ALMS - Petit Le Mans – Preview
Ten (Nine?) Hour Endurance Race – Or Ten Hour Sprint?
For The Tenth Time
© Gary Horrocks

As the American Le Mans Series enters the home stretch of its schedule, it also enters into a homecoming of sorts, as the series visits Road Atlanta, where it all began for the series as we know it now.

Besides Road Atlanta / Braselton being the home base for the series and its offices, it is also where the series held its first actual race, and this running of Petit Le Mans is the tenth one. Think about that. In less than 10 years, this race is being considered to be of similar importance to the sportscar racing fraternity as Sebring - making it arguably the second or third most important sportscar race held on North American soil, depending on what your feelings are towards the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

It is thanks to the vision of Don Panoz that we have to opportunity to be able to witness such racing here in North America, racing that only used to be available elsewhere. Remember that when you start to grouse about car counts and such.

Despite the fact that we have already run 10 of the 12 races of the season, it’s almost like these last two races are, or should be considered, highlights of the schedule, even if most of the points battles are all but settled. It’s odd, but the last one of the schedule is also very appealing. One of the reasons is that from Petit, the circus travels to Laguna Seca, and it is at these two races that we are able to get a glimpse of what the schedule really could be. This is endurance racing. Endurance racing should be more than a 2.75 hour sprint. I propose 4 hour minimum ‘sprints’, as well as a variety of race lengths throughout the season. Will we get this for the 2008 season? We’ll know Friday at the annual State of the Union press conference.

Another part for the appeal of these races is that historically there has always been some cross-over from Europe; some of the cars that run in the LMS find their way to the States, to run the season ending double header.

During the season, part of the intrigue of heading into Petit is who is rumored to be coming over and then, in the end, who actually shows up. For this year, the rumor mill was in full force early and all sorts of possible entries were mentioned, but in the end we gain two LMP1 entries and one LMP2, over the cast of usual and semi-usual entries.

We could have used more GT1 entries to take on the Corvettes, besides the addition of the Lista Doran Maserati. Aston Martin teams – where are you?

OK, on to the race itself… which since 2000 has been owned by Audi, as has any endurance race in that time frame. In fact it wasn’t until this season and the emergence of the Penske Porsches that we have seen an Audi lose more that a handful of races in a season. Will this be the year that something other than an Audi breaks through to win? Whose smiley faces will light up the night sky this year?

What may make a difference this year is the repaving of the track itself. Gone are the concrete patches, replaced by smooth asphalt, and the racing surface itself is wider in certain areas. This will make a huge difference on the pace of the race and will likely allow the already fast P2 class cars to close up any gap that they might have on the Audis. For sure though, the track record will be shattered. Reports surfaced earlier in testing that the Audis were into the 1:07 and possibly even into the high 1:06 range for lap times, compared with last year's qualifying record of a 1:10.829, set by Nic Minassian (Ryan Smith points out that the all-time record is Allan McNish's 1:10.379, set six years ago ). Kiss that one good-bye, unless the rains, locusts or some other sort of Biblical plague hits the region.

Over the 1000 mile race distance, you still have to give the nod to Audi, based upon its reputation for reliability in the long races. But has that reputation taken a hit lately, as the team tries to improve the pace of the diesel powered car? Remember Mosport? McNish and Capello were leading late until a transmission issue dropped them well off the pace. The pace may be such at this race that an issue like that could drop them out of contention. Such is the quality of the field this year.

McNish: “The circuit, which has been resurfaced since last year’s race, is ideally suited to our R10 TDI. But I also believe, as has been the case all season, the LM P2 class Porsche and Acura sportscars will be very strong. The race is 1,000-miles in duration and will last over nine hours. It’s likely honours won’t be decided until the final stages. Reliability has always been a strong factor for Audi and this will be an important key again.

“I competed in the first ‘Petit’ in 1998 and the event has grown tremendously over the years, with a crowd of over 90,000 attending last year’s race. It’s a physical and demanding race because I’ll be in the car for 2-3hrs, out for Dindo’s 2-3hr stint, then back in the car for another 2-3hrs. That means you must keep 100% focussed and there are no particularly long straights, unlike at Le Mans, when you can take a deep breath, relax and let things calm down for a moment or two.”

