"Le" Petit Le Mans

[MOTV8]

The flaming GT2 returns!

Fast Cars From Around the World Heading to Petit Le Mans

By James Fish

Epoch Times Staff Sep 6, 2009

A thundering hoard of powerful automobiles is swooping down on Georgia, planning to do battle at Road Atlanta in the 12th annual Petit Le Mans endurance race.

The four-day Petit Le Mans event, September 23-26, features twelve races in eight different series, culminating in the Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda6 endurance classic. Sports cars, sports racing cars, and open-wheel Formula Atlantic cars will be practicing and racing from 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday the 23rd almost non-stop until 11:15 pm Saturday the 26th (please see schedule below.)

The four days of Petit Le Mans is arguably the biggest sports car event of the year, and definitely not an event to miss. Visit the Road Atlanta Web site for Petit Le Mans ticket information.

The Big One

IMSA, the parent of governing body which International Motor Sports Association has released its provisional entry list for the 12th annual Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda6 American Le Mans Series endurance race, which will start at 11:15 a.m. on September 26, at Road Atlanta Raceway in Braselton, Ga.

Petit Le Mans is a ten-hour, one-thousand mile test of endurance, speed and teamwork on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Road Atlanta circuit. Petit Le Mans is one of two North American races which attract European teams (the other being the Twelve hours of Sebring.)

This year, Le Mans winner Peugeot will send a pair of diesel 908’s, while Sebring winner Audi will bring two diesel R15 TDs to race in the Le Mans Prototype class (P1), the fastest and most technologically advanced class. The two European giants will face off against the ALMS-leading Acura ARX-02a’s of Patrón Highcroft and de Ferran Racing, plus the Lolas of Intersport and Autocon.

P1 will be further augmented by two more European teams. ECO Racing will bring its Radical SR9, powered by a diesel engine based on the 5-liter Volkswagen V10.

Also, Drayson Racing, the team of British science minister Lord Paul Drayson, will bring a Judd V10-powered Lola coupe in his team’s first foray into the P1 class. Drayson Racing is best known for "successfully" campaigning Aston Martins in GT2. ( Successfully, as in...successfully completed some laps. ZinG! Nicely spun, Mr. Fish.)

While the diesels are generally acknowledged to be the fastest cars on the track, it is possible that the Acuras, with their greater traction, will be able to make up time through Road Atlanta’s high-speed corners. The Intersport and Autocon Lolas are almost as fast as the diesels; reliability has been their weak pint so far this season. The Drayson Lola is an unknown, but similar Aston Martin-powered Lola couples did quite well at Le Mans in June, so the Drayson car should be in contention. (For also-ran status, you mean. Oh, did I say that outloud?)

A Rich GT2 Field

GT2, often the most hotly contested class in ALMS racing, will see a field of thirteen (possibly fourteen) cars taking the green flag at road Atlanta. Aside from the regular ALMS entries, Team Falken Tire is bringing its Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, and Lou Gigliotti, whose car burst into flames (Search it at Youtube) at its last race, is back with a new Corvette CR6. Yea!!

The Rocketsports Racing GT2 Jaguar XKR will probably only run test laps. The car is not yet sufficiently developed to warrant racing the entire thousand miles. No official announcement has been made, but insiders report that the car will probably not actually race until 2010.

More hype to follow...of course.

[Desertdawg]

Cool Lou is back in, it will be fun to watch him run around with the other vettes. Do you have any pictures of the Rocketsports Jaguar XKR ?

[MOTV8]

Do you have any pictures of the Rocketsports Jaguar XKR ?

Just the ones from the interweb....

[P51tj]

Welcome back Lou!

[MOTV8]

Do you have any pictures of the Rocketsports Jaguar XKR ?

Just the ones from the interweb....

I hope quoting myself annoys Ted.

Don't look now....Jag-offs say they're IN.

Rocket Sports Racing enters Petit Le Mans

Racing series ALMS

Date 2009-09-08

RSR TO DEBUT JAGUAR XKR GT2 AT PETIT LE MANS

EAST LANSING, Michigan (September 8, 2009) - RSR is scheduled to debut the Jaguar XKR GT2, the newest entry in the American Le Mans Series, at the famed Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, September 24 - 26.

