello/Kristensen/McNish (Audi R18 TDI) 1m 08.013s

5 Lapierre/Minassian/Gené (Peugeot) 1m 09.777s

6 Prost/Jani/Belicchi (Lola-Toyota) 1m 10.123s

7 Pla/Prémat/Yvon (Oak-Pescarolo) 1m 10.355s

8 Fernandez/Primat/Mücke (Lola-Aston Martin) 1m 10.485s

9 Al Masaood/Kane/Leitzinger (Lola-Mazda) 1m 10.811s

10 Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues (Oak-Pescarolo) 1m 10.864s

Audi Sport/Acreditated and Autorized Media Press.

American Le Mans Series, round 9 / Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, round 6 in Road Atlanta, USA Fifth grid spot for fastest Porsche

American Le Mans Series, round 9 / Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, round 6 in Road Atlanta, USA

Fifth grid spot for fastest Porsche

Stuttgart. With his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Joerg Bergmeister takes up the 1,000 mile race in Road Atlanta on Saturday from position five on the grid. In qualifying for Petit Le Mans, the final round of the American Le Mans Series, the Porsche works driver from Germany was only eight-tenths of a second shy of the top GT-class time on the storied circuit in the US state of Georgia. In the race, the five-time Road Atlanta winner shares driving duties in the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche with his factory pilot colleagues Patrick Long (USA) and Patrick Pilet (France).

“We are actually in a better position ahead of the Corvettes than we expected,” said Joerg Bergmeister, who is the reigning GT champion of the American Le Mans Series with Patrick Long. “That was the fastest lap that we’ve ever driven in Road Atlanta. I’m not surprised that the BMWs are faster than us here because at this race, which also counts towards the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the Balance of Performance rules from Europe apply and this means an even greater power handicap for us. But I hope that we’re more up with the play during the race than we were in qualifying. Then anything is possible.”

Bryan Sellers (USA) posted the twelfth quickest time at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by the Falken Tire squad, which he shares with Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany), the winner of Mid-Ohio and Baltimore. For the race they receive support from Martin Ragginger (Austria). American Darren Law, teammate of Porsche factory pilot Marco Holzer (Germany) and Seth Neiman (USA) in the second Flying-Lizard Porsche, secured the 14th grid spot.

In the GTE Am class of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, Porsche works pilot Richard Lietz clinched the third quickest time with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Proton Competition. “That was a decent lap. Aside from a little understeer it was actually perfect,” said the Austrian who joins forces with Christian Ried (Germany) and Mark Bullitt (USA). “This track reminds me more of the Petit Nordschleife than the Petit Le Mans. It’s my first time here but my teammates and I have almost ten hours to familiarise ourselves with the circuit.”

The 1,000 mile race starts on Saturday at 11.30 hrs local time (17.30 hrs CEST) and is broadcast live in the internet on www.americanlemans.com.


Qualifying result

GT class
1. Gianmaria Bruni (I), Ferrari F458 Italia, 1:18.669 minutes
2. Dirk Werner (D), BMW M3 GT, + 0.087 seconds
3. Jörg Müller (D), BMW M3 GT, + 0.520
4. Jaime Melo (BRA), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.548
5. Jörg Bergmeister (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.812
6. Johannes van Overbeek (USA), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.820
12. Bryan Sellers (USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 2.078
14. Darren Law (USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 2.391
16. Sascha Maassen (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 2.878

GTE Am class
1. Rui Aguas (P), Ferrari F430, 1:20.619 minutes
2. Niclas Jönsson (S), Ferrari F430, + 0.261 seconds
3. Richard Lietz (A), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.278

GTC class
1. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 1:24.543 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.

As part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the GTE Am class is also contested in Road Atlanta. The difference to the GT class: Vehicles in the 2010 technical specification may be entered and the rules stipulate that only one professional race driver per vehicle is permitted.

All classes 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