Lehto/Werner score close ALMS Lime Rock win
Ferrari wins for first time in GT
LAKEVILLE,
Conn. (July 5, 2004) - Marco Werner held off a late charge by Butch
Leitzinger to score his second consecutive win in the American Le Mans
Series with co-driver JJ Lehto in Monday's New England Grand Prix sports car
race at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. The race was the 50th event in
the history of the ALMS, which started in 1999, and was the first-ever ALMS
race at historic Lime Rock Park.
Werner, driving the ADT Champion Racing Audi
R8, beat Leitzinger's Dyson Racing Lola-MG to the finish line by 1.429
seconds after a late-race caution period set up a five-minute dash to the
finish in the two-hour, 45-minute
timed event. Lehto, who drove the first 45 minutes of the race, and Werner
led 105 of the race's 165 laps, while Leitzinger and co-driver James Weaver
led 59 circuits.
The two cars had a back-and-forth race, with
each falling a lap off the lead at separate points during the event. But the
key was the next-to-last of five caution periods in the race when Werner was
able to make the Audi's final pit stop under yellow shortly after Leitzinger
had pitted under green.
Leitzinger was able to close into striking
distance near the end of the race but Werner prevailed in the final
shootout.
"That was a lot of pressure on me," said
Werner. "I knew he (Leitzinger) was close for the last restart and he had
been running fast. I lost a race to that team last year like that and didn't
want it to happen again."
"We got out of sequence which was in our favor
for a while, but that last yellow put us a lap down," said Leitzinger. "From
then we had to crawl back. We made little dents, but it wasn't quick enough.
The #38 (Audi) got caught in horrible traffic and from then I could judge
his progress. But with that last yellow lasting a long time, we just didn't
have enough time to get it
done."
"The race stayed close all the way to the
end," said Lehto. "It was up to tactics and it was a good game. It's always
nice to win. This was our first time here. It was nice to take it. I was so
nervous at the end I didn't know who was going to win."
Ferrari takes first ALMS win
Ferrari scored its first-ever GT class win in the
ALMS with Anthony Lazzaro and Ralf Kelleners winning by one lap in the Risi
Competizione Ferrari 360 Modena. The win was also the first in the ALMS for
the two drivers and snapped a 21-race GT class winning streak in the ALMS
for Porsche that dated back to the first event of the 2002 season.
The J3 Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR driven by
Tim Sugden led most of the first half of the race after many of the top cars
pitted to take on rain tires when a brief shower hit the track at the start.
The J3 and Risi cars remained on slick tires and that proved to be the
winning decision as the rest of the contending cars were never able to make
up the lap they lost
changing back to slicks under green. The J3 car fell out of contention on
pit stop strategy.
"This win has been a long time coming," said
Lazzaro, who has co-driven with Kelleners in the GT Ferrari since the 2002
season. "We've had a lot of podium finishes but could never get to that top
step.
"It was a team decision to not change to rain
tires," he said. "We found some local people who were standing behind the
fence near our pits and they told us the rain wasn't going to last long. We
trusted that information and
they were right."
Johannes van Overbeek and Darren Law finished
second in the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, followed by
Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb in the Alex Job Racing Porsche.
Gavin, Beretta get first ALMS Win together
for Corvette
Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta won the GTS class in the Corvette Racing
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, beating another Corvette
driven by Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell by
3.627 seconds. It was the first ALMS win this season for the two, as Fellows
and O'Connell had won the first two events of the season.
Beretta had led much of the first portion of
the race, but the team lost nearly a lap to the other Corvette after pitting
while the other car stayed on the track. Gavin was able to make up some of
the distance during his stint, and then the race's next-to-last caution
brought them back together.
Beretta got back in the car and passed Fellows
for the win with an inside move into turn one with just over 25 minutes
remaining.
"The safety car didn't work in our favor, we
ended up 55 seconds down, we seemed to keep losing time to the safety car,"
said Gavin. "It was a great win for the #4 car. We've been given a glimmer
of hope for the championship.
We need to keep focusing on our job."
"It's really easy for our engineers because
both of us want exactly the same thing," said Beretta, who scored his 15th
career ALMS win but the first since 2000. "It is like only one man driving
the car. When we got one lap behind, Oliver (Gavin) and I pushed very hard.
When I finally caught Ron (Fellows) I made a good move to overtake him. We
put on a good show and it was a great day for the #4 car. Even though this
is my fourth race with Corvette, I feel at home."
Gavin had an unusual incentive to win as his
mother had to be hospitalized last week while visiting from England in an
attempt to see Gavin race for the first time in four years.
"My mother has arthritis and her elbows were
replaced," he said. "She got an infection when she arrived in America and
had to have an immediate operation. She just got out of the hospital
yesterday and desperately wanted
to get to the race. She organized the trip here to see me race but couldn't
come. I won for her today."
Terry Borcheller and Johnny Mowlem finished
third in the ACEMCO Saleen S7R.
