Backstretch Motorsports

The battle that everyone expected at Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New MAZDA6 lived up to its billing. Audi remained unbeaten at Road Atlanta as Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro spotted the field two laps at the start of the race but came back for a stunning victory in the 11th annual 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic.

McNish and his Audi R10 TDI crossed the finish line 4.512 seconds ahead of Peugeot’s Christian Klien and the Peugeot 908 HDi that he drove with Stephane Sarrazin and Nic Minassian. A record weekend crowd of 113,000 witnessed the week-long fight between the top two powers in sports car racing.

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All four classes set qualifying records Friday at Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New MAZDA6, highlighted by Stephane Sarrazin’s run to the overall pole position for Saturday’s 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic at Road Atlanta. Sarrazin’s time of 1:06.242 (138.039 mph) nipped Audi Sport North America’s Allan McNish by 0.085 seconds as the battle between the two marques intensified even more.

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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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Rear wheel drama costs Larbre an hour

The Larbre Competition Saleen S7R (photo left) suffered a difficult start to the Le Mans 24 Hours after losing a wheel three hours into the race.

The left rear wheel detached as Christophe Bouchut braked for Tertre Rouge and pitched him off the track and deep into a gravel trap. After being hauled out by a service vehicle, Bouchut limped back to the pits for repairs.

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Le Mans, France - The Peugeot No. 7 is completely in control of the race at the 8 Hour mark. Audi Sport North America team No. 2 is second in LM P1 but is one lap down.

Approximately 2 hours into the 24 Heures du Mans, the No. 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche (driven by Patrick Long) made contact with the No. 80 Flying Lizard Porsche on course and both cars flew off the course deep into the gravel. The collision drove the No. 80 Porsche into the guardrail. There was significant damage to the car including severe bodywork damage on all sides, a broken rear wheel, two broken radiators, and right rear suspension damage. Driver Seth Neiman was able to drive the car back to the pits, where the crew is currently working on repairs. The No. 80 had been in the lead in GT2 for most of the race, with Joerg Bergmeister driving the first stint, and Johannes van Overbeek the second. We do not have an estimated time yet for return to the track; the car has been off track for 50 minutes so far.

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PEUGEOT 908 HDi FAPs MONOPOLISE THE TOP THREE PLACES ON SATURDAY’S GRID

For the second year in a row, a stunning lap from Stephane Sarrazin has put Team Peugeot Total on pole position for the start of the Le Mans 24 Hours. The Frenchman was the fastest driver on the track during qualifying thanks to a time of 3m 18.513s on Wednesday in the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP he shares with Pedro Lamy and Alexander Wurz. The N8 car will consequently lead the field away when the endurance classic begins at 3pm on Saturday afternoon, ahead of the N9 and N7 sister cars of Franck Montagny/Ricardo Zonta/Christian Klien and Marc Gene/Nicolas Minassian/Jacques Villeneuve. The French machines completed qualifying more than three seconds quicker than their best-placed rival as the top teams spent the majority of the week’s two practice sessions concentrating on fine-tuning the race set-ups of their respective machines.

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Corvette Racing First and Second in Provisional GT1 Qualifying for 24 Hours of Le Mans

Magnussen and Gavin Set Fast Times in First Four-Hour Qualifying Session

LE MANS, France, June 11, 2008 – With the possibility of rain tomorrow, there was a sense of urgency when tonight’s first four-hour qualifying session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans began. When qualifying concluded shortly before midnight, Corvette Racing was first and second in provisional GT1 qualifying. Jan Magnussen turned the quickest time in the GT1 class at 3:49.406 in the No. 63 Compuware Corvette C6.R, with Oliver Gavin a heartbeat behind at 3:50.766 in the No. 64 Compuware Corvette C6.R.

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Audi Takes LMP1 Class Win; O’Connell,Corvette Easily Win GT1
Flying Lizards Break Through with 1-2 GT2 Finish

If the grueling Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida is an indicator, the 2008 ALMS campaign will be another record book season for Penske Racing Porsce RS Spyders. Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard drove to an historic overall win at the 56th running of the American endurance classic.

Proving the computer simulations that show the LMP2 class to have a distinct advantage over their LMP1 counterparts, the lighter prototypes stole the thunder from the higher horsepower , heavier machines — the first overall win at Sebring by an LMP2 car that was further punctuated by four P2 lead-lap finishers, a race record. Dumas took the checkered flag by 12.979 seconds over Adrian Fernandez in the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b he shared with Luis Diaz. The P2 class swept the overall podium with Dyson Racing’s Porsche RS Spyder of Butch Leitzinger, Marino Franchitti and Andy Lally placing third.

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Nic Minassian and Peugeot were fastest in Wednesday afternoon’s practice session at Sebring.

Things are starting to heat up at Sebring International Raceway. Nic Minassian went to the top of the timing chart Wednesday afternoon with a lap of 1:45.989 (125.673 mph) for Peugeot in the day’s second practice session for the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. The factory diesel-powered LMP1 is racing in North America for the first time.

The top spot in each of the week’s previous sessions has alternated between Peugeot’s 908 and the Audi R10 TDI. That’s appropriate because Minassian said the surface at Sebring has changed just as often.

“Everything is OK with the car,” he said. “But it’s amazing how much the track changes from day to day. It’s really a learning experience. While I’ve done quite a bit of testing this year, I have been on the shorter side of the circuit more often testing for other series. But it’s good to get as much work as possible for this race.”

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