PENSKE RACING CLINCHES 2007 LMP2 TEAM CHAMPIONSHP
28/08/07 09:05 Filed in:Racing
PENSKE PORSCHE RS SPYDERS WIN MOSPORT LMP2 AND OVERALL; PENSKE RACING CLINCHES
2007 LMP2 TEAM CHAMPIONSHP
BOWMANVILLE, Ont., Canada – August 26 - After their last pit stop, team driver
Romain Dumas (France), who started in the #7 Penske RS Spyder, was packing his
helmet to get ready for the next race, confident that co-driver Timo Bernhard
(Germany) would bring the car in second overall and first in LMP2 for an
important class win. And Ryan Briscoe (Australia) was finishing the race that
Sascha Maassen (Germany) started in the #6 Penske RS Spyder, settling into a
second place in LMP2 and third overall.
But, with five minutes to go, the overall race leader –
the factory Audi R10
TDI - lost its ability to shift gears and Bernhard saw the margin for first
place overall shrink from 29 seconds to 2.2 seconds in less than two laps, and
he was very surprised when he was pass the Audi to take the overall victory.
Briscoe also passed the Audi, but had to back off on the last lap to conserve
fuel, finishing second in class and third overall for a one-two Porsche class
finish.
But it was that second-place finish that clinched the 2007 LMP2 team
championship for Penske Racing – the second year in a row they have won that
honor. Team manager Jeff Swartwout is proud of the efforts of all aspects of
the team operation.
“For the guys who practice pit stops five days a week in the shop, the
technicians, the drivers, the Porsche factory engineers, and all our employees
and suppliers, Penske Racing places great importance in winning this
championship against some of the best racing teams in the country,”
Swartwout said.
The Penske Racing team and its Porsche drivers are also assured that the LMP2
driver champion will come from its ranks – either Timo Bernhard and Romain
Dumas, or Sascha Maassen and Ryan Briscoe. Right now, Bernhard/Dumas lead
Maassen/Briscoe 170 – 149. The Acura drivers David Brabham and Stefan Johansson
are third with 90 points, with only 69 points left to be earned for the season.
“I was so busy trying to pass slower traffic and maintain my position ahead of
the Acuras and my Penske Porsche teammates for the LMP2 victory that I did not
realize the Audi was having mechanical problems. I thought he had made a pit
stop, and was having trouble getting back up to speed. It was only after I
passed him and could not see him again in my mirrors that I heard on the radio
that his car had trouble,” said Bernhard, who scored his fifth overall win this
season with Dumas.
Briscoe, who drove the last part of the race, had to come in for an unscheduled
pit stop with 30 minutes to go to change a broken wheel rim, and thought he had
lost all hope for a second place finish overall.
“I was concentrating on cementing the second place in LMP2 when I also came upon
the Audi, and passed it. But the Audi still had power on the straight-aways,
and we were worried about fuel at the end of the race, so the team told me to
back off to conserve the fuel and our one-two finish in class,” said Briscoe.
The Dyson Racing team moved into second place in the LMP2 team standings with
fifth and seventh place finishes in LMP2. The Chris Dyson/Guy Smith Porsche RS
Spyder, which ran as high as third, finished fifth, while the Butch
Leitzinger/Andy Wallace RS Spyder finished seventh.
In GT2, the Jorg Bergmeister/Johannes van Overbeek Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3
RSR, who were only four points behind the leading Ferrari drivers coming into
the event, had a rough day, losing a lap to the pace car, and then incurring a
disputed penalty from passing under the yellow flag. A fifth place finish left
them 16 points behind in the championship with three events to go.
The top finishing Porsche in GT 2 car for the second week in a row was the Rahal
Letterman Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, with Tom Milner, Jr./Ralf Kelleners
finishing third.
TDI - lost its ability to shift gears and Bernhard saw the margin for first
place overall shrink from 29 seconds to 2.2 seconds in less than two laps, and
he was very surprised when he was pass the Audi to take the overall victory.
Briscoe also passed the Audi, but had to back off on the last lap to conserve
fuel, finishing second in class and third overall for a one-two Porsche class
finish.
But it was that second-place finish that clinched the 2007 LMP2 team
championship for Penske Racing – the second year in a row they have won that
honor. Team manager Jeff Swartwout is proud of the efforts of all aspects of
the team operation.
“For the guys who practice pit stops five days a week in the shop, the
technicians, the drivers, the Porsche factory engineers, and all our employees
and suppliers, Penske Racing places great importance in winning this
championship against some of the best racing teams in the country,”
Swartwout said.
The Penske Racing team and its Porsche drivers are also assured that the LMP2
driver champion will come from its ranks – either Timo Bernhard and Romain
Dumas, or Sascha Maassen and Ryan Briscoe. Right now, Bernhard/Dumas lead
Maassen/Briscoe 170 – 149. The Acura drivers David Brabham and Stefan Johansson
are third with 90 points, with only 69 points left to be earned for the season.
“I was so busy trying to pass slower traffic and maintain my position ahead of
the Acuras and my Penske Porsche teammates for the LMP2 victory that I did not
realize the Audi was having mechanical problems. I thought he had made a pit
stop, and was having trouble getting back up to speed. It was only after I
passed him and could not see him again in my mirrors that I heard on the radio
that his car had trouble,” said Bernhard, who scored his fifth overall win this
season with Dumas.
Briscoe, who drove the last part of the race, had to come in for an unscheduled
pit stop with 30 minutes to go to change a broken wheel rim, and thought he had
lost all hope for a second place finish overall.
“I was concentrating on cementing the second place in LMP2 when I also came upon
the Audi, and passed it. But the Audi still had power on the straight-aways,
and we were worried about fuel at the end of the race, so the team told me to
back off to conserve the fuel and our one-two finish in class,” said Briscoe.
The Dyson Racing team moved into second place in the LMP2 team standings with
fifth and seventh place finishes in LMP2. The Chris Dyson/Guy Smith Porsche RS
Spyder, which ran as high as third, finished fifth, while the Butch
Leitzinger/Andy Wallace RS Spyder finished seventh.
In GT2, the Jorg Bergmeister/Johannes van Overbeek Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3
RSR, who were only four points behind the leading Ferrari drivers coming into
the event, had a rough day, losing a lap to the pace car, and then incurring a
disputed penalty from passing under the yellow flag. A fifth place finish left
them 16 points behind in the championship with three events to go.
The top finishing Porsche in GT 2 car for the second week in a row was the Rahal
Letterman Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, with Tom Milner, Jr./Ralf Kelleners
finishing third.
