DTM 2008 – Hockenheimring II: Audi preview

Audi enters DTM finale with head start

Ingolstadt — It was the most extensive factory programme in AUDI AG motorsport history to date. On

 Sunday, 26 October it could become the most successful ever: If Timo Scheider clinches the DTM title for Audi at Hockenheim, then the brand with the four rings will have won everything there was to win this season.

In June Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish scored the third successive victory for the Audi R10 TDI in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner won the American Le Mans Series title with the diesel sportscar, Alexandre Premat and Mike Rockenfeller in the European based Le Mans Series.

Audi has also been on the road to success from the very beginning of the 2008 DTM season. The new Audi A4 DTM made a perfect debut in Hockenheim by taking a spectacular one-two-three finish. Since then Audi has not relinquished its hold on the championship lead of the most popular touring car series.

Now, Audi has the chance to successfully defend a DTM title for the second time since 1990/1991. Like Mattias Ekstrom before him, Timo Scheider comes this time to the final race of the year at Hockenheim with a two point advantage. Two different drivers also won the title for Audi at the Hockenheim finale in 1990 and 1991: 1990 with Hans-Joachim Stuck, 1991 with Frank Biela.

This time Audi’s hopes rest on the shoulders of Timo Scheider, who already boasts an impressive record this season: He celebrated two victories with his GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM. The 29-year old started four-times from pole position, and mounted the podium seven times. Without a jump start at Mugello and an unfortunate tyre choice at the Nurburgring and at Le Mans the German, who lives on the shores of Lake Constance, would have long been champion.

The fans can look forward to a thrilling finale. Advance tickets sales have exceeded 60,000 and, as a result, last year’s record crowd (152,000 spectators throughout the weekend) could even be beaten.

Timo Scheider took pole position at Hockenheim at the start of the season. The championship leader also has good memories of the final race: In 2006 he was the best driver of a year-old car. At the 2007 finale he claimed his first ever DTM podium finish. Now he aims to win his first DTM title and, in front of his home crowd, fend-off Paul di Resta’s attack in the Mercedes-Benz.

Timo Scheider has a two point advantage over his rival. This means that di Resta must finish in front of Scheider — a small but not unimportant psychological advantage for the Audi driver.

As usual ARD broadcasts qualifying and the race live on “Das Erste”. Free practice is shown by www.dtm.tv in the Internet. Audi.tv shows the highlights and background reports. Whoever prefers to watch the eagerly awaited finale at the track can still order tickets from the Audi Ticket-Hotline +49 (0)841 / 8947777 or online at www.audi-dtm.de.

 

Quotes before the DTM finals at Hockenheim

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “At the last race at Le Mans we already had the title in our hands until halfway through the race. Unfortunately, we couldn’t fix it. This means there is now a big showdown at Hockenheim. The atmosphere will be fantastic. I’m convinced that the grandstands will be full. We’ll do everything to bring the championship home for Audi.”

Timo Scheider (GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM #10): “We scored a memorable one-two-three at the start of the season at Hockenheim, and history shows that the final races at Hockenheim have always gone well for me. I’ve actually always finished my years positively there, which is why I’m particularly pleased that the finale is held at Hockenheim. It definitely won’t be plain sailing with just a two point lead over Paul (di Resta), but in fact a battle royal. The many German fans in the stands will certainly act as extra motivation for me.”

Mattias Ekstrom (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #1): “I’m really looking forward to the finale. We won at the start of the season at Hockenheim, which also happens to be my goal for the last race.”

Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #2): “It’s great to finish each season at Hockenheim. The atmosphere is always excellent there. I hope that it stays dry and we will see an exciting championship battle that obviously goes in favour of Audi.”

Tom Kristensen (Audi A4 DTM #9): “Without a shadow of a doubt Hockenheim will be very interesting. There’ll be hoards of spectators there. The championship battle between Timo (Scheider) and di Resta is very close. I personally hope that I can finish the season with a good result. We were always quick this season. My team always gave me a good car; unfortunately we had more than our fair share of bad luck in the races.”

Alexandre Premat (Audi Bank/Shell Helix Audi A4 DTM #14): “It’ll be hard for us at Hockenheim because we’ll have heaviest 2007 car in the field. I want to do a good job again. We’ll see what the weather does. My goal is to take ninth place and therefore be the best driver of a 2007 Audi.”

Mike Rockenfeller (S line Audi A4 DTM #18): “A long season comes to an end for me. The weather at Hockenheim can also be very unpredictable. I would like to continue my run of good form that we’ve seen in the past races, which was particularly good more recently in qualifying.”

Markus Winkelhock (Playboy Audi A4 DTM #19): “Hockenheim is a race where there is always loads going on. It is also my home race and Hockenheim is a circuit that really suits me. I hope that we can win the title with Audi there.”

Oliver Jarvis (Best Buddies Audi A4 DTM #15): “It’s great to be returning to a circuit that I already know. Things ran well for me there at the season opener, I got into the top-eight in qualifying. I hope that I can score a few points.”

Christijan Albers (Audi A4 DTM #21): “We’ll have a pretty tough time with the 2006 cars at Hockenheim. However, it’ll be an exciting final. I hope that Audi can win the title.”

Katherine Legge (Audi A4 DTM #20): “I drove my first DTM race at Hockenheim, which means we’ll be able to see just how we have improved during the season. It’ll be a great final. The spectators can look forward to a really fantastic race.”