Besides the race, there is also the LMP1 Championship which needs to be settled. Heading into this one, McNish and Capello have a 22 point lead over their Audi team mates, Marco Werner and Emanuele Pirro. With a total of 49 points available at the last two races (26 for a win at Petit and 23 at Laguna), finishing one points paying position above their teammates this week will clinch the drivers’ Championship for Capello and McNish.

Joining in for the fun of the last two races will be Arena International Motorsport (Zytek 07S) and Creation Autosportif (Creation CA 07 Judd). Both cars and teams have featured well in their past ALMS entries, with the Creation having qualified on pole here last season. This year, the Creation will be driven by the very experienced trio of Jamie Campbell-Walter, Harold Primat and Christophe Tinseau. “Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca have, in the past, been the setting for some of our best performances,” said Team Principal Ian Bickerton. “We just love everything about racing in the American Le Mans Series, and I believe that we have once again put together a really strong driver line up for our 2007 appearances. To do well again at either, or both, of these races would be a great reward for all the hard work put in by everyone at Creation this year.”

In the Arena-run Zytek will be familiar faces Tom Chilton and Hayanari Shimoda, who made such a splash in the 2005 season, winning Laguna and taking pole at all three races that they entered.

Team Cytosport enters its first Petit Le Mans and will be adding Memo Gidley to the driver line up. They will be running against Intersport Racing, which will be making its debut with the ex-Dyson Lola B06. Both teams will be running identical cars and it will be interesting to compare the two efforts. Jon Field has certainly had his moments at PLM, notably last year, battling a Penske Porsche. Rounding out P1 will be Autocon and its Creation, which this time will be driven by the full trio of Michael Lewis / Chris McMurry / Bryan Willman.

The LMP2 cars might as well be lumped into the LMP1 class, as their performance will be right there. Making an appearance at Petit will be Zytek Motorsports with the car that featured so well at the LMS round at Silverstone. Stefan Mucke / Danny Watts / Jan Charouz will share the car, which is seen to be a good benchmark for comparison of the competition level between the P2 class in the ALMS and the LMS. This is the chassis that finished second in class at Le Mans this year with Adrian Fernandez, Haruki Kurosawa and Robbie Kerr at the wheel.

Any discussion of the P2 class in the ALMS will show that the Penske led effort of the Porsche Spyders is the cream of the crop. The streak has continued and is now at eight for overall wins and nine for LMP2 class wins. Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard have a 37 point lead over their Penske team mates, Sascha Maassen and Ryan Briscoe. Pretty much any points paying finish at Petit will clinch the championship for the #7 car. Pat Long will be added to the line up in the championship leading #7, while Emmanuel Collard will be in the #6.

Maassen, who is one of the most successful drivers in the ALMS, would like to add another Petit win to his record, only this time he is possibly shooting for the overall win, especially as now it appears as if reliability issues are a thing of the past at Penske. "Our cars are built to last 24 hours. There is no problem. We don't have to slow down because of the car. The drivers can do it as well. We have to step our game because our competition did that as well. Everyone goes quick so we have to go quick as well. It's going to be a long sprint. It's a very fast track and very challenging. With the format of 1,000 miles, it's about nine hours. It will be a long race as well which makes it very difficult."

Bernhard, who hopes to clinch the championship here, echoed Maassen’s comments. "You can go 10 hours on a full sprint. Normally you try to be a little conservative and start to get into a rhythm. Then when you need to push, for sure you can push. We know in our Porsche RS Spyder we can do that. We will see how the race will play out. I think we will try to play a little with the strategy because it's a longer race. But I think we will not push from the first moment on. This race has more of a long-distance characteristic. We know there will be more cars than in the shorter races. You have to be more patient in traffic compared to the shorter races, where you know you have to be more aggressive. Here it will be nearly 10 hours and you have to adapt to the long-distance characteristics."

Hoping to repeat the success from Sebring is the Andretti Green Acura team, which reunites the victorious threesome from the 12 hour race. Bryan Herta will be joined by Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan again, as the team hopes to match its best result so far.

