Grand-Am Series, round 10 in Montreal, Canada
With a strong performance in the Porsche Riley, Porsche works drivers Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) secured their best result of the season in the American Grand-Am Series. On the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, the duo claimed second place in a fiercely contested race. In the GT class the clear points’ leader Dirk Werner (Germany) and Leh Keen (USA) took another step towards securing the title with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Gallery after the jump!
The race on the Grand Prix circuit close to the Canadian city of Montreal started in light drizzle. When it stopped after several laps, Romain Dumas was the first driver to come into the pits for slicks. In lap eight the Penske Racing-run Porsche Riley moved into the lead for the first time. As the rain set in again, Timo Bernhard lost the lead when pitting for wet tyres, which he quickly regained. This time as well, the track soon dried up. The change back to slicks cost the front-runners their lead and possible victory. Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard headed the field for 38 laps in total – far more than half the race distance. For the Porsche works drivers, this marks their third podium result this season after Millville and Watkins Glen. With two races left on the calendar, the pair ranks third in the championship.
‘That was a good day for us. We’ve waited a long time for this. We had the chance to win today and that’s a great feeling for the entire team,’ said Romain Dumas. Timo Bernhard added: ‘It’s wonderful to climb the podium again. I’m very happy. The constantly changing conditions messed up our strategy somewhat otherwise victory would have been possible. But still, we were very strong and that gives us confidence for the next race.’
With the Porsche Riley fielded by Brumos Racing, David Donohue (USA) and Darren Law (USA) also put in a strong showing. Despite being relegated to the back of the prototype grid when the car was found to be slightly underweight after qualifying, the winners of the Daytona 24 hour race finished fifth and earned crucial points towards the championship.
After four victories so far this season, Dirk Werner and Leh Keen are on a steady course for the GT class title. With the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup run by Farnbacher Loles Racing, they saw the flag in sixth in Montreal, but still managed to extend their points’ lead. Second position in this class also went to Porsche pilots: Andy Lally (USA) and Brendan Gaughan (USA) narrowly missed out on victory for their TRG team with the 911 GT3 Cup.
Round 11 of the Grand-Am Series takes place on 19 September in Salt Lake City in the US state of Utah.
Statistics: 10th of 12 races in the Grand-Am Series in Montreal, CDN
Race result
1. Angelelli/Friselle (I/USA), Ford Dallara (DP), 67 laps 2. Bernhard/Dumas (D/F), Porsche Riley (DP), 67 3. Gurney/Fogarty (USA/USA), Pontiac Riley (DP), 67 4. Forest/Taylor (CDN/USA), Chevrolet Riley (DP), 67 5. Donohue/Law (USA/USA), Porsche Riley (DP), 66 6. Friselle/Wilkins (USA/CAN), Ford Riley (DP), 66 7. Dalziel/Lester (USA/USA), BMW Riley (DP), 66 8. Valiante/Pew (CDN/USA), Ford Riley (DP), 66 9. Bouchut/Tucker (F/USA), BMW Riley (DP), 66 10. Pruett/Rojas (USA/MEX), Lexus Riley (DP), 66
Result GT class
1. Davis/Liddell (USA/GB), Pontiac GXP.R, 64 laps 2. Lally/Gaughan (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 64 3. Assentato/Segal (USA/USA), Mazda RX-8, 64 4. Espenlaub/Foster (USA/USA), Mazda RX-8, 64 5. Lux/Sellers /USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 64 6. Werner/Keen (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 63
Points’ standings
Drivers DP class
1. Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty, Pontiac, 274 points 2. Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Lexus, 269 Brian Friselle, Max Angelelli, Ford, 269 3. Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, Porsche, 248 4. Michael Valiante, Ford, 242 5. David Donohue, Darren Law, Porsche, 234 Burt Friselle, Mark Wilkins, Ford, 234 6. Joao Barbosa, JC France, Porsche, 224
Manufacturers’ DP class
1. Ford, 324 points 2. Porsche, 281 3. Pontiac, 280 4. Lexus, 269
Drivers GT class
1. Dirk Werner, Leh Keen, Porsche, 304 points 2. Kelly Collins, Pontiac, 269 3. Andrew Davis, Pontiac, 261 4. Sylvain Tremblay, Nick Ham, Mazda, 253 5. Andy Lally, Porsche, 244 6. Paul Edwards, Pontiac, 243 7. Eric Lux, Porsche, 241
Manufacturers GT class
1. Porsche, 323 points 2. Pontiac, 302 3. Mazda, 296
Looking for more? Have a look below.
- Grand-Am: Porsche pilots extend championship lead in Daytona
- Grand-Am: Porsche heads into second half of season with higher engine revs
- Grand-Am: Porsche GT victory after spectacular charge through field at Mid-Ohio
- Grand-Am: Romain Dumas earns New Jersey Pole
- Porsche works drivers Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas compete for Audi
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