Rites Of Spring 2023 Open Up For Three Classes Of IMSA At Long Beach Grand Prix

GTD PRO and GTD class cars as they enter Turn 6 onto Turn 7 and Turn 8 section along Pine Avenue after the short chute straightaway next to the Carousel at the Pike Outlets during the 47th Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach. This section may become one of the more critical sections given GTD platform racecraft dynamics of having to compete with a totally new Prototype Hybrid car weaving itself through your race. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

Rites Of Spring 2023 Open Up For Three Classes Of IMSA At Long Beach Grand Prix

One week before the cars and teams competing in the 48th Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach need to be placed in the paddock next to Shoreline Drive, four drivers from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), GT Daytona (GTD), and GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class designations participated in a ZOOM Call conference with members of the Press.

This street race scheduled to be run for a 100 minute sprint on the famed Long Beach 1.968 mile course (or 73 laps as attained in 2022). The previous two races run this season were endurance races run in Florida - Race 1, Rolex 24 At Daytona and Race 2, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring - comprised 36 hours of timed racing ... a different kettle of fish especially since all 5 classes were represented.

To be clear, as it relates to the performance type of cars competing within the concrete canyons of the street circuit that is Long Beach, the GTD and GTD PRO class cars are set up through the same specifications and BoP (balance of power) applications in the rules. 

In terms of information and anticipated track activity throughout the sprint race, there are two functional classes with the GTP (prototype) being the most dynamic and high-powered racing sport cars beginning here in 2023 using a two power plant hybrid (ICE & Electric) propulsion against the GTD cars with minor changes governing the ICE (internal combustion engine) powered sports cars over last year.

Zoom Media Interview - Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Driver Preview

GTP class

Renger van der Zande, co-driver of the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R

Ricky Taylor, co-driver of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06

GTD PRO class

Jordan Taylor, co-driver of the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C8.R GTD

GTD class

Bill Auberlen, co-driver of the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3

- here is what transpired in total.

A total of 28 cars are entered in the three competing classes: eight in GTP, five in GTD PRO and 15 in GTD. Practice and qualifying take place Friday, April 14. The race airs live on USA Network and IMSA Radio at 2 p.m. PT Saturday, April 15.

Storylines

• Spectacular GTP Season Continues: The new Grand Touring Prototype class that debuted this year, featuring hybrid-electrified entries from four manufacturers, enters Long Beach with two races under its belt. Thus far, Acura and Cadillac have each won one race with BMW and Porsche in hot pursuit. Cadillac is seeking to continue a run that has seen it win the past five Long Beach races overall and in the top prototype class.
• The Long and Short of It: After opening the season with the two longest races of the year (Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring), the WeatherTech Championship shifts gears to the shortest race on the schedule – just 100 minutes at Long Beach. How will teams and drivers adapt to a true sprint race?
• Sprint Cup Season Commences: The Long Beach race also serves as the first of seven events that make up the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup for the GTD class. Points earned in these non-endurance races count toward both the overall season championship and the Sprint Cup crown.
• Once, Twice, Three Times a Winner? Paul Miller Racing and co-drivers Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow are seeking a rare three-peat of Long Beach victories in the GTD class. They won in 2021 driving a Lamborghini Huracán and last year in a BMW M4 GT3. The team is also fresh off a victory last month at Sebring.

Who’s Hot?

• GTD PRO Mercedes and Lexus: Only two teams have finished on the podium in the first two races of 2023, and both compete in the GTD PRO class. The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 topped the class at the Rolex 24 and finished third at Sebring. The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 placed third at Daytona and second at Sebring.
• Inception Racing: Embarking on its first full-season GTD effort, the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 hasn’t won yet this season but successive finishes of third and fourth have put drivers Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff in the class points lead heading into Long Beach.

Who’s Good Here?

