Gripping six hour chase in the dunes of Monterey
After
racing on the street circuit in the harbour of Long Beach, the
American Le Mans Series now returns to a classical race track. In
Laguna Seca, two hours’ drive south of San Francisco, round three of
the race series with the world’s fastest sports cars takes off on 22
May. Driving the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard
Motorsports, Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and
Patrick Long (USA), who claimed their first win of the season in Long
Beach, are keen to defend their GT class points’ lead at the six hour
race.The 3.601 kilometre circuit in the dunes of Monterey with its many corners and short straights is something very special for drivers and spectators. “This is a great track,” last year’s winner Joerg Bergmeister says about the Laguna Seca Raceway with its world famous corkscrew pass which winds sharply downhill from the highest point of the track.
Pilots approach the corkscrew in fifth gear at 210 kph and suddenly see only sky. “At this point there are a couple of trees we use for orientation. We always need a couple of laps to get the hang of this corner.”
Last year, the Porsche factory drivers managed this perfectly. Only in the last seconds of the highly dramatic race, the #45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR snatched its sixth win of the season and went on to claim the title. But this year, the situation looks different: The race has been moved from October to May and now runs over six hours, that’s two hours longer than last year. Patrick Long sees the extended race distance from a positive perspective: “The longer the race the more points there are to earn.”
Also eager to profit from this is his works driver colleague, Wolf Henzler (Germany), who shares driving duties with Byran Sellers (USA) at the wheel of the #17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Falken Tire. “In May it’s much warmer than in October and that will have an effect on the tyre choice,” Henzler says about the changed conditions. “Presumably we’ll need tyres that aren’t quite as quick over one lap but that can better withstand the heat.” After contesting only two races for his new team, the outfit is keen to test different tyre compounds in order to be optimally prepared for the race. Hopes are high for their first podium result in the American Le Mans Series. Wolf Henzler is pleased with the progress his squad is making: “The signs look very promising.”
Manning the second Flying Lizard Motorsports 911 GT3 RSR with the starting number 44 are Darren Law (USA) and Seth Neiman (USA). In the LMP sports prototype class, the American Cytosport team runs the Porsche RS Spyder, with which the squad claimed class victory at the season-opener in Sebring and celebrated its greatest success in the American Le Mans Series by now. Like in Sebring, Klaus Graf (Germany) and Greg Pickett (USA) share the cockpit of the number 6 vehicle, and are supported by former Porsche works driver Sascha Maassen (Germany).
The race in Laguna Seca starts on Saturday, 22 May, at 14.30 hrs local time (23.30 hours CEST) and runs over six hours.
