After watching Olympic swimming all week I’m getting used to the idea of close finishes. In a sport where the competition is over in just minutes it doesn’t seem all that strange for first and second place to be separated by just a few hundredths of a second. But that’s swimming. In racing, especially a two hour and forty five minute, 115 lap race, you don’t expect things to be so close. However, that’s exactly what happened this past Saturday when the Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche of Joerg Bermeister and Patrick Long missed first place by just .283 seconds. See the pictures below from Porsche and watch your inbox for even more pictures of this great event from FlatSixes.com photographer Andrew Granieri. For the best picture viewing experience jump to Porsche’s Results and Pictures in the ALMS at Mid-Ohio to use the “light-box” function on our site.
Spectators sitting on the grass hills around the track were treated to thrilling fights for positions and changes at the head of the field. When Patrick Long handed the #45 Porsche to Joerg Bergmeister with an hour to go to the finish he was running in second. Whilst the double Mid-Ohio winner managed to chip away at the gap to the leader, he was no longer in a position to overtake the front-runner to claim victory. For the Mid-Ohio winner of 2009, this result marked his second podium placing this season.
“Again our car was well set-up for the race and our strategists made precisely the right calls,” said Joerg Bergmeister. “We conserved our tyres for an attack shortly before the finish. Today we were slightly faster than the leading Corvette, but I didn’t manage to get close enough to attempt an overtaking manoeuvre,” Bergmeister explained. Patrick Long said, “I was held up early on by slower traffic but once I got past them and took the lead I was able to defend it well. But when the safety car then came out the others caught up.”
GT Class Results at Mid-Ohio
1. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, 115 laps
2. Bergmeister/Long (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 115
3. Auberlen/J. Müller (USA/D), BMW E92 M3, 114
4. Henzler/Sellers (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 114
5. Hand/D. Müller (USA/D), BMW E92 M3, 114
6. Sharp/van Overbeek (USA/USA), Ferrari F458 Italia, 113
7. Holzer/Neiman (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 113
9. Maassen/Miller (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 112
GT Class Results at Mid-Ohio
1. Bleekemolen/Pappas (NL/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 108 laps
2. Pumpelly/Carter (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 107
3. Huisman/Faieta (NL/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 107
ALMS GT Class Driver Standings
1. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, Chevrolet, 93 points
2. Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, BMW, 81
3. Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia, Chevrolet, 80
4. Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek, Ferrari, 65
5. Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Porsche, 55
6. Bill Auberlen/Jörg Müller, BMW, 53
7. Wolf Henzler, Bryan Sellers, Porsche, 45
8. Sascha Maassen, Bryce Miller, Porsche, 33
9. Seth Neiman, Porsche, 30
ALMS GT Class Manufacturer’s Standings
1. Chevrolet, 114 points
2. BMW, 94
3. Porsche, 85
4. Ferrari, 81
ALMS GT Class Team Standings
1. Corvette Racing, Chevrolet, 114 points
2. BMW Team RLL, BMW, 89
3. Extreme Speed Motorsports, Ferrari, 67
4. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche, 66
5. Team Falken Tire, Porsche, 45
6. Paul Miller Racing, Porsche, 33
Other Porsche Blog Posts You Should Read
Porsche Results and Pictures in the ALMS at Mosport
Porsche Motorsports Around the World: 2012 Volume 4