In preparation for a full championship season effort in 2010, the team plans to enter the last two events on the 2009 ALMS schedule using the track time for testing and development. The car is undergoing extensive system tests at RSR's East Lansing, Michigan facility and is being prepared for a performance evaluation and shakedown prior to Road Atlanta.

The team will be hosting a press conference on Thursday, September 24 at Road Atlanta to officially unveil the car, drivers for 2009, and tire partners. Complete details on the event to follow.

Late September sees the annual return of the American Le Mans Series where the idea started - Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6 at Road Atlanta. The 1,000-mile, 10-hour spectacle brings together the world's top sports car teams with automatic berths to the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the line.

-credit: rsr

Well, they can call it testing and development, but I hope they fully expect to get the sh!t kicked out of them by Corvette Racing's testing and development.

[MOTV8]

I cannot believe what I just read.

Ferrari, Porsche. Well, that didn't take long. The Direct Injection package on the new Corvette C6.R GT2 cars is being "removed" for the Petit Le Mans later this month and the season-ending ALMS finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in October at the request of the ACO, the sanctioning body for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It seems that Ferrari and Porsche were upset about the Corvettes running the system this year, according to our European sources - even though it will be legal in 2010 (albeit on a new, smaller displacement engine package that Corvette Racing is developing to comply with the new specifications that come into effect next season for the "Global GT" classification) - and the two sports car manufacturers applied pressure to have it removed. Something tells us that Ferrari and Porsche should be careful what they wished for, because the last thing Corvette Racing needed was more motivaton to kick their asses this year and in 2010. - Source: autoextremist.com

BTW, just read a rumor that Porsche's GT2 car may not be strictly legal.... Come on, Ferdinand. Glass houses and all that...

[Guest Kens06]

The whole situation fits Lou's agenda! He has loved GT2 racing and now with the factory team in ALMS running GT2!! I only have one question.... When are the narrators on TV going to learn how to say his last name?? He isn't Lou Gilotti..That man quit racing Corvettes a few years ago... I believe the last time I saw him was in a Jag!! Do they even know the names of the people they are reporting on?? For the last two years I have been yelling at the TV, both Speed and the random major networks that may happen to cover an event..... OK, I feel better now... I have released that stress bubble.... Ken

[Desertdawg]

I knew it was coming, just not this soon... What a bunch of cry babies, someone call the waaaaaaaaa-mbulance. 38

[MOTV8]

An Ollie gives an interview.... With the past three rounds of the American Le Mans Series now under his belt, as a fully paid-up member of the super-competitive GT2 class, Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin reflects on how exciting and fun the racing has been and looks forward to the prestigious Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta, Georgia. "Being back in the ALMS has been fantastic. When you are away for a number of races, and you then return, you realise how good the championship is; the atmosphere, the people, the quality of the drivers and teams in it - it never seems to drop and is always high. "Going into the GT2 class, I think it’s fair to say that everyone at Corvette Racing has been a little surprised that the racing has been so close and so tight. There’s the four manufacturers, Porsche, Ferrari, BMW and GM, all glued together at the moment. Whether we take our first race at Mid Ohio or Road America or Mosport, every single car in that class had a possibility of running at the front or winning which makes for great racing and a huge amount of fun. "It’s been a real shot in the arm for everyone at Corvette after having effectively just raced ourselves in GT1 for a couple of seasons. To battle it out against Ferrari at Mosport, the BMWs and Porsche at Mid Ohio and Road America... there are so many memories from just those three races. I look back and think that was really good fun on the race track! "I can compare it with Corvette’s racing against Prodrive – both with the Ferrari 550 and the Aston Martin. You’ve got some exceptional drivers in a very good team at a very high level, and every single mistake is punished – whether it’s on your side or theirs. You know you’ve got to be running at the optimum the whole time, and that only serves to make you as a driver and the team better. That’s one of the reasons why we’re so excited to be in this class, as it’s going to raise our level even more. "Looking forward now to Petit Le Mans, I’d say it will be a huge challenge for us. The fact that we’ve got so many prototypes coming from Europe – including the Peugeots, Audis and ORECA car – it’s going to make it a very challenging event. You’ve got to take it all into account; the traffic, passing, just being around and on the track with those super-fast cars and at Atlanta there are some particularly unforgiving parts of the track. Coming down through Turns 3, 4 5 (as Jan Magnussen found out a couple of years ago) if you have contact there with a prototype you’re pretty much straight off into the wall. You’re going to come off second best. "We know there’s all those hurdles to overcome and we know the likes of BMW, Ferrari and Porsche are going to be exceptionally quick there and we’re going to have to be right on top of our game to be in with a decent shout. This car hasn’t run anywhere near that amount of time all in one go yet, so it’s a bit of an unknown how reliability is going to be. We’ve tested, and we’ve looked and seen and carried over some parts from the GT1 car in terms of transmission and other bits and pieces, but you’re still not sure when you’ve got all those pieces together in a brand new car and a brand new set of circumstances how everything’s going to work out. "Going there off the back of a victory at Mosport is fantastic, but at Petit Le Mans there will be a lot more pit stops, restarts, cold tyres in the night, full tanks of fuel and so on. We’ll also have three drivers as Marcel Fassler will be back with us, but we don’t look at that as being a negative in any way. For Olivier [beretta] and me, it was a huge plus and positive to come out of Le Mans and see the way Marcel had fitted in during the race. He was absolute dynamite. He had a bit of a spin early on but showed real character and mettle as he put that straight behind him and knuckled down and focussed. He was as fast as anybody in that car after that point; he’s a class act and an exceptional driver. Olivier and I are delighted to have him as part of our team."

