Mosport was amazing! You name it, the weekend had it. Big crashes (Get well to all), huge speed, battles galore, lead changes, strategy and more. The only thing better than that was the Porsche wins in both LMP and GT. Romain Dumas was on a tear all weekend and you could tell he was stoked to be back in the RS Spyder. With a pole position, he took off hard from the green and never looked back. Yellow flags did cause some nerves to raise, even ours, but the second stint of Klaus Graf was a mirror performance of Dumas. Out standing win!
In GT we saw yet another string of cars all within seconds of each other. A huge meeting of Ford and BMW caused big changes in the order, esp. with BMW losing a car again. Our friend, Patrick Long put in some wicked laps and battles to hold off all and hand the 911 GT3 RSR off to Bergmeister. Joerg went on his own tear and laid it all out to secure he win. With this win they extended their lead to 22pts heading into Petit Le Mans.
The American Le Mans Series race on Canada’s Mosport circuit ended with an emphatic double victory for Porsche. On the demanding circuit close to Toronto, Porsche works driver Romain Dumas (France) and Klaus Graf (Germany) clinched the second overall victory this season at the wheel of the Porsche RS Spyder. In the strongly represented GT class, victory also went to the sports car manufacturer from Zuffenhausen: Porsche factory pilots Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) celebrated their fourth win this year with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to extend their points’ lead heading to the Road Atlanta final on 2 October. At the same time, Porsche once again reclaimed the top spot of the manufacturers’ classification.
One week ago in Elkhart Lake, Klaus Graf had missed out on overall victory by just one second. In Mosport, he planted the RS Spyder on pole position and, with his teammate Romain Dumas, secured the second overall win this season after Lime Rock for the Muscle Milk Team Cytosport squad. The winning racer from Weissach maintained the lead from start to finish, and never even relinquished it during pit stops and driver changes. After a good two hours of racing, the RS Spyder was leading by almost one-lap, when a safety car was deployed due to a barrier being ripped from its bolts in an accident. Only then could the pursuers catch up. Shortly afterwards, the race was red-flagged. Workmen had tried in vain to repair the guard railing for an hour, before the race organiser decided to cancel the event.
“What a great day. Our pace was good over the whole weekend, but we still tried to find the best set-up. Once we found it, the RS Spyder ran with incredible perfection,” said Klaus Graf. “The entire crew were extremely well prepared for this race. This became very clear when we almost lapped the second-placed Honda. Having Romain Dumas, as one of the world’s best race drivers, as a teammate was a huge pleasure.” The Frenchman also enjoyed his comeback to the American Le Mans Series. “In the first five laps I pulled clear by ten seconds, then I got word from the pits to conserve fuel and tyres,” he said. “Driving the Porsche RS Spyder at the head of the field in Mosport – for a race driver it doesn’t get better than that.”
In the fiercely-contested GT class, Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long are shortly before successfully defending their title. After claiming their fourth win of the season with Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, they travel to the final round of the season holding a comfortable points’ margin. Right from the green flag in Mosport, Patrick Long was the dominating force over strong opposition from Ferrari, BMW and Chevrolet. He handed the successful racer to Joerg Bergmeister after an hour, who then rejoined the race action in second. It didn’t take long for Bergmeister to regain the lead which he proceeded to defend against heavy attacks to the flag.
“Having a 22-point advantage is a great buffer and it makes us feel very confident for the final at Road Atlanta. After this victory we feel we could even win the championship,” said Joerg Bergmeister, who now has four Mosport victories to his credit. Patrick Long is also confident heading to the last race of the year: “By now we’ve had an amazing season. We simply have the speed and strategy. This win is the best motivation heading to Road Atlanta. But until then, we have plenty to do. After all, we don’t just want to win the title again for us, but also to contribute to Porsche winning the manufacturers’ classification.”
In the cockpit of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Team Falken Tire, Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Bryan Sellers (USA) secured seventh place. Americans Darren Law and Seth Neiman saw the flag with the second 911 GT3 RSR of Flying Lizard Motorsports in ninth.
The 9th and final round of the American Le Mans Series takes place on 2 October on the Road Atlanta race track in Braselton, Georgia.
Statistics: 8th of 9 rounds of the American Le Mans Series in Mosport, Canada
Race result
1. Dumas/Graf (F/D), Porsche RS Spyder (LMP), 98 laps
2. Brabham/Pagenaud (AUS/ F/), Honda ARX-01c (LMP), 98
3. Mowlem/Burgess/Willman (GB/CAN/USA), Lola B06 10 Judd (LMP) 97
Result GT class
1. Bergmeister/Long (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 91 laps
2. Vilander/Bruni (SF/I), Ferrari 430 GT, 91
3. Auberlen/Millner (USA/USA), BMW E92 M3, 91
4. Magnussen/O’Connell (DK/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, 91
5. Beretta/Gavin (MC/GB), Chevrolet Corvette, 91
6. van Overbeek/Sharp (USA/USA), Ferrari 430 GT, 90
7. Henzler/Sellers (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 90
9. Law/Neiman (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 89
Points’ standings GT class
Drivers
1. Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Porsche, 139 points
2. Gianmaria Bruni, Ferrari, 117
3. Bill Auberlen, Tommy Millner, BMW, 105
4. Jaime Melo, Ferrari, 101
Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, BMW, 101
5. Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin, Chevrolet, 78
6. Jan Magnussen, Johnny O’Connell, Chevrolet, 73
Manufacturers
1. Porsche, 139 points
2. BMW, 138
3. Ferrari, 129
4. Chevrolet, 107
Teams
1. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche, 139 points
2. Rahal Letterman Racing, BMW, 138
3. Risi Competizione, Ferrari, 127
Points’ standings LMP class
Drivers
1. David Brabham, Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 152 points
2. Klaus Graf, Porsche, 136
3. Chris Dyson, Lola, 98
4. Guy Smith, Lola, 92
5. Jonny Cocker, Lola, 84
6. Greg Pickett, Porsche, 79
Manufacturers
1. Honda, 152 points
2. Porsche, 136
3. Mazda, 98
Teams
1. Highcroft Racing, Honda, 152 points
2. Muscle Milk Team Cytosport, Porsche, 136
3. Dyson Racing Team, Lola, 98
- Porsche Motorsport
