Peugeot stayed on top this weekend during Petit Le Mans' American Le Mans Series season finale, by once again beating Audi at Road Atlanta.
The expected battle between the two LMP1 protagonists lived up to its expectations. Early in the race, the second-place starting Audi R18 of Fässler-Dumas-Bernhard made a move on the pole sitting Peugeot of Bourdais-Davidson Pagenaud.
The same No. 7 Peugeot retired later in the race, as did the No. 2 Audi of Kristensen-McNish-Capello, with mechanical problems. This left Montagny, Sarrazin and Wurz in the second Peugeot to duke it out with the No. 1 Audi.
Heavy traffic made the race very for the two contenders. As Montagny (Peugeot) was going around a slower GT Challenge Porsche, Dumas (Audi) put a move on him. They touched and Dumas' R18 ended up on the grass. Montagny, Sarrazin and Wurz took the win.
"We'd like to battle on the track. But we had a great race and had a good car", said a sorry Montagny.
The LMP2 race was won once again by Level 5 Motorsports. Christophe Bouchut, Joao Barbosa and Scott Tucker dominated the race in the No. 33 HPD ARX-01g after the Oreca 03-Nissan of Signatech Nissan pulled into the pits for repairs.
The win in LMP Challenge went to Lewis-Dobson-Richard in the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car.
The Intersport Racing trio of Marcelli-Drissi-Ducote came from the back of the grid following their Friday practice crash to take second place in the category and ninth overall. Kyle Marcelli's cumulated 6-hour drive was a feat in itself.
AF Corse won the battle in GT. The win ahead of Flying Lizard's Porsche team and BMW Motorsports squad was doubly important for the Ferrari team, as they are contenders in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup as well (ILMC). After Petit Le Mans, they still have to travel once more, to Zhuhaï for the ILMC's final round.
The BMW's of Werner-Farfus-Auberlen and Müller-Hand-Priaulx were in contention for the win, but each car suffered a puncture, which delayed them and eventually handed the lead, and the win, over to the pole sitting AF Corse No. 51 Ferrari F458 Italia of Fishichella-Bruni-Kaffer.
"I have to say, Ferrari did a great job developing the 458," Kaffer said. "It's a different world comparing to the 430. It was the first race I've done in the 458 to support these guys. I really like the car. It did a fantastic job."
The No. 4 Corvette of Gavin-Magnussen-Westbrook won the Michelin Green X Challenge for GT cars, thanks to their fourth place on track. Every GT car participating in the challenge must use ethanol-based E85 fuel, for better and greener energy consumption.
Tim Pappas and Black Swan Racing won the championship for the second year in a row in GTC, after they took the race win with Jeroen and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen in their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
Race results – Petit Le Mans (ALMS)
1. (3) Franck Montagny, Grandvaux, France; Stéphane Sarrazin, Ales, France; Alexander Wurz, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Peugeot 908 (1, LMP1), 394.
2. (5) Nicolas Lapierre, France; Nic Minassian, London, England; Marc Gene, Barcelona, Spain; Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP (2, LMP1), 389.
3. (8) Adrian Fernandez, Paradise Valley, AZ; Harold Primat, Switzerland; Stefan Mucke, Germany; AMR/Lola Coupe B09 60 Aston (3, LMP1), 388.
4. (7) Alexandre Premat, Juvisy-sur-Orge, France; Jean-Francois Yvon, Le Mans, France; Olivier Pla, France; Oak Pescarolo Judd (4, LMP1), 384.
5. (6) Andrea Belicchi, Parma, Italy; Nicolas Prost; Neel Jani; Lola B10/60 Coupe (5, LMP1), 381.
6. (15) Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Christophe Bouchut, Paris, France; Joao Barbosa, Portugal; HPD ARX-01g (6, LMP2), 375.
7. (10) Guillaume Moreau; Pierre Ragues; Mattieu Lahaye; Oak Pescarolo Judd (7, LMP1), 370.
8. (19) Ryan Lewis, Indianapolis, IN; Ken Dobson, Carmel Valley, CA; Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 368.
9. (17) Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, CA; Chapman Ducote, Miami Beach, FL; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 368.
10. (24) Giancarlo Fisichella , Rome, Itlay; Gianmaria Bruni, Rome, Italy; Pierre Kaffer, Salenstein, Germany; Ferrari F458 (1, GT), 367.
