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Petit LeMans ends in Audi's favor
An outright victory for Audi in the American Le Mans Series has been a long time coming, the team having narrowly missed the mark on many occasions since it last happened at the St. Petersburg race in March. The two diesel-powered Audi R10 LMP1 cars have been saddled with restrictions by the ALMS organizing body to keep the season competitive, and pesky Porsche RS Spyders from Penske Racing in the LMP2 class have been beating the Audis consistently all year long. That ended last Saturday in a fitting way at the 10th Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, though it wasn't easy. Dindo Capello piloted his R10 across the finish line after 1,000 miles of racing just 0.923 seconds ahead of Penske Racing's Romain Dumas in his Porsche RS Spyder. Dumas had a 30-second lead over Capello with a half hour left of racing to go, but a caution period allowed the Audi to work its way up through lap traffic after falling behind. Once behind Dumas, it reportedly took Capello eight minutes to pass him with 15 laps to go. With the win, Capello and co-driver Allan McNish also secured their second straight LMP1 drivers championship, and Audi earned the distinction of sweeping the three big enduro events of the year: Sebring, Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans.
Follow the jump for results of the top ten finishing cars and check out the gallery below for pics from the race courtesy of Audi.
[Source: Americanlemans.com]
Gallery: 2007 Petit Le Mans
1 Capello/McNish (Audi R10 TDI) 394 laps in 9h 18m 58.275s
2 Dumas/Bernhard/Long (Porsche) + 0.923s
3 Dyson/Smith (Porsche) - 8 laps
4 Mücke/Watts/Charouz (Zytek) - 11 laps
5 Campbell-Walter/Primat/Tinseau (Creation-Judd) - 17 laps
6 Wallace/Leitzinger/Lally (Porsche) - 22 laps
7 Maassen/Briscoe/Collard (Porsche) - 24 laps
8 Brabham/Johansson/Kerr (Acura/Honda) - 29 laps
9 Beretta/Gavin/Papis (Chevrolet) - 30 laps
10 von Overbeek/Bergmeister/Lieb (Porsche) - 41 laps
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
William 2:54PM (10/08/2007)
Great venue, great cars, great race.
This was my first live ALMS race, and I have to say it was the best motor sport event I've ever been to. I hope this series continues to grow and gain manufacturers, drivers and sponsors.
I've put up my own photo album of pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntscblog/sets/72157602322049721/
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why not the LS2/LS7? 5:57PM (10/08/2007)
If you saw the R10 pass the Porsche RS Spyder, you'd know Audi really has nothing to complain about. The R10 is capable of passing the LMP2 cars like they are standing still. The R10's biggest enemy is itself, it's just too long and too heavy to do well in the corners.
Additionally, my understanding is Audi found a way to change their fuel rig to save 15+ seconds on refueling. And IMSA let them use it. Can you imagine what IMSA would have said to Acura if they did the same thing? It would be very similar to the hammer ACO dropped on Audi's quick-change R8 rear end 8 years ago.
On another note, does anyone else want to chime in on the Vette controversy at Road Atlanta? Each Vette was involved in a collision with an LMP2 car at the top of the esses and Doug Feehan (of Corvette Racing) said this was a problem with the prototypes not showing enough patience because of their frustration passing GT1 cars in the straights. The prototypes were quick to point out that the common factor between the wrecks was the Corvettes, and they were shutting the door on the LMP2s in a dangerous way.
I couldn't tell from just the TV coverage, I don't know who to blame.
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davet 6:25PM (10/08/2007)
"The R10's biggest enemy is itself, it's just too long and too heavy to do well in the corners."
It's a P1 car. It will have the advantage on the bigger, faster tracks, P2s will have the advantage at the tight twisty tracks. That's how it's supposed to work. Road Atlanta isn't terribly long, but it does have fast straights and few tight corners, so P1 should have the edge there.
Great race, though, and great challenge from the Penske team. Also good news: new entries to GT2 next year. But GT1 is looking weaker and weaker :(
Graham 10:20PM (10/08/2007)
I also had a great time. I must say that my favorite Petit LeMans was the first one in 1998, it was more special, unique, more of a "let's see what happens" type situation. Virtually all the teams were the actual LeMans teams, European trucks and kit flown over on a big jet I assume. However, I'm happy to see that its hugely popular in its current incarnation. I've grown up a bit too. I don't camp on the 10A/10B hill any more but sit on the purpose built seating terrace in the same spot. And if you still have a first place battle at the very end, after 1000 miles, you can't beat that. While I'm proud of Corvette's success in their class, it's a shame no one is around to challenge them.
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j_diesel 10:39PM (10/08/2007)
TDI power, indeed!
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Equilibrium 7:07AM (10/20/2007)
Is there someone know the results of the Porsche RS Spyder,AUdi R10 and Porsche 911 GT1(each version) in Nurburgring? And the street car Jaguar XJ 220, F40,F50,Enzo.
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