AUSTRALIAN Ryan Briscoe and his
Penske Porsche teammate
Sascha Maassen rode their luck at Lime Rock Park, Connecticut, gambling on a cunning late-race tyre change which helped them to a superb win in a crazy American Le Mans Series race on Saturday.
The win, their second straight, puts the pair right back into contention for the ALMS LMP2 championship currently led by Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, who drive the sister RS Spyder.
Happily for Porsche, too, the success came at the first race after ALMS imposed the handicap of a s
maller engine restrictor on LMP2 cars to try to give back the advantage to LMP1 machines such as the Audi R10 (read the Wheels report
here).
The winning combo largely dodged the body contact which is almost obligatory in a series renown for its tight racing and for the big speed differences between the prototype LMP1 and LMP2 cars and the less powerful classes.
The weekend started poorly for Maassen and Briscoe on Friday when a thunderstorm rained off qualifying and officials were forced to shape the grid with times from the earlier practice sessions.
This put Maassen/Briscoe back in fifth, while their sister Penske RS Spyder of Bernhard and Dumas started on pole.
Qualifying at picturesque Lime Rock, the shortest course in the series though with one of the fastest average speeds, is more important than at most venues and Briscoe was concerned that an overall win may have been out of reach.
Much of the incident-packed race he and Maassen tried desperately to catch their teammates up front, with the privateer Dyson team RS Spyders and the Acuras providing tough opposition.
There were three caution periods and countless incidents during the 2:45:00min timed race.
The Porsche factory cars ultimately found their way to the front through a series of slick pit stops.
The powerful but heavier LMP1 Audi V12 turbodiesels struggled in qualifying but made their customary rocket start from a few rows back, and were mixing it with the more nimble LMP2 cars until both R10s sustained crash damage which cost the Allan McNish/Dindo Capello car a lap and the Marco Werner/Emmanuelle Pirro car a massive 51 laps (it returned late in the race to claim some championship points).
Briscoe dropped to third briefly when the Acura of David Brabham got by on a scrappy restart. On a mission though, Briscoe came back hard, reclaimed second and then, at subsequent yellow-flag period, both Penske Porsches pitted together with 50mins remaining.
A crucial call not to fit fresh tyres to the Dumas/Bernhard #7 car left the race leader vulnerable. Briscoe’s car spent the extra time to get the new rubber and made the winning pass with less than 25 minutes remaining, ending a 145 lap dominance by the pole-sitter.
Briscoe, who was relieved that Roger Penske didn’t impose team orders on the duelling yellow RS Spyders, dived inside Bernhard at Turn One and made the pass stick.
"It was clear that taking new tyres during the stop was a big advantage," the happy Sydney-sider said later.
"After the stop, we were much quicker. I got a great run down the hill and while Timo was held up by a GT2 car I sailed down the front straight.”
He said it was a move he learned on the ovals; hanging back a little to get a good run on the car ahead.
Briscoe and Maassen won the last series round at Utah's Miller Motorsports Park in May and also claimed the LMP2 class win at St. Petersburg. They are nine points behind Dumas and Bernhard in the fight for the LMP2 class championship.
Team owner Roger Penske, who called the strategy on the Briscoe/Maassen car, offered congratulations to Briscoe on the cool down lap before running for his chopper. The billionaire businessman’s hectic schedule over the weekend also included dropping into oversee his NASCAR team at Daytona on Saturday night, and then back up to Watkins Glen on Sunday to call the shots for his Indy drivers.
Another Aussie David Brabham and Swedish co-driver Stefan Johansson took third overall in the LMP2 class for
Highcroft Racing and Acura.
Clearly struggling, McNish and Capello took the class win for Audi in LMP1 and finished fifth overall. McNish was running second overall early on behind Dumas before a spin after bouncing off the Creation-Judd.
"Before we arrived here we knew we would struggle in an LMP1 car when you have such good LMP2 competition,” said McNish “That's the nature of the track. The circuit is extremely tight and narrow and it's hard to get around traffic."
American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix
Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn.
1. (5) Sascha Maassen, Germany; Ryan Briscoe, Australia; Porsche RS Spyder (1, LMP2), 174.
2. (1) Romain Dumas, France; Timo Bernhard, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (2, P2), 174.
3. (3) Stefan Johansson, Sweden; David Brabham, Australia; Duncan Dayton, North Salem, NY; Acura/ARX-01a (3, P2), 174.
4. (2) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (4, P2), 173.
5. (7) Allan McNish, Scotland; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Audi AG/R10/TDI (5, P1), 173.
6. (9) Andy Wallace, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Porsche RS Spyder (6, P2), 172.
7. (4) Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Bryan Herta, Valencia, CA; Acura/ARX-01a (7, P2), 170.
8. (13) Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6.R (8, GT1), 165.
9. (14) Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Corvette C6.R (9, GT1), 165.
10. (12) Adam Pecorari, Aston, PA; Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Radical / SR9/AER (10, P2), 162.
11. (11) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Creation/CA06H/Judd (11, P1), 160.
12. (22) Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (12, GT2), 157.
13. (19) Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 156.
14. (15) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Creation CA06H-Judd (14, P1), 155.
15. (20) Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Eric Helary, France; Ferrari 430GT Berlinetta (15, GT2), 155.
16. (23) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (16, GT2), 154.
17. (25) Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 154.
18. (10) Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Ben Devlin, England; Lola/B07-40/Mazda (18, P2), 151.
19. (24) Jim Tafel, Alpharetta, GA; Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (19, GT2), 144.
20. (16) Darren Turner, England; Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Ferrari 430GT (20, GT2), 138.
21. (18) Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Panoz Esperante GTLM (21, GT2), 137.
22. (17) Jaime Melo, Brazil; Mika Salo, Finland; Ferrari 430GT Berlinetta (22, GT2), 133.
23. (8) Marco Werner, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi AG/R10/TDI (23, P1), 123.
24. (21) Robin Liddell, Scotland; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (24, GT2), 95.
25. (6) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Lola/B06-43/Acura (25, P2), 51, Mechanical.