• Cadillac and Action Express: The manufacturer rides a five-race Long Beach prototype winning streak into race weekend. Three of those (2018, ’19 and ’21) came via Action Express Racing, whose No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-Series.R also took the GTP and overall victory last month at Sebring. Co-drivers Alexander Sims and Pipo Derani are the GTP championship leaders after two races.
• Taylor Brothers: Jordan and Ricky Taylor teamed to win three consecutive Long Beach races from 2015-17 in the Prototype class when they drove for their father’s team, but neither has added a victory since. Ricky co-pilots the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 GTP with Filipe Albuquerque this year, with Jordan sharing the No. 3 Corvette C8.R GTD with Antonio Garcia in GTD PRO.

Motorsports Journal's Edmund Jenks was curious about the dynamics of having a totally new Prototype car to be racing with these previous two endurance races and how this may work out at Long Beach.

Motorsports Journal: Have you noticed any difference with the new hybrid GTP cars with the way they race around you or approach you, compared to the DPi prototypes in previous seasons?

Jordan Taylor - No. 3 Corvette Racing/Mobil 1 (Corvette C8.R GTD): It’s much different. The way they make speed seems different. They come by you a bit quicker on the straights and then their cornering speeds – especially in the medium-speed corners – is quite a bit lower than back in the DPi days. At Sebring, I had a BMW come by me and it must have been on a double-stint on the tires. It passed me into 15 and was so slow at apex that I was actually able to drive back around him. It’s a much different car, it seems, for them to learn and adapt to. It makes the style of racing a bit different because now in GT, we know that they struggle on second-stint tires and it will put us in a position to probably want to be a little more defensive in those sorts of spots to not lose laptime when they go by us. It’s definitely a learning process. They come by you a lot quicker in the straights like at Daytona before the Kink and out of the Kink. They’d arrive much quicker and when you wouldn’t expect it from years past in a DPi. When we go to different tracks, it’s going to be learning where those places are, and where they can get by us and where they can’t compared to what it was like back in DPi.

Bill Auberlen - No. 97 Turner Motorsport McIntosh (BMW M4 GT3): They (GTP cars) are so slow in the corners. I was very surprised. The old cars (DPi) used to corner like they were on rails, and would go around you in the middle of corners and put you in a bad position. Now they (GTP cars) never pass you in corners because they have their hands full as it is. When they’re on a second stint with the tires, they’re slower than us in the corners and hold us up. They go blasting by you on the straights where you want them to pass, but once you get past the brake zone they tuck in behind you and wait until the next straight to blast by you again. It makes them a lot easier to interact with (than previous DPi prototypes).

Renger van der Zande - No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac Racing V-Series.R: I feel it’s hard to overtake. The speeds are higher but we have to brake a bit earlier and the weight is higher as well. The minimum speed [in the corner] is quite a lot lower so you cannot really rely on. Let’s break super late and dive bomb someone. I think if you dive bomb someone you’re going straight ... you’re going to miss the corner. I think with the DPi you could actually overtake someone on track because you had a bit more downforce, you had a bit more minimum speed and grip to get away with a mistake. With these cars, it seems like if you try to outbrake, you actually are going outbrake yourself and going off the track, so you have to be a bit more careful.

Ricky Taylor - No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06: It is nice to be able to clear everybody in the straight, although the closing speed is so high that there becomes a level of commitment when you’re going down the straight and [the GT cars] are in their own battle. You have to pick a side to go, and especially when there are Ams [Amateurs] in the car ... do they see you, do they not … you’re trying to read body language from a much further distance and then commit to one side, because the penalty of picking the wrong side and having to lift and and move across is actually higher. (From Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport website: Starting the sprint race portion of the season is exciting. We get to go to another new track with the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06, so it will be interesting how the new GTP cars adapt to the first street course of the year. Being the shortest race of the year, we can transition our energy from purely reliability to hopefully a bit more risk-taking for Acura’s home race in Long Beach.)

ENDS

After racing in the two longest events on the calendar at Daytona and Sebring, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has something entirely different coming up next weekend. The Long Beach race is notoriously difficult and hard on cars with the 100-minute sprint race length where the dynamics between the new GTP platform and the GTD platform may decide just who wins their class by end-of-day Saturday at the 48th Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach rites of spring motorsports event.

