American Le Mans Series, round 9 in Detroit, USA, preview: Title fight in Motor City

Stuttgart. In the automotive metropolis of Detroit, dubbed Motor City, the American Le Mans Series turns onto the season’s finish straight. With three rounds to go in the racing series with the world’s fastest sports cars, Porsche is well on course to winning the title with the 503hp RS Spyder featuring DFI technology. The ALMS visits Detroit alongside the equally as popular IndyCar Series.

The 3.957 kilometre circuit is situated on Belle Isle in the Detroit River. At last year’s debut of the American Le Mans Series on the flowing track with its 14 corners, Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) celebrated a commanding overall victory. They not only beat their competitors in the LMP2 class but shortly before the finish overtook the Audi R10 which has a power advantage of over 200hp and a clearly better power-to-weight-ratio. ”This was the most wonderful victory of my career,“ reminisces Romain Dumas.

For the successful Penske Racing squad, Detroit is practically a home event. After all, it was Roger Penske who brought the American Le Mans Series to the city between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. His team again fields two RS Spyder. While last year’s winners and current points’ leaders Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas tackle the race with the #7 car, there is a change in the cockpit of the #8 sister car: Ryan Briscoe (Australia) replaces Germany’s Sascha Maassen to share the cockpit with Patrick Long (USA). Briscoe, who competes in this year’s IndyCar-Series for Penske Racing, will use Detroit to prepare for the particularly important 10 hour “Petit Le Mans“ race in Road Atlanta, where ten bonus points are up for grabs.

“Detroit is one of the most beautiful city circuits,“ raves title defender Timo Bernhard about the track on Belle Isle. ”It is a fantastic combination of fast and slow corners. We’ll use a much softer set-up than last weekend at Mosport. Moreover, the Detroit GP is Roger Penske’s home race. I hope very much that he has good reason to be proud of us on Saturday evening.“

Patrick Long is also looking forward to the last city race of the season: ”Apart from Long Beach, Detroit is second in my ranking of city circuits. Roger Penske turned the race into a five star event. The grandstands are always packed, and the atmosphere here is incredible.“

The two RS Spyder of the Porsche-supported privateer outfit, Dyson Racing, run the new DFI engine with direct fuel injection for the first time at Detroit. The engine debuted successfully in July, when Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas clinched a class victory at Mid-Ohio. Chris Dyson (USA) and Guy Smith (Great Britain) man the #16 vehicle, with Butch Leitzinger (USA) and Marino Franchitti (Great Britain) sharing the #20 cockpit. Dyson Racing currently ranks third in the team standings.

In the GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series, Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Wolf Henzler (Germany) take up the race as points’ leaders. Both took victory from this year’s races at Sebring, Salt Lake City and Lime Rock. Like Johannes van Overbeek (USA) and Patrick Pilet (France) they drive a Flying Lizard Motorsports-run Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. UPS-Porsche junior Martin Ragginger tackles his first ever ALMS race at Detroit. The 20-year-old Austrian takes the seat of American Seth Neiman in the third Flying Lizard Motorsports car.

The 2:45 hour race at Detroit starts on Saturday, 30 August 2008 at 14.35 hrs local time (20.35 hrs CEST).

Facts and Figures

This is the American Le Mans Series

The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was created in 1999. The regulations are based on the rules of the Le Mans 24 hour race. This season twelve rounds will be contested in the USA and Canada. The traditional highlights of the year are the Sebring 12 hour race and the 1,000 mile “Petit Le Mans” race in Road Atlanta. Most races run over 2.45 hours. The ALMS is the American counterpart to the European-based Le Mans Series (LMS).

The starting field consists of two different sports vehicle categories: Sports prototypes and standard sports cars. They are divided into four classes:

LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 750 hp and a minimum weight of 925 kilograms (in the LMS: 750 hp/900 kilograms).
LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with around 475 hp (normally-aspirated engines) and an 800 kilogram minimum weight (in the LMS: 475 hp/825 kg). The Porsche RS Spyder competes in this class.
GT1 class: Heavily modified standard sports cars with up to 650 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 – 1,325 kilograms (in the LMS: 650 hp/1,125 – 1,325 kilograms).
GT2 class: Slightly modified standard sports cars with between 450 hp to 470 hp and a minimum weight of 1,125 – 1,325 kilograms (in the LMS: 450 to 470 hp/1,125 – 1,325 kilograms). The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR competes in this class.

All race cars start together but are classified separately according to the class. This system ensures diverse and gripping racing with many overtaking manoeuvres. Points are only allocated for placings in each class. Championship titles are awarded in the LMP1 and LMP2 classes for drivers, chassis and engine manufacturers, teams and tyre suppliers. In the GT1 and GT2 classes titles are awarded for drivers, car manufacturer and teams.

With the RS Spyder in 2006 and 2007, Porsche won the championship title for drivers (Sascha Maassen/Lucas Luhr and Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas respectively) as well as for manufacturer chassis, manufacturer engine and team (Penske Racing).