GT CLASS RACE NOTES, RESULTS, AND POINTS STANDINGS
GT CLASS RACE NOTES, RESULTS, AND
POINTS STANDINGS
In GT1, Corvette Racing won its
class for the fifth time in six years as Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and
Max Papis took a 17-second victory over their sister car in a race that saw the
two Corvettes on the same lap the entire way. Beretta and Gavin won last year
with Jan Magnussen, who teamed this year with Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell.
"Like everyone knows, Sebring is a tough track and is a great test for Le Mans,"
said Beretta, the Series' all-time leader with 29 wins and a three-time winner
at Sebring. We worked very well and had fantastic pit stops as usual. The car at
the end of the race was like it was on Lap 1. This team knows exactly what to
do. We pushed the car because we had strong competition with the No. 3 car.
Everything went perfectly."
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Ron Fellows' #3 Arctic White C6R
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Saturday also marked the first race for a new production-based air conditioning
unit in the Corvette C6.Rs. Like the car and team, the AC unit received a
workout Saturday in preparation for Le Mans and came away a winner. Corvette
Racing will use the unit at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June and for the full
American Le Mans Series season."This was a fantastic test for us," said Gavin, now a four-time Sebring winner.
"The AC performed so well that we sometimes wanted to turn it off, and that's
unusual for a closed car. Nearly every driver who got out of the car was looking
fresh and really good. If we can stay focused and sharp and fresh, that will be
a really big, big help at Le Mans."
The race marked the last at Sebring for Corvette Racing pioneer Fellows. He,
Magnussen and O'Connell competed in a special Arctic White C6.R as a tribute to
Fellows. The two Corvettes finished comfortably ahead of Team Modena's Aston
Martin DBR9.
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Risi Competizione won in GT2 by
0.202 seconds in the closest finish in Sebring history.
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Undoubtedly the highlight of the
day was the GT2 class finish. Risi Competizione's Jaime Melo beat Jorg
Bergmeister of Flying Lizard Motorsports to the finish line by 0.20 seconds, the
closest finish in Sebring's 55-year history and the closest finish ever in the
American Le Mans Series' GT2 class.
Melo, who drove with Mika Salo and Johnny Mowlem, led by five seconds with 11
minutes left but by the final lap Bergmeister was tucked right behind his rear
bumper. The two cars crossed the start-finish line just before Werner took the
checkered flag. So instead of a one-second victory, Melo had to hold off the
young Porsche factory driver for another full circuit.
Bergmeister, partnering with Johannes van Overbeek and Marc Lieb, finally caught
up with Melo entering Turn 16 and on to the long backstretch. He pulled
alongside Melo and barely moved past him as the two headed into the final turn.
They remained door-to-door and made contact as Melo edged across the line.
"It was a fantastic last lap," Melo said. "I've never had a finish like that. I
had brake problems late and tried to keep it steady. He (Bergmeister) overtook
me on the backstraight and I braked a little early. Out of Turn 17 I put in a
little more and opened the throttle as soon as possible."
The battle between the Ferrari and Porsche lasted throughout the entire day. The
Ferrari survived start from the rear of the grid, a late drama in pit lane with
a 20-second penalty and a Turn 17 spin at sunset for the team's fifth win in the
last seven events dating back to July of 2006 at Salt Lake City. Tafel Racing's
Porsche of Wolf Henzler, Robin Liddell and Patrick Long finished third.
"It was really tight with the No. 45 car," Salo said. "We were absolutely flat
out the entire way. The GT2 is the best racing in this Series. It's going to be
like this all year, so we have to improve so we don't have any more finishes
like this."
"It was just awesome," Mowlem said. "Every time we were out there, we were
driving as hard as we could. To finally get to the end and have Jaime drive for
two hours like he did and have that kind of final lap, he's my hero. To win is
just fantastic."
The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the Acura Sports Car Challenge
of St. Petersburg. The race will start at 5:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 31.
SPEED will provide a same-day broadcast event from 8:30 to 10 p.m. American Le
Mans Radio and IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring will be available at
americanlemans.com.
55th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Fla.
Saturday's results
1. (1) Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Marco Werner, Germany;
Audi AG/R10/TDI (1, P1), 364.
2. (6) Dario Franchitti, Scotland; Tony Kanaan, Brazil; Bryan Herta, Valencia,
CA; Acura/ARX-01a (2, P2), 358.
3. (8) Luis Diaz, Mexico; David Martinez, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico;
Lola/B06-43/Acura (3, P2), 356.
4. (2) Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Allan McNish, Scotland; Tom Kristensen, Denmark;
Audi AG/R10/TDI (4, P1), 353.
5. (3) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Helio Castroneves, Brazil; Romain Dumas, France;
Porsche RS Spyder (5, P2), 351.
6. (4) David Brabham, Australia; Stefan Johansson, Sweden; Duncan Dayton, North
Salem, NY; Acura/ARX-01a (6, P2), 346.
7. (14) Oliver Gavin, England; Max Papis, Italy; Olivier Beretta, Monaco;
Corvette C6.R (7, GT1), 341.
8. (13) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen,
Denmark; Corvette C6.R (8, GT1), 341.
9. (5) Andy Wallace, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Andy Lally,
New York, NY; Porsche RS Spyder (9, P2), 340.
10. (7) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder
(10, P2), 333.