The expected battle between the two LMP1 protagonists lived up to its expectations. Early in the race, the second-place starting Audi R18 of Fässler-Dumas-Bernhard made a move on the pole sitting Peugeot of Bourdais-Davidson Pagenaud.
 |
| Audi R18 (Photo: Audi Motorsport) |
The same No. 7 Peugeot retired later in the race, as did the No. 2 Audi of Kristensen-McNish-Capello, with mechanical problems. This left Montagny, Sarrazin and Wurz in the second Peugeot to duke it out with the No. 1 Audi.
Heavy traffic made the race very for the two contenders. As Montagny (Peugeot) was going around a slower GT Challenge Porsche, Dumas (Audi) put a move on him. They touched and Dumas' R18 ended up on the grass. Montagny, Sarrazin and Wurz took the win.
"We'd like to battle on the track. But we had a great race and had a good car", said a sorry Montagny.
The LMP2 race was won once again by Level 5 Motorsports. Christophe Bouchut, Joao Barbosa and Scott Tucker dominated the race in the No. 33 HPD ARX-01g after the Oreca 03-Nissan of Signatech Nissan pulled into the pits for repairs.
The win in LMP Challenge went to Lewis-Dobson-Richard in the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car.
The Intersport Racing trio of Marcelli-Drissi-Ducote came from the back of the grid following their Friday practice crash to take second place in the category and ninth overall. Kyle Marcelli's cumulated 6-hour drive was a feat in itself.
AF Corse won the battle in GT. The win ahead of Flying Lizard's Porsche team and BMW Motorsports squad was doubly important for the Ferrari team, as they are contenders in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup as well (ILMC). After Petit Le Mans, they still have to travel once more, to Zhuhaï for the ILMC's final round.
The BMW's of Werner-Farfus-Auberlen and Müller-Hand-Priaulx were in contention for the win, but each car suffered a puncture, which delayed them and eventually handed the lead, and the win, over to the pole sitting AF Corse No. 51 Ferrari F458 Italia of Fishichella-Bruni-Kaffer.
"I have to say, Ferrari did a great job developing the 458," Kaffer said. "It's a different world comparing to the 430. It was the first race I've done in the 458 to support these guys. I really like the car. It did a fantastic job."
The No. 4 Corvette of Gavin-Magnussen-Westbrook won the Michelin Green X Challenge for GT cars, thanks to their fourth place on track. Every GT car participating in the challenge must use ethanol-based E85 fuel, for better and greener energy consumption.
Tim Pappas and Black Swan Racing won the championship for the second year in a row in GTC, after they took the race win with Jeroen and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen in their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
Race results – Petit Le Mans (ALMS)
1. (3) Franck Montagny, Grandvaux, France; Stéphane Sarrazin, Ales, France; Alexander Wurz, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Peugeot 908 (1, LMP1), 394.
2. (5) Nicolas Lapierre, France; Nic Minassian, London, England; Marc Gene, Barcelona, Spain; Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP (2, LMP1), 389.
3. (8) Adrian Fernandez, Paradise Valley, AZ; Harold Primat, Switzerland; Stefan Mucke, Germany; AMR/Lola Coupe B09 60 Aston (3, LMP1), 388.
4. (7) Alexandre Premat, Juvisy-sur-Orge, France; Jean-Francois Yvon, Le Mans, France; Olivier Pla, France; Oak Pescarolo Judd (4, LMP1), 384.
5. (6) Andrea Belicchi, Parma, Italy; Nicolas Prost; Neel Jani; Lola B10/60 Coupe (5, LMP1), 381.
6. (15) Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Christophe Bouchut, Paris, France; Joao Barbosa, Portugal; HPD ARX-01g (6, LMP2), 375.
7. (10) Guillaume Moreau; Pierre Ragues; Mattieu Lahaye; Oak Pescarolo Judd (7, LMP1), 370.
8. (19) Ryan Lewis, Indianapolis, IN; Ken Dobson, Carmel Valley, CA; Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 368.
9. (17) Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, CA; Chapman Ducote, Miami Beach, FL; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 368.
10. (24) Giancarlo Fisichella , Rome, Itlay; Gianmaria Bruni, Rome, Italy; Pierre Kaffer, Salenstein, Germany; Ferrari F458 (1, GT), 367.