2011 American LeMans Series Thread............

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Team Falken Wins Wet-n-Wild Mid-Ohio Race

Post by mlittle » Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:34 pm

(from 6 August 2011)


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---Team Falken Tire scored an unlikely GT class victory in Saturday's Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge, benefiting from a heavy late-race downpour that resulted in the two-hour and 45-minute race ending under the red flag.

The No. 17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Wolf Henzler restarted in sixth on the final restart with 22 minutes to go and made the drive of the race through the highly competitive field in the matter of a single lap.

The German Porsche factory driver fended off spinning cars in the extremely slick conditions, passing a dozen cars through traffic, including the class-leading Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of Patrick Long on the front straight. Moments later, Long spun off-course at the Keyhole, which brought out the final caution and led to only the third-ever red flag in series' history with 10 minutes to go.

With sections of the 2.25-mile circuit flooded, IMSA was unable to restart the race, giving Henzler and Sellers a surprise GT class victory and first for the Derrick Walker-led Falken squad.

"When the race went back to green, going down the back stretch, I saw nothing," Henzler said. "There was so much water and I couldn't even see the cars ahead. I just guessed where they were. When they changed lines, I managed to see a little bit... I knew the 45 [car] was the leader... and then I passed him."

Sellers, who earned his first career victory, knew their Falken-shod Porsche could have played a factor if the expected rains arrived, given the strength of the Japanese brand's wet-weather tire.

The rains indeed came, and in colossal proportions. It was enough to give Porsche its first GT victory of the year in Le Mans competition worldwide.

"The rain tire was fantastic, no question about it. But I think it was definitely worth noting my co-driver drove an unbelievable couple of laps," Sellers said. "It was probably the most impressive couple of laps I've ever seen. I think Falken deserves a lot of credit, but Wolf deserves a lot as well. I'm happy to be part of the program and to get my first win with Wolf."

The No. 4 Corvette Racing C6.R of Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen survived for a runner-up finish in class despite a late-race spin by Gavin in the adverse conditions. Teammate Tommy Milner was in a podium-scoring position as well but looped his Corvette twice and had to settle for sixth.

Championship leaders Joey Hand and Dirk Muller came home third in their No. 56 BMW M3 GT after a trouble-filled race, which included a mid-race collision with the sister No. 55 BMW Team RLL machine of Dirk Werner and a late-race scuffle with the Jaime Melo-driven No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari.

The Ferrari, which initially gambled on slicks during the downpour, dropped out with suspension damage as a result from contact with the BMW.

Muscle Milk AMR celebrated its third LMP1 victory of the season, with Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr taking their Lola-Aston Martin to a comfortable win over the No. 16 Dyson Racing Lola B09/86 Mazda of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith in second.

The move of the race came following the first restart with one hour and 25 minutes complete, when Luhr managed to get around Smith for the overall lead. Both contending prototypes made their final scheduled stops with under an hour remaining, only to pit a few laps later for wet-weather tires.

"Right after my pit stop when I came out, I saw sprinkles," Graf explained. "It started in Turn 2 at the Keyhole and I thought it wasn't too bad... Before we came in for rain tires, it was really hard to keep the car on the road. Cars were spinning left and right. So it was really about using the experience I've had from many years of racing. In days like this, it pays off."

Dyson's Lola-Mazda of Smith and co-driver Chris Dyson had led from the pole before the mid-race change for the lead. The LMP1 championship-leading squad, however, suffered mixed fortunes as its sister No. 20 machine of Humaid al Masaood crashed out early.

Intersport Racing scored its first-ever LMPC victory, with Kyle Marcelli and Tomy Drissi leading a 1-2 finish for the local Dublin, Ohio-based squad.

Overcoming two early-race penalties, which put the No. 89 Oreca FLM09 a lap behind, Marcelli made up the time in the dry and came within striking distance of the lead when the rains came.

But it was teammate Jon Field in the No. 37 car that Marcelli was forced to overtake. The 21-year-old enjoyed a spirited battle with one of racing's most flat-out drivers and managed to take the class lead just two laps before the final caution.

"When I got in the car, we put our heads down and I think we set some pretty quick times moving up through the field," Marcelli said. "In all honesty, gaining that lap back [was important] and then the rain came. A few laps later I took the lead and that was it."

The win was both Marcelli and Drissi's first in ALMS competition and also continues a successful stretch of racing for the Canadian, who earned a class victory at the Six Hours of Imola in July.

Jon Field and son Clint came home second in LMPC. It was no doubt a good day for the Fields, as their IMSA Prototype Lites car also won on Saturday.

The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports machine of David Cheng and Javier Echeverria completed the class podium in third after both of the championship-leading CORE autosport entries hit trouble.

In GTC, TRG walked away with its third consecutive class victory, thanks to a dominant performance by the No. 66 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Duncan Ende and Spencer Pumpelly in both the dry and wet.

Ende took over the lead early and flawless strategy by the Kevin Bucker-led squad paid off with another class victory. Their only creditable challenge came from the No. 77 Magnus Racing Porsche of Craig Stanton, which suffered a late-race spin in the rain while battling for the lead.

It promoted the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Porsche of Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen to second, with Stanton and co-driver John Potter recovering for a podium finish in third.
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P1 Points Provisional From Mid-Ohio

Post by mlittle » Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:15 pm

(from 16 August 2011)


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--While the rain-shortened Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge delivered its share of surprises, a technicality could hand the American Le Mans Series LMP1 title to a single driver instead of a traditional pairing.

SPEED.com has learned that drivers’ points were not awarded to either Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing’s Klaus Graf nor Chris Dyson of Dyson Racing following the premature end to the two-hour and 45-minute race.

Both LMP1 drivers, along with the two BMW Team RLL drivers of Joey Hand and Bill Auberlen initially failed to meet IMSA’s minimum drive time requirement, which was set at 30 laps for the Mid-Ohio event.