[MOTV8]

Lou got a blurb today...

Monday, September 21, 2009

Gigliotti Ready to Fire up LG Corvette Again

BRASELTON, Ga. -- The last time we saw Lou Gigliotti’s LG Motorsports Corvette C6, it was nearly burnt to a crisp and headed on a truck bound east for Long Beach. Thanks to tireless work and a little help from its friends, the Riley Technologies-built car will make its return to the American Le Mans Series next weekend at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6.

Gigliotti will team with Tomy Drissi and newcomer Matt Bell will drive the GT2 Corvette, which will go up against the Pratt & Miller factory Corvette C6.Rs along with entries from Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Panoz, Dodge, Ford and newcomer Jaguar.

He discussed his return with SPEEDtv.com’s John Dagys shortly after a recent test at Watkins Glen.

“The test at Watkins Glen went very well,” Gigliotti said. “The car ran flawlessly. We put a grand total of 250 miles on it without a single drop of fluid, without a glitch and a hitch anywhere. Last year we had some cylinder head problems, but we fixed that this year and validated it again at The Glen.”

Boris Said was at the wheel late in the race at Long Beach when the Corvette caught fire. Said was out of the car even before the car came to a complete stop with the Corvette already in flames.

Gigliotti will team with Trans-Am champ Tomy Drissi and Matt Bell at Road Atlanta.

“Even though it looked terrible, it was mostly a fuel vapor fire,” Gigliotti said. “The heat melted a lot of the wiring and singed a lot of stuff we didn’t want to take a chance racing again. So we decided to strip it and rebuild it from the ground up.”

“Riley (Technologies) came to our aid,” he added. “They knew we didn’t have the money and helped us out quite a bit. They gave us a rear deck, a few parts and a pair of fuel cells. We really have to thank them for that. If it wasn’t for Riley, we’d still be looking for the money to put it all back together.”

The 12th annual Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6 on Saturday, September 26 is the American Le Mans Series’ cornerstone event at Road Atlanta in Braselton Ga. The green flag for the 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. ET with SPEED airing live television coverage starting at 11 a.m. ET. American Le Mans Radio presented by Porsche and Living Timing & Scoring will be available on Racehub at americanlemans.com. Live coverage also can be heard on Sirius 126 and XM 242. You can follow the Series on Twitter (almsnotes).

The race will also mark the ninth round of the 2009 MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge. Tickets are available at americanlemans.com and roadatlanta.com.

[Desertdawg]

Good to see Lou is back, and Speed is airing the whole thing. The GM team will be fun to watch, will they hang back to avoid another round of crying from the other teams?

[MOTV8]

Well the Petit isn't a sprint, it's a 10 hour marathon, so hanging back isn't a bad thing...at least in "practice"...and the Audi vs Puegeot LMP1 war should be fantastic.

