Sascha Maassen and Patrick Long secured third in LMP2
At the eighth round of the American Le Mans Series on the Mosport International Raceway, Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) secured third in the LMP2 class with their Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder. Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) claimed sixth in the sister-car, despite an error in the fuel strategy, and defended their lead in the championship.
The race on the circuit north-east of Toronto (Canada) was one of the fastest and most dramatic in the history of the ALMS, with only two safety car phases. The last safety car phase ended one hour before the finish of the race, and influenced the teams’ strategies considerably. Thanks to a particularly efficient driving style, Sascha Maassen crossed the finish line with the #6 RS Spyder without another pit stop and secured third. “I scrimped on my fuel right from the start and it paid off today,” said Maassen pleased.
Bad luck hit Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, who had led the race after the first hour. Through en error in the fuel strategy they ran out of fuel and finished sixth. “What a shame that it wasn’t good enough to win today. Timo and I were the fastest in the LMP2 class over the whole weekend,” said Dumas after the race. “My start was very good and I was able to increase my lead during my stint,” added Bernhard. “I would have loved to climb the podium again, but at least we still have a ten-point advantage in the championship. We will attack again next weekend in Detroit and hopefully increase that gap even further.”
The two RS Spyder of the Porsche-supported US privateer team, Dyson Racing, crossed the finish line in seventh and eighth. Chris Dyson (USA) and Guy Smith (Great Britain) were two laps behind the leader at the finish, as were their team mates Marino Franchitti (Great Britain) and Butch Leitzinger (USA).
In the GT2 class for slightly modified standard sports cars, Dirk Werner and Pierre Kaffer (both Germany) saw the chequered flag in second with their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Farnbacher Loles Racing. “I’m thrilled to climb the podium again. This result shows just how well our team works,” said an enthusiastic Werner. Driving the Flying Lizard Motorsports 911 GT3 RSR, Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) put in a spirited drive against Ferrari pilot Dirk Müller. When Müller was penalised for a particularly fierce attack, Bergmeister and team mate Wolf Henzler claimed third and with this increased their lead in the championship. “The fight was really hard,” said Bergmeister. “Once again my team put an ultra-fast car on the track for us today. Our success today is largely thanks to our mechanics.”
Commenting on the race outcome, Uwe Brettel, head of Porsche customer sport, said: “We are still analysing why the fuel strategy of our #7 RS Spyder didn’t work. We will be checking this thoroughly. Except for this error, the Porsche teams performed excellently today. The pit stops were extremely fast and the drivers did a great job.”
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