American Le Mans Series, round 7 in Elkhart Lake, USA
After the successful class-winning premiere of RS Spyder racing the new direct fuel injection engine at Mid-Ohio, the next great challenge is here: At the seventh round of the American Le Mans Series the Weissach-developed and built sports prototypes race on the legendary Road America track. Porsche is eager to further increase its championship lead on one of America’s oldest and most beautiful race circuits.
The traditional 6.510 kilometre track in Elkhart Lake (Wisconsin) with its 14 corners, some of which are extremely fast, presents pilots with a difficult task. Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France), the reigning champions and clear points’ leaders, were clearly up to the challenge last year: In the #7 RS Spyder they not only beat their toughest LMP2 opponents from Acura but also secured a convincing overall victory against the Audi R10 which feature about 200 hp more and a better power to weight ratio.
“It’s a fascinating track on which the slightest mistake costs a lot of time,” says Timo Bernhard. “Everything has to be perfect, including the strategy. And as I said, we can’t afford to make a single mistake – not in the pits, not on the track. That’s the only way to secure class victory.” His team mate Romain Dumas compares Road America with the Grand Prix circuit of Spa-Francorchamps. “It’s very fast, very hilly and very demanding. A real challenge.” Due to the four-hour race duration, extra championship points are up for grabs.
The second RS Spyder fielded by Penske Racing and powered by the new direct fuel injection engine is the #6 car manned by Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA). Two further RS Spyder vehicles, fitted with the successful 3.4-litre V8 motor in front of the rear axle, is entered by the US privateer team, Dyson Racing: Chris Dyson (USA) and Guy Smith (Great Britain) drive the #16 car, with Butch Leitzinger (USA) and Marino Franchitti (Great Britain) sharing the #20 RS Spyder.
After the successful start into the second half of the season in Mid-Ohio, Porsche forges ahead as the clear leaders of the LMP2 class. With four wins from six rounds to date, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas head the drivers’ championship. Porsche leads the manufacturers’ classification (chassis and engine) and Penske Racing tops the team classification.
In the GT2 class for slightly modified standard sports cars, Porsche also leads the points with Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Wolf Henzler (Germany). With the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR run by Flying Lizard Motorsports, with whom they have already won the races in Sebring, Salt Lake City and Lime Rock so far this year, the German pair wants to consolidate their top position against strong competition from Ferrari. Also taking up the race with excellent chances for a win are team mates Johannes van Overbeek (USA) and Patrick Pilet (France) as well as Dirk Werner (Germany) and Richard Westbrook (Great Britain) in their 911 GT3 RSR run by Farnbacher Loles Racing.
The race in Elkhart Lake starts on Saturday, 9 August 2008, at 16.00 hrs local time (23.00 hrs CEST) and runs over four hours.
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