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Strong Porsche contingent at Petit Le Mans

Stuttgart. On the time-honoured race track of Road Atlanta, where the success story of the American Le Mans Series began back in 1999, the 1,000 mile Petit Le Mans race takes off this coming Saturday. The penultimate round of the season on this extremely demanding circuit in the US state of Georgia is regarded, after the Sebring 12 hour event in Florida, as the second long-distance classic in this attractive race series featuring the world's fastest sports cars.

With the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports, Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) are determined to tackle this hurdle on the way to successfully defending the title. The Porsche factory pilots have celebrated five wins so far this season against strong competition from Ferrari, BMW and the Corvettes from Chevrolet, and have built up a comfortable points' advantage in the particularly fierce battle for GT2 class honours. At the Petit Le Mans event of the last years, Joerg Bergmeister has set new standards: With Porsche, the German claimed five straight wins from 2003 to 2007. Last year he saw the flag in second.

“This is a race that simply suits me,“ says the reigning ALMS champion. “I like the very beautiful but extremely difficult track, which demands everything from you. And because of the long distance and many pit stops, strategy and teamwork play a decisive role. All these factors make Petit Le Mans a unique challenge.“

Aside from the title favourites, who receive support from Porsche works driver Marc Lieb (Germany) for the second longest race of the year, Americans Darren Law, Seth Neiman and Johannes van Overbeek will compete in another 911 GT3 RSR from Flying Lizard Motorsports. The Farnbacher Loles Racing squad fields a 911 GT3 RSR with Wolf Henzler and Dirk Werner (both Germany). After their strong performance recently in Mosport, Porsche works driver Henzler is optimistic heading to Road Atlanta: “Petit Le Mans is a highlight of the year, a very thrilling race. It would be fantastic if we could continue to improve at this classic and perhaps even manage a win.“

Klaus Graf (Germany) and Greg Pickett (USA) contest the LMP2 class with the Porsche RS Spyder of the US customer team Cytosport. Against strong opposition from Acura and Lola-Mazda, they hope to continue the successful comeback of the sports prototype from Weissach. In the two races contested to date, the Porsche duo have raised the bar for themselves. In Mid-Ohio, Graf and Pickett claimed second, in Elkhart Lake third. “So now we really need to win,“ grinned Graf, whose confidence has also been boosted with the addition of Porsche works driver Sascha Maassen (Germany) as back-up for the team in Road Atlanta. “We have good chances with Sascha. He knows the RS Spyder inside out. That's a bonus.“

Petit Le Mans on the Road Atlanta race track starts on Saturday, 26 September, at 11.15 hours local time (17.15 hours CEST) and runs over 1,000 miles or ten hours.



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.