Backstretch Motorsports

BRASELTON, Ga., Oct. 4, 2008 – A race that began with Johnny O’Connell’s daughter singing the national anthem on the starting grid at Road Atlanta ended 9 hours and 41 minutes later with a victory in the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans for O’Connell and his teammates Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows. O’Connell and Magnussen clinched the American Le Mans Series GT1 drivers championship with their eighth win of the season in the No. 3 Compuware with one race still to run.

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The entry list for Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New MAZDA6 continues to take shape with several teams adding drivers to their lineups for the annual 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic at Road Atlanta. The American Le Mans Series’ founding event gets the green flag at 11:15 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 4.

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Red Bull Racing Team and driver AJ Allmendinger have agreed to part ways for the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Allmendinger is in his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season driving the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota, which currently sits 34th in owners’ points.

“AJ is a talented driver and we really enjoyed working with him,” said RBRT Vice President and General Manager Jay Frye. “He’s come a long way in just two years and we wish him nothing but the best.”

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For all the planning, preparations and sometimes panic with getting cars and equipment ready for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, not much is said about the return trip back to the States for American Le Mans Series teams. This year the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park is four weeks after Le Mans, which is a contrast to the two-week turnaround needed to ship cargo to Europe for the Le Mans Test Day following the Utah Grand Prix.

Corvette Racing has become a bit of an expert, having crossed the Atlantic each year since 2000 and winning its class five times in that span. Gary Pratt, co-founder of Pratt & Miller which builds, supplies and supports the factory Corvettes for General Motors, takes us through the post-Le Mans process.

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Dirk Werner: “There is a very high level of competition here - there are great drivers and the cars are a lot of fun to drive.”

The age-old axiom of first finishing before you can finish first has never sounded truer in the ears of Farnbacher Loles Racing. Performance hasn’t been an issue in the first four rounds of the American Le Mans Series season. Results on the other hand have been a bit hard to come by for the team in the midst of its first full season of Series competition.

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It’s hard to remember a time when an Audi victory in the American Le Mans Series was considered a surprise. But that’s just what happened on Saturday though as Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr scored an unlikely victory in the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach as the two Audi R10 TDIs finished 1-2.

Werner crossed the finish line 1.964 seconds ahead of Emanuele Pirro in the sister Audi as the German manufacturer finished 1-2 overall in an American Le Mans Series race for the first time since St. Petersburg in 2007, also a street circuit.

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Back at the track where he and Romain Dumas started their run to the American Le Mans Series LMP2 championship a year ago, Timo Bernhard took pole position for Porsche and Penske Racing at the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach on Friday. The German Porsche factory pilot posted a lap of 1:11.330 (99.324 mph) in a competitive and record-breaking day in southern California.

Bernhard’s lap around 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit was good enough for a 0.094-second gap over Luis Diaz in Lowe’s Fernandez Racing’s Acura ARX-01b. Bernhard, who again will team with Dumas, also broke Dario Franchitti’s track record of 1:11.838 set last season in Andretti Green Racing’s Acura.

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In the landscape of American motorsports, it doesn’t get much more glamorous than the Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend. After a sensational debut in 2007, the American Le Mans Series returns again this weekend for the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach, Round 3 of the 2008 season. In addition to title sponsorship of Saturday’s race, Patrón also is the primary sponsor of the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b, which David Brabham and Scott Sharp will pilot in search of the team’s first LMP2 victory. In preparation for the race, they discussed the challenges of the weekend.

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Marco Werner’s affinity for street circuits shone again Friday. The Audi factory driver captured the overall pole position for Saturday’s Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg presented by XM Satellite Radio with a record run, besting Penske Racing’s Romain Dumas as Audi looked to regain its winning ways in the American Le Mans Series.

Werner’s best lap was a 1:02.825 (103.144 mph) around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn circuit on the bayfront of St. Petersburg. His time also beat Dumas’ overall pole-winning time from 2007 by 0.214 seconds in the diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI he will share with Lucas Luhr.

And it could have been even better. Werner was on pace to improve his time on the next lap before running too hard into Turn 8 and spinning the car. The R10 did stop before impacting the tire barrier so there was no damage.

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The American Le Mans Series returns to the streets of St. Petersburg this weekend for the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg presented by XM Satellite Radio with new teams, new drivers, new cars and even new fuel throughout its GT classes. For one, there is Corvette Racing’s debut race with cellulosic E85 to think about. Then there are a score of new entries in GT2 to consider: an Aston Martin DBRS9, Ford GT, Corvette C6, Dodge Viper Competition Coupe and even a new version of Porsche’s 911 GT3 RSR. It should add up to a fantastic weekend, judging by commentary from Series drivers.

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