Hans-Jurgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “The DTM will see one of the most exciting final races ever. Travelling to Hockenheim with a two point lead is a small cushion, but not really reassuring. As a team we’ll have to try to deliver an absolute top performance. The car can do it. I believe that Timo (Scheider) is also well capable of keeping his cool. It goes without saying that I hope things turn out well for us.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): “It’s a shame that the season is already nearly over again! Our team is extra motivated for Hockenheim after the great result at Le Mans. We’ll do everything within our power so that Timo (Scheider) can take the title at the finale and score a few points ourselves as team.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): “Hockenheim will certainly be very tense for all concerned. I hope that we can help to bring the championship home. Le Mans went a little disappointingly for us as team, which is why we hope to turn the tide at Hockenheim.”

-credit: audi

 

Actual Standings

 

ALMS – Audi ends 2008 with one-two Laguna Seca finish

Racing series	ALMS
Date	2008-10-18 (Monterey, CA)

By Barret Bumford – Motorsport.com

Audi Sport North America closed out the 2008 racing season by taking the final overall victory in the American Le Mans Series. To top it off, they finished one-two after charging to the front on the final restart. Then the battle began between Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner for the final bragging rights.

Two of the Acura teams finished 3rd and 4th overall, giving the marque a 1-2 in LM P2, however

 Porsche won the manufac- turers’ title.

 

#9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01B Acura: David Brabham, Scott Sharp leads #66 de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-01B Acura: Gil de Ferran, Simon Pagenaud, #7 Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder: Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard and #15 Lowe’s Fernandez Racing 

The last race of the season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca had everyone talking about Acura, who needed to sweep the podium to win the LM P2 manufacturers’ championship. They nearly pulled it off, with Andretti Green Racings’s Tony Kanaan crossing the line just 0.054 seconds ahead of rival Acura driver Simon Pagenaud of de Ferran Motorsports. A failed battery left earlier Acura contender Lowe’s Fernandez Racing a lap down to finish ninth overall. Driver Adrian Fernandez had set fastest lap with a 1:11.156 (113.23 mph).

The race began with David Brabham in the Highcroft Racing Acura on pole position alongside Fernandez

 Racing’s Luis Diaz. By the first turn, Gil de Ferran had sped past the Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Timo Bernhard, locking out the top three spots for the American constructor ahead of the manufacturers’ title leaders, Porsche.

A series of yellows interrupted the racing throughout the first two hours, mixing up the field as cars from both the prototype and GT classes ran off into the sand, but the dust finally settled as the sun sank behind the hills of the Monterey Peninsula. Pirro, leading LM P1, led a string of P2 Acuras after Romain Dumas ran wide in turn six in his Penske Porsche RS Spyder. de Ferran Motorsports’ Pagenaud harangued the more powerful Audi R10 TDI diesel down the corkscrew and around the legendary 2.238 mile circuit, with the Acuras of Fernandez and Franck Montagny in tow.

After yet another series of back-to-back caution periods, the track went green around the three hour mark, until the then-leading #6 Penske of Sascha Maassen coasted down into the sand at the bottom of the

 Andretti hairpin, bringing out the 11th caution of the race. Kanaan inherited the lead in the for Andretti Green Racing, but the two Audis were right behind.

At the restart, Pirro, in what was his last race in the R10 TDI, wanted to get by race leader Kanaan in his Acura ARX-01b. Kanaan slid to the inside, expecting the faster Audi to pass on the outside, but Pirro surprised him and shoved Kanaan out of the way. Eight tires have more grip than four, and Kanaan slid helplessly toward the outside of turn two as Marco Werner followed his teammate’s inside line. “Restarting with the two Audis behind is not fun,” Kanaan said. He called the contact “a race pass.”

It was at the three hour and 34 minute mark that Werner took the lead from Pirro. “It would have been nice if he could go out with a victory,” Werner commented.

#6 Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder: Sascha Maassen, Patrick Long

Ten minutes after the Audis swapped places, Pagenaud out-braked Kanaan into turn eleven and took the lead in P2. Kanaan passed him back in traffic up the hill into turn six, and held off a gutsy charge by the determined Pagenaud for the class victory. An unlucky attempt to charge down the outside of the corkscrew was thwarted by lapped traffic. On the last lap, Pagenaud tried to carry a drive out of turn eleven and just missed the P2 class victory by 0.054 sec.

The Penske Porsche RS Spyders of Bernard and Helio Castroneves claimed third and fourth places in P2, securing the class manufacturer’s title by a single point, with 214 to Acura’s 213.

P1 co-champions Werner and Lucas Luhr claimed the P1 and overall victory ahead of 2nd place teammates Pirro and Christian Albers. Third in the P1 class fell to the Corsa Motorsports team of Johnny Mowlem, Gunnar Jeanette, and Stefan Johansson, whose Zytek 07S put in one of the team’s strongest first stints of the season. An unlucky wiring problem during a driver change ended hopes of a top-five overall result.

In the LM GT2 class, Tafel Racing’s Dirk Mueller in his Ferrari 430 took the lead from Jamie Melo of Risi Competizione after the midway point, with Dirk Werner and the Farnbacher Loles Porsche following in third. The trio would finish in that order, but Mueller’s team was excluded by IMSA for a ride height violation, gifting third place to the Panoz Team PTG and drivers Tommy Milner and Joey Hand.

The LM GT1 Corvettes also swapped places after the three-hour mark, giving the victory to Olivier Bertta and Oliver Gavin ahead of Jan Magnussen and Johnny O’Connell. Corvette will switch to the GT2 class next year following the final running of the C6.R at Le Mans.

A total of 12 caution periods, often coming back-to-back, befell the race. At the post-race press conferences, many drivers complained about the lack of speed of the pace car. The low grip surface of Laguna Seca, and the cold ambient temperatures of the evening race compounded the problem.