... notes from The EDJE

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TAGS: 2023. 48th Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach, Long Beach Grand Prix, IMSA, GTP, GTD PRO, GTD, Corvette Racing, Cadillac Racing, WTRAndretti, Auberlen, Taylor, van der Zande, The EDJE

Mosport Breaks Streaks And Dims Season's Chances In ALMS GT

GT Class race leaders at Mosport before the final change when a penalty is assessed on the #55 BMW of Auberlen/Werner (pictured leading eventual winner Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen's Corvette, and P2's Jaime Melo/Toni Vilander's Ferrari F458 Italia). Image Credit: ALMS/Ryan Smith

Mosport Breaks Streaks And Dims Season's Chances In ALMS GT

The weather was perfect for a summer's race of exotic, and expertly prepared sports cars at Mosport International Raceway just outside Toronto.

The Abruzzi “Spirit of the Le Mans” racer. The Abruzzi “Spirit of Le Mans” is set to carry on a successful history of Panoz in motorsport. With 10 class victories – including eight overall – in the American Le Mans Series and the 2002 Trans-Am championship, the manufacturer is one of the most renowned in the world. In addition to winning at Sebring and Le Mans, Panoz has won at such venues as Road Atlanta, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Portland, the Nürburgring and Washington DC. Image Credit: ALMS/Ryan Smith

Joining the GT Class (but running as Unclassified) for the first time in 2011, Team Panoz returned with the radical Panoz Abruzzi ‘Spirit of Le Mans’ with drivers Ian James and Edward Sandström. The Panoz, however, was not a factor in the race and it's outing showed that getting to learn a new car is never easy. In the morning warm-up before the race, the #50 UNC Panoz Abruzzi driven by Edward Sandstrom stopped at turn 2 with damage to the left front of the car after hitting the tire walls. On a positive note, the Unclassified run of the Panoz had it come in at P9 (if judged as GT) ahead of such notable entrants as the #01 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia driven by Scott Sharp/Johans van Overbeek, the #98 RSR Jaguar XKR driven by P.J. Jones and Rocky Moran Jr., and the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 RSR driven Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long.

The last notable mentioned is where the hopes for a repeat in the GT Class dimmed. The Flying Lizard Porsche of Bergmeister and Long showed great promise at climbing back into the championship points frey after qualifying well in P3 just behind the two Team RLL BMWs and just .231 seconds behind the season points leading team of the #56 of Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller in P1.

Joerg Bergmeister driving the Flying Lizard factory Porsche chases down the #56 Team RLL BMW before its driver, Joey Hand is issued a penalty, giving the Porsche a temporary lead at Mosport. Image Credit: ALMS/Ryan Smith

The Green Flag drops At 3:03 pm and race was beginning to come the Flying Lizards way when they were able to run at P2 just behind the #56 BMW. The GT madness began after nearly an hour of tight racing when Joey Hand made contact in his #56 BMW M3 GT with Risi Competizione`s #62 Ferrari F458 Italia of Toni Vilander. A penalty for Hand promoted Jeorg Bergmeister and the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR into the lead. Things were looking great until Bergmeister got his Porsche sideways in Turn 10, handing the lead to Bill Auberlen in the #55 BMW Team RLL entry.

Normally, a racer can recover from a spin but the Porsche was not behaving well.

This excerpted and edited from ALMS Race Notes -

At 4:25 pm (1h 22m running), Joerg Bergmeister (#45-GT Porsche 911 GT3 RSR) has radioed that he has lost power steering and will pit for the crew to evaluate.

At 4:26 pm (1h 23m running), Joerg Bergmeister (#45-GT Porsche 911 GT3 RSR) into the pits. 4 tires, fuel, driver change: Patrick Long . working on the power steering.

At 4:36 pm (1h 33m running), Patrick Long (#45-GT Porsche 911 GT3 RSR) into the pits. No fuel, no driver change. Finished repairs on pit lane. Rejoining the race.

