It’s been a tough season for Porsche’s factory drivers this year in the ALMS. Fans used to seeing win after win from Joerg and Patrick in their Flying Lizard 911 GT3 RSR haven’t had much to cheer about. And while Wolf Henzler’s and Bryan Sellers’ win at Mid-Ohio keeps Porsche in contention for the manufacturers championship (BMW has 96 points, Cheverolet/Corvette has 77 and Porsche 72), our favorite Porsche teams are in a distant 3rd and 4th (Team Falken Tire and Flying Lizard Motorsports respectively) for the GT Team championships.
Adding insult to injury, Joerg and Patrick, hit with a sting of bad luck in past races, are in seventh place in the GT Driver points standing with barely more than a third of the points (36) as the leader’s (Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand) 90 point total.
Could the race at Road America on August 20th be a turning point for Porsche and Flying Lizard?
Past performance says it’s possible. This venue has been a regular fixture on the American Le Mans Series calendar since 2002. Porsche has won it seven of the nine races contested here as part of the American Le Mans Series. Of those seven, five victories in the GT/GT2 class went to Joerg Bergmeister, who triumphed with Timo Bernhard in 2002 and 2004, as well as with Patrick Long in 2005, 2006 and 2009. In 2003, Craig Stanton and Johnny Mowlem won for Porsche, in 2008 Dirk Werner, Richard Westbrook and Bryan Sellers. Last, but definitely not least, don’t forget that in 2007, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas snatched overall honors at the wheel of the Porsche RS Spyder.
The Road America Course
The 4.048 mile Road America circuit is one of America’s oldest race tracks and is regarded as the cradle of sports car racing in the USA. The circuit layout with its long finish straight and 14 corners has changed considerably since its foundation in 1955.
“All year I look forward to this race. Road America is my all-time favourite circuit. It’s very fast, very hilly and very challenging – and those are all the things a race driver loves. The race track doesn’t really suit our car, but still the Porsche was very successful there in the last years. So I’m also feeling optimistic this time.”
The Schedule
The race in Elkhart Lake takes off on Saturday, 20 August, at 3:00 pm local time and is broadcast live in the internet on www.americanlemans.com/live. The GT qualifying on Friday is shown at http://www.porsche.com/alms-live.
Let’s see if Porsche can get back on top with another win from either Team Falken Tire or Flying Lizard Motorsport!
Related Porsche Posts
Interview with Porsche Works Driver Joerg Bergmeister
Can Video Games Improve your Race Track Skills?
Interview with Porsche Works Driver Wolf Henzler