"I've been here (at Road Atlanta) and spent several times with Marino driving at Petit Le Mans in different types of cars and watching Allan (McNish) race too,” says the IRL Champion. “ It was fun to finally get out there with the car and see what it is all about. The track feels great with the grip from the recent repaving. The car is so much different than it was at Long Beach and certainly at Sebring. It really is spectacular and fast. Bryan, Marino and the rest of the Andretti Green Racing team have done a phenomenal job in improving it and I'm excited to get back in it for Petit."

All of the Acura teams have shown flashes of speed all season long, but the most consistent points-scorers has been Team Highcroft, which entered the season as the chassis development team in the Acura three-pronged strategy. Entering Petit, Highcroft drivers David Brabham and Stefan Johansson find themselves tied for 3rd in the points battle with the Dyson pairing of Andy Wallace and Butch Leitzinger. In 2006, Highcroft finished a strong third overall at Petit, five laps back.

Joining Brabs and “Steve Johnson” will be Robbie Kerr, who partnered fellow Acura driver Adrian Fernandez to a second place finish in the LMP2 class at Le Mans this year.

Team owner Duncan Dayton said of Kerr, "we're very happy to have Robbie on board for Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca. He has demonstrated over the course of his career, and especially with his result at Le Mans this year, that he has what it takes to excel in sports car racing. He was on pace with the other drivers during the test, so we're looking forward to building on our success so far this season."

The Lowe’s Fernandez Racing team has been the only Acura team to be running the Lola chassis. There have been times where this has been an advantage for the team, although lately those times have been fewer. But entering into a race at Road America with a very smooth racing surface could be a good thing for the team, as Lola chassis always seem to run better on smoother tracks. Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz will combine in the car as they have all season long and they will be anxious to improve on their best finish of the year, a second in class, and third overall, at Sebring.

Dyson Racing enters Petit with some momentum, following the second in class finish for Wallace and Leitzinger at Detroit. But Chris Dyson also sees it as an opportunity for the team to build for next season. "Petit is always a classic. It's gotten bigger and bigger each year. It's a tremendous way to round out our season and it's also a jumpstart for 2008; it's the point in time where everyone starts to talk about next year. So there's a real sense of closure on the season and also new beginnings. Dr. (Don) Panoz has always made a way to keep the crowds coming out year after year. We've been blessed by good weather and we hope that continues. The fans in Atlanta are really phenomenal, die-hard folks. Certainly the strategy becomes a huge part of the longer races. Every second you can save in the pits will figure into the final result. There also are a lot more opportunities for improvements because it's a long race, but there also are just as many risks of having problems. You have to be extra careful about everything from preparing the car to our driving. You have to push as hard as you ever do. But it's a longer race and a lot more can happen."

BK Motorsports continues with their Mazda Lola for Petit and, as at Sebring, adds Raphael Matos to the normal driving squad of Jamie Bach and the always fast Ben Devlin. The season has been one of extreme highs and also extreme lows for the team, but lately they are showing that they are getting close to the pace necessary to compete in the incredibly tough ALMS LMP2 class. Testing earlier in September gave the team an opportunity to check out the surface and prepare for the race and the indications were that the team is ready to get going.

In GT1, it is again Corvette Racing that will feature, but as at Road America, at least they will have somebody else in the class to race. In the points, the #4 car of Ollie Gavin and Olivier Beretta has a 197-165 points lead over the #3 of Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen. Short of not completing the races at Petit and Laguna, the season Championship again will go towards the #4 car. Max Papis will join in the #4,, while Ron Fellows returns to the #3, which may (or may not) be his last time in a Corvette in ALMS competition.

Driving the Lista Doran Maserati will be the usual drivers Didier Theys, Freddy Leinhard, this time joined by Andrea Bertolini, who is competing in a Maserati in the FIA series and raced one here in the ALMS in the 2005 season.

"I am very happy to be back racing in the United States, especially as I will be doing it with one of the best America teams around in Doran Racing," said Bertolini. "The Petit Le Mans is one of the hardest and most prestigious races on the ALMS calendar, along with the 12 Hours of Sebring. Along with Mosport and Elkhart Lake, Road Atlanta is one of my favorite circuits," the 33-year-old driver added. "American circuits are always a tough challenge for us European drivers because they're different from the ones we are used to, both in terms of their layout and the type of track surface."