END

This eleven minute repair delay placed the team well down in the field finishing the race at Mosport P12 in GT Class. The #45 Flying Lizard effort entered the race at a real chance of climbing back into the season points race from P3 but leaves dropping to P6.

GT championship leader BMW Team RLL`s three-race win streak came to a close at Mosport as a combo of contact, mechanical woes and penalties jumbled the order throughout the two-hour, 45 minute race. After the final round of pit stops and with Dirk Werner in the driver`s seat, it appeared BMW`s biggest concern would be holding off Magnussen`s #4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R. But with less than 20 minutes remaining, another penalty cost BMW the lead once again. Officials ruled Werner's contact with GTC leader Pumpelly at Turn 10 as avoidable and called the #55 BMW into the penalty box. It promoted Magnussen and his Corvette to the GT lead.

Winning Driver's Quotes:

Jan Magnussen (#4-GT Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1) (about the battle with Ferrari) “We were just ahead in the pits stops, and after that we had to hold him off. We were side by side through three, it was really exciting. We were pushing as hard as we could the whole race, same as the Ferrari. It's a really fast car, I had to wait for him to make a mistake for a while. He finally made one in traffic and I was able to take advantage. I knew I couldn't pull away from him on speed, so I knew I had to take some chances in traffic to keep ahead of him. This race had a bunch of different potential winners at different stages, I think BMW looked like they had the most advantage, but we were able to push at the right moments and pull a win out. If you asked us this morning, we'd say, there will only be one winner. It just unfolded that way today. I'm glad we were the ones that got to break the win barrier.”

Oliver Gavin (#4-GT Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1) “It was one of those moments where you see the incident, and you think, in the past the person gets a penalty. It was called that way, and it was something that aided us to get the win. Jan still had to do a lot of hard work out there and navigate the traffic. Traffic does seem to be a really big issue here. Any time you slip and go off the track, you can end up in the wall. That could be a race ending moment. There is no chance to rest here. Hats off to Jan and the team, just a stellar job today. I knew from my stint that if Jan was on the Ferrari gearbox coming out of turn 5, you could probably get a toe coming out and use the momentum to get by. He executed brilliantly and then sliced through traffic to get a 4 or 5 second lead. The rain that came through last night showed a bit today. We were chasing the car all weekend, we weren't the fastest car. What we showed today was winning by team, pit stop strategies, coming in at the right time, having the least amount of mistakes. It comes down to the entire team operating at 100% every second of the race.”

The #01 and #02 Ferrari 458 Italia race cars of Extreme Speed Motorsports. Image Credit: ALMS/Ryan Smith

Going into the next race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge (Race 5 of 9), the season points breakout is as follows:

Position - Drivers - Car - Season Championship Points
1 Dirk Mueller/Joey Hand (#56-GT BMW M3 GT) - 80
2 Oliver Gavin/Jan Magnussen (#4-GT Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1) - 57
3 Bill Auberlen/Dirk Werner (#55-GT BMW M3 GT) - 46
4 Jaime Melo/Toni Vilander (#62-Ferrari F458 Italia) - 41
5 Olivier Beretta/Tommy Milner (#3-GT Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1) - 39

... notes from The EDJE


[Article first published as Mosport Breaks Streaks And Dims Season's Chances In ALMS GT on Technorati]

MOBIL 1 Presents THE ALMS GRAND PRIX OF MOSPORT - Round 4 Of 9 Set-Up

Mosport International Raceway - 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course - Fastest circuit in the American Le Mans Series. Audi’s Dindo Capello posted the fastest Class qualifying lap (138.116 mph) in 2008. … Three different cars and six different drivers have won overall at Mosport since 2008. … Johnny O’Connell has started every Mosport race. He and Jan Magnussen gave Corvette its first GT2 victory in 2009. … Mosport, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010, is one of four tracks to play host to a Series event in each of its 12 seasons. … Track was Canada’s first purpose-built road course and has held Formula 1, Can-Am, Indy Car and the World Sports Car Championship races in its history. Image Credit: ALMS presented by Tequila Patrón


MOBIL 1 Presents THE ALMS GRAND PRIX OF MOSPORT - Round 4 Of 9 Set-Up

Here we are at a point with only six races left to make a sizable impact in a trend of lopsided wins in the GT Class.

