Breaking News... Porsche Wins at Mid Ohio in ALMS
There is a reason why Roger Penske is as successful as he is - he knows how to win. The 'Captain's' Porsche RS Spyders
made history at the American Le Mans Series race at Mid Ohio on the weekend by finishing one-two overall and taking the LMP2 class win. The winning Porsche, driven by Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard became the first LMP2 class car to win overall in the ALMS series, finishing just 0.424 of a second ahead of the second car in the hands of Lucas Luhr.
"As we came in to this weekend, we were most concerned about reliability from the last two weekends," team owner Roger Penske said. "I think this broke the ice, running against the Audis and the Dysons. You'll notice we've been real lucky with the four drivers we have; not one of them have made a mistake. Now we can say we've arrived and let's go racing."
The Audi still captured the LMP 1 class win, and keeps its streak of a perfect season alive. Dindo Capello and Allan McNish again drove a smooth
and steady afternoon as they outlasted Dyson Racing's No 16 Lola, which went off track at Turn 3 near the two-hour mark and lost time in the pits during the resulting stop. For the R8, it has one more race before 'retirement', as Audi will use the diesel powered R10 at Le Mans in June.
Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin won for the eighth straight time in the Series, back to Portland last year. Beretta and Gavin finished ahead of their Michelin shod Corvette Racing teammates Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell.
While Michelin may have won the war, Pirelli won the battle as the Pirelli shod Aston Martin DBR9 of Darren Turner took the pole for the class. The Corvettes and Aston Martins will meet next at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In GT2, Flying Lizard Motorsports won in class for the second time in three years at Mid-Ohio in its Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with Johannes van Overbeek and Wolf Henzler.
Bourdais in Mexico
For Sebastien Bourdais, life is good overall. Bourdais is three for three in the Champcar season so far, taking wins at Long Beach, Houston, and now Mexico this weekend, site of the Tecate
Grand Prix of Monterrey. But upon closer observation, all may not be as rosy as seems on the surface, being that the wins for Bourdais have been getting harder and harder. After a 14 second win at Long Beach, Bourdais had to find some luck to win at Houston, and in Monterrey, Bourdais won by a scant 3.066 of a second, and the next race at Milwaukee has never been that good for Bourdais.
"Well, that was a heck of a day, that's for sure," said Bourdais. "I think you had a great showing from the three top cars of the beginning of the season. I think we really gave each other a run for our money. Nobody kind of, you know, laid back or anything. It was running flat out the whole time."
For Canadian fans, Paul Tracy came home a fairly quiet fourth, with fellow Canadian Alex Tagliani fifth. Probably the most impressive Canadian this year is Andrew Ranger, who is racing for his 'racing life'. Ranger announced at Long Beach he only had money for the opener and three Canadian races, but he keeps recording good finishes - he was seventh at Monterrey - and that has kept him in his seat. If Ranger can hold onto the seat for this year, he should be able to come back next year and challenge for the championship.
.... and finally... a prediction. I can't help but notice all is quiet on the merger front between Champcar and the IRL. For my money, this means a lot of discussions are ongoing behind the scenes, and I have heard - more than once - that an announcement is coming... soon. If I were a betting man, I would put my money on some announcement this week as the eyes of the open wheeled racing world are focused on Indy. This would be the perfect time to announce the merger... you heard it here first.
Spengler Second in DTM
What can we say about Canadian Bruno Spengler? After a very successful open-wheeled
career in Formula Renault and F3, Spengler was tapped by Mercedes to drive for the German manufacturer in DTM in 2005. Spengler produced in an older car, and this year he has a machine capable of challenging for wins... and he's getting closer. Spengler recorded his first ever podium in DTM last weekend at Oschersleben, finishing second.
"I made a very good start, but it was not enough to catch Tom Kristensen. At Oschersleben it is particularly important not to make any mistakes and today I didn't. I'm very happy about my first DTM podium."
A win for Spengler is not too far away.
There is a reason why Roger Penske is as successful as he is - he knows how to win. The 'Captain's' Porsche RS Spyders
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| Porsche takes one-two overall and LMP2 class win at ALMS Mid-Ohio race. (Photo: Porsche Cars North America) |
"As we came in to this weekend, we were most concerned about reliability from the last two weekends," team owner Roger Penske said. "I think this broke the ice, running against the Audis and the Dysons. You'll notice we've been real lucky with the four drivers we have; not one of them have made a mistake. Now we can say we've arrived and let's go racing."
The Audi still captured the LMP 1 class win, and keeps its streak of a perfect season alive. Dindo Capello and Allan McNish again drove a smooth
 |
| Audi's legendary R8 won its class, extending its perfect record this season. (Photo: Audi Canada) |
Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin won for the eighth straight time in the Series, back to Portland last year. Beretta and Gavin finished ahead of their Michelin shod Corvette Racing teammates Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell.
While Michelin may have won the war, Pirelli won the battle as the Pirelli shod Aston Martin DBR9 of Darren Turner took the pole for the class. The Corvettes and Aston Martins will meet next at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In GT2, Flying Lizard Motorsports won in class for the second time in three years at Mid-Ohio in its Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with Johannes van Overbeek and Wolf Henzler.
Bourdais in Mexico
For Sebastien Bourdais, life is good overall. Bourdais is three for three in the Champcar season so far, taking wins at Long Beach, Houston, and now Mexico this weekend, site of the Tecate
 |
| Sebastien Bourdais is definitely the class of the Champcar field. (Photo: |
"Well, that was a heck of a day, that's for sure," said Bourdais. "I think you had a great showing from the three top cars of the beginning of the season. I think we really gave each other a run for our money. Nobody kind of, you know, laid back or anything. It was running flat out the whole time."
For Canadian fans, Paul Tracy came home a fairly quiet fourth, with fellow Canadian Alex Tagliani fifth. Probably the most impressive Canadian this year is Andrew Ranger, who is racing for his 'racing life'. Ranger announced at Long Beach he only had money for the opener and three Canadian races, but he keeps recording good finishes - he was seventh at Monterrey - and that has kept him in his seat. If Ranger can hold onto the seat for this year, he should be able to come back next year and challenge for the championship.
.... and finally... a prediction. I can't help but notice all is quiet on the merger front between Champcar and the IRL. For my money, this means a lot of discussions are ongoing behind the scenes, and I have heard - more than once - that an announcement is coming... soon. If I were a betting man, I would put my money on some announcement this week as the eyes of the open wheeled racing world are focused on Indy. This would be the perfect time to announce the merger... you heard it here first.
Spengler Second in DTM
What can we say about Canadian Bruno Spengler? After a very successful open-wheeled
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| It doesn't get much more competitive than Germany's DTM series, and Canadian Bruno Spengler is looking very racy. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz Canada) |
"I made a very good start, but it was not enough to catch Tom Kristensen. At Oschersleben it is particularly important not to make any mistakes and today I didn't. I'm very happy about my first DTM podium."
A win for Spengler is not too far away.
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