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On a day of highs and lows, Team Falken’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR had both, as it returned to competition for Petit Le Mans on a rainy day at Road Atlanta.
“Our learning curve has proven to be a bit longer than we anticipated,” said Team Falken Manager Rod Everett.
We had a good chat with Wolf Henzler and an engineer on Friday before qualifying where Wolf was very optimistic with the car and the overall outlook. Farnbacher Loles had a strong start to the season with a pole at Sebring, front row in St.Pete and nailed pole position at Long Beach. Even though the conditions at Petit Le Mans didn’t fair well for anyone it was great to see Farnbacher Loles back in the running. We look forward to the final race from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The #87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR returned to the American Le Mans Series podium today with a third place finish at The 12th Annual Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6 at Road Atlanta. The annual 1,000 mile/ 10-hour event ended early after race officials determined that the torrential rain soaked track was unsafe for competition despite several hours of red flag conditions.
Continue reading ‘Petit Le Mans: Farnbacher Loles race report’
Audi fans or not, I’m sure you side with the emptiness that sits in your gut. 650 miles left to race. 5 hours left to race. It was anyone’s to win. Hell, even Acura could have won. We just do not know at this point and never will. Yes, Allan McNish spun it. Done. So, yes Peugeot did win but Allan gave it to them. Peugeot’s win was not like Ferrari’s, where a strategic call was made and they benefited from it.
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Peugeot finally has a competitive car after three years. Audi now has a brand new car with the R15 TDI. Audi showed that the R15 TDI is now on pace and sometimes was faster at Road Atlanta.
In our books its Audi 1/Peugeot 1 and Petit Le Mans goes down as a tie. The 2010 12 Hours of Sebring will be the tie breaker.
American Le Mans Series, round 9 in Road Atlanta, USA
Porsche claimed the first championship title in the American Le Mans Series already before the season final at Laguna Seca: At the spectacular 1,000 mile race of Petit Le Mans on the Road Atlanta circuit, Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler and Dirk Werner (both Germany) clinched third in their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to secure the fiercely-contested GT2 manufacturers’ title for the Zuffenhausen-based sports car manufacturer. Porsche also won the ‘Michelin Green X Challenge’ environmental award.
Continue reading ‘Petit Le Mans: Porsche wins manufacturers’ title and environmental award’
I think Marco said it best here.
“It’s a shame that Audi has been beaten for the first time at Petit. But I don’t see it like this: Under real circumstances the result would have been different. This was no real race.”
Audi Sport Team Joest’s test entry in the 1000-mile “Petit Le Mans” race at Road Atlanta (U.S. state of Georgia) had an unexpected outcome: The American endurance classic had to be red flagged just before half-time due to torrential rainfall. Although Audi had led almost entirely, the two R15 TDI prototypes were only classified in third and fourth positions. Small consolation: The Diesel-powered racing car won the efficiency award “Michelin GreenX Challenge” – a trophy awarded to the most environmentally friendly car.
Continue reading ‘Petit Le Mans: Audi race report from Road Atlanta’
Petit Le Mans 2009 is in the books. For the first time in history, Petit was called due to heavy rains and lightning. When the rains came, they came strong. Rain will stop a race but when the lightning rears itself, all track workers are pulled. There are a ton of little things that add up to a lot of time, so ALMS has to make the right calls.
I guess Peugeot won and gave Audi its first defeat at Petit Le Mans since 2000. Technically, yes they did, however Allan McNish performed the ultimate blooper and spun under caution.
The Muscle Milk Porsche RS Spyder showed signs of brilliance and had led at times. Issues saw them back to third in the end.
Like the P1 race, GT2 had history in the making. First with the Ford GT-R on pole, but a stacked class. The rain and red-flag caught the Flying Lizards out again. Rizi Competizone pulled the lucky strategy call and went to wet’s prior to anyone else. The rain came in truckloads, the class came in and Rizi went around. End of story. Falken Tire showed excellent speed on their wet’s, pacing the lead times.
Photos: © Corey Beaman 2009
Heavy Rains forced the American Le Mans Series to red flag and suspend the Petit Le Mans, at Road Atlanta, September 26, 2009. The tremendous down pour caused many teams to skid and slide, as the conditions were finally deemed unsafe for racing. Team Falken Tire and Bryan Sellars started from pit lane in 12th position, due to a last minute repair, but quickly moved to 8th place as Sellars posted the fastest lap in the rain in the GT2 class. He kept his pace, and held on with the Rahal-Letterman BMWs, and the lead GT2 cars. During Lap 42, running side by side with the Flying Lizard Car, Sellars hit some standing water, which caused an incident that damaged the front right corner. He pitted for repairs, but it had cost the team 39 laps by the time he went back out. As the ALMS Crews hurry to repair turn 10, and Mother Nature eases up, racing will continue from Lap 171. Stay tuned for a full recap and more Team Falken Tire images from Petit Le Mans.
Audi Sport Team Joest’s two Audi R15 TDI prototypes will start the “Petit Le Mans” 1000-mile race at Road Atlanta (U.S. state of Georgia) from the second row of the grid. The U.S. endurance classic serves Audi as preparation for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Continue reading ‘Petit Le Mans: Both Audi R15 TDI prototypes on row two’
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