Peugeot Sport Total continues to lead at Road Atlanta in the 14th annual Petit Le Mans at the six-hour mark. Franck Montagny, driver of the No. 8 Peugeot 908, leads Audi Sport Team Joest’s Romain Dumas in the No. 1 Audi R18. The lead margin has varied between eight and 10 seconds in this final round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series championship.
Following its second flat tire of the race, the No. 55 BMW Motorsports BMW M3 GT driven by Bill Auberlen lost the GTE-Pro lead to Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 01 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari F458 Italia. Shortly after Overbeek handed the car over to team owner Scott Sharp, AF Corse’s Gianmaria Bruni - the GTE-Pro pole winner - made a pass for the class lead at Turn 10. Bruni still holds the spot ahead of Sharp and Joey Hand in the No. 56 BMW Motorsports BMW M3 GT.
It continues to be a banner home race for Krohn Racing, which has gone unchallenged in GTE-Am. The No. 57 Ferrari F430 driven by Niclas Jonsson has a full lap on second-place Gabriele Gardel in the No. 50 Larbre Competition Corvette C6.R.
Level 5 Motorsports appears to have the LMP2 category firmly in hand after the No. 26 Signatech Nissan ORECA 03 went behind the wall. The No. 33 HPD ARX-01g of João Barbosa now leads United Autosports’ Zak Brown and the No. 22 Oak Pescarolo-Judd by eight laps. The No. 26 is back in the race, but down by 21 laps.
The LMPC shockers keep on coming. Leader Gunnar Jeannette in CORE autosport’s No. 06 ORECA FLM09 went back to the paddock to repair the power steering pump and replace a thrown engine belt, putting the team in danger of falling behind championship rival Genoa Racing. The team repaired the problem and sent Jeannette back on track. Jeannette is currently fourth in LMPC, while Genoa Racing’s No. 063 ORECA FLM09 driven by Jordon Grogor is shown in sixth. Henri Richard leads the class in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA FLM09.
TRG has retaken the GTC class lead with Spencer Pumpelly behind the wheel of the No. 66 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Black Swan Racing’s Jeroen Bleekemolen is hot on Pumpelly’s heels in the No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, only eight seconds behind. The two are currently ticking off their fastest laps of the race in a fight for the 2011 GTC championship.
(c) ALMS PR