All four drivers were in their respective cars during the drama-filled closing stages, when IMSA elected to throw the red flag with approximately 10 minutes remaining. The race didn’t restart due to excessive standing water around the 2.25-mile circuit.

Speaking to SPEED.com, ALMS Race Director Beaux Barfield explained that in light of the unexpected red flag, the minimum drive time requirement of 30 laps was reduced to 28 laps post-race, thus awarding GT championship leader Hand and teammate Auberlen points for the event.

“We simply made an adjustment,” Barfield said. “Basically we reduced the minimum [distance] requirement because the race was shortened. The race was shortened by about 6.5 percent, so we reduced the minimum requirement by the same, which only reduced it by two laps.”

However, both Dyson and Graf only turned 17 and 18 laps, respectively, and have still not been awarded points.

As a result, it currently leaves the top two LMP1 driver pairings on unequal points. Championship leader Guy Smith provisionally holds a 16-point lead over teammate Chris Dyson, while Lucas Luhr of Muscle Milk AMR is 20 markers ahead of full season driver Graf.

If the points were to stand as-is, it would effectively award the drivers’ championship to a single driver. Tom Kristensen was the last solo LMP1 champion in 2002, prior to the series’ change in points structure which eliminated bonus points for poles and fastest race laps.

Barfield, however, stressed that the LMP1 points remain provisional pending a meeting with the race stewards at this weekend’s Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase at Road America. A final ruling on the situation is expected to come by Saturday.

Mod's note.........as a result, ALMS points will not be posted until after Road America
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Ferrari Leads Competitive Road America Test

Post by mlittle » Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:16 pm

Image

---A pair of Ferrari F458 Italias topped the GT class time charts today at Road America as American Le Mans Series teams gear up for Saturday's Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase.

Toni Vilander turned a best time of 2:06.894 in his Risi Competizione machine, edging out the No. 02 Extreme Speed Motorsports entry of Guy Cosmo by 0.425 seconds.

Both Prancing Horses proved to hold an upper edge on the competition, as quickest non-Ferrari, the No. 4 Corvette Racing C6.R of Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen, was nearly one-second off Vilander's flying time.

Championship leaders Joey Hand and Dirk Muller slotted in fourth quickest in their No. 56 BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT, while ESM's sister No. 01 Ferrari, driven by Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek, completed the top-five in class.

Up front, the No. 16 Dyson Racing Lola B09/86 Mazda of Guy Smith led the way, thanks to the Briton's 1:55.132 lap time. It was some 2.437 seconds quicker than the surprisingly second quickest entry of AutoCon Motorsports. The No. 12 Lola B06/10 is being piloted by Tony Burgess, Chris McMurry and Mike Lewis, who is making his final prototype start this weekend.

Dyson's sister Lola-Mazda of Humaid al Masaood and Steven Kane struggled, setting only the ninth best time overall, while Mid-Ohio winners Muscle Milk AMR again elected to not take part in the two-hour promoter test session.

The surprise of the day came from Level 5 Motorsports, which ended the session third quickest overall and only four seconds away from the pace-setting LMP1 machine. Luis Diaz turned a best time of 1:59.356 in his LMP2-class Lola B11/40 Honda that he'll share with Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut on Saturday.

Level 5's Lola-Honda is 20 kg lighter this weekend, thanks to a balance of performance adjustment made by IMSA last month. Road America marks the Wisconsin-based team's first series start since Long Beach in April.

Gunnar Jeannette led the way in the LMPC category, running a 2:00.063 lap time in his CORE autosport Oreca FLM09, while defending class champion Jeroen Bleekemolen topped the charts in GTC aboard his Black Swan Racing Porsche.

No major incidents were reported throughout the session, other than a few GTC cars having off-course excursions.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:55 am

Road America Practice Session 1 Class Leaders
LMP-1} #6 Muscle Milk-AMR(AMR-Lola), 1:54.134 sec
LMP-2} #55 Level 2(Lola-Honda), 2:00.839 sec
LMPC} #05 CORE Autosport(Oreca FLM-09), 2:01.797 sec
GT} #4 Compuware(Corvette ZR1), 2:06.422 sec
GTC} #54 Black Swan(Porsche 911 RSR), 2:13.648 sec

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BMW On Point at Kettle Moraine

Post by mlittle » Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:34 am

(from FR 19 Aug. 2011)

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---BMW Team RLL will start Saturday's Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase from the GT class pole position following a storming lap by Dirk Muller. The factory German driver turned a best time of 2:05.447 in his No. 56 BMW M3 GT, edging out the No. 4 Corvette Racing C6.R of Jan Magnussen by a mere 0.005 seconds.

Muller's pole-winning lap, the team's fifth consecutive, was one of two new class qualifying track records at the famed 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit. The Bobby Rahal-led squad will be searching for its third consecutive win at Road America in tomorrow's four-hour American Le Mans Series race.

"I really believe the entire combination of the car and tires makes it work really well here," Muller said. "We've seen that for the last three years and I hope it can remain that way tomorrow."

While Muller and co-driver Joey Hand continue to lead the way in the highly competitive GT championship, the duo are coming off a string of two unlucky races at Mosport and Mid-Ohio, where penalties and mistakes cost them a chance of victories.

"Sometimes it's tough. You can't win all the races," Muller said. "We won three of them in the beginning. Nobody knows the outcome of this year but I have the feeling that we had a little bit of tough luck in these last two races. We had the speed to win both races but we still finished fourth and got good points. There's really big points coming now. When it goes, it goes and so far, it really looks good."

The No. 56 BMW will start alongside Magnussen and co-driver Oliver Gavin's Corvette, after losing the pole in less than a blink of an eye.

"When the session started, I made a quick decision to fall back to give myself a big gap," Magnussen explained. "I was clear of traffic, set my fast time, and then did a cool-down lap to get ready for my final qualifying run. That lap was looking really good until we caught traffic. Even with a similar lap, five thousandths could have gone either way."