Race Results

Porsche race report

 

DTM 2008 – Ekstrom wins rain lottery at Le Mans

 

By Nancy Knapp Schilke - Motorsport.com

Mattias Ekstrom and his Audi Abt Sportsline crew won what truly was a rain lottery today on the Le Mans Bugatti circuit. The one major variable in the German Touring Car Masters series (DTM) race in France was the ever changing rain in the area — from light showers to driving rain — adding to the usual action in the German series.

Ekstrom inherited the lead when Audi factory teammate and points leader Timo Scheider dived into the pits on lap 11 and remained on slicks. Soon the track was starting to form rivers along the circuit and the usual mandatory two pit stops became four or more.

Even with a case of the flu, the Swede was able to take his third race win this season by over four seconds to second place Paul di Resta from the Mercedes camp.

“This wasn’t bad for a sick racer. After I was frustrated with a bout of flu all weekend I’m now totally happy about victory,” said Ekstrom. “The race was great and my Audi A4 was running perfectly from the start to the final lap. I couldn’t wish for more than this except, of course, that I would have liked still being in the race for the title. The decision has been postponed to the finale. There, we’ll be giving everything to clinch the title with Timo for Audi.”

While Ekstrom celebrated his 13th career victory, di Resta was also pumped about his podium finish. Placing his AMG Mercedes second in the penultimate round forces the championship battle to the season finale in Hockenheim on October 26th.

“It was not the right decision to start with rain tyres, but in conditions like today, it is difficult to make the right choice,” di Resta said. “It’s super that I finished second despite my extra pit stop and that I am only two points behind Timo Scheider — we knew that it would rain in the final third and my team had the perfect timing for the change; that was crucial. My speed was good despite the handicap weight which we now got rid of for the final race.

“I look forward to Hockenheim and I want to win in the great finale and thus clinch the championship title,” he added.

Frenchman Alexandre Premat for Audi Sport Team Phoenix ended third in the 2007-spec on his home turf. He was one of only four drivers who did just the required pit stops and ran the entire race on slicks.

“A fantastic weekend! Standing on the podium at my home race makes me very proud,” smiled Premat. “My team and I gave everything in qualifying and the race and were rewarded by third place. My team did everything right in terms of strategy so that I was able to attack at any time during the race.”

Scheider finished sixth and holds a two point lead over di Resta. The German now needs to stay in front of the Scotsman in the DTM finale. “It was the right decision to go into the race with slicks. Advancing from fifth to first is definitely something special. Unfortunately, we timed our second stop two laps too early, that’s too bad. We’ll chalk this up to experience now and concentrate on the finale,” he said.

Race results 

Standings after Le Mans 

See DTM race videos at Power Sport 

 

ALMS – Petit Le Mans – AUDI STORMS TO ANOTHER PETIT VICTORY

 

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.

The victory was sweet redemption for McNish, who crashed the car on the grid formation lap prior to the race. The team got the Scot on track two laps behind the field but was back on the lead lap after a two-hour, 45-minute stint.

“It was more than a good race,” said Pirro, who won at Petit Le Mans for the first time since 2005. “Allan would not have been happy with a normal win. He had to crash the car to make it extraordinary. With team strategy and the yellows we were able to bring the car back. It was a real treat and I was pleased to share the car on this day. It really was a dream race and a lot of people deserve this race.”

Pirro and Capello continued to chip away at the lead before McNish’s final stint. He passed Klien with about 40 minutes left and continued to drive away from the Peugeot. Even getting in position to contend for victory seemed doubtful early on. Capello had a problem with his seat insert, and the car ran hot as the temperature increased during the afternoon in Capello’s stint.

“I didn’t think this afternoon when it got so hot that we had a chance,” he said. “Sometimes you need luck. We didn’t get much luck at the Le Mans Series but we had luck here.”

The climatic moments came as darkness enveloped Road Atlanta. The Audi crew called for two stops late – one for fuel and another for tires. McNish came back in during a late-race caution for more fuel and tires, a move that gave him an advantage during the late-race push.

“This race belongs to the team,” McNish said. “To get 16-17 people from both crews on that and get it repaired when I thought we were out, they did something I didn’t think was possible. No one in our team does the work to finish second. There’s no question in my mind that when we got in the position at the end that I was going to do everything I could do to win this race. If it took us to the top step, then it was just desserts for the team.

“I got a run on Christian out of Turn 5 and he got caught up in traffic,” McNish said of the winning pass. “You get one opportunity to overtake and you have to take it. I was able to dive in at seven and he couldn’t get a clean line to pass me on the straight.”

McNish and Capello became the first drivers to win at Petit Le Mans for three consecutive years. Audi’s Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr, newly crowned LMP1 champions finished third.

Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe won in LMP2 for Penske Motorsports in their Porsche RS Spyder. Castroneves is the first driver to have won both Petit Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500. He finished 21 seconds ahead of Penske teammates Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, who won their second straight drivers championship.

“I have to thank Roger and Tim for letting me be in the car,” said Castroneves, who won in his second Series start. “These guys did an incredible job. Timo and Romain did a great job, and Ryan was awesome. This is a very challenging track and very difficult. It turned out to be a great race for all three cars.”

Saturday marked the first time Briscoe and Castroneves – teammates in the IndyCar Series for Team Penske – shared a car together. It obviously worked out well with Briscoe setting class records in qualifying and the race. The pairing also led overall five times.

“It was a great opportunity given to us by Penske and Porsche,” Briscoe said. “We’ve been really working closely together. It was a great result and great for the whole team. We managed to be the sole P2 cars on the lead lap for a long time before Timo and Romain made a lap up. As we saw last year, the P1 cars are quicker but we can stay with them on the lead lap.”