Which brings us to GT2. And Ferrari. Risi specifically. It’s been quite a year for the Risi team and like the other point battles, this one is pretty much decided. Mika Salo / Jaime Melo in the #62 Risi Ferrari Melo lead Johannes van Overbeek / Jorg Bergmeister in the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche 167-131. Again, scoring any points for the Risi entry will pretty much clinch the title for the team.

Neither Salo or Melo have experience at Road Atlanta before, but Johnny Mowlem, who is rejoining the team as he did at Sebring and Le Mans, has a tremendous amount of experience at the track. That said, lack of track experience hasn’t been an issue all year long for either and shouldn’t prove to be a problem this time either.

Melo: “I’ve been told it’s a lovely track, and one that I think I will like as it’s fast with different types of corners. Hopefully I will learn the track very quickly, like I have all the new tracks we have visited. We will test there on the Saturday and Sunday before the race and use that time to set up the car. We want a car that is easy to drive for all three drivers. I’m looking forward to it and the target is obviously to win to get the championship done. It won’t be easy as Porsche want to win as well, but we have a good package, the car and drivers are in good shape, so we should do well”.

For the last two races of the season, the second Risi entry will revert to the “Krohn Green” as Tracy Krohn brings along Nic Jonsson and new to the team, Darren Turner. For Nic, it will be a homecoming of sorts as he lives in the area and also has business interests in the area as well. Jonsson: “I am very excited to be back at Road Atlanta. It will be a great experience to drive the Ferrari 430 GT for Risi Competizione and Krohn Racing, especially with all the success this year at Le Mans and with the Risi Competizione team. I am glad to be able to drive at my home track and think it will be an advantage to be able to sleep in my own bed and eat home cooking during race week. It will be great to be able to team up with Tracy Krohn and Darren Turner, and we should have a good run. Tracy has really picked up speed with the Ferrari and knows the track well through the Panoz School, and Darren has plenty of experience with both the car and the track. We hope to have a good result.”

The Petersen White Lightning team returns to Petit looking to gain some positive results in what has been a long and difficult season for the team. Adding to the intrigue for this race is the appearance of Lucas Luhr. Luhr, a long time Porsche driver, signed with Audi during the off season and was granted permission from Audi to drive the Ferrari in the last two races of the season.

Dale White: "We knew that we needed to have a driver to replace Dirk at Laguna. We had spoken to a number of really talented drivers when Lucas' name came up. I contacted him not knowing what Audi's position on this would be. Fortunately, they were very supportive and we want to thank Audi AG for giving us the opportunity to bring Lucas back to the team for Petit and Laguna. We have learned this year the importance of having the right drivers and the right driver pairings in the car. Dirk and Peter have a great relationship and Lucas and Dirk have a strong past driving together. For once this season everything seems to be dropping into place with drivers. This brings a lot of additional excitement to the team to close '07 on the right foot.

"We are here to win. That is all that this is about. We aren't in the battle for the championship this year; we aren't fighting to give the drivers a title. We are here to win for the sake of winning. That is all we are coming to Atlanta to do. Then we will re-focus and go to Laguna with that as our only goal there."

Having Turner return to the team would have been a natural, as he has had success with the team and is comfortable and liked by all. Unfortunately the conflict for Laguna with an FIA series race meant the team would need to find a replacement for that race anyway, so the appearance of Luhr, who is available for both races, became possible.

The long endurance races in the past have been Porsche’s domain. In fact, for the most part, the GT2 class itself has been Porsche’s domain. Not this year. The new 997 has just not (quite) been up to competing with the Ferrari all season long, although the Lizards were able to pull out wins at Lime Rock and Mid Ohio, where the Ferrari races went poof. They were oh so close at Sebring, but other than that, they are fortunate to be as close as they are in the points chase.

That is not to say that the Lizards or any other Porsche team has done badly this year. They have made the best of what they have, but in this evolution, the Porsche is just not able to compete, speed wise, with the Ferrari. Over the long run, at Petit, maybe they can, but they will likely need some help to be there at the end of the race with a chance to win. Could it happen? You bet.