Toni Vilander put his No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia third quickest, ahead of the sister BMW of Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner in fourth. Defending drivers' champions Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long were close behind in their No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, making it four different manufacturers in the top-five.

In LMP1, Klaus Graf earned another pole position for Muscle Milk AMR, setting a blinding 1:51.828 lap time in the Lola-Aston Martin. The surprise of the day, though, came from an equally impressive lap by American Le Mans Series rookie Steven Kane, who ended the session only 0.364 seconds away from Graf's best time in second aboard the No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola B09/86 Mazda.

"For our Muscle Milk Aston Martin, it was the right combination," Graf said. "We did a lot of work. Lucas and I, along with our engineers in the sessions to get the car where we have it now. We made the car more uncomfortable to drive but sometimes you have to do that in order to go fast. We did the right chances and I'm very pleased about that."

Chris Dyson in the sister No. 16 Lola-Mazda wound up third quickest overall with a 1:52.401 set on his final lap. The No. 12 AutoCon Motorsports Lola B06/10 AER of Tony Burgess posted the fourth quickest time overall and in class.

Despite being the only LMP2 car here this weekend, Level 5 Motorsports' Lola B11/40 Honda continued to impress, with Christophe Bouchut turning a best time of 1:56.664. While it was only good enough for fifth overall, behind four LMP1 cars entered this weekend, it was less than five seconds from Graf's overall pole-sitting time.

“I did the best I could during my qualifying lap,” Bouchut said. “If you look at the video, you could see that I was pushing very hard and was on the limit. I would have been fighting to get that pole position either way. The team did a really good job. The car is great. We want to do the best possible for the Level 5 team in the race.”

Butch Leitzinger earned his first career LMPC podium. The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports driver ran a best time of 1:59.262 in his Oreca FLM09 he'll share with Rudy Junco Jr. Leitzinger's time was 0.095 seconds quicker than points leader Gunnar Jeannette, who had to settle for second in his No. 06 CORE autosport machine.

Leitzinger's pole-winning time came in the prototype veteran's class debut.

"From the first lap, I was instantly comfortable with the car," Leitzinger said. "The team, PR1, has done a great job preparing it. So it came off the truck very good and we were instantly competitive. Both me and my teammate, Rudy Junco, have been able to battle it out for the top spot in practice. I'm really impressed with the class."

The No. 18 Performance Tech entry was third, thanks to Kyle Marcelli's 1:59.379 lap time. Eric Lux qualified the No. 63 Genoa Racing machine in fourth, with Jon Bennett rebounding from a late practice accident to post the fifth quickest time in class.

The GTC category initially saw Sean Edwards capture the class pole, but his 2:14.126 lap time was later disallowed after one of his co-drivers in the NGT Motorsports Porsche had not completed a practice lap.

It gave defending class champion Jeroen Bleekemolen and Black Swan Racing the top spot in class. The No. 66 TRG Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly was promote to second as a result.
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Muscle Milk AMR Wins Closest-Ever ALMS Race

Post by mlittle » Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:38 am

(from SA, 20 August 2011)

Image
---With less than 10 minutes to go in Saturday’s Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase, Klaus Graf was going through a bit of deja vu. The Muscle Milk AMR driver was out front but chased closely in pursuit by the Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda of Guy Smith.

Graf, though, not only had to worry about fending off the hard-charging Briton, but also watch his fuel gauge, knowing that his V12-powered Lola-Aston Martin was on its last drops of E85.

The German lost last year’s American Le Mans Series race at Road America on the final lap with only two corners to go when his prototype sputtered out of fuel. Twelve months later, he and the Greg Pickett-led team celebrated a thrilling victory in the closest overall finish in series’ history.

After four hours of hard-fought racing, Graf edged across the line just 0.112 seconds ahead of Smith to take the down-to-the-wire LMP1 win for he and co-driver Lucas Luhr.

“It was probably one of the hardest races I’ve ever done,” said an elated Graf, who scored his fourth victory of the season. “They told me to keep pushing and save fuel, so it’s kind of a hard combination!

"I had to give it all I had and drive defensively at the end. Guy was very fair, I really appreciate it. After four hours and to come so close. It’s unbelievable for the Muscle Milk car and Aston Martin. It’s a great day.”

It appeared to be Muscle Milk AMR's race to lose at the halfway point, with Graf jumping into a comfortable lead over the No. 16 Dyson Lola B09/86 Mazda of Smith and Chris Dyson. Dyson's sister No. 20 machine of Steven Kane hit trouble after jumping out to an early lead.

While the Oryx-backed Lola ultimately retired due to a crash by Humaid al Masaood, the fight for LMP1 honors came down to a two-horse race.

Smith and Grad made their final stops together under the final caution with 45 minutes to go, but the Muscle Milk crew opted for scrubbed Michelins compared to Dyson's sticker Dunlop tires. Fuel concerns for Graf added further uncertainty over the final few laps.

AutoCon Motorsports completed the LMP1 podium, although the Chris McMurry and Tony Burgess-driven Lola B06/10 AER was classified in 7th overall.


After a season filled with disappointments, Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander finally broke through to score their first GT class victory.

The No. 62 Ferrari F458 Italia cruised to a 9.061-second victory over the No. 55 BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT of Dirk Werner, who appeared to hold the upper edge in the closing stages of the four-hour enduro.


Werner took over the class lead during the fourth and final full-course caution with 45 minutes remaining, thanks to a bold two-tire change by the Bobby Rahal-led crew just a handful of laps prior to the yellow.


But following the restart, it didn't take long for Melo to reel in the German, passing the BMW with 28 minutes to go.

The win for he and co-driver Toni Vilander marked the first for the Ferrari F458 in ALMS competition and for the Houston-based crew this year.

"We actually had a clutch problem in the middle to end of the race," said Melo, who earned the win in his 50th ALMS start. "It was pretty hard to keep the pace under the conditions. But the team did a great job. The crew is fantastic. The first victory for the Ferrari 458... I'm really happy.