Penske swept the Petit P2 podium with Sascha Maassen, Patrick Long and Emmanuel Collard finishing third. The victory also gave Penske its third straight team championship in class.

“The year was very special,” Dumas said. “It is an honor to win this championship again. From my point of view, this is the biggest moment for me with Porsche and the RS Spyder. The competition with Acura has not been easy. A lot of people were thinking before this race, ‘What is happening with Penske?’ We worked very hard during the month to increase the level of the car.”

Bernhard and Dumas benefitted from an early retirement of the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b. After having the car being completely rebuilt following a crash Thursday, Sharp spun the car coming out of Turn 10B and smacked a concrete wall, damaging the rear end beyond repair.

“I felt bad for them but it was only one hour into the race,” Bernhard said. “There was a long race ahead of us and the same could happen to us. With the traffic here, sometimes you need some luck. I really wanted to try to stay focused and bring this home.”

Johnny O’Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows won in GT1 for Corvette Racing by six laps to take their second endurance victory of the season. They also won in class at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The win Saturday gave O’Connell and Magnussen the class championship with their eighth victory.

“It’s a very special win because we won the championship,” said Magnussen, who won his first title. “The race today was hard between the two cars. We were pushing hard on the track and in the pits and everywhere. In the first half of the race we had to push like crazy to stay ahead of the No. 4 car. It was difficult in the daytime and in the nighttime.”

Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Max Papis finished second in class. The two Corvettes exchanged the lead twice in the pits before misfortune again befell the No. 4 car. A malfunctioning throttle linkage left Gavin crawling around the track before the six-hour mark. It was eerily similar to Sebring where the trio lost laps to a broken driveshaft early on.

“Winning Petit Le Mans is very special. For some reason, this race has never gone our way,” O’Connell said. “For Ron and I, this is our eighth Petit Le Mans and only our second win. We lost the lead on one pit stop but we got it back on the next one. We kept building gaps and I felt like we had things in hand.”

Jaime Melo and Mika Salo followed their GT2 endurance victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with another hard-fought endurance win Saturday in their Ferrari F430 GT. Salo finished just 2.317 seconds ahead of Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Joerg Bergmeister and his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The result with Marc Lieb was enough for Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler to wrap up the class championship.

“It was really hard,” Melo said of the race. “To win Le Mans and Petit Le Mans is great for the whole team. It was a very difficult race. We had to move to the back of the field at one point and we had to push hard to get back on top. The car was working very well and comfortable to drive. It made it easier for us to do it.”

Tafel Racing’s Dirk Mueller and Dominik Farnbacher placed third in their Ferrari.

Salo had to weather a stuck throttle and a broken drink system during his stint. It was a refreshing change considering some of the horrible luck Risi has had this year. After winning eight times last year, this was only the second victory in the Series for the team.

“Yes we won but it doesn’t completely make up for the bad luck this year,” Salo said. “We knew since the first day how quick the Flying Lizard guys and the Porsches were. Our car worked very well and we had to work hard. It was a really nice fight.”

Henzler and Bergmeister have finished on the GT2 podium in every event this year except St. Petersburg in March. Four class victories helped give Bergmeister his third championship and Henzler his first.

Flying Lizard also won its first team championship.

“This is unbelievable,” Henzler said. “I can’t describe it. Flying Lizard has tried for so many years. With the support of Joerg, the team and Porsche, we never had any issue throughout the year.”

Bergmeister also won championships in 2005 and 2006 with Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing.

“It’s the first time for the Lizards, so it is like a first time,” Bergmeister said. “The team was really ready to win the championship. To have it both the team and driver makes it doubly special.”

In the debut of the Green Challenge, the Penske entry of Long, Maassen and Collard were the prototype winners. In the GT category, the Corvette of O’Connell, Magnussen and Fellows were victorious for General Motors.

The cars had the best scores for overall performance, fuel efficiency and environmental impact.

The final round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series is the Monterey Sports Car Championships from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The four-hour race into darkness is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m. PT on Saturday, October 18. NBC Sports will air the race from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 19. XM Satellite Radio will air the race from 4 to 8 p.m. ET on the same day. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage on americanlemans.com, which also will feature Live Timing & Scoring.

-credit: alms

Final results 

ALMS petit le mans 2008 part1

See the rest of the Petit Le Mans here 

DTM – Paul di Resta keeps up title chase with Catalunya win

By Tom Haapanen - Motorsport.com

Paul di Resta needed a victory to keep his DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) championship hopes alive, and it’s the first-place trophy that he will be taking home from today’s race at the Circuit de Catalunya, near Barcelona.

Paul di Resta, Team HWA AMG Mercedes, AMG Mercedes C-Klasse. Photo by xpb.cc.

“I probably had the fastest car in the field,” di Resta reflected. “It was (part of) my goal to avoid too many risks as I didn’t want to drop back in the points’ standings.”

di Resta started his Mercedes C-class from the second row, behind teammate Bernd Schneider and the championship leader, Audi’s Scheider. The two title chase rivals took the lead from the start, dropping Schneider to third before the first corner, and the fight was on from there.

“Unfortunately, I had wheelspin at the start,” Schneider rued his start. “I really had to battle for third place in the first corner.”

In the lead, Scheider made his Audi A4 look as wide as the rules would allow, and while di Resta could hound him, he was unable to make his way past. Through the first pit stops, the gap never grew to a full second.

“I was having a great fight with Timo (Scheider),” di Resta recounted. “At some parts of the circuit, he was faster, but at other parts, I was. The overtaking manoeuvre was absolutely clean and Timo played along perfectly. I knew that I would have to be very close to him all the time in order to being able to start an attack at all.”

