24h Le Mans
The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship stopped off in Wisconsin this weekend for a two-hour 40-minute race for competitors in all four classes, unlike the preceding round at Lime Rock in Connecticut. There are two rounds left in the season and a lot is still up in the air.
In the P (Prototype) class, six drivers are within two points of each other, including the day's winners, Dane Cameron and Eric Curran, in the No. 31 Corvette DP of Action Express Racing who scored a one-two since Christian Fittipaldi and João Barbosa - winners at the 12 Hours of Sebring with Le Mans native Sébastien Bourdais - finished on the second step of the podium. They are ahead of Joey Hand and Scott Pruett in a Riley-Ford, while Michael Shank Racing's No. 60 Ligier JS P2-Honda failed to claim a podium finish for three little seconds lost after completing a drive-through for a start from pit lane.
Though the overall winners led the way for a good part of the race, the No. 11 Formula Le Mans took the lead in the very last lap thanks to Bruno Junqueira along with Chris Cumming, following Connor Daly's spin that landed him in second place.
Like Action Express Racing overall, Porsche North America also achieved a one-two in the GTLM class thanks to two of the winners at the 83rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber. The New Zealander had started from the pole, which he clinched yesterday, whereas the Brit had started from the back of the field following an engine switch after qualifying. Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy were able to make up the gap and take the lead, crossing the finish line with a five-second lead on Earl Bamber and Jörg Bergmeister. Pierre Kaffer and Giancarlo Fisichella rounded out the podium with Risi Competizione's Ferrari 458 Italia.
The fourth place finish of Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia, in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R, will keep them in the lead of the championship four points ahead of Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner, fifth today. With three races left in the season (only the GTLM and GTD classes will race at Virginia International Raceway), the championship is up for grabs...
It was the same in GTD, only two points separate the top two. Though Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating gave the Viper its first win of the season, it was Christina Nielsen who took the lead in the championship despite a fast refuelling stop for his teammate Kuno Wittmer, a winner in GTLM last year, at the very end of the race with the Aston Martin Vantage V12. The Porsche 911 of poleman Patrick Lindsey, along with Spencer Pumpelly, who clocked the best lap in the class during the race, finished third less than four seconds behind.
Competitors in the two GT classes will head to VIR (Virginia International Raceway) August 21-23 and all competitors will reunite for Lone Star Le Mans in Austin, Texas September 17-19, along with their counterparts in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC)...
Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
Photo: Michael L. Levitt / IMSA
PHOTO: ELKHART LAKE (WISCONSIN, ETATS-UNIS), ROAD AMERICA, TUSCC, CONTINENTAL TIRE ROAD RACE SHOWCASE, SUNDAY AUGUST 9 2015, PODIUM. Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy reached the highest step on the podium in GTLM.