Miracle team takes second LMP2 win of 2004
Ian James of Orlando, Fla., and James Gue of Athens, Ga., had a trouble-free
race and won the LMP2 class by eight laps in the Miracle
Motorsports Lola B2K/40-Nissan. The team won for the second time this season
as James raced with two other drivers to win the class in the Mobil 1 Twelve
Hours of Sebring.
"The Miracle Motorsports preparation is second
to none," said James. "John Macaluso (team owner) has a great work ethic and
a drive to win. These Yokohama tires did great. The key is being consistent
and never deviating from that. Of course the traffic was tough, and the car
was not hugely quick in the straights, so all the overtaking of the GT cars
was under braking in the corners."
Andy Lally and Ryan Eversley finished second
in the Race Car Company Lola-Millington, while the Team Bucknum Racing
Pilbeam MP91-Nissan of Jeff Bucknum, Chris McMurry and Bryan Willman was
third.
Earnhardt Jr. and Infineon next
The
ALMS will have a weekend off before the July 16-18 Infineon Grand Prix of
Sonoma at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt,
Jr., will be a special guest driver, sharing a third Corvette Racing entry
with road racing veteran Boris Said. "Junior is really fast as well as
Boris," said Gavin. "Those two will be no slouches. I'm really looking
forward to it. It should be a fun weekend."
The Sonoma race will be the first of back-to-back events for the series, the
second being the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland (Ore.) International
Raceway July 23-25.
Weaver, Dyson team win ALMS pole at Lime
Rock Park
Lakeville,
CT (July 3, 2004) - James Weaver relied on years of experience on the
tricky Lime Rock Park circuit to win the pole Saturday for Monday's American
Le Mans Series New England Grand Prix sports car race.
The English driver won the New Century Mortgage FastQual Award by turning a
lap of 47.962 seconds (115.592 mph) on the 1.54-mile track, fastest of the
27 cars that will start the two-hour, 45-minute timed event. Weaver and
Butch Leitzinger of State College, Penn., will co-drive a Lola EX257-AER/MG
Prototype fielded by Dyson Racing, a team located less than an hour from
Lime Rock in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
JJ Lehto qualified second in the ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 at 48.134.
Lehto and co-driver Marco Werner won last weekend's ALMS race at Mid-Ohio
Sports Car Course. Chris Dyson and Andy Wallace qualified third in another
Dyson Lola.
"The car has been good all weekend," said Weaver, who also won the pole for
the Mid-Ohio event but was eliminated by a mechanical problem on the first
lap of the race. "We've tested a lot in the last few months and the car was
competitive straight out of the truck. We were watching JJ (Lehto) qualify
and he was absolutely wringing that car's neck, so we didn't know if he had
anything left. We were still quick even at the end of qualifying. The Audis
are tough to beat because they have all the bases covered but we think we
have a few things left in our back pocket for the race."
"We had a little bit of a hectic morning because we had a leak on the
radiator and spent some time fixing that," said Lehto. "We changed the car a
lot after the first practice yesterday and we kind of liked it in a way but
then there were some other things we didn't like so we went back to set-ups.
Qualifying was the maximum effort for us. I was able to do a couple of
similar lap times but I couldn't gain or improve so I thought I would come
in and save the tires."
BERETTA WINS FIRST POLE SINCE 2000
Olivier Beretta won his first ALMS pole since the
end of the 2000 season when he drove the Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette
C5-R to the GTS class pole with a time of 51.425. Beretta, who will co-drive
with Oliver Gavin, won 10 poles in two seasons with the former Dodge Viper
factory effort operated by Team ORECA.
"It's always good to be on the pole," said Beretta, in his first season with
the factory Corvette team. "The crew and team worked hard together. The pole
is not our number one target, the race is more important. I walked the track
the first day. It's difficult to get the grip, but I like the place. The
team is professional, they know what to do, and that's a big help for the
drivers. They adapt the car to the driving style. Oliver and I drive very
similar, it's like there's one driver."
The other Corvette Racing entry of Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell
qualified second, followed by the ACEMCO Saleen S7R of Terry Borcheller and
Johnny Mowlem.
"I figured the pole would be somewhere in the low 51's," said Fellows, who
has teamed with O'Connell to win the GTS class in both ALMS races held this
season. "Dan Binks (car chief) used some good strategy to pull us into the
pits to get a better spot on the track (during qualifying), but I was only
able to get two clear laps. Both of the Corvettes are well prepared for this
race-Olivier got a better spot on the track to run. I think Johnny and I are
happy with the car's feel for the race."
DUMAS EARNS
FIRST ALMS POLE IN GT
Romain
Dumas, in his first full season of ALMS racing, won the GT class pole with a
lap of 54.659 in the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The French driver,
who will share the car with Marc Lieb of Germany, was happy to win his first
pole but gave credit to the Job organization.
"It was ok but the traffic was bad," said Dumas, who drove with the Job team
in selected races last season. "I never could try to make one good lap. I
couldn't believe I got the pole. I'm happy for the team. Last weekend we
weren't lucky, but we have the same car and the same team. The car is better
in traffic now than last weekend. Marc and I are a good team. We have the
same style and it's a good car for the race."