Audi tops Petit Le Mans test day

By Matt Beer Thursday, September 24th 2009, 09:12 GMT

Audi struck the first blow on the official test day for the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, with Allan McNish and Dindo Capello's #2 R15 TDI setting the pace by 0.169 seconds over Stephane Sarrazin and Franck Montagny's #08 Peugeot 908.

All three of the major LMP1 manufacturers had a car in the top three - Gil de Ferran, Simon Pagenaud and Scott Dixon taking third in the De Ferran Acura, 0.8s off the pace.

The session took place in dry and sunny conditions after the heavy rain that had affected the private tests in the preceding days.

McNish, who set the benchmark 1m08.308s lap, was pleased to be back at a competitive event as Audi's limited racing programme has meant he spent most of the year testing.

"It was nice to be in a session with other cars," he said. "The R15 TDI was pretty good. It's still not ideal with the circuit being so green after all the rain this past weekend. But we're somewhere in the ballpark.

"The configuration of the car is very much the same as Le Mans, and that wasn't much different from Sebring. But there is continual room for improvement."

Nicolas Minassian and Pedro Lamy put the second Peugeot fourth, with the #1 Audi of Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner fifth having lost running following a trip off the road by Luhr. Highcroft Acura completed the top six.

The Butch Leitzinger, Ben Devlin and Marino Franchitti Dyson Lola-Mazda was the fastest LMP2 car, although class champion Fernandez Racing did not participate in the session.

The two Rahal Letterman BMWs topped the competitive GT2 field, ahead of the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche, the #3 Corvette and the Risi Ferrari.

Pos Drivers Cl Car Time

1. Capello/McNish P1 Audi 1m08.308s

2. Sarrazin/Montagny P1 Peugeot 1m08.477s

3. de Ferran/Pagenaud/Dixon P1 Acura 1m09.137s

4. Minassian/Lamy P1 Peugeot 1m09.234s

5. Luhr/Werner P1 Audi 1m09.821s

6. Brabham/Sharp/D.Franchitti P1 Acura 1m10.127s

7. Panis/Lapierre/Dumas P1 ORECA 1m10.309s

8. Field/Field P1 Lola 1m10.620s

9. Leitzinger/Franchitti/Devlin P2 Lola-Mazda 1m11.624s

10. Drayson/Cocker/Bell P1 Creation 1m12.216s

11. Pickett/Graf/Maassen P2 Porsche 1m12.549s

12. Dyson/Smith P2 Lola-Mazda 1m12.685s

13. Burgess/McMurry/Willman P1 Lola 1m14.013s

14. Van der Steur/Pecorari/Pecorari P2 Radical 1m16.220s

15. Hand/Auberlen/Priaulx GT2 BMW 1m21.574s

16. Muller/Milner/Muller GT2 BMW 1m21.798s

17. Bergmeister/Long/Lieb GT2 Porsche 1m21.838s

18. Magnussen/O'Connell/Garcia GT2 Corvette 1m22.056s

19. Melo/Kaffer/Salo GT2 Ferrari 1m22.275s

20. Law/van Overbeek/Neiman GT2 Porsche 1m22.302s

21. Sutherland/Drissi/Bell GT2 Riley Corvette 1m22.774s

22. Farnbacher/James GT2 Panoz 1m23.128s

23. Beretta/Gavin/Fassler GT2 Corvette 1m23.146s

24. Noda/Balbiani/von Moltke P1 Radical 1m23.530s

25. Sellers/Cicero GT2 Porsche 1m24.060s

26. Feinberg/Hall GT2 Dodge 1m24.143s

27. Murry/Robertson/Robertson GT2 Doran Ford 1m26.207s

[MOTV8]

Corvettes will have an honorary 7th driver at Road Atlanta – Bibendum, the Michelin Man

Petit Le Mans Is First Endurance Test for GT2 Corvette C6.R

Roller Coaster Road Course to Challenge New-Generation Corvettes in the Long Run

BRASELTON, Ga. – The GT2 version of the Corvette C6.R will face its sternest test yet at Road Atlanta on Saturday, September 26, in the 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans, the ninth round of the 10-race American Le Mans Series. The grueling race on the Georgia road course will be the first test of endurance for Corvette Racing since the debut of the second-generation C6.R in the GT2 category. Although the new-generation Corvette race car has finished on the podium in the last three sprint races – including its maiden win three weeks ago at Mosport International Raceway – Petit Le Mans will be the longest race yet for the Corvette ZR1-based machines.