One may really like the fact that the American Le Mans Series style of closed body, street/road track, timed distance format (sometimes straddling day-part), and multiple performance/body style classes running at different speeds, makes for interesting viewing and tracking, but let's be honest ... the only real competition on the track that exists for the duration of most any season, and certainly this one in 2011, is the class of the Classes, the GT Class.

2010 season marked Jaguar’s first full year of competition in American Le Mans Series with Paul Gentilozzi’s RSR entering a Jaguar XKR in GT. ChampCar open wheel driving refugees Bruno Junqueira and Cristiano Da Matta (past CCWS champion) team up to drive the #99 XKR while motorsport name standouts PJ Jones and Rocky Moran Jr. share piloting duties on the #98 XKR Jaguar in its second season. Image Credit: ALMS presented by Tequila Patrón

The exotics in the LMP1, LMP2 (not at Lime Rock) and LMPC Classes are very interesting but there are not enough players to make this portion of what is going on down on the track, except for style and speed, interesting. The GTC Class has multiple entrants, but do not have the wide representation of manufacturers that the GT ClaSS puts up. So we choose to follow, with interest and some intensity, the GT Class in this round #4, American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón - Mosport International Raceway / Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada - July 22 – 24, 2011, contest.

The set up at Mosport is simple, BMW Team Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) has been running a hot Hand (driver Joey Hand, that is) and former Ferrari stand out, Dirk Muller (Mosport fastest lap holder at 1:18.012 - 113.475 mph, August 2008 - Ferrari F430 GT), with three wins in three races. All other teams need to beat the #56 BMW in order to eat into a possible walk into the championship by season's end by both Hand and Muller.

Those who hold the remote possibility of a chance to even think of a championship is held by the two classic annual rivals, last year's champions, Joerg Bergmeister / Patrick Long of the factory Porsche Flying Lizard team and Oliver Gavin / Jan Magnussen of Corvette Racing. The driver pairings and teams are almost tied at 37 points for Corvette, 34 points for Porsche, against the 70 points held by the #56 of Hand and Muller. The biggest and most glaring difference between these two challenging teams is that the 34 points held by Flying Lizard Porsche team was achieved in only two races with one DNF whereas the Corvette Racing challenge of 37 points was achieved in all three races.

Patrick Long stalks Joey Hand as they turn laps at Lime Rock. Patrick Long and teammate, Joerg Bergmeister end up 20 seconds down in P2 and register their first podium of the year. Image Credit: ALMS presented by Tequila Patrón

Porsche Flying Lizard Team Quotes before the race:

Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of motorsport: "Mosport is a track where engine performance is more important than on any other circuit. For this reason we were thrilled to hear that the rule-makers in the USA want to revise the imbalance that disadvantaged our cars. I hope that Flying Lizard and the Falken and Miller teams can continue their upward trend that they showed in Lime Rock."

Joerg Bergmeister, #45 co-driver: "Last year we travelled to Mosport without high expectations and we won. It’s not normally a circuit that particularly suits us and it features too many straights. But if we can manage to make everything come together like in Lime Rock recently then we might bring home a podium result. I’d be very happy with this."

Patrick Long, #45 co-driver: "It’s not easy making a reliable prediction for Mosport. The track is very fast, and very demanding for the driver. It’s unforgiving with mistakes. That should work in our favour. I hope we can use this to our advantage."
(ht: Porsche AG Media Database via Dede Seward)

"Never give up!" was Chevrolet's motto, and the team was true to that credo after a chain reaction accident damaged both Compuware Corvette C6.Rs at just 20 minutes into the two-hour, 45-minute race. After the Corvette crew repaired their battered race cars, Olivier Beretta and Tommy Milner battled back to bring the No. 3 Corvette C6.R home in ninth place while Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin finished 10th in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R. Image Credit: ALMS presented by Tequila Patrón

This excerpted and edited from Corvette Racing website:

Mosport has been the stage for many of Corvette Racing's winning performances. The team has tallied eight victories there, including its first win in the GT2 category (since renamed GT) in 2009. That race featured a spectacular wheel-to-wheel duel between Jan Magnussen and Ferrari rival Pierre Kaffer in the final 30 minutes. Magnussen prevailed by .331 seconds at the finish.