With Mattias Ekstrom choosing a different strategy, he took the lead after the the leaders made their first stops on lap 15, with Scheider and di Resta slotting in behind him. On the second stint, though, di Resta had the measure of Scheider, the young Scot making his move stick with a pass into the La Caixa turn at the end of the back straightaway.

And that was it for Scheider: the German could do nothing but watch di Resta’s taillights disappear into the distance, as his rival stretched out his lead, eventually getting the gap up to about five seconds, and 4.531 seconds at the finish.

“I am not at all disappointed with second place,” said the Scheider after his second-place finish. “My start was good and I was able to overtake Schneider before the first corner. After that, di Resta put me under quite some pressure. He was a little bit faster and made good use of a slight gap. Being on the podium today was our goal!”

	Start: Timo Scheider, Audi Sport Team Abt, Audi A4 DTM and Paul di Resta, Team HWA AMG Mercedes, AMG Mercedes C-Klasse battle for the lead. Photo by xpb.cc.

The gap between Scheider and di Resta shrank down by two points with today’s race, and there are now seven points separating the two, with two races remaining. Scheider needs a second and a third place to guarantee the championship, were di Resta to win the last two remaining races — a tough task in itself, with DTM adding another 5 kg of weight to the winning car after each race.

Meanwhile, Paul Green and Stefan Ekstrom are now effective out of the hunt; the two tangled hard and repeatedly on the final lap in their struggle for fifth place, and the end result was that Ekstrom received a 50-second penalty in lieu of a drive-through one.

After Audi protested the penalty, the stewards upped it to a disqualification, and assigned a 30-second penalty to Green as well, dropping him to eighth place. Green and Ekstrom are now 16 and 18 points behind Scheider, a daunting task given the German’s consistency in scoring points this season.

Outside the championship fight, Schneider drove a steady, quiet race to finish third, moving up the field toward the end of the race. 7.2 seconds separated Scheider and Schneider at the finish.

“I couldn’t really keep up with di Resta and Scheider out in front,” the Mecedes-Benz veteran admitted. “I had hoped to be able to fight with Timo for second place. But unfortunately, we had a slight problem during the pit stop which cost us some time. After that, I could work with my tyres quite well and I was running pretty much on my own. For a man of my age, it is quite comfortable not having somebody right behind me all the time.”

Bernd Schneider, Team HWA AMG Mercedes, AMG Mercedes C-Klasse. Photo by xpb.cc.

Martin Tomczyk took fourth for Audi, 4.2 seconds adrift of Schneider, followed by the 2007-spec Audis of Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat.

After Tom Kristensen’s grid penalty and Ralf Schumacher’s fines for pit lane violations in qualifying, the stewards were kept busy in the race as well. Apart from Ekstrom’s and Green’s last-lap antics, Susie Stoddart, Katherine Legge and Oliver Jarvis were all penalized. Gary Paffett, who finished 11th, raced under appeal after being initially excluded for a parc ferme violation.

Results

Standings after Catalunya

Audi takes surprise Silverstone win and title

 

2008-09-14 - By John Dagys - Motorsport.com

Heading into Sunday’s season-ending Le Mans Series race, Team Peugeot Total was the odds on favorites for taking LM P1 top honors. Wins in all four of the previous races this season gave the French Lions a comfortable margin over their German rivals. The two Peugeot 908 HDi-FAPs had the pace to beat the Audi R10 TDIs, but they instead faltered at the worst possible time. Call it racing or call it luck, but Audi Sport Team Joest pulled through to claim victory in the Silverstone 1000km, also snatching the championship away from Peugeot in dramatic fashion.

#1 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI: Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello. Photo by Diego De Col.

Allan McNish and Dindo Capello co-drove their No. 1 Audi to the team’s maiden Le Mans Series victory, but how they landed on the top step of the podium was the story of the race. Capello overcame a collision with the Stephane Sarrazin’s No. 8 Peugeot in the second hour, rebounding from a two-lap deficit thanks to the misfortunes of others.

“I believe that Dindo and I deserve this victory, and so does everyone in the team,” McNish said. “We fought hard this year. For Dindo and me things weren’t always going as well as they should have. We had incidents when we were in the position to win races. I think 24 hours ago nobody would have expected Audi to win the race and the manufacturer’s and drivers’ title.”

The first contender to fall by the wayside was the championship-leading No. 7 Peugeot of Nicolas Minassian and Marc Gene. Minassian, who had suffered a spin at the start of the race, worked his way back up to third by the end of the first hour. However, the Frenchman crashed out in a major way only 80 minutes into the race. His car nearly toppled over following contact with a LM GT2 Porsche on the Hangar Straight, a move he admittedly said was his mistake.

Then, just 20 minutes later, Capello and Sarrazin collided while fighting for second place, sending both cars into the gravel trap. While both drivers limped their cars back to the pits for repairs, Sarrazin’s Peugeot lost over 13 laps due to damaged suspension pieces, whereas Capello’s Audi only needed a fresh set of tires.

The incident dropped Capello two laps down, but he and McNish slowly worked their way back up the leader board during the middle stages of the race. What looked to be a runner-up finish turned into a surprise win when the then-leading No. 2 Audi of Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat suffered suspension failure with just 23 laps remaining. While Audi’s young guns rejoined, they were 5 laps down and out of reach for the win.

Capello was there to pick up the pieces, cruising to a two-lap victory over the second-placed Charouz Racing System Lola B08/60 Aston Martin to take Audi’s first Le Mans Series win in three years. It was also he and McNish’s first win since their 24 Hours of Le Mans triumph in June.