"We had many problems in the beginning of the year and we were waiting for this win. I don't think it's going to be the last one. It's going to be the beginning of many wins, I think."

Werner and co-driver Bill Auberlen came home in second, ahead of BMW Team RLL teammates Joey Hand and Dirk Muller, who retain the GT class drivers' championship lead.

Muller made a bold late-race pass on the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche of Jorg Bergmeister for the final podium position. Bergmeister and co-driver Patrick Long were credited with a fourth-place finish as a result.

Corvette Racing led early in the hands of Oliver Gavin but was forced to settle for fourth. Gavin and Jan Magnussen's fortunes were still better than their sister car of Tommy Milner, which ran to the same strategy as BMW's Werner but retired late in the running due to a crash.


Facing no competition, Level 5 Motorsports cruised to the LMP2 class victory, but a costly mid-race pit lane penalty deprived Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz of a possible overall podium result.

The trio in the No. 055 Lola B11/40 Honda came home in fifth overall, four laps back from the overall-winning cars and only one lap adrift from third place after a relatively trouble-free run.

"We were pushing 100 percent," Diaz said. "We wanted to be on the overall podium. I think Scott did a great job in his first stint. Christophe drove well. We were pushing hard, but we unfortunately had a penalty that maybe cost us to be on the overall podium. I think the Level 5 team did a great job and I'm very happy."

LMPC class honors went to PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports' Butch Leitzinger and Rudy Junco Jr., who finished an impressive third overall in their No. 52 Oreca FLM09.

Having started from the class pole, Junco led early, but came under attack from the No. 63 Genoa Racing machine of Elton Julian. The two exchanged the top spot a number of times before Leitzinger's race-winning move on Eric Lux with 33 minutes to go.

Leitzinger edged out Lux at the line by 19.515 seconds to score the California-based team's first victory in series competition.

"The PR1 team did just a phenomenal job," said Leitzinger, who won in his LMPC debut. "At any one point, we would all be together. There was no [team] you could discount and say, 'Oh I'll get by them easily and I won't have to battle them.' You had to battle everyone, every time for every turn."

Lux, Julian and Christian Zugel came home in second, capitalizing on a rather disastrous day for championship leaders CORE autosport, which suffered two costly incidents that dropped the No. 06 entry of Gunnar Jeannette and Ricardo Gonazlez to a fifth place finish.

However, the Charlotte-based squad managed to get its sister car of Frankie Montecalvo and team principal Jon Bennett on the podium in third.

Once again, the battle for GTC class honors didn't fail to disappoint, with Black Swan Racing's Jeroen Bleekemolen leapfrogging from third to first on the final lap amid an action-packed fight for the win.

"It was unbelievable," Bleekemolen said. "I was catching them the whole time but there was not so much of a difference in speed. Then on the last lap, I got around on Spencer [Pumpelly], who was blocked by the 30 [of Sean Edwards]. Then I could overtake Sean two corners before the end. Then he hit men, so I got a puncture. But still, I could bring it home. It was really close."

Edwards, who was gambling on fuel in his No. 30 NGT Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, was handed a 150-second penalty post-race for blocking, which dropped him to third in the results. The current Porsche Supercup championship leader held control of the race in the closing stages.

Pumpelly nearly pulled off his third victory in as many weeks but like Bleekemolen, was caught up in the last-lap shoving match. It just turned out to be Bleekemolen and co-driver Tim Pappas' day.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 03, 2011 7:30 am

Updated ALMS Standings



~~LeMans Prototype Class
LMP-1 Drivers Standings
t-1st}[1]Guy Smith, 119 pts(2 wins)
t-1st}[2]Chris Dyson, 119 pts(2 wins)
t-3rd}[3]Lucas Luhr, 101 pts(4 wins)
t-3rd}[4]Klaus Graf, 101 pts(4 wins)
t-5th}[5]Chris McMurry, 31 pts
t-5th}[6]Tony Burgess, 31 pts
7th} Jay Cochran, 30 pts(1 win)
t-8th}[8]Steven Kane, 26 pts
t-8th}[9]Humaid al-Massoud, 26 pts
LMP-1 Engine Standings
1st} Mazda, 119 pts(2 wins)
2nd} Aston Martin, 101 pts(4 wins)
3rd} AER, 31 pts
LMP-1 Chassis Standings
1st} Lola-Mazda, 119 pts(2 wins)
2nd} Aston Martin, 101 pts(4 wins)
LMP-2 Drivers' Standings
t-1st}[1]Christophe Bouchut, 71 pts(2 wins)
t-1st}[2]Scott Tucker, 71 pts(2 wins)
3rd} Luis Diaz, 55 pts(2 wins)
4th} Ryan Hunter-Reay, 30 pts(1 win)
5th} Joao Barbosa, 26 pts
LMP-2 Engine & Chassis Standings
--LMP2 Engine: Honda, 75 pts(3 wins)
--LMP2 Chassis: Lola, 75 pts(3 wins)


~~LeMans Prototype Challenge Class
t-1st}[1]Gunnar Jennette, 102 pts(2 wins)
t-1st}[2]Ricardo Gonzalez, 102 pts(2 wins)
3rd} Eric Lux, 95 pts(1 win)
t-4th}[4]Jon Bennett, 84 pts
t-4th}[5]Frankie Montecalvo, 84 pts
6th} Elton Julian, 74 pts(1 win)
7th} Kyle Marcelli, 60 pts(1 win)
8th} Anthony Nicolosi, 51 pts
9th} Tomy Drissi, 49 pts(1 win)
10th} Rudy Junco, 45 pts(1 win)


