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RS Spyder, Penske Racing: Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas

Romain Dumas (France) posted the fastest time in the LMP2 class at the 8th round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) on the Mosport International Raceway in Canada. Dumas, who with his team mate Timo Bernhard (Germany) currently leads the championship in the Porsche RS Spyder fielded by Penske Racing, improved on last year’s top time by 1.6 seconds. With this, Dumas/Bernhard take up the race from the second row directly behind two Audi R10 which generate over 200 hp more and have a better power-to-weight ratio.

“We couldn’t have been faster. Our lap was perfect,“ said an enthusiastic Dumas describing his 16th class pole in the ALMS. “A large part of the improvement in our time is due to the new DFI engine with direct fuel injection. But compared to 2007, we’ve also improved the car’s set-up considerably. Although I was almost three-tenths of a second faster than the top Acura, it’ll still be close racing tomorrow.“

In the second #6 RS Spyder run by Penske Racing, Sascha Maassen (Germany) secured the sixth quickest time in his class. Behind him was Marino Franchitti (Great Britain) and Chris Dyson (USA) in the RS Spyder of the Porsche-supported US privateer team, Dyson Racing.

“Towards the end of the qualifying we made some more changes to the car and they paid off,“ said Sascha Maassen. “I’m sure we can make the car a touch faster for the race.“

911 GT3 RSR, Farnbacher Loles Motorsports: Dirk Werner, Pierre Kaffer

In the GT2 class for modified standard sportscars, Dirk Werner (Germany) turned the second fastest time in the GT3 RSR of Farnbacher Loles Racing. With a gap of just 33-hundreths of a second, Wolf Henzler (Germany) achieved the fourth quickest time in his Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Fifth went to Patrick Pilet (France) in the second Flying Lizard Porsche. “I’m very pleased with position two on the grid. Not a lot more was possible today,“ said Dirk Werner, who shares driving duties with Pierre Kaffer (Germany).

“This circuit is extremely difficult for drivers, so I’m expecting a very exciting race tomorrow. Romain’s qualifying lap was a huge achievement,“ said Uwe Brettel, head of Porsche customer sport. “The competition in the GT2 could hardly be closer either. The outcome of the race is anyone’s guess.“

The race in Bowmanville takes off on Sunday at 15.05 hours local time (21.05 hrs CEST) and runs over 2:45 hours.

Qualifying result

1. Dindo Capello (I), Audi R10 (LMP1), 1:04.094 minutes
2. Marco Werner (D), Audi R10 (LMP1), 0.094 seconds behind
3. Romain Dumas (F), Porsche RS Spyder (LMP2), 0.224
4. David Brabham (AUS), Acura ARX-01B (LMP2), 0.509
5. Franck Montagny (F), Acura ARX-01B (LMP2), 0.525
6. Luis Diaz (MEX), Acura ARX.01B (LMP2), 1.059
7. Simon Pagenaud (F), Acura ARX-01B (LMP2), 1.062
8. Sascha Maassen (D), Porsche RS Spyder (LMP2), 1.072
9. Marino Franchitti (GB), Porsche RS Spyder (LMP2), 1.076
10. Chris Dyson (USA), Porsche RS Spyder (LMP2), 1.335