	Race winner Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello and Le Mans Series 2008 Champions Alexandre Prémat and Mike Rockenfeller celebrate with Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich and Audi Sport Team Joest team members. Photo by Audi AG.

“After the accident with Stphane Sarrazin, in which I feel – 101 percent – that I was not at fault, I thought that this race was over for us as well,” Capello said. “But we never gave up. Seasoned drivers, an experienced team and a great car make for a good combination to win a race which – just like Le Mans – seemed to have been lost already on paper. This race showed that people with a lot of will power and commitment can make the seemingly impossible possible. That’s why Allan and I are proud to be part of this fantastic team.”

Rockenfeller and Premat rebounded from late-race suspension failure to finish fourth, enough for them to secure the drivers’ title. The newly crowned champions didn’t win a race this year, but showed that consistency does indeed pay off. Sunday’s event was the only time the duo failed to finish on the podium all season.

“I always believed that we could make it – and now it’s come true,” Rockenfeller. “In a championship you’ve got to consistently score good points and we did that at the first four races. And today we scored the necessary points as well. Of course we’d have liked to win this race. But I’m extremely happy that our ’sister car’ clinched this exploit here for Audi.”

On top Rockenfeller and Premat’s drivers’ title, Audi walked away with the teams’ and manufacturers’ championships as well, thanks to non-points placing Peugeots. What looked to be a tough fight heading in turned out to be a test of survival for the R10 TDIs.

“We’re proud to have won the Le Mans Series straight in our first year against such strong rivals,” said Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, head of Audi Motorsport. “Maybe we dreamt that we’d be going home from here with race victory and the championship title but it was hard work. The whole team did a great job. The pit stops and the strategy were very good and the boys drove a constantly fast pace.”

#7 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP after the crash of Nicolas Minassian on the Hangar Straight. Photo by DPPI.

The No. 8 Peugeot of Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy finished 19th overall, 11th in P1, whereas the Minassian-driven No. 7 example retired early on. The worst-case scenario indeed came true for Peugeot.

Stefan Mucke and Jan Charouz in the Charouz Racing System Lola Aston Martin recorded their best finish of the year in second, after leading a portion of the early stages. With their second podium finish of the year, the Czech team takes home top gasoline-powered P1 honors, finishing fifth in the championship.

“We not only confirmed the fact that we are fastest petrol car today but we also beat three turbo diesels, they did various mistakes,” Charouz said. “We put in consistent lap times with Stefan and it was very important. One slower car damaged the bodywork when I was overtaking him but fortunately it was not a serious problem. It was one of the biggest races for me and I am very happy that we pleased Czech fans with such result.”

The No. 16 Pescarolo Sport Judd of Jean-Christophe Boullion and Romain Dumas completed the podium in third, holding off the championship-winning No. 2 Audi in the closing laps. It marked the French privateer’s first podium finish of the season.

Van Merksteijn Motorsport capped off a dominating season in LM P2 with another class win, its fourth of the season. Jos Verstappen and Peter van Merksteijn drove their No. 34 Porsche RS Spyder to a fifth place overall result, coming home four laps ahead of the competition.

“From the beginning onward, the car felt really good,” Verstappen said. “There were no problems at all. We were able to do very quick lap times. For me, it was a really challenging race and track. It’s a shame the season is over because the car is so much fun to drive. It’s been fantastic.”

The Dutch team, though, didn’t have everything go their way this weekend. On Friday, Verstappen crashed the RS Spyder, requiring a rebuild overnight. But the very next day, the ex-Formula One driver put the purple and white machine on pole. And in the race, he put in another impressive drive.

	#34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS -Spyder: Jos Verstappen, Peter Van Merksteijn.Photo by Alessio Morgese.

“Jos drove so fast, I was able to sleep a little when I got in the car!” van Merksteijn joked. “I drove a little bit cautious because we had such a large gap. We won, and I’m really happy. The team is really good and one of the best in the field. The car is one of the best too. You can see that by the difference between the LM P2 and LM P1 cars, as we’re right up there.”

The No. 27 Horag Racing Porsche of Didier Theys, Fredy Lienhard and Jan Lammers came home second, matching their best finish of the year at Spa. The Swiss team also earned the season-long Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge, which awards an automatic entry to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Lienhard, though, will not be part of the action next year, as the veteran Swiss racer announced his retirement from racing this weekend. He topped off an impressive 40-plus year run in motorsports with a runner-up finish today.

“It’s been a long time, 40 years,” Lienhard said. “I’ve had so many good experiences and challenges. The present I got on my birthday today from my teammates and the Horag team couldn’t be more valuable. I’m so happy and I would like to thank everyone who is engaged in this beautiful series and track.”

Tomas Enge and Antonio Garcia drove their Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 to victory in LM GT1, outpacing the pole-sitting IPB Spartak Lamborghini Murcielago of Peter Kox and Roman Rusinov throughout the 1000km enduro. It was the British team’s third victory of the season, but still not enough to claim the class championship.

“As we had said before the start our aim was to win and then wait for result of our biggest competitors,” Enge said. “They scored points so we did not get the title. Three wins out of five races is pleasant, especially today’s one. Team Modena is based in Silverstone and it is always great to win at home.”

The championship went to Luc Alphand Aventures’ Guillaume Moreau and Patrice Goueslard, who steered the team’s No. 72 Corvette C6.R to a third place finish in the race. With their win today, Enge and Garcia wound up runner-up in the standings.

#96 Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT: Jaime Melo, Robert Bell. Photo by Alessio Morgese.