~~Grand Touring Class
GT Drivers' Standings(top-10)
t-1st}[1]Dirk Muller, 108 pts(3 wins)
t-1st}[2]Joey Hand, 108 pts(3 wins)
t-3rd}[3]Oliver Gavin, 86 pts(1 win)
t-3rd}[4]Jan Magnussen, 86 pts(1 win)
t-5th}[5]Bill Auberlen, 81 pts
t-5th}[6]Dirk Werner, 81 pts
t-7th}[7]Jaime Melo, 66 pts(1 win)
t-7th}[8]Toni Vilander, 66 pts(1 win)
t-9th}[9]Wolf Henzler, 57 pts(1 win)
t-9th}[10]Bryan Sellers, 57 pts(1 win)
GT Manufacturers' Standings
1st} BMW, 117 pts(3 wins)
2nd} Chevrolet, 90 pts(1 win)
3rd} Porsche, 87 pts(1 win)
4th} Ferrari, 85 pts(1 win)
5th} Ford, 45 pts
6th} Jaguar, 6 pts
7th} Lamborghini, 1 pt


~~Grand Touring Challenge Class
1st} Tim Pappas, 114 pts(3 wins)
t-2nd}[2]Duncan Ende, 103 pts(2 wins)
t-2nd}[3]Spencer Pumpelly, 103 pts(2 wins)
4th} Dion von Moltke, 69 pts(1 win)
5th} Jeroen Bleekemolen, 61 pts(2 wins)
6th} Bill Sweedler, 60 pts
7th} Nick Ham, 54 pts
8th} Damien Faulkner, 53 pts(1 win)
9th} Sean Edwards, 41 pts
t-10th}[10]Craig Stanton, 40 pts
t-10th}[11]John Potter, 40 pts
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Dyson Leads Delayed Practice in Charm City.......

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 03, 2011 4:03 pm

Image

---Dyson Racing led the way in the opening practice session of the day at Baltimore. Guy Smith topped the time charts, turning a best lap time of 1:31.202 in his No. 16 Lola B09/86 Mazda during the one-hour session, which was delayed over five hours due to track construction.

Smith edged out the No. 37 Intersport Racing Oreca FLM09 of Kyle Marcelli by 0.599 seconds, who wound up second overall and quickest of the LMPC contenders.

Dyson's championship rival, Muscle Milk AMR, suffered electrical issues on the out lap, as Klaus Graf ground to a halt on course. It brought out the first of two red flags. The Lola-Aston Martin didn't return to action during the session.

Wolf Henzler topped the GT class time charts in the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche, thanks to the German's 1:34.333 lap time. The No. 4 Corvette Racing C6.R of Jan Magnussen was second, ahead of the Joey Hand-driven No. 56 BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT.

In GTC, Jeroen Bleekemolen posted the quickest time in the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

The second red flag came out when Duncan Ende suffered an accident at the wheel of the No. 66 TRG Porsche. Ende spun his GTC contender and made considerable contact with the wall. It brought the session to an early end with only two minutes left on the board.

Competitors got a late start Friday, as construction of the 2.1-mile, 12-turn street circuit wasn't completed until the early afternoon after a scheduled 8 a.m. start. It thus put the entire day's schedule over five hours behind, with sessions having been compressed.

ALMS teams will have 45 minutes of further track activity today, with a final 15-minute practice session on tap for 6:05-6:20 p.m. ET, and GT/GTC and LMP/LMPC qualifying following shortly after.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 03, 2011 4:12 pm

Baltimore Practice Session #1 Class Leaders
LMP1: #16 Dyson Racing Lola B09-60/Mazda, 1:31.202 sec(1st overall)
LMPC: #37 Intersport Racing Oreca FLM09/Courage, 1:31.724 sec(2nd overall)
GT: #17 Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR, 1:34.333 sec(6th overall)
GTC: #54 Black Swan Porsche 911 GT3, 1:38.877 sec(23rd overall)

Baltimore Practice Session #2 Class Leaders
LMP1: #16 Dyson Racing Lola B09-60/Mazda, 1:30.005 sec(1st overall)
LMPC: #63 Genoa Racing Oreca FLM09/Courage, 1:31.036 sec(3rd overall)
GT: #4 Compuware Corvette ZR1, 1:32.941 sec(7th overall)
GTC: #54 Black Swan Porsche 911 GT3, 1:37.369 sec(19th overall)
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Dyson Front-Row in Charm City........

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 03, 2011 4:14 pm

Image

----Dyson Racing will lead the field to the green flag for Saturday's inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix, following a sweep of the front row for the Lola-Mazda squad.

Guy Smith claimed his second American Le Mans Series pole of the year after turning a blistering 1:27.750 lap time in his No. 16 Lola B09/86 Mazda. The Englishman lost the top spot to teammate Steven Kane late in the 15-minute session but took one final lap around the 2.1-mile, 12-turn street circuit to edge Kane out for the pole by 0.146 seconds.

"We decided before the session that if we were ahead of the LMPC cars, whether it'd be Steven first or myself first, all we would need to do is put the cars in the show," Smith explained. "I went over the finish line on [what I thought would be] my last lap and downshifted... and asked if they wanted me to pit and they told me one more lap to go. By the time I got around the hairpin, I was P2. So I pushed like mad for the rest of the lap."

Kane's 1:28.140 lap time held up as second best, partly due to misfortunes for Muscle Milk AMR, which continued to battle electrical issues with its Lola-Aston Martin. The Klaus Graf and Romain Dumas-driven machine ground to a halt on its out lap in opening practice and failed to return to the circuit for the remainder of the day.

Graf and co-driver Chris Dyson head into tomorrow's two hour-sprint holding a 22-point lead over the Muscle Milk AMR duo, which no doubt has a mountain to climb having yet to turn a wheel on the brand-new circuit.

The battle for top qualifying honors in GT was a bit more diverse but saw another familiar brand on pole. Dirk Werner earned his first class pole of the year but continued BMW's qualifying streak to six consecutive.

Werner's 1:31.362 lap time in his No. 55 BMW M3 GT was 0.588 seconds quicker than the Jan Magnussen-driven No. 4 Corvette Racing C6.R in second.