Corvette Racing has seven wins in the GT1 category at Petit Le Mans, scoring victories in 2000-02, 2004-05, and 2007-08. Now the team is making its transition to the ultra-competitive GT2 category to test and develop the second-generation Corvette C6.R race cars in anticipation of a run for the championship in 2010.

"Petit Le Mans is always a formidable challenge because anything can happen in a 10-hour race," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "The fact that the team will be competing in the GT2 class means that it's going to be a tremendous battle. In addition to the endurance factor there will be the competition factor. We'll continue to focus on the priorities that have made Corvette Racing successful in the past: durability, reliability, race strategy, and pit stop execution."

Johnny O'Connell, a resident of nearby Flowery Branch, Ga., will be in the spotlight in his hometown race. O'Connell and teammate Jan Magnussen notched the Corvette C6.R's first GT2 victory at Mosport on August 30 in O'Connell's record-setting 100th career ALMS start. The red head knows the challenges he will face in his 101st ALMS race.

"Petit Le Mans is definitely a race you want to win, and we have a team that knows how to win long-distance races," O'Connell said. "That experience is definitely a plus. On the other hand, there could be periods of rain according to the weather forecast, and we have very little experience with these new cars in the wet. GM Powertrain has done an amazing job with the GT2 engines, but this will be the longest run so far with the 6.0-liter motors. So between the dicey weather and the longer distance, this will be our first true test of endurance in GT2.

"The GT2 Corvette is a little less edgy than the GT1 version, but the drivers still have to push just as hard," O'Connell explained. "With a smaller engine, we no longer have the horsepower to drive away from the GT2 cars. With steel brakes, we don't have the stopping power that we had with carbon brakes in GT1. It's going to be interesting to see where we stand relative to the competition in the fast and slow corners at Road Atlanta. We'll also have to contend with some very fast and impatient prototype drivers. It will be a challenge, but history shows that Corvette Racing is very good at doing long races without making mistakes."

Petit Le Mans will be the first race for the team's third drivers in the GT2 specification cars. Antonio Garcia will rejoin O'Connell and Magnussen in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R, and Marcel Fassler will again be teamed with Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R. Garcia is riding a streak of endurance racing victories in the Daytona 24-hour, Sebring 12-hour, and the 2008 and 2009 Le Mans 24-hour races.

"Antonio and Marcel are true professionals and they will adapt to the car and to the circuit quickly," O'Connell said. "Both of them have been racing in other series, so they're already sharp. They're going to show up at Road Atlanta and get dialed in quickly."

The Corvettes will have an honorary seventh driver at Road Atlanta – Bibendum, the Michelin Man. With special graphics for Petit Le Mans, Bib will be riding shotgun with the drivers in both cars.

"Putting Bibendum on the GT2 Corvettes for their first endurance race is our salute to Michelin," said Fehan. "Corvette Racing wanted to thank Michelin for the exceptional work that the entire Michelin organization has done to ensure our long-term success. None of that could have been achieved without the close relationship and technical partnership we enjoy with Michelin. Their dedication and commitment mirrors the Corvette Racing team's goals and objectives. It's a relationship that extends from the race track to the highway, with Michelin tire technology on both the Corvette C6.R race cars and the production Corvette ZR1 supercar."

Corvette Racing’s next event is the 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., on September 26. The race is scheduled to start at 11:15 a.m. EDT. SPEED will broadcast live flag-to-flag coverage starting at 11 a.m. EDT.

[MOTV8]

The third practice session's times have a Panoz leading GT2?

Peugeot still in control at Petit

By Simon Strang Friday, September 25th 2009, 01:51 GMT

Peugeot once again dominated proceedings in the third free practice session for Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Stephane Sarrazin set a 1m07.912s lap - the fastest of the weekend so far - in the 90-minute night session ahead of the sister #07 machine driven by Nic Minassian, 0.784s further back.

Rinaldo Capello was the quickest of the Audi runners, bumping the #02 R15 TDI up to third in the final minutes of a session that was stopped twice late-on to clear up debris.

Marco Werner was fourth fastest in the #01 Audi having damaged the front end, prior to the first of the two stoppages.

