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100th Porsche victory crowns championship season

Stuttgart. Porsche celebrated the 100th win in the American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca: With the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) won the highly dramatic season final in California and secured the GT2 class championship. Porsche also claimed the manufacturers title, and team championship honours went to Flying Lizard Motorsports.

“That was a great conclusion to a fantastic season. I did everything for this win,” said Joerg Bergmeister, who is now the second most successful driver in the American Le Mans Series with four championship titles. Patrick Long was also delighted with his second title: “We were the most consistent and our team made the least mistakes. We experienced a couple of difficult races but remained cool. That was the key to our success.”

With the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR run by Flying Lizard Motorsports, they were the outstanding drivers of this season. The pair won five races in a row and, with this excellent performance, built up a comfortable points’ advantage over their strong rivals from Ferrari and BMW. With victory number six they have now secured the title. For Joerg Bergmeister, this is already his fourth championship title in the American Le Mans Series after 2005, 2006 and 2008, and the second for Patrick Long after 2005. Porsche holds nine GT titles in the race series featuring the world’s fastest sports cars.

In the early stages of the four hour race on the 3.601 kilometre circuit in the dunes of Monterey, the Porsche works pilots kept out of any trouble. Tenth place would have been enough to win the title – for this reason they were unwilling to take any unnecessary risks. When the leading Ferrari - the only competitor that was a threat to them - crashed out of the race in the 71st lap, they adjusted their race tactic to the new situation. Joerg Bergmeister commented: “From that moment on we went for victory.”

Putting in a spirited drive, they turned this plan into deeds. After the retirement of the Risi-Ferrari, the Corvette with Jan Magnussen in the cockpit became their greatest rival. And the final lap turned into the most dramatic and gripping. In the dusk, Joerg Bergmeister and his pursuer delivered a thrilling wheel-to-wheel duel. In an attempt to snatch the lead shortly before the flag, Jan Magnussen drove over the white line on the finish straight with all four wheels and almost put the leading Porsche into a spin in the final corner. Joerg Bergmeister said: “It took everything to stay on the track. I’m sorry that Magnussen ended up flying off the track.”

At the wheel of Farnbacher Loles Racing’s 911 GT3 RSR, Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) brought home third place with his compatriot Pierre Ehret after a breathtaking chase through the field. “That was the toughest race of my career,” he said. “To secure third in the championship I had to finish third in the race. Two laps before the flag I finally managed the decisive manouevre. That was a great conclusion to a season of mixed fortunes.”

There were smiles as well throughout the Cytosport team: Klaus Graf (Germany) and Greg Pickett (USA) continued the successful comeback of the Porsche RS Spyder in the American Le Mans Series with second position in the LMP2 class. “What a race. We made several mistakes but still managed to cross the finish line in second. That is thanks to the unbelievable reliability and stability of the RS Spyder,” said Klaus Graf. “We contested four races and climbed the podium four times – that’s not bad for a start.”

For Porsche’s head of motorsport, Hartmut Kristen, Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long’s victory “was the fitting end to an extremely exciting race and rounds off the success in this fiercely-contested series perfectly. The manufacturers’ title for Porsche, the team championship for Flying Lizard Motorsports and the drivers’ title for Joerg and Patrick – it doesn’t get better than that. This season has again underlined that the world’s best sports cars come from Stuttgart.” His satisfaction over the success, however, was not without some frustration. “What really annoyed me was that the second-placed Corvette made three serious fouls in this race, two of which went unpunished. The IMSA must do something about this urgently. Fairness must again stand in the foreground in the future.”

In addition to the three championship titles, Porsche also celebrated winning the “Michelin Green X Challenge” environmental classification. The #44 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Flying Lizard Motorsports won the competition, run for the first time this season, for the vehicle with the best overall efficiency in the ratio of lap times and fuel consumption. In the “Michelin Green X Challenge” Porsche secured individual wins in Long Beach, Salt Lake City, Lime Rock, Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca. At the last two races, the award-winning GT3 RSR trialed E85 fuel (85 percent bio-ethanol). “To win the environmental award alongside all titles in the GT2 class makes me very proud,” said Hartmut Kristen, head of motorsport at Porsche. “It is the right signal to give the efficiency of a vehicle great importance in motorsport.”

Husband and wife Martin and Melanie Snow (USA) won the title in the ALMS Challenge with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.


Statistics: 10th of 10 races of the American Le Mans Series in Laguna Seca, CA

Result GT2 class
1. Bergmeister/Long (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 155 laps
2. Magnussen/O’Connell (DK/USA), Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, 155
3. Henzler/Ehret (D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 154
4. Farnbacher/James (D/USA), Panoz Esperante, 154
5. Neiman/van Overbeek (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 153
6. Müller/Milner (D/USA), BMW E92 M3, 153

Points’ standings GT2 class
Drivers
1. Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Porsche, 181 points
2. Jamie Melo, Pierre Kaffer, Ferrari, 137
3. Wolf Henzler, Porsche, 102
4. Dirk Müller, Tommy Milner, BMW, 100
5. Dominik Farnbacher, Ian James, Panoz, 95
6. Jan Magnussen, Johnny O’Connell, Chevrolet, 86
7. Seth Neiman, Porsche, 76

Manufacturers
1. Porsche 188 points
2. Ferrari 137
3. BMW 118

Teams
1. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche, 181 points
2. Risi Competizione, Ferrari, 137
3. BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team, 118



Facts and Figures

This is the American Le Mans Series

The American Le Mans Series was created in 1999 for sports prototypes and GT vehicles. The regulations correspond to those of the Le Mans 24 hour race. Ten races in the USA and Canada make up this year’s calendar. Traditional highlights are the Sebring 12 hour race and the 1,000 mile Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Most races run over 2:45 hours.

The starter field is made up of two different race car categories: Sports prototypes and standard sports cars. These are divided into four classes:
LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 750 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms. Power to weight ratio: ca. 1.2 kg/hp.
LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with around 440 hp (normally aspirated engine) and an 825 kilogram minimum weight. Power to weight ratio: ca. 1.8 kg/hp.
GT1 class: Heavily modified standard sports cars with up to 650 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 to 1,325 kilograms.
GT2 class: Slightly modified standard sports cars with approx. 450 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 – 1,325 kilograms (e.g. Porsche 911 GT3 RSR).

All race cars start together but are classified separately. Points are awarded only for placings in each class. After 2006 and 2007, Porsche again won the championship titles in the LMP2 class last year for Drivers (Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas) as well as for Chassis and Engine Manufacturer and for Teams (Penske Racing) with the RS Spyder. In the GT2 class, Porsche secured the championship titles for Drivers (Joerg Bergmeister/Wolf Henzler) as well as for Manufacturers and Teams (Flying Lizard Motorsports) in 2008 with the 911 GT3 RSR.