"We've had a lot of good results but never the pole so far this year," Werner said. "We were very close on a couple of races... I'm really happy to have it done here. There's also a battle in the team for sure, everyone tries to be the fastest."

Werner and co-driver Bill Auberlen's sister car of Joey Hand and Dirk Muller, who also leads the highly competitive drivers' championship, inherited the third quickest time of the session following the exclusion of the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR due to "unjustifiable risk."

Defending class co-champion Patrick Long made contact with the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari of Jaime Melo during the 15-minute session, which resulted in a right-rear puncture for the Ferrari 458 Italia.

Melo's time, which was originally good enough for sixth, was also stripped away after the Brazilian was allegedly holding up the field. As a result, both cars will start from the rear of the field on Saturday.

In LMPC, Gunnar Jeannette scored the class pole, turning a 1:29.407 lap time in his No. 06 CORE autosport Oreca FLM09. It stood as the third quickest time overall and less than two seconds from Smith's overall pole-sitting lap.

"Street courses, in my opinion, are really rewarding to get right," said Jeannette, who will share the wheel with Ricardo Gonzalez. "You get through a corner and you feel like you've done it well and you see the wall coming up. You have to put your foot down and hopefully end up just close to the wall and not clouting it. Our car was wonderful and we managed to put in the time that counted."

Jeannette and the rest of competitors here this weekend faced limited track time after delays in track construction wiped out the entire morning of activity. What was scheduled to be two hours of practice turned into one hour and 15 minutes for ALMS teams in the run up to qualifying this evening's qualifying.

However, lack or track time, or even a lack of a wheel stopped Jeroen Bleekemolen from storming to the GTC pole. The Porsche Supercup veteran and defending class co-champion gave his Black Swan Racing team the top spot following one of the most bizarre sessions in series history.

After losing his left-front wheel heading into Turn 5, Bleekemolen climbed out of his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, picked up the wheel and placed it in the passenger's compartment before limping back to the pits on three tires.

Less than 10 minutes later, with the wheel reattached, the rapid Dutchman turned a 1:36.794 lap time, which was enough for a dramatic pole.

"After the last race at Road America, I thought I had the most dramatic moment of my career when I overtook two cars on the last couple of corners, got a puncture but still brought it home," Bleekemolen said. "We went out [today] and was expecting to have a nice qualifying but the wheel came loose. I then lost it after Turn 5.

"I figured as at Le Mans, you're allowed to go out of the car, so I stepped out, got it, put it next to me and drove it back. In the end it worked. Then the next time out, it was good enough for pole position. It was an amazing qualifying and really thought we lost it. But in the end, we got it back."
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CORE Autosport Fastest in Warmup

Post by mlittle » Sun Sep 04, 2011 1:48 am

Image

---Ricardo Gonzalez topped the time charts in morning warmup for today's Baltimore Grand Prix. The CORE autosport driver turned a best time of 1:32.258 in his Oreca FLM09 entry, putting the LMPC machine quickest overall in the 20-minute session.

The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia of Toni Vilander wound up a surprising second overall, 1.315 seconds behind the LMPC pole-sitting car's best time.

The quickest LMP1 machine of Chris Dyson slotted in third, making it three different classes in the top-three overall, with the Elton Julian-driven Genoa Racing LMPC machine in fourth. Leh Keen posted the quickest time in GTC.

Twenty-eight cars posted time, with both the No. 6 Muscle Milk AMR Lola-Aston Martin and the No. 66 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup failing to go out for the third consecutive session.

Muscle Milk AMR worked through the night to solve its electrical issue, and continued to work through the wiring loom of its Lola-Aston Martin, while the TRG Porsche returned from a local body shop following repairs made from an accident in opening practice.


Baltimore Warmup Class Leaders
LMP1: #16 Dyson Racing Lola B09-60/Mazda, 1:33.661 sec(3rd overall)
LMPC: #06 CORE Autosport Oreca FLM09/Courage, 1:32.258(1st overall)
GT: #62 Risi Compeitzione Ferrari F458 Italia, 1:33.573(2nd overall)
GTC: #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3, 1:38.474 sec(22nd overall)
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Oryx-Dyson Entry Wins In Baltimore....

Post by mlittle » Tue Sep 06, 2011 4:35 am

Image

---While Dyson Racing scored a dominant 1-2 finish in Saturday's inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix, it was the team's Oryx-backed Lola B09/86 Mazda that made its first visit to victory lane after a costly issue for its sister points-leading entry.

Steven Kane cruised to a 6.961-second win in the two-hour sprint around the crowded streets of the city's Inner Harbor to give he and co-driver Humaid al Masaood their first career American Le Mans Series victories in only their fifth race in series competition.

Kane took over point following a long stop for the then overall-leading No. 16 Dyson machine of Guy Smith, which had trouble re-firing his Mazda powerplant during its mid-race pit stop while under the first of two caution periods of the day.

While Smith eventually rejoined, it cost him the overall lead and put the Englishman in catch-up mode. However, Kane managed to hold the gap, putting on an impressive final stint, despite battling problems of his own, to lead home Dyson's first overall 1-2 finish since Mid-Ohio in 2005.

"We had a little problem with the steering and I was really nursing the car," Kane explained. "I kept on saying to myself that we're not going to make it, we're not going to make it. But I seemed to manage the gap okay. It's great to be able to come into this series, only five races and to get our first win is fantastic."

The win for al Masaood, in only his fifth prototype race, came on his street course debut.

Championship rivals Muscle Milk AMR salvaged a fourth place result in LMP1 after a troublesome weekend which saw the Lola-Aston Martin only turn its first laps in the race due to electrical gremlins.

As a result, Klaus Graf now trails Smith and Chris Dyson in the LMP1 championship race by 24 points heading into the six-hour enduro at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in two weeks' time.