Simon Paganaud ensured that the de Ferran Acura was the fastest of the petrol runners, mixing it with the Audis and ending the session less than 0.3s slower than Werner's machine.

Olivier Panis was sixth for Oreca ahead of the Field Lola and the fastest LMP2 runner Klaus Graf in the CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder.

Dominik Farnbacher set the pace in GT2 with the Panoz ahead of the Farnbacher Loles Porsche that was inolved in Scott Sharp's massive accident in P2.

The Highcroft Patron team, unsurprisingly did not run during the session as it waits for a new tub to be sent over from Acura's development headquarters in California.

Pos Drivers Cl Car Time

1. Sarrazin/Montagny P1 Peugeot 1m07.912s

2. Minassian/Lamy P1 Peugeot 1m08.696s

3. Capello/McNish P1 Audi 1m09.027s

4. Luhr/Werner P1 Audi 1m09.250s

5. De Ferran/Pagenaud/Dixon P1 Acura 1m09.499s

6. Panis/Lapierre/Dumas P1 ORECA 1m10.335s

7. Field/Field P1 Lola 1m12.037s

8. Pickett/Graf/Maassen P2 Porsche 1m12.107s

9. Fernandez/Diaz P2 Acura 1m12.876s

10. Dyson/Smith P2 Lola-Mazda 1m13.942s

11. Leitzinger/Franchitti/Devlin P2 Lola-Mazda 1m14.800s

12. Drayson/Cocker/Bell P1 Lola 1m14.849s

13. Burgess/McMurry/Willman P1 Lola 1m15.791s

14. Van der Steur/Pecorari/Pecorari P2 Radical 1m17.354s

15. Farnbacher/James GT2 Panoz 1m22.050s

16. Henzler/Werner GT2 Porsche 1m22.070s

17. Melo/Kaffer/Salo GT2 Ferrari 1m22.101s

18. Beretta/Gavin/Fassler GT2 Corvette 1m22.112s

19. Hand/Auberlen/Priaulx GT2 BMW 1m22.134s

20. Magnussen/O'Connell/Garcia GT2 Corvette 1m22.157s

21. Muller/Milner/Muller GT2 BMW 1m22.386s

22. Bergmeister/Long/Lieb GT2 Porsche 1m22.610s

23. Sutherland/Drissi/Bell GT2 Riley Corvette 1m22.869s

24. Sellers/Cicero GT2 Porsche 1m23.202s

25. Law/van Overbeek/Neiman GT2 Porsche 1m23.286s

26. Feinberg/Hall GT2 Dodge 1m25.153s

27. Murry/Robertson/Robertson GT2 Doran Ford 1m25.212s

28. Noda/Balbiani/von Moltke P1 Radical 2m13.670s

Uh, btw, I don't see any Jagyooare times there...even though they did debut the car....LINKY...kinda looks like a Supra.

[dewey]

Lou already in pits, took the car through the sand, and it's raining, so there's some damage to the front. The factory cars took very little time getting to the front.

[dewey]

One of the BMWs having radiator problems. Still Gavin in 1st, O'Connell in 2nd, Lou's car is 10th (thanks to the Bimmer's rad). All on dry tires now.

[dewey]

Full course caution. The Ford GT lost the rear fairing for the second time today (first was warm ups).

[dewey]

Sucks when the commericals hit the racing AND football at the same time.

[MOTV8]

I love this racin' in the rain!

[dewey]

I love this racin' in the rain!

Needs to get back to raining enough for the rain tires. Doens't seem that the other cars can keep up in the rain...

however...

After the last caution and double pit stops by #3, #3 and #4 are running, well, #3 and #4. Lou's car is in 8th, 9 laps down.

[dewey]

Another caution, back up to #1 & #2, everybody diving into the pits for rain tires...Lou still in 8th in class...UPDATE, Ferrari took the lead, but that because they haven't switched over yet

[MOTV8]

So much for liking the rain....SPOILER ALERTAGE....

Petit Le Mans halted as storm hits

The Petit Le Mans has been red-flagged just short of half-distance after lightning struck over the circuit.

The race was already running under a prolonged yellow as the early rain had returned with a vengeance, and with conditions worsened and the storm set to increase, the officials have elected to bring proceedings to a temporary halt. The clock will continue running during the stoppage, so the race will still finish just after 9pm local time.