Lucas Luhr qualified second in the GT class in the BAM! Porsche he will
share with Leo Hindery, while qualifying third in class was the other Job
Porsche driven by Jorg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard.
BUCKNUM ON
LMP2 POLE AGAIN
Jeff Bucknum won his second consecutive LMP2
class pole in the Team Bucknum Racing Pilbeam MP91, posting a lap time of
51.701 in the car he will share with Chris McMurry and Bryan Willman. Last
week at Mid-Ohio, he also won the pole but his car's ignition system failed
on the first lap of the race.
"It was very frustrating at the moment, I didn't know what to tell the
crew," he said about the failure at Mid-Ohio. "It turned out to be a failure
in the ignition switch on the dash. I could turn the starter motor, but it
was as if I'd turned the switch off.
"For the season, the (LMP2) class has come to us," he said. "We were chasing
the MG Lolas for the past two years but now they were moved up a class and
we've done a lot of work to make the cars faster. We hope that our good luck
is ahead of us and we'll have a lot of good finishes."
The Race Car Company's Lola B2K/40-Millington of Andy Lally and Ryan
Eversley qualified second in the class for smaller, less-powerful
Prototypes, while third in class was the Intersport Lola-Judd of Clint Field
and Mike Durand.
HOLIDAY RACE
ON MONDAY
Local ordinances in the area of Lime Rock Park prohibit racing on Sunday*,
setting the race for the Monday national holiday of Independence Day in the
USA. The race will start at 3 p.m. (Eastern) and will be a timed event of
two hours, 45 minutes.
The race will be televised live by the SPEED Channel in North America and
MotorsTV in Europe. The American Le Mans Series Radio Web will have live
coverage online at
www.americanlemans.com.
*Watch Eurocup 2004 -
Portugual v. Greece
Weaver leads Friday ALMS test at Lime Rock
Park
LAKEVILLE, CT (July 2, 2004) - The
Dyson Racing team threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the American Le
Mans Series field on Friday by leading testing for Monday's inaugural New
England Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.
James Weaver drove the team's Lola EX257-AER/MG to a lap of 48.165 seconds
on the 1.54-mile, eight-turn circuit, the "home" track for the Dyson team.
Located less than an hour's drive from the track, the Dyson team has years
of experience at Lime Rock and was expected to lead the way as many ALMS
drivers and teams were seeing the tricky circuit for the first time on
Friday. Weaver and co-driver Butch Leitzinger have won several times at Lime
Rock in other forms of racing.
Setting the second-fastest time in the two-hour test session was the ADT
Champion Racing Audi R8 of JJ Lehto and Marco Werner, winners of last week's
ALMS event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with a lap of 48.827. Neither of
the two European drivers had been on the Lime Rock circuit until today.
"We're pretty happy with the car right now, but
then Dyson Racing has always gone well here," said Weaver. "The Audi is
quite quick too, as well as our #20 car. So I think that the battle for the
pole tomorrow should be quite interesting."
The other Dyson entry driven by Andy Wallace and Chris Dyson was
third-fastest overall and in the LMP1 class on Friday with a lap of 50.165.
The two Chevrolet Corvette C5-R machines of the factory Corvette Racing team
were first and second in the GTS class, with Oliver Gavin leading the way
with a lap of 52.674 in the car he will share with Olivier Beretta. The Ron
Fellows/Johnny O'Connell entry was second at 52.674, followed by the ACEMCO
Saleen S7R of Johnny Mowlem and Terry Borcheller at 55.673.
"I was fortunate to have a clear lap with little traffic," said Gavin. "My
first reaction to the circuit was that it is very short; as you start
getting used to the layout of the track, you're crossing the start/finish
line. I thought the surface of the track was quite bumpy, but it is a very
fun track to drive."
Mike Durand, joining Intersport Racing this weekend, led the LMP2 class with
a time of 54.268 in the Lola B2K/40-Judd he will share with Clint Field. The
Team Bucknum Racing Pilbeam MP91 of Chris McMurry, Bryan Willman and Jeff
Bucknum was second at 54.844 followed by the Lola-Nissan of Erik and Gunnar
Van Der Steur at 1:01.808.
The GT class was led by the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Timo
Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister, with Bergmeister setting the fast time of
55.388. The J3 Racing Porsche of Justin Jackson and Tim Sugden was second at
56.203 followed by the other Job entry of Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb at
56.244.
"I think it (the track) is fun," said Bergmeister. "I really like the fast
downhill section, it is really my kind of turn. Like Mid-Ohio there are
concrete patches in the corners, but these don't have any grip. The bumps at
the entry of turn one can really upset the car and force you outside,
opening the door to be passed."
Saturday's
schedule calls for two hours of official practice as well as qualifying for
the ALMS cars. Local ordinances prevent any Sunday activity. The race will
start at 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Monday. The race will be televised live by the
SPEED Channel in North America and MotorsTV in Europe. The American Le Mans
Series Radio Web will have live coverage online at www.americanlemans.com.
American Le Mans Series