"The whole circuit is a huge challenge, one that I relish," said Magnussen's teammate, Oliver Gavin. "We always go into that race with a strong car and the track seems to suit the Corvette's strengths.

"Our car's balance and braking is very good, and we seem to be quick in the tight Turn 5 area and coming into Turn 8 at the end of the back straight," Gavin explained. "One of the most daunting parts is Turn 2, and it's also the most fun when you get it right. The corner entry is blind, you turn in and the track starts to fall away almost immediately. You need absolute trust in the marshals to tell you if there's a problem ahead."

Corvette Racing has unfinished business at Mosport. Last year's event was red-flagged with 30 minutes remaining when the guardrail lining the high-speed Andretti Straightaway was severely damaged in an accident. The twin Corvettes had completed their final pit stops and were in position to race for the win when officials cancelled the remainder of the race.

"If the race had restarted we would have been in a good position," said Magnussen. "We had a strong car, things were shaping up, and we would have had a shot at it. I'm looking forward to going back there and setting the record straight."
[Reference Here]

There are many more cars on the track, starting with one more BMW (#55 driven by Bill Auberlen / Dirk Werner) from the Team RLL stable which sits fourth in the points overall tied with one more Corvette (#3 driven by Olivier Beretta / Tommy Milner) at 33 points in GT Class, but none have more at stake against another winning performance from the #56 BMW of Hand and Muller than the #45 Porsche and the #4 Corvette.

... notes from The EDJE


Event Broadcast Notes:

EVENT: Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport - Round Four of 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón

LOCATION: Mosport International Raceway - Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada - 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course

WHEN: 3:05 p.m. (ET) Sunday, July 24, 2011

LENGTH: 2 hours, 45 minutes (time certain)

TELEVISION: ESPN3.com / americanlemans.com (LIVE coverage)

Qualifying: Saturday, July 23, 3:30 – 4:45 p.m. (ET)

Race: Sunday, July 24, 2:50 – 6:05 p.m. (ET)

ESPN2 - Sunday, July 24 - 10:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. (ET)
ESPN Player available throughout Europe
ESPN360 available to more than 12 million households in Brazil, Australia and New Zealand
ESPN Player available to 3.5 million households in 12 countries across Latin America. Mexico added in March (additional 8 million households)
ESPN Star Sports available in Asia
Rogers Sportsnet in Canada (LIVE coverage)

ALMS Season At 1/3 Point With A Mazda Surge, BMW Dominance, & Late Race Assessments

The Muscle Milk Aston Martin (right) pulls off a pass on the pole position Dyson Racing Mazda early in the race at Lime Rock Park, race three of nine in the ALMS 2011 championship season. Image Credit: American Le Mans Series

ALMS Season At 1/3 Point With A Mazda Surge, BMW Dominance, & Late Race Assessments

Chris Dyson and Guy Smith drove their Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda MZR-R to their first win of the 2011 season.

The hunt for the LMP1 championship in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón lost none of its intensity over the Series` two-month break. Dyson Racing maintained its title lead with a victory in the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix. The duo of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith exchanged the lead six times with Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing on Saturday and took the overall victory. BMW Team RLL also picked up where it left off, scoring its third consecutive GT victory.

Dyson Racing won by 19.969 seconds over the Muscle Milk Aston Martin squad. It was the first ALMS win for Chris Dyson at his home track. Dyson`s second Lola-Mazda, driven by Humaid Al Masaood and Steven Kane, finished third.