This is the first time during the race's 12 years that it has had to be red flagged, and there are concerns that it might not be possible to restart unless the weather improves. The latest indications from race control are that the stoppage could last for around two hours, with 6pm local time the earliest racing is likely to resume.

Peugeot holds a one-two at present, with Franck Montagny in the #08 car leading Pedro Lamy. Early leader Allan McNish is right behind them in the #2 Audi, having spun back to third when he lost control on the slippery track during a previous yellow.

Marco Werner escaped a trip through the gravel to retain fourth at present in the other Audi, ahead of the ORECA and the Highcroft Acura.

The #16 Dyson Lola-Mazda would be leading LMP2 by a vast nine-lap margin if it was not ineligible this weekend as it tried a new bio-butanol fuel that the team is eyeing for 2010.

The rest of the LMP2 field has been delayed by various incidents. Marino Franchitti, Ben Devlin and Butch Leitzinger officially lead the class in the second Dyson car, despite losing time with an early gearshift actuator problem and a spin by Leitzinger.

Fernandez Racing's Acura lost a lot of time having steering problems attended to in the paddock, while the Cytosport Porsche was similarly delayed when electrical issues struck following Klaus Graf's spin through the sodden grass in the first hour.

GT2 has seen an incredible lead battle featuring between four and six cars all day, with the factory Corvettes invariably at the front.

But just before the stoppage the Risi Ferrari jumped from the tail of the lead pack to hold a one-lap advantage over the field having changed to wets under yellow just before the rain arrived.

The #92 Rahal Letterman BMW is second ahead of the Farnbacher Loles Porsche, the #4 Corvette and the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche, with the #3 Corvette a further lap back after Johnny O'Connell went off during the downpour.

Rob Bell also spun the Drayson Lola-Judd in the wet, but by that time the new car was already a long way down the field following an early crash for the former Le Mans Series champion.

And that's all she wrote. The vettes were running awesome, except for Johnny's get-off, thought they had this one wrapped up. More to come....

[MOTV8]

Road Atlanta: Corvette Racing race report

Racing series ALMS

Date 2009-09-26

Corvette Racing Splashes to Fourth and Sixth in Rain-Shortened Petit Le Mans

Corvette C6.Rs Run One-Two Before Early Finish to Rain-Soaked Race

BRASELTON, Ga., Sept. 26, 2009 -- The torrential rain that has inundated Georgia returned today, forcing officials to red flag the scheduled 10-hour Petit Le Mans after four hours and 50 minutes of racing. With heavy rainfall and runoff continuing to drench the Road Atlanta circuit and no hope of drying the track, the event was declared official at 8:44 on the race clock. When the race ended with the cars parked in the pit lane, Corvette Racing's No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R was fourth in the GT2 class, one lap behind Risi Competizione's GT2-winning No. 62 Ferrari 430. The No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R was classified sixth, two laps down.

The two Corvette C6.Rs dominated the first three hours of the race, running first and second consistently until a flurry of pit stops mixed the running order just as the heavy rain arrived. Starting with rain tires on a wet track, the Corvettes quickly asserted themselves at the start with Oliver Gavin taking the No. 4 Corvette to second and O'Connell slotting the No. 3 Corvette into fourth on the opening lap. Gavin made a move on the pole-winning Ford GT of David Murry in the Turn 10 chicane on the second lap, but lost grip and fell to fourth. O'Connell immediately applied more Chevrolet pressure to the Ford, taking the lead on the third lap with an inside pass going into the high-speed first turn. On the fourth lap, Gavin passed the championship-leading Flying Lizard Porsche of Patrick Long to take third, and one lap later he overtook Murry in Turn 1 to make it a Corvette Racing one-two in the GT2 class.

"I knew this morning we had a good car in the wet," said O'Connell. "Everyone was being a little tentative at the start, but I felt confident with my Michelins. Olly got in a little too deep and went off trying to pass the Ford GT, so then it was my turn to take care of business."

With a dry line emerging, the Corvette crew made the decision to switch from rain tires to slicks on the first pit stop. Gavin was the first to pit at the 45-minute mark, taking on four slick tires and a tankful of E85R ethanol. O'Connell pitted two laps later and also made the change to dry tires. Following the exchange of pit stops, Gavin emerged at the front of the GT2 class with O'Connell comfortably in second.