Team Falken Tire claimed its second GT class victory in the last three races, with Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers putting on a dominating performance in their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Henzler took over the lead early, partly thanks to a collision between the two Corvettes at the start. Following a flawless mid-race pit stop and driver change, Sellers rejoined in third, but quickly retook the top spot following a costly coming together from the No. 3 Corvette of Tommy Milner and the then-leading No. 55 BMW M3 GT of Bill Auberlen.

It resulted in a stop-and-hold penalty for Milner and dropped Auberlen's BMW to fifth. As a result, it gave clear sailing for Sellers to take a one-lap victory over the points-leading No. 56 BMW of Dirk Muller and Joey Hand, which came home in second.

The win for the Falken duo came just one month after the Derrick Walker-led squad's maiden triumph in the rain-shortened Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge.

"You want to be able to show versatility and be able to show that we can't just win in rain conditions but also compete in dry conditions also," Sellers said. "This is something Falken has worked very hard for on a lot of different levels. I don't know if it means more by any more than the rain win, but it certainly feels good."

Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen rebounded after the early race collision to complete the podium in third, with the Paul Miller Racing Porsche of Bryce Miller and Sascha Maassen recording a season-high fourth in their Yokohama-shod Porsche.

Just like the GT category, the LMPC ranks featured repeat first-time winners from Mid-Ohio, with the potent driving combination of Kyle Marcelli and Tomy Drissi taking the class win in their Intersport Racing Oreca FLM09.

After taking over the lead just prior to the first and only round of pit stops, Marcelli bridged out to healthy gap over the the No. 63 Genoa Racing machine of Elton Julian, as well as the No. 05 CORE autosport entry of Frankie Montecalvo, which finished second and third, respectively.

It marked the second career victories for both Marcelli and Drissi, who both were not at the wheel of an Intersport entry at Road America.

"Tomy and I have built a pretty good working relationship on track," Marcelli said. "He knew what his job was and that was to keep the nose clean and keep us out front on and on the lead lap. He did that to a T. It was my job after that to bring the car home and maintain that lead. Right from the exit of pits we were setting fast laps and kept doing that."

More impressive, Marcelli finished on the overall lead lap, less than 26 seconds from the overall-winning Dyson Oryx machine and completed the entire race on the same set of Michelin tires.

From becoming an instant YouTube hit on Friday to landing on the top step of the GTC podium one day later, the Baltimore Grand Prix weekend has been an unforgettable experience for Jeroen Bleekemolen and Black Swan Racing.

The Dutchman, who teamed with team owner Tim Pappas in the No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to take the team's fourth class victory of the season, claimed the pole on Friday after losing his wheel on track and placing it in the passenger's compartment for his team to reattach.

Good thing Saturday's run was less eventful for the defending class champions.

"The race was pretty boring for me because everything was set up well, Tim did a great stint, the pit stop went fantastic and I was in the lead, so I just had to keep it there," Bleekemolen said. "It was not as exciting as qualifying or the finish of last race, but it was an awesome weekend."

The No. 23 Alex Job Racing machine of Leh Keen and Bill Sweedler came home second, ahead of the No. 77 Magnus Racing Porsche of John Potter and Craig Stanton, who challenged Keen in the closing stages but settled for third.

A six-hour enduro at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is on tap next for the American Le Mans Series after what could only be considered a hugely successful debut in Baltimore. While official attendance numbers were not released, crowd estimates were close to 50,000 fans packed around the 2.1-mile, 12-turn course.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 17, 2011 3:15 pm

Current American LeMans Series Standings



~~LeMans Prototype Class
LMP-1 Drivers' Standings
t-1st}[1]Guy Smith, 135 pts(2 wins)
t-1st}[2]Chris Dyson, 135 pts(2 wins)
3rd} Klaus Graf, 111 pts(4 wins)
4th} Lucas Luhr, 101 pts(4 wins)
t-5th}[5]Humaid al-Massoud, 46 pts(1 win)
t-5th}[6]Steven Kane, 46 pts(1 win)
t-7th}[7]Chris McMurry, 44 pts
t-7th}[8]Tony Burgess, 44 pts
9th} Jay Cochran, 30 pts(1 win)
LMP-1 Engine Standings
1st} Mazda, 139 pts(3 wins)
2nd} Aston Martin, 111 pts(4 wins)
3rd} AER, 44 pts
LMP-1 Chassis Standings
1st} Lola-Mazda, 139 pts(3 wins)
2nd} Aston Martin, 111 pts(4 wins)
LMP-2 Drivers' Standings
LMP-2 Drivers' Standings
t-1st}[1]Christophe Bouchut, 71 pts(2 wins)
t-1st}[2]Scott Tucker, 71 pts(2 wins)
3rd} Luis Diaz, 55 pts(2 wins)
4th} Ryan Hunter-Reay, 30 pts(1 win)
5th} Joao Barbosa, 26 pts
LMP-2 Engine & Chassis Standings
--LMP2 Engine: Honda, 75 pts(3 wins)
--LMP2 Chassis: Lola, 75 pts(3 wins)

~~LeMans Prototype Challenge Class
t-1st}[1]Gunnar Jennette, 112 pts(2 wins)
t-1st}[2]Ricardo Gonzalez, 112 pts(2 wins)
3rd} Eric Lux, 111 pts(1 win)
t-4th}[4]Jon Bennett, 97 pts
t-4th}[5]Frankie Montecalvo, 97 pts
6th} Elton Julian, 89 pts(3 wins)
7th} Kyle Marcelli, 80 pts(2 wins)
8th} Tomy Drissi, 69 pts(2 wins)
9th} Anthony Nicolosi, 59 pts
10th} Rudy Junco, 49 pts(1 win)