LM GT2 honors went to Rob Bell and Jamie Melo in the Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT. It was the small British team’s fourth victory of the season and second consecutive class championship. Bell once again celebrates as sole GT2 drivers’ champion, as regular co-driver Gianmaria Bruni had other driving commitments this weekend and did not score points.

“Its not just the result today, it’s the culmination of two years hard work,” Bell said. “For sure we have the best tires at the moment in Dunlop, but it’s not happened overnight. It’s been two years development to lead to a good consistent tire that can produce a good lap time. Everyone at Virgo has worked towards that.”

Runner-ups, both in the race and standings, was the No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3 RSR of Marc Lieb and Alex Davsion. Pierre Ehret, Pierre Kaffer and Anthony Beltoise in the No. 90 Farnbacher Racing Ferrari rounded out the podium Sunday, finishing third.

While the Le Mans Series season comes to another memorable close, it won’t be the end of the year for many competitors. A number of European teams will be making the trip to the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October for the 1000-mile/10-hour American Le Mans Series enduro. The likes of Peugeot and others will be crossing the pond to take on America’s finest, in what’s rapidly becoming a classic event on the international sports car racing scene.

Race results

2008 Driver final standings

Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 Race Finish – Audi wins!

Last minutes of the race

Audi wins thrilling Le Mans 24 Hours

Racing series	LEMANS
Date	2008-06-15 (Le Mans, France)

By John Dagys - Motorsport.com

The 76th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will go down in the history books as the battle of the diesels. And it went right down to the dramatic rain-soaked final hour. In the end, Audi Sport Team Joest pulled through to score their third straight Le Mans victory with the venerable R10 TDI. The No. 2 machine of Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello and Allan McNish shined in the wet, defeating the strong challenge put forth by the Peugeot 908 HDi-FAPs.   

#2 Audi Sport North America Audi R10: Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello. Photo by Eric Gilbert.

 

The turning point in the twice-around-the-clock French classic came in the early morning hours when rain began to fall around the 8.5-mile Circuit de La Sarthe. Up until then, the No. 7 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP of Nicolas Minassian, Marc Gene and Jacques Villeneuve had been the pacesetters, holding a one-lap lead over the No. 2 Audi. However, as the rain fell in the 14th hour, the Peugeots began to slip back and the Audis started to shine. One hour later, Kristensen was out in front.

“We had the weather forecast and were making the right calls, which was always giving us a little bit more, especially during the night,” Kristensen said. “It was really when we took the lead. That was very important to put more pressure on. And then later on as well, taking the right calls on the tires and gaining some seconds. I’m sure that was tiring on our competitors.”

The battle for the lead intensified in the closing hours as the track dried up, giving the Peugeot the advantage. But with an hour remaining, the race was thrown upside down with the return of the rain, spicing up the strategy with the two leading contenders. With only about one-third of the circuit wet, Minassian opted to stay on slicks while the Kristensen took on intermediates. The two-minute gap between the two rivals began to shrink, but Minassian later pitted for rain tires, ten minutes before Kristensen’s final stop for rains as well.

However, Minassian’s set of tires appeared to be unbalanced and he was forced to make an additional stop for a new set, dropping him one lap down. Once on track in the closing laps, Minassian gained his lap back, but it was all too late as Kristensen crossed the line, completing 368 laps and winning his record eighth 24 Hours of Le Mans crown.

While “Mr. Le Mans” celebrated another career milestone, co-drivers Allan McNish and Dindo Capello were just as thrilled with their victories. For McNish, it was his second Le Mans triumph, the first coming ten years ago, driving a Porsche 911 GT1-98.

 

	LM P1 podium: class and overall winners Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello, Allan McNish with Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. Photo by Eric Gilbert.

 

“It’s very different to the first, but also very similar,” McNish said, comparing his two Le Mans victories. “In 1998 we didn’t have the fastest car, but we had a very good team, good reliability and we had to fight 100 percent to win the race. It was also very similar because it was also only one hour before the end that was finally decided. But I have to say that this one probably the hardest race I’ve every lived through. The competition was strong. We knew we couldn’t make a mistake. We knew that if we had any technical problem, we’d be out. Also in the pit stops and the driving and everything just had to be perfect or we didn’t have a chance.”

Sunday’s win was Capello’s third in the “Grand Prix of Endurance,” after victorious with Bentley in 2003 and Audi Sport Team Goh in 2004. But this year’s success had broken a superstition that has haunted many teams and drivers in the past.

“Our theory before this race was that the car in the [official event] poster never wins the race,” Capello said. “This time, fortunately, this theory is broken. In 2004, Mr. Goh paid a lot of money to have his car on the main poster of the event. Tom [Kristensen] and myself thought, ‘hmm, the car on the poster never wins the race.’ So [Mr. Goh] decided not to take it. We won in 2004 and from that moment, we really believed in this theory. And today this theory is broken. Now we’d like to be on the poster again next year.”

Audi Sport Team Joest has now achieved a hat trick of victories for the second time, the first coming in 2000-2002 with the legendary Audi R8. History keeps on rewriting itself, now with the three-peat with the diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI.

“The 2008 Le Mans 24 Hour race will become part of history as a unique race,” said Audi Head of Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “It was a tense race for the whole duration of 24 hours. We didn’t enter the race as the favorite, but our success was the result of good performances and a faultless showing – and we achieved that against strong opponent.”

 

#7 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908: Marc Gene, Nicolas Minassian, Jacques Villeneuve.Photo by Eric Gilbert.