Starting from the pole, Dyson Racing`s Chris Dyson had his work cut out for him in the No. 16 Lola-Mazda, holding off Lucas Luhr`s No. 6 Aston Martin-powered Lola in the opening laps through a swarm of traffic on the 1.474-mile road course. Luhr dispatched Dyson on lap 16, but was then forced to pit early to replace a flat tire.

"It was great fun," Dyson said. "Lucas and I were going back and forth from the get-go. It was all about where you positioned yourself. It felt a bit like a video game. Our Mazda was fantastic from the start. I think the car really came into its own at the end of the race. We were lucky to catch the yellow when we did. They fought us hard all the way like they always do."

After three races of the nine-round ALMS season, Dyson and Smith lead the drivers’ championship, Dyson leads the team, and Mazda leads the manufacturers’ championships. The driver points lay out as follows - #1) Dyson Racing Mazda's Chris Dyson and Guy Smith - 66 points each, #2) Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing's Klaus Graf and - Lucas Luhr - 36 points each, #3) Dyson Racing Mazda's Jay Cochran - 30 points.

Team RLL's Joey Hand in the #56 BMW as it approaches a clutch of competitors, as fans watch from a hill at Lime Rock Park, Connecticut. Image Credit: American Le Mans Series

BMW Team RLL extended its GT Class winning streak to three as the No. 56 BMW M3 GT of Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller topped Flying Lizard Motorsports` Patrick Long and Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

"Team RLL, BMW, Dunlop, have done a very nice job," Hand said. "The things we have now have made the car more comfortable and more in the zone. That`s how you win races. That`s a real key and real testament to BMW Team RLL and BMW Motorsport. Dunlop is really stepping up. They have a very consistent tire now."

"Winning is always very sweet and very important and it`s good to collect the points," Mueller, Hand's teammate said. "Like Joey said, we`re in year three. Everything is now coming together like it is supposed to. I think we turned three screws on the car before we started the race. The break [between Long Beach and Lime Rock] was massive but we tested in between. At the level we are racing, it has changed so dramatically. Now we have a car that you need to push from the first second. Winning three times in a row looks so easy now."

A smart opening-lap pass by Long on the No. 55 BMW M3 driven by Dirk Werner enabled the Porsche driver to move into second and chase after Hand. Behind them, havoc in West Bend damaged both of the Corvettes, Werner`s BMW and the No. 02 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari F458 Italia.

Long and Bergmeister kept their Porsche within striking distance of the leading BMW throughout the race. Though constant traffic provided some hair-raising moments, a true opportunity for a lead change never materialized.

Fresh from a podium finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Robertson Racing scored its first ALMS podium with a third-place finish Saturday for David Murry and Anthony Lazzaro. Starting seventh in class, the No. 04 Doran Ford GT first appeared in the top three following the chaos in West Bend. The Ford was eventually caught by Team Falken Tire`s No. 17 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Lazzaro was shown in fourth at the line, but a 90-second avoidable contact penalty on Team Falken Tire elevated Murry and Lazzaro to the final podium position in GT.

At the end of race interview, Patrick Long felt better about their Flying Lizard effort here in Lime Rock with a complete race under his and Joerg's belt. It helped to put behind his (Long's) troubles at Long Beach where he had a DNF after showing promise early just to crash out.

The biggest disappointment suffered in the GT Class had to be felt in the Corvette camp with Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen only able to post one point in the overall driver's championship and teammates Olivier Beretta and Tommy Milner post only two points.

With one third of the season having been played out, #1) BMW Team RLL drivers Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller with three successive wins have 70 points each, #2) Corvette Racing's Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen - 37 points each, #3) Flying Lizard Motorsports Factory Porsche Team's Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long - 34 points each.

The other two classes, LMPC and GTC, also have great competition but for the purposes of this inaugural post, we will focus on the overall leader competition and the class that gets the most attention because of the strong factory interest and participation between BMW, Porsche, and Corvette ... it doesn't get any better when racing full-bodied, beefed up sports cars.

