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

 

FIA-GT Zolder 2008/10/19 – Victory for Bertolini and Bartels

Fourth Team’s title for Vitaphone

A close and exciting race around the 4.006 km Zolder circuit today saw Vitaphone Racing Team’s nr 1 Maserati MC 12 of Bartels and Bertolini claim victory; along with a points finish for the nr 2 car, the team has now clinched its fourth consecutive GT1 Teams title.  Coming out ahead after a lighting final pit stop, they finished ahead of their only remaining title rivals, Phoenix Carsport’s duo of Mike Hezemans and Fabrizio Gollin, and the Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 of Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp.  Three different manufacturers finished in the top three, separated by just over 10 seconds.

In GT2, newly crowned Champions Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni celebrated in style with their fifth win of the season in the nr 50 AF Corse Ferrari 430 GT2.  BMS Scuderia Italia drivers Malucelli and Ruberti strengthened their second position in the Championship with second, while the nr 60 Prospeed Competition Porsche claimed its first podium of the season for their home race.

Results remain provisional subject to sporting and technical scrutineering.

Results

Standings after Zolder

Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix – 2008-09-28

Formula 1 – Singapore – Alonso’s surprise win

Opportunistic Alonso wins the night in Singapore
Racing series F1
Date 2008-09-28
By J.K. Thompson – Motorsport.com

What a difference a night makes. Fernando Alonso’s anguished, fuel-starved end to qualifying 23 hours before was wiped from memory Sunday night in East Asia when the two-time world champion cruised to improbable victory in the inaugural FIA Formula One Grand Prix of Singapore. Nico Rosberg was second in a Williams ahead of Lewis Hamilton for McLaren Mercedes.

.
Race winner Fernando Alonso celebrates. Photo by xpb.cc.

With Formula One enjoying the Las Vegas Effect — shiny and bright at night — the other factor, problematic logistics of a street race, went overlooked. But the show was all Renault. An emphatic crash by Alonso teammate Nelsinho Piquet on Lap 15 — he said the car was “heavy” — brought out a safety car and unleashed a pit panic that put Alonso, who had rabbited from his 15th starting spot to 11th, in position to win. That he took the opportunity and triumphed is why the 27-year-old remains the only double world champion active in F1 and — with the exception of perhaps one team — the most coveted driver in the paddock.

“First podium of the season and first victory as well, I’m extremely happy,” Alonso said. “I cannot believe it right now. I think I need a couple of days to realize. But we won a race this year. It seems impossible.”

Alonso, who became the youngest world driving champion twice with Renault, was on target to continue winning championships with McLaren until conflict with rookie teammate Hamilton last year chased the Spaniard out of a three-year deal and back to the French team.

Behind the podium placers came Timo Glock for Toyota, Sebastian Vettel for Toro Rosso, Nick Heidfeld for BMW Sauber, David Coulthard for Red Bull, and Kazuki Nakajima for Williams in the points. Running thereafter were Jenson Button for Honda, Heikki Kovalainen for McLaren, Robert Kubica for BMW Sauber, Sebastien Bourdais for Toro Rosso, Felipe Massa for Ferrari and Giancarlo Fisichella for Force India. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Adrian Sutil (Force India), and Piquet (Renault), crashed out; Jarno Trulli (Toyota), Mark Webber (Red Bull), and Rubens Barrichello (Honda), suffered mechanical failures.

Piquet’s accident determined the race. Immediately affected was Rosberg in the lead Williams, who was heading for refueling when the safety car came out, putting the German afoul of closed pits. Rosberg, assessed a 10-second stop-go penalty, appeared to have lost the hard work of getting around heavily fuelled, one-stop strategist Trulli, accomplished with full brake lockup on Lap 7. Right behind him, fourth-starting Kubica, earned the same penalty. Such is the nature of racing that eighth-starting Rosberg, who managed to lead and pull out a 20-second gap before serving the penalty, had the horses and course placing to come up trumps while Kubica wound up pointless in 11th. The result was Rosberg’s best in nearly three full seasons in F1.

“I got a bit of a difficult start, on the dirty side, and dropped behind Jarno,” Rosberg said. “He was pretty slow. I suppose he was heavy on fuel. So I absolutely had to get by him. The problem was that my only chance was Turn 1, where I wasn’t ever quite close enough, and Turn 7, where on the inside it’s so bumpy that it’s simply impossible to outbrake someone. I mean it’s very, very difficult. So it took some time till I was literally alongside and I could brake on the inside. And even then it was quite a hairy moment because I locked up everything. But I came through. Then I was doing one qualifying lap after another because I knew it was my only chance to break clear of that group, and it worked out well.”

Rosberg said he thought it was all over after he was told to pit only to have the safety car come on track. “I was really annoyed,” he said. “I thought that was it, that was the end of it.” Instead, he pushed open a gap and drove to his best F1 result through it.

Fate similarly tapped Hamilton, front-row starter whose second place fell to pit stops and left him fighting from eighth to third, spending quite a few laps in fourth place behind Red Bull’s David Coulthard as the confusion that followed the Lap 15 incident mingled with team strategies to allow all sorts of drivers to cycle through the top positions. A second safety car with 10 of 61 laps left closed all gaps and left Hamilton to choose racing Rosberg or taking points. The Englishman padded his driving championship points lead, extending his lead over Massa from one to seven points, 84-77.

