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Penske Makes it Eight in a Row
September 3, 2007
Penske Porsche claimed its eighth overall victory in a row as the RS Spyder driven by Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard won the Detroit Sports Car Challenge on Saturday at Belle Isle Park. The number seven car beat Emanuele Pirro’s Audi R10 TDI by 5.948 seconds in a thrilling finish that saw the Porsche pass the Audi, then the Audi overtaking the Porsche, and finally the Porsche passing the Audi, all on the final lap. The Audi was clearly faster in the straights, however the RS Spyder had the edge in the corners, and this, along with a bit of traffic toward the end, gave Porsche the win.
The Penske Porsches qualified first and second, and were fastest in each practice session, however Pirro’s Audi took the lead with 50 minutes left in the race after a restart. The Audi held that lead until the final lap.
Both Porsche and Audi clinched the manufacturers crown in their respective classes with their wins. Team Penske had already clinched the LMP2 team crown last week at Mosport.
The Dyson Racing RS Spyder driven by Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace finished second in LMP2 and fourth overall.
In GT2, the Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT driven by Jaime Melo and Mika Salo won for the seventh time this year and third in a row, with the Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR driven by Patrick Long and Darren Law finished second in class, 20.666 seconds behind the Ferrari. Long challenged the Ferrari after a final restart, but could not pull off the victory.
The Flying Lizard Porsche of Johannes van Overbeek and Jörg Bergmeister went up in flames after an oil line broke, and they failed to receive any championship points, which caused them to fall further behind in the championship standings.
The next race will be the 10th running of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Saturday, Oct. 6.
[source: American Le Mans Series]
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