The Lizards, at least the #45 car, have been the most consistent all year long, although Detroit was costly, where a fire due to an on track altercation took them out of the race. The burnt out chassis has been replaced with a new one and the team is ready to go.

Bergmeister: "I've definitely had luck at Road Atlanta over the last four years. Hopefully some of that luck will carry forward for us! Petit is always a challenging race – it's a sprint that just happens to last 10 hours. You race here without holding anything back. On the other hand, the length of the race can work to your advantage and give you a chance to recover if there is a problem. We have a brand new car here so it's good that we have a long race week and lots of track time leading into the race to work on setup."

Joining Bergmeister and van Overbeek in the #45 will be Porsche Factory driver Marc Lieb, while the #44 will see Seth Neiman, Lonnie Pechnik and Darren Law in the car.

Tafel Racing has had a shake up, and as such Robin Liddell is no longer with the team. His place in the #71 Porsche will be taken by Dominik Farnbacher. Wolf Henzler had this to say about his new partner. “I have known Dom for a while and he is very quick. As he did in the Le Mans Series last year and the ALMS this year, he has learned a lot and brings speed and experience to the 71 car. He ran Petit Le Mans last year with Alex Job, therefore he knows what to expect from the race. The race will be a challenge running with just two drivers. We both like the fast corners on the Road Atlanta circuit, especially the last two corners. It is a very long race, we will need luck and of course a reliable car. Dom and I will have to run consistent lap times and the team will need good strategy. The team has worked hard all year and I hope we can reward them with a strong podium finish.”

Road Atlanta is home for the team and they have been busy preparing for the race in front of their home crowd and the team hopes the effort pays off. “We have gone through a little shuffling in our driver lineup,” said Tony Dowe, team technical director. “We think that this group will give us the best chance for success at the second biggest race on the schedule. By the time the green flag drops we will have spent nearly a week testing at Road Atlanta. We hope that our miles around the track will pay dividends after 10 hours next Saturday.”

Jim Tafel will be joined by Nathan Swartbaugh and Lars Erik Nielsen in the #73. The Dane points out that “we will also be doing the Laguna in the same car. I’m very happy to be back with Tafel, the team I drove Daytona 24 with this year, in the Red Bull entry with Phillip Peter and Dieter Quester. and looking forward to these two races in the US.” Nielsen, with Pierre Ehret and G-A GT Champion Dirk Werner, will complete their season at Interlagos, in Nielsen’s Farnbacher-run Porsche. The Brazilian event seems to be too much of a one-off to appeal to the ALMS regulars.

Rahal Letterman sees Graham Rahal in the car again for PLM, joining regulars Ralf Kelleners and Tom Milner, while Team Trans Sport adds Marc Basseng to its regular line up of Terry Borcheller and Tim Pappas. The part timers racing here include the Primetime Race Group with its Viper and Robertson Racing with its Panoz.

It remains to be seen, but this could be the last race in front of the home crowd for a Panoz Esperante. Rumors have been hooking up Team PTG with a number of options for the upcoming season. One of them is still a Panoz, but indications are that they may go in another direction. But for this race, Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand are joined by LNT’s Tom Kimber-Smith, while the second car is still listed with the TBA pairing. The car still has flashes of speed, and that should be in abundance at its home track, but has typically been let down by reliability - or just plain bad luck.

Auberlen: "You always want to do well in front of your sponsors, the people that make the car, work on the car and touch the car. They're all going to be there. We'll have a lot of visitors and a lot of people. Pretty much for me, I want to win every weekend so there's not that much a difference. But you really, really want to do it for the guys. It's great (racing here). If you have a good car it's even better. If you're in the front it's even better. The Panoz always runs quick there. We've won a race there and it's a very challenging track. You have two different speeds - LMP cars and GT cars. So there could be a 30-40 mph speed difference between the two. To watch them cohesively get together on a track is a feat in itself."

Testing has been taking place over the weekend and will continue throughout the week. Official sessions kick off on Thursday and DSC will be there to document the action.