Winner's All - The four classes of winners take to the podium to hoist high their bottles of series sponsor, Tequila Patron for the gathered crowd. Image Credit: American Le Mans Series

American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix
Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn.
Saturday`s Results:

Finish Pos. - (Qual.) - Driver & Location - Racecar Type - (Finish in Class) - LAPS
[Winners In Class Highlighted In BOLD]

1. (1) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire; Lola B09 86/Mazda (1, LMP1), 187.

2. (3) Lucas Luhr, Monte Carlo; Klaus Graf, Dornham; AMR/ Lola Coupe B08 62 (2, LMP1), 187.

3. (2) Humaid Al Masaood, Abu Dhabi; Steven Kane, Newtownards; Lola B09/86 Mazda (3, LMP1), 182.

4. (4) Eric Lux, Jacksonville, FL; Elton Julian, Santa Monica, CA; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 181.

5. (5) Ricardo Gonzalez, Monterrey; Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 181.

6. (6) Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, CA; Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Oreca FLM09 (3, LMPC), 180.

7. (10) Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo; BMW M3 GT (1, GT), 176.

8. (12) Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2, GT), 176.

9. (9) Jarrett Boon, Phoenix, AZ; Anthony Nicolosi, Palm Beach, FL; Oreca FLM09 (4, LMPC), 175.

10. (7) Frankie Montecalvo, Highlands, NJ; Jon Bennett, Fort Mill, SC; Oreca FLM09 (5, LMPC), 175.

11. (18) Bryan Sellers, Braselton, GA; Wolf Henzler, Nuertingen; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (3, GT), 174.

12. (16) David Murry, Atlanta, GA; Anthony Lazzaro, Atlanta, GA; Doran Ford GT (4, GT), 174.

13. (19) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Ferrari F458 Italia (5, GT), 174.

14. (21) Bryce Miller, Summit, NJ; Sascha Maassen, Lontzen; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (6, GT), 172.

15. (15) Seth Neiman, San Francisco, CA; Marco Holzer; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT), 165.

16. (25) Mike Piera, Newtown, Conn.; Dion von Moltke, Coral Gables, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 164.

17. (26) Duncan Ende, Los Angeles, CA; Spencer Pumpelly, Mason Neck, VA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 164.

18. (27) Bill Sweedler, Westport, CT; Butch Leitzinger, Rebersburg, PA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 164.

19. (23) Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Damien Faulkner, County Donegal; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, GTC), 164.

20. (11) Dirk Werner, Kissenbrück; Bill Auberlen, Redondo Beach, CA; BMW M3 GT (8, GT), 163.

21. (14) Olivier Beretta, Monte Carlo; Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 (9, GT), 161.

22. (29) James Sofronas, Newport Beach, CA; Alex Welch, Englewood, Colo.; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (5, GTC), 160.

23. (13) Jan Magnussen, Roskilde; Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings; Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 (10, GT), 156.

24. (17) Ed Brown, Las Vegas, NV; Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, FL; Ferrari F458 Italia (11, GT), 153.

25. (24) Chris Thompson, Englewood, Colo.; Nick Ham, Evergreen, CO; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (6, GTC), 149.

26. (20) Cristiano da Matta, Belo, Horizonte; Bruno Junqueira, Brazil; Jaguar XKR (12, GT), 149.

27. (8) James Kovacic, Forrester Beach; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Oreca FLM09 (6, LMPC), 126, Mechanical.

28. (28) Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT/Elan (13, GT), 116, Mechanical.

29. (31) Toni Vilander, Kankaanpaa; Jaime Melo, Milan; Ferrari F458 Italia (14, GT), 79, Mechanical.

30. (22) Peter Lesaffre, Rye, NH; Jaap van Lagen, Ede; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (7, GTC), 74.

31. (30) PJ Jones, Torrance, CA; Rocky Moran, Ladera Ranch, CA; Jaguar XKR (15, GT), 49.

Thanks to the American Le Mans Series for article and resource assistance in the crafting of this posting.

... notes from The EDJE


[Article first published as ALMS Season At 1/3 Point With A Mazda Surge, BMW Dominance, & Late Race Assessments on Technorati]