Grand-Am: Porsche further increases points’ advantage heading to final

This picture shows how tight it was coming down to the final minutes of the race. Andy Lally was even in it and putting in a tremendous drive with an ailing Porsche underneath him. Dirk Werner was sitting perfect behind Kelly Collins when he decided to drop inside to take the lead. This resulted in trading paint and tires with both ending up with flats and more importantly, a chance to seal the CHAMPIONSHIP!

Grand-Am Series, round 11 in Salt Lake City, USA

In the American Grand-Am Series, Porsche is shortly before winning the title in the GT class. At the penultimate race of the season in Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, points’ leader Dirk Werner (Germany) and Leh Keen (USA) saw the checkered flag in sixth with their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of Farnbacher Loles Racing and travel to the final in Miami on 10 October holding a comfortable lead. In the prototype class, Porsche works drivers Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) narrowly missed out on their fourth podium result this season by just two seconds.

Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas took up the race on the 4.904 kilometre Utah circuit with its 24 corners from the first row with their Penske Racing Porsche Riley. Watched by Roger Penske, who flew in from the IndyCar race in Japan just in time, Bernhard moved into the lead in the 17th lap. After the driver change in lap 30, Dumas set out to take the lead again. A mishap during the pit stop and a late Safety Car Phase thwarted their perfectly working strategy and prevented the second placed drivers from Montreal from claiming another podium result.

‘We were very competitive and the entire team put in a strong effort,’ said Timo Bernhard. ‘But we lost a few seconds changing drivers because I had some problems unplugging the radio cable on my helmet. It’s a shame because like in Montreal we were close to winning.’ Romain Dumas said: ‘The mishap in the pits cost us the time that we needed at the end. Due to the late caution phase we weren’t able to make up that time. The competition in this championship is so strong that you can’t afford to make even one error. Still, we know we have a winning car. Now we have to try again in Miami.’

With the Porsche Riley of Brumos Racing, Joao Barbosa (Portugal) and JC France (USA) finished seventh. Their teammates, David Donohue (USA) and Darren Law (USA), who won the season-opening Daytona 24 hour race for Porsche, at times ranked fourth in the race to finally cross the finish line in ninth.

In the GT class, Dirk Werner and Leh Keen again put in a strong drive in the 911 GT3 Cup fielded by Farnbacher Loles Racing after having won four races so far this season. At times the pair led the race and were on their way to claiming the title ahead of schedule. But after a collision, Dirk Werner had to turn a lap with a damaged left front wheel. Like in Montreal, the points’ leader finished sixth. Thanks to Andy Lally (USA) and Scott Schroeder’s (USA) second place in the TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Porsche further extended its lead in the GT class heading to the final in Miami. ‘I had a very good car today and of course it would have been nice to travel to Miami as the champion,’ said Dirk Werner. ‘I had the chance to secure the title for us. In the situation that led to the collision it would have been better to back off. But unfortunately I realized that too late.’

Round 12 of the Grand-Am Series takes place on 10 October in Miami-Homestead in the US state of Florida.

Statistics: 11th of 12 races in the Grand-Am Series in Salt Lake City, UT

Race result

1. Gurney/Fogarty (USA/USA), Pontiac Riley (DP), 56 laps
2. Angelelli/Friselle (I/USA), Ford Dallara (DP), 56
3. Pruett/Rojas (USA/MEX), Lexus Riley (DP), 56
4. Bernhard/Dumas (D/F), Porsche Riley (DP), 56
5. Friselle/Wilkins (USA/CAN), Ford Riley (DP), 56
6. Negri/Patterson (USA/USA), Ford Riley (DP), 56
7. Barbosa/France (P/USA), Porsche Riley (DP), 56
8. Forest/Taylor (CDN/USA), Chevrolet Riley (DP), 56
9. Donohue/Law (USA/USA), Porsche Riley (DP), 56
10. Valiante/Pew (CDN/USA), Ford Riley (DP), 56

Result GT class

1. Assentato/Segal (USA/USA), Mazda RX-8, 55 laps
2. Lally/Schroeder (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 55
3. Collins/Edwards (USA/USA), Pontiac GXP.R, 55
4. Hyatt/Westphal (USA/USA), BMW M6, 55
5. Stanton/Potter (USA/USA), Porsche GT3 Cup, 55
6. Werner/Keen (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 55

Points’ standings
Drivers DP class

1. Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty, Pontiac, 309 points
2. Brian Friselle, Max Angelelli, Ford, 301
3. Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Lexus, 299
4. Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, Porsche, 276
5. Michael Valiante, Ford, 263
6. Burt Friselle, Mark Wilkins, Ford, 260
7. David Donohue, Darren Law, Porsche, 256
8. JC France, Porsche, 248

Manufacturers DP class

1. Ford, 356 points
2. Pontiac, 315
3. Porsche, 309
4. Lexus, 299
5. BMW, 202

Drivers GT class

1. Dirk Werner, Leh Keen, Porsche, 329 points
2. Kelly Collins, Pontiac, 299
3. Andrew Davis, Pontiac, 288
4. Andy Lally, Porsche, 276
5. Sylvain Tremblay, Nick Ham, Mazda, 275
6. Paul Edwards, Pontiac, 273

Manufacturers GT class

1. Porsche, 355 points
2. Pontiac, 332
3. Mazda, 231
4. Chevrolet, 154

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Grand-Am: Porsche further increases points’ advantage heading to final

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