 

Peugeot entered the race as favorites, and Kristensen even admitted that if it had been a dry race, he probably wouldn’t have won. Audi had focused on setting up its three cars to suit dry and wet conditions, unlike the Peugeots, which excelled only in the dry. But the Michel Barge-led team scored a double podium with the No. 7 car of Minassian, Gene and Villeneuve coming home second and the Franck Montagny, Christian Klien and Ricardo Zonta in third.

“We knew it would be difficult, but I’m disappointed not to have won,” Minassian said. “It has to be said, though, that our opponents did a remarkable job. At the very end of the race, we did everything we could to catch them. We stayed out on slicks in the rain and then gambled on rain tires because we were still some way back and we had to try something. We will now have to analyze everything that happened this weekend to come back even stronger than ever.”

The French Lions didn’t walk away with problems of their own ,though. The team’s quickest car, the No. 8 of Stephane Sarrazin, Pedro Lamy and Alexander Wurz, turned out to be the one with the most issues. It soldered home to a 5th place finish overall, but 13 laps back on the winning Audi. Early gearbox problems coupled with frequent trips in and out of the garage prevented it from improving. Yet, Sarrazin has been credited with the race’s fastest lap time, a 3:19.394 run on Saturday evening.

“We go away with much that was positive, too,” said Peugeot Sport Director Michel Barge. “We came exceedingly close to pulling off an exploit and I believe we produced a first class overall performance. It was towards the end of the night that we lost all chance of winning but we managed to finish hard on the heels of a very worthy opponent. That’s something I won’t forget in a long time.”

 

	#3 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10: Mike Rockenfeller, Alexandre Prémat, Lucas Luhr.Photo by John Dagys.

 

The other two Audis also faced setbacks, as the No. 3 machine of Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Alexandre Premat finished seven laps back in fourth after having to replace the oil filterwith two hours remaining. Defending race winners Marco Werner, Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela lost a clutch late in the race as well as other issues, finishing 14 laps down in sixth.

“Our race was okay, but we lost some time at the beginning,” Luhr said. “At the end we had to come twice into the garage ending our battle with the No. 9 Peugeot prematurely. We just missed the podium with our fourth place. But we have the chance for improvements next year.”

Harold Primat, Christophe Tinseau and Benoit Treluyer in the No. 17 Pescarolo Sport Judd came out as best of the gasoline-powered runners, finishing seventh overall.

“This is a great day for us because we knew there were two races within the LMP1 class, one for the diesels and one for the petrol cars,” team owner Henri Pescarolo said. “We have been victorious in the latter against Lola, Oreca, Creation and Dome which is a great achievement. The three drivers were fantastic because the conditions have been so difficult. They have all driven perfectly and I am absolutely delighted for them.”

Team Oreca Matmut’s No. 5 Courage-Oreca LC70 Judd driven by Soheil Ayari, Laurent Groppi and Loic Duval finished eighth. The No. 10 Charouz Racing System Lola B08/60 Aston Martin of Stefan Mucke, Jan Charouz and Tomas Enge made a great recovery following an early race accident to finish ninth overall and in the LM P1 class.

 

LM P2 podium: class winners Jos Verstappen, Peter Van Merksteijn, Jeroen Bleekemolen.Photo by Eric Gilbert.

 

Van Merksteijn Motorsport celebrated the LM P2 class victory, bringing its Porsche RS Spyder home in 10th overall. The trio of Jos Verstappen, Jeroen Bleekamolen and Peter van Merksteijn led a remarkable 90 percent of the race while battling for the lead with the similarly prepared No. 31 Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder of John Nielsen, Casper Elgaard and Porsche factory driver Sascha Maassen.

The only major difference between the two RS Spyders was its tires. The Van Merksteijn example ran on Michelins whereas Team Essex had Dunlops. The Danish-entered Porsche led early but suffered two punctures and an electrical problem, dropping it seven laps behind the Dutch entry. The problems for Nielsen and company cost them cost them valuable time, eliminating the exciting duel seen early in the race.

“In the beginning, the Essex team was very strong,” van Merksteijn said. “We had the strategy for Jos to drive four stints and that kept a little bit of pressure on those guys. Jos has sometimes driven even better than Audi and Peugeot drivers and you saw it in the rain and dry. It’s unbelievable what he’s done and it just put more pressure on the team.”

Verstappen, who made his Le Mans debut, was delighted with his maiden win. The former Formula One veteran said most of the advantage was gained in the nighttime hours and also when the rain came in the morning.

 

	#34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS Spyder: Jos Verstappen, Peter Van Merksteijn, Jeroen Bleekemolen. Photo by Tom Haapanen.

 

“It’s important for the team,” Verstappen said. “This was our main goal this year, and the LMS races of course to prepare everything. The team is new to long distance racing. We have a fantastic car; otherwise it’s hard to have a result like this. It’s important to win this, especially for Peter who set the team up in such a professional way. We have fantastic support from Porsche. That’s why we can do something like this.”

In its first 24-hour race, Porsche’s RS Spyder successfully made it to the finish line with both of its cars, a feat some thought wouldn’t have been possible considering the car’s past lack of reliability in endurance races. Instead, the Weissach brand proved naysayers wrong, with claiming an impressive 1-2 in class.

“The car is just brilliant to drive. It’s a lot of fun,” Bleekamolen said. “It’s easy to drive and doesn’t take a lot of energy. It’s really fantastic for long distance racing. Of course we have to thank Porsche for this win because they built this car to be able to do this.”

The Team Essex RS Spyder finished 13 laps ahead of the third-placed No. 35 Saulnier Racing Pescarolo Judd of Pierre Ragues, Mathieu Lahaye and Cong fu Cheng, the first-ever Chinese driver to start a Le Mans, yet alone finish on the podium.

 

 

Final Results