Porsche pilots hold good chances for victory number three
The
American Le Mans Series takes a trip into the countryside. At Lime
Rock Park, in the picturesque US state of Connecticut, the race series
featuring the world’s fastest sportscars takes off into the second half
of the season on 24 July. In the cockpit of the Flying Lizard Motorsports run Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) are determined to continue on from their impressive past performances on this circuit – and to snatch back the points’ lead with a third victory in the GT class this season.
Their chances look good. The short 2.480 kilometre race track with lap times well under one minute, where most of the spectators witness the race action on camping chairs from the surrounding grassed banks, was always good turf for Joerg Bergmeister and the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the past years.
At Lime Rock, Bergmeister has secured four wins in a row since 2006 – from 2006 to 2009 with Patrick Long. “Still, it’s not my favourite circuit,” says the title defender. “There is too much traffic for my liking. This time there’s apparently a field of 33 cars, that’s more than we’ve ever had on this short track. You really need some luck to get through safely.”
Not everyone has this luck. With the many safety car phases on the short circuit, teams face a huge challenge in finding a strategy. Not only must the pit stops run quickly and smoothly, but the timing is decisive for victory or defeat.
Patrick
Long feels he is in excellent
hands with his experienced Flying Lizard Motorsports squad. “Our team
is better at pit stops than all the others, they’ve proven this many
times,” he says. “It’s a great feeling for a driver to know he can
concentrate totally on the task at hand.” Two other Porsche 911 GT3 will contest the Lime Rock event. Flying Lizard Motorsports fields a second car with Darren Law (USA) and Seth Neiman (USA). Porsche factory pilot Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Bryan Sellers (USA) compete for the Falken Tire team.
In its first American Le Mans Series season, the squad is fighting its way forward. Despite several setbacks, like in Salt Lake City where the 911 GT3 RSR suddenly caught fire resulting in a strenuous nightshift for the Porsche Motorsport North America-supported mechanics to get the car back on the grid, Wolf Henzler is confident. “We’re still in a learning phase,” he says, “but we’re making progress from race to race. I’m sure the team will receive its just rewards for all the hard work sometime.”
Muscle Milk Team Cytosport, which fields a Porsche RS Spyder in the LMP class for sports prototypes, has been on a success streak since the start of the season. After claiming class victory at the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring, the team’s greatest result in the American Le Mans Series, Klaus Graf (Germany) beat strong opposition to climb the podium in Long Beach, Laguna Seca and Salt Lake City. In Lime Rock he again shares driving duties in the winning racer from Weissach with Greg Pickett (USA).
The race in Lime Rock starts on Saturday, 24 July, at 14.05 hours local time (20.05 hours CEST) and runs over 2:45 hours. The GT qualifying on Friday can be seen from 22.10 hours CEST at www.porsche.com/alms-live on the internet.