“My pit stop went really well,” Hamilton said of the first or safety car round of stops. “To be honest, I had to wait a little bit because there was a few cars coming past, including Felipe and perhaps Nico or something, coming to his stop, so I lost a little bit of time there but it didn’t cause me any troubles. We had great pace. Just, unfortunately, I got stuck behind DC. He was a good second slower than me but also a good second slower than anyone else in front of us and it was so difficult to get close to him to overtake, but he drove a fantastic race.”

And what of Ferrari? They made the race exciting for all the wrong reasons. What looked like triumph — and the drivers’ title chase lead — ended in tears when pole sitter Massa, who rocketed off the start and built a five-second lead over Hamilton, pitted in the first safety car frenzy, Lap 17, his third-starting teammate Raikkonen pulling in behind him. In milliseconds that followed, Ferrari did their best to dash the season.

The team’s electronic minder system showed green for Massa to go before the fuel rig hose was off the car, and Massa reacted instantly, tearing away the hose, spilling a mechanic, and driving off down pit lane trailing the fuel hose. The Brazilian stopped at the end of the lane — watching Hamilton’s refuelled McLaren pull past, probably wanting to puke — and waited as mechanics sprinted to him and struggled to remove the now-damaged hose, the engine whining all the while. Massa earned a drive-through penalty for early pit release and spent the rest of the race with backmarkers out of the points, the apparently bulletproof Ferrari engine pulling him to the finish line. The mechanic was stretchered off to the track medical center, found to have no broken bones, then he was taken to a local hospital for further checks.

Through all this, Raikkonen’s F2008 was serviced and released without problem. Raikkonen waged a valiant effort until with three laps to go, the Finn bounced over the high curbs on Turn 10 then bounced straight into a wall to take him out of a points position. With bright sides slim pickin’s, Raikkonen did set fast lap of the race, his 10th this season.

Alonso said his strategy for starting from the back half of the grid was to gain as many spots on the first lap as possible then count on opportunism because the R28 had pace.

“We thought about a one-stop strategy but we had some concerns with the brakes,” he said. “We said one stop is not possible, so we try something very different. We try to make as many places places as possible then try from there. The pace was there.”

So was tire strategy. Alonso used the prime or soft Bridgestone tire compound to have the better-wearing tire for the balance of the race. Rosberg and Hamilton were disadvantaged on the soft-soft compound. Alonso said he was able to back off engine revs to finish the race once he had the lead, which he took over from pitting one-stopper Trulli on Lap 34. The Spaniard then took off like un gato escaldo and was never headed, not even when a second safety car bunched things up with 10 laps left when Massa spun at Turn 17 and caught out a surprised Adrian Sutil, who promptly smacked the wall.

“This victory, I think, is well-deserved,” Alonso said. “The guys worked extremely hard all through the season. We start far behind, maybe one second behind BMW and now we are the same pace as them or even better and this is thanks to the great job. So we’ll keep pushing.”

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore called the race “fantastic” but wouldn’t be drawn on whether victory might keep his No. 1 driver, who has been linked to BMW Sauber and to Ferrari, despite the scuderia’s drivers being signed through 2010. “It’s not a victory that changes a situation,” the Italian said.

Glock said fourth place let him reach a personal goal of 20 points this season. Vettel called the race one of the toughest of the season because of the city-state’s heat and humdity, and the bumpy track surface that required total concentration. Heidfeld called the F1.08 good, but he was unable to show its pace for being stuck in traffic. Coulthard said he was happy to finish in the points even if the conditions were “hot as hell”. Nakajima, who made his own scintillatng pass on Trulli, proclaimed the day a great one for the Williams team.

In a singularly ungreat day for Ferrari, the Italian team lost what had been a five-point constructors’ title points lead to McLaren, who now lead, 135-134.

A Toyota protest that Toro Rosso released Vettel from his pit box early was disallowed.

Race results

Standings after Singapore GP

FIA-GT – Nogaro – France – 2008-10-05

FIA-GT at Nogaro, France. A very entertainning race. In 2 parts.

Michelin race report
Nogaro race results 
Standings after Nogaro

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 

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

FIA-GT 2007 Championship – Highlights

Spectacular images of the 2007 FIA-GT Championship

FIA GT3 Championship 2007 – Highlights

Spectacular images of the 2007 FIA GT3 Championship

FIA-GT – Bucharest – First Race – 2008-08-23

FIA-GT in the streets of Bucharest, Romania. The Corvettes dominated the race from the start. First of two races.
See qualifying results here

FIA GT Championship – 2008 Calendar

FIA GT Championship – Calendar

Event
2008-04-20 2008-04-20 Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Northampton, England

2008-05-18 2008-05-18 Monza
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
Monza, Italy

2008-06-21 2008-06-21 Adria
Adria International Speedway
Adria, Italy

2008-07-06 2008-07-06 Oschersleben
Motopark Oschersleben
Oschersleben, Germany

2008-08-03 2008-08-03 Spa 24
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Francorchamps, Belgium

2008-08-24 2008-08-24 Bucharest
Road City
Bucharest, Romania

2008-09-14 2008-09-14 Brno
Automotodrom Brno
Brno, Czech Republic

2008-10-05 2008-10-05 Nogaro
Circuit Paul Armagnac
Nogaro, France

2008-10-19 2008-10-19 Zolder
Circuit Zolder
Heusden-Zolder, Belgium

2008-11-23 2008-11-23 San Luis
Potrero de los Funes
San Luis, Argentina

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