"I thought I was being super careful with the Ford, but obviously I wasn't being careful enough and went across the grass in Turn 10," Gavin said. "Fortunately the car wasn't damaged and I got going again and passed the Porsche and the Ford GT. The track was drying and I thought it had to be time for slicks. I could see it was going to be nasty in several turns, but thought that if I could build enough heat in the tires, it should be good for the rest of the track. As soon as I went out on slicks, I knew we'd made the right choice."

The Corvettes made their first driver changes during a full-course caution at 1:34 (62 laps) with Jan Magnussen replacing O'Connell and Olivier Beretta replacing Gavin. A second full-course caution period closed up the field, producing a pack of six GT2 cars representing Corvette, BMW, Porsche, and Ferrari all running within 20 seconds of each other in the third hour. The Corvette team took advantage of the third yellow flag to make another change of drivers at 2:49 (109 laps) with Antonio Garcia taking over the class-leading No. 3 Corvette C6.R and Marcel Fassler getting into the second-ranked No. 4 Corvette C6.R.

Marc Lieb in the No. 45 Porsche took second in the GT2 class on a restart following the fourth full-course caution and then closed to within half a second of Garcia. The two drivers waged a fierce battle until their duel was interrupted by the fifth caution period at 3:33. The Corvettes suffered a setback during their yellow-flag pit stops, ceding track position to Lieb and to Joerg Mueller in the No. 92 BMW. Rejoining the race after the pit stop exchange, Fassler was third and Garcia fourth.

"It was difficult because the two cars in front of me, the Risi Ferrari and No. 87 Porsche, were fighting for position and didn't want to lose a lap," said Garcia. "They were defending their position very hard. I think our pace was faster, so I took it easy and was waiting for an opportunity."

With the weather deteriorating and rain in the air, the No. 62 Ferrari pitted for wet tires just after the four-hour mark under the race's sixth full-course caution. Racing resumed at 4:24, but four minutes later a downpour began. Both Corvettes pitted for rain tires at 4:29, with O'Connell getting back into the No. 3 and Gavin returning to the No. 4. As he completed his out lap, O'Connell aquaplaned off the track in the downhill Turn 12 and was beached in the gravel trap. Quick work by the IMSA safety team had the No. 3 Corvette back on the circuit after losing only one lap. However, the No. 62 Ferrari's timely pit stop resulted in a one-lap advantage on the rest of the GT2 field.

"The rain was unbelievable," O'Connell said. "I came underneath the bridge like I've done a thousand times before and suddenly hit a stream of water. I wasn't pushing hard at all, just trying to get around and catch up with the field. When something like that happens you feel awful for the guys."

"It was quite difficult because the tires were cold running behind the safety car, and as soon as I tried to accelerate the car moved around and it was very tricky to stay on the track," Fassler said. "I was following a BMW, thinking he would show me the grip level, but then he went directly into the pit so I was on my own. Out of the first corner I had a big moment with oversteer. When I saw the rain coming, I was happy to hear the pit call for a driver change."

The downpour intensified, and race officials displayed the red flag, stopping the race at 4:50. The clock continued to run while the cars were parked in the pit lane, and the race was terminated three hours and 55 minutes later.

"It was a very unusual event, and in some respects a disappointing one," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "Rain is a perfect environment to race the GT2 Corvette C6.R -- the engineering that has gone into this chassis provides tremendous mechanical grip. Coupled with Michelin's exceptional tires, we certainly would have liked the opportunity to finish the race with a good result. But safety is always paramount at GM Racing, and we applaud the officials in making the decision to call the race. Safety must always prevail."

Corvette Racing's next event is the Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. The four-hour race is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m. PDT on Saturday, October 10. SPEED will broadcast the race tape-delayed on Sunday, October 11, at 2:30 p.m. EDT.

NEXT EVENT

October 10, Monterey Sports Car Championships, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif.

TV: SPEED tape-delayed, October 11, 2:30 p.m. EDT

-credit: gm

[Desertdawg]

I just finished watching it, man oh man did someone turn on the spigot or what? To bad they didn't let them run just a little longer, but it was still fun to watch. Thanks for the news Dean