11. (15) Antonio Garcia, Spain; Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Darren
Turner, England; Aston Martin DBR9 (11, GT1), 331.
12. (16) Jaime Melo, Brazil; Johnny Mowlem, England; Mika Salo, Finland; Ferrari
430GT Berlinetta (12, GT2), 330.
13. (18) Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Marc Lieb, Germany; Johannes van Overbeek,
San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 330.
14. (33) Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field,
Dublin, OH; Creation/CA06H/Judd (14, P1), 325.
15. (19) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Robin Liddell, Scotland; Patrick Long, Oak Park,
CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (15, GT2), 322.
16. (24) Dirk Werner, Germany; Pierre Ehret, Santa Rosa, CA; Lars Nielsen,
Denmark; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (16, GT2), 316.
17. (20) Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Ian James, England; Jim Tafel, Alpharetta,
GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 314.
18. (23) Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Graham Rahal, New
Albany, OH; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (18, GT2), 313.
19. (12) Didier Theys, Belgium; Eric van de Poele, Belgium; Fredy Lienhard,
Switzerland; Lola/Bo5-40/Judd (19, P2), 307, Mechanical.
20. (29) Joe Macari, UK; Rob Wilson, England; Ben Aucott, United Kingdom;
Ferrari F430 GT (20, GT2), 305.
21. (11) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Michael Lewis,
San Diego, CA; Lola/EX257 AER (21, P1), 303, Suspension.
22. (17) Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Memo Gidley, San Rafael, CA; Tim
Bergmeister, Germany; Ferrari 430GT (22, GT2), 300, Engine Fire.
23. (9) Sascha Maassen, Germany; Ryan Briscoe, Australia; Emmanuel Collard,
France; Porsche RS Spyder (23, P2), 297.
24. (21) Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Colin Braun, Ovalo, TX; Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX;
Ferrari 430GT Berlinetta (24, GT2), 290.
25. (26) Peter Kox, The Netherlands; Jarek Janis, Monaco; Spyker C8 Audi (25,
GT2), 286.
26. (22) Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Tom Kimber-Smith, England; Bill Auberlen,
Hermosa Beach, CA; Panoz Esperante GTLM (26, GT2), 275, Oil Leak.
27. (25) Scott Maxwell, Canada; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Ross Smith,
Plano, TX; Panoz Esperante GTLM (27, GT2), 270.
28. (27) Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik,
Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (28, GT2), 268.
29. (31) Luchiano DaSilva, Italy; Philip Collin, Park Ridge, IL; Antonio
Hermann, Brazil; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (29, GT2), 252, Clutch.
30. (28) Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Marc Basseng, Germany; Tim Pappas,
Boston, MA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (30, GT2), 235, Suspension.
31. (10) Ben Devlin, England; Raphael Matos, Brazil; Jamie Bach, West Palm
Beach, FL; Lola/B07-40/Mazda (31, P2), 224.
32. (34) Maurizio Mediani, Italy; Rui Aguas, Portugal; Jose Maria Lopez,
Argentina; Ferrari 430GT (32, GT2), 206, Fire.
33. (32) Miroslav Konopka, Slovakia; Bo McCormick, England; Mauro Casadei,
Italy; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (33, GT2), 129, Engine.
34. (30) Arie Luyendyk Jr, Phoenix, AZ; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Andrea
Robertson, Ray, MI; Panoz Esperante GTLM (34, GT2), 64, Engine.
Unofficial Points
LMP1
Frank Biela 26
Emanuele Pirro 26
Marco Werner 26
Rinaldo Capello 22
Tom Kristensen 22
Allan McNish 22
Clint Field 19
Jon Field 19
Richard Berry 19
Bryan Willman 16
Chris McMurry 16
Michael Lewis 16
LMP2
Bryan Herta 26
Dario Franchitti 26
Tony Kanaan 26
Luis Diaz 22
Adrian Fernandez 22
Timo Bernhard 19
Romain Dumas 19
Helio Castroneves 19
David Brabham 16
Duncan Dayton 16
Stefan Johansson 16
Butch Leitzinger 14
Andy Wallace 14
Andy Lally 14
Guy Smith 12
Chris Dyson 12
Eric van de Poele 10
Fredy Lienhard 10
Didier Theys 10
Sascha Maassen 9
Emmanuel Collard 9
Ryan Briscoe 9
GT1
Oliver Gavin 26
Olivier Beretta 26
Max Papis 26
Jan Magnussen 22
Johnny O`Connell 22
Ron Fellows 22
Darren Turner 19
Liz Halliday 19
Antonio Garcia 19
GT2
Johnny Mowlem 26
Mika Salo 26
Jaime Melo 26
Johannes van Overbeek 22
Jorg Bergmeister 22
Marc Lieb 22
Robin Liddell 19
Patrick Long 19
Wolf Henzler 19
Pierre Ehret 16
Lars Nielsen 16
Dirk Werner 16
Ian James 14
Dominik Farnbacher 14
Jim Tafel 14
Ralf Kelleners 12
Graham Rahal 12
Tom Milner 12
Rob Wilson 10
Ben Aucott 10
Joe Macari 10
Tomas Enge 9
Tim Bergmeister 9
Tracy Krohn 8
Colin Braun 8
Nic Jonsson 8
Peter Kox 7
Jarek Janis 7
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