~~Grand Touring Class
GT Drivers' Standings(top-10)
t-1st}[1]Dirk Muller, 124 pts(3 wins)
t-1st}[2]Joey Hand, 124 pts(3 wins)
t-3rd}[3]Oliver Gavin, 99 pts(1 win)
t-3rd}[4]Jan Magnussen, 99 pts(1 win)
t-5th}[5]Bill Auberlen, 88 pts
t-5th}[6]Dirk Werner, 88 pts
t-7th}[7]Wolf Henzler, 77 pts(2 wins)
t-7th}[8]Bryan Sellers, 77 pts(2 wins)
t-9th}[9]Jaime Melo, 72 pts(1 win)
t-9th}[10]Toni Vilander, 72 pts(1 win)
GT Manufacturers' Standings
1st} BMW, 133 pts(3 wins)
2nd} Porsche, 107 pts(2 wins)
3rd} Chevrolet, 103 pts(1 win)
4th} Ferrari, 95 pts(1 win)
5th} Ford, 41 pts
6th} Jaguar, 6 pts
7th} Lamborghini, 1 pt

~~Grand Touring Challenge Class
1st} Tim Pappas, 134 pts(4 wins)
t-2nd}[2]Duncan Ende, 109 pts(2 wins)
t-2nd}[3]Spencer Pumpelly, 109 pts(2 wins)
4th} Jeroen Bleekemolen, 81 pts(3 wins)
5th} Dion von Moltke, 77 pts(1 win)
6th} Bill Sweedler, 76 pts
7th} Nick Ham, 54 pts
t-8th}[8]Damien Faulkner, 53 pts(1 win)
t-8th}[9]John Potter, 53 pts
t-8th}[10]Craig Stanton, 53 pts
t-8th}[11]Leh Keen, 53 pts
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Monterey News & Notes

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 17, 2011 3:20 pm

Speed Channel: Monterey News & Notes


Speed's John Dagys has a full set of news & notes from the Monterey Peninsula as the American LeMans Series enters its' penultimate round, the 6 Hours of Monterey.........
(1)A Look at the new Porsche Hybrid 2.0 set to debut at Laguna Seca
(2)A look at the brewing championship fights throughout the series
(3)Who's in which car for the weekend?
(4)Several drivers enter the ALMS 100-Race Club

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Dyson Front-Row in Monterey......

Post by mlittle » Sat Sep 17, 2011 3:22 pm

Image

---Dyson Racing picked up where it last left off two weeks ago at Baltimore, securing a sweep of the front row for Saturday's ModSpace American Le Mans Series Monterey.

After battling a suspected misfire, Guy Smith returned to the track and stormed to the overall pole for the six-hour race into the darkness. The No. 16 Dyson Lola B09/86 Mazda posted a best time of 1:13.927, edging out teammate Steven Kane by 0.694 seconds.

Smith, who will share the wheel of the LMP1 contender with Chris Dyson and Jay Cochran tomorrow, was motivated to secure the pole at Mazda's home track.

"Today the car was very, very good," Smith said. "We had a small misfire initially in practice and in qualifying, we soon fixed that and was able to go out. I'm just amazed at how well the Dunlop tires worked. I basically gave it everything I had. I only did two laps but I'm pretty exhausted."

Adrian Fernandez put the No. 007 Aston Martin Racing Lola in third with a 1:14.827 lap time, ahead of the similarly prepared Muscle Milk entry of Klaus Graf, who struggled for grip during the 15-minute session.

In LMP2, Level 5 Motorsports continued making considerable gains with its new HPD ARX-01g, with Christophe Bouchut posting an impressive 1:16.688 lap time in the new cost-capped machine. It was only 2.761 seconds from Smith's overall pole-sitting time.

There was no stopping Joey Hand, who earned BMW Team RLL's seventh GT class pole of the season. Hand laid down a series of fast laps in his No. 56 BMW Team RLL, ending at the top of the time charts with a 1:22.226 lap time.

“I’ve had the numbers crunched in my head to see where we need to be to win the championship for awhile," said Hand, who along with co-driver Dirk Muller cold clinch the drivers' championship this weekend. "We want to win and are in the attack mode. I tell a lot of the kids that I coach that the best way to win a championship is to win a race. You want to be strong and attack but you have to stay on the track over the six hours."

Hand outran the No. 4 Corvette Racing C6.R of Oliver Gavin by a considerable 0.898 seconds, a large margin considering the usual highly competitive field in the production-based ranks.

Gavin set his 1:23.124 lap time late in the 15-minute session, knocking Bill Auberlen to third and erasing hopes of an all BMW front row. Auberlen was 0.235 seconds quicker than the No. 02 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari F458 Italia of Guy Cosmo, who recorded a season-high fourth place qualifying run.

The No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Patrick Long completed the top-five in class.

After suffering an accident in morning practice, Risi Competizione returned to action in qualifying, although Toni Vilander could only muster the seventh best time. The Finn stopped on track late in the session after running out of fuel.

Kyle Marcelli stormed to the LMPC class pole, clocking a 1:18.844 lap time in his No. 89 Intersport Racing Oreca FLM09.

The 21-year-old Canadian enjoyed a fierce fight with class points leader Gunnar Jeannette for the top spot, with Jeannette pushing his car to the limit and suffering an off-course excursion after laying down his fast time.

“Everyone is jelling really well at Intersport," Marcelli said. "People really know how to make the ORECA work with the Michelin tires. There is a sweet spot that is tough to get back if you’re out of that window. It’s important to arrive at the track near that spot so you can make small changes.

Eric Lux, who sits just one point behind Jeannette and co-driver Ricardo Gonazlez in the tight title race, posted the third quickest time in his No. 63 Genoa Racing machine.

In GTC, Jeroen Bleekemolen celebrated back-to-back class poles, although this time less eventful from his Baltimore adventures.

The Dutchman turned a best time of 1:27.850 lap in his No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, edging out the sister Green Hornet machine of Damien Faulkner by 0.302 seconds.

“We were waiting for something to happen!" Bleekemolen joked. "It was a good session. I was struggling with the car in practice but the guys solved it and it was great in qualifying. I was able to get a nice gap to second place. We knew we were going to be strong here from last year."

Spencer Pumpelly wound up third in his No. 66 TRG Porsche.
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