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American LeMans
ALMS: Lime Rock Post-Race Notebook
Late race scramble, LMPC thriller, Unforgettable win for Pickett and more...
John Dagys  |  Posted July 25, 2010   Hartford, CT
Despite hot and humid weather, a respectable ground turned out Saturday at Lime Rock Park. (John Dagys)
PHOTOS: Lime Rock Saturday Photo Gallery

Late Race Scramble

The final laps of Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix was shaping up to be a classic down-to-the-wire battle. David Brabham in the Patron Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-01c was quickly reeling in the race-leading Team CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder of Klaus Graf.

The once 20-second gap shrunk in the closing moments, with Graf making a controversial block on the hard-charging Brabham on the front straight while in traffic. Nowhere to go, Brabham was forced into the grass.

While Graf was handed a stop and go penalty for rough driving, Brabham had trouble of his own, as he limped back to the pits with a right-rear puncture. The trip through the grass appeared to have accelerated the slow puncture, which the team had detected about five laps before the incident.
At 63 years of age, Greg Pickett became the oldest driver in ALMS history to win a race overall. (Team CytoSport)

“It was an opportunity and I don’t know if he saw me being that close to him,” Brabham said of the move on Graf. “We were racing, and racing hard. It was as simple as that. I’ve got no issues about it. I would only have an issue if someone did something which I think I wouldn’t do. I probably would have done the same if I was in his position. It was good, hard racing.”

Graf went onto score Muscle Milk Team CytoSport’s first overall victory in the American Le Mans Series, crossing the line 27.180 seconds ahead of Brabham, who suffered a late-race tire puncture for the second straight year at the 1.5-mile Connecticut bullring.

“I actually didn’t get frustrated because I was so focused,” Graf said of the penalty. “It was so intense. I didn’t have time to get frustrated. I just kept on going. Geoff Carter, our team manager, did a fantastic job on the radio. He calmed me down and said it is what it is and we have to take the penalty and to come in that lap.

“It was then that we found out that [Highcroft] made a pit stop for a flat tire. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. You have to race as hard as you can and I know they would have raced exactly the same way. That’s what sportscar racing is all about.”


The result also had significant championship implications, as Graf has now closed to within 7 points of Brabham and co-driver Simon Pagenaud.

LMPC Thriller

It was one of the most bizarre finishes in ALMS history. Despite not taking the checkered flag, Green Earth Team Gunnar scored its second victory of the year in LMPC.

The Mark Shomann-engineered crew gambled with a one-stop strategy, hoping to stretch the fuel mileage of its Oreca FLM09 down to the very last drop of E10. The only problem was that Gunnar Jeannette ran out of fuel on the last lap, with about three-tenths of a mile to go.

With a one-lap lead, and the second-placed PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports machine of Alex Figge already taking the checkered flag behind the overall winner, Jeannette and co-driver Elton Julian were declared winners, amid mass confusion post-race.

Jeannette managed to get the G-Oil-sponsored car back to the pit lane on the starter motor, not knowing if he’d actually won the race or not.
Green Earth Team Gunnar had a roller-coaster of a weekend, battling gearbox issues on Friday and Saturday morning to take the LMPC win, on fumes. (John Dagys)

“Sitting in West Bend with the car on the starter in second gear, chugging along... I was fuming angry because I didn’t know we had done it,” he said. “I was actually in disbelief as I pulled into the pit lane, and they said, ‘You need to go to the podium because you won.’ I was like, ‘Are you sure we didn’t finish second?’ ‘No you won!’ I wasn’t going to argue with that!”

The win marked a superb comeback for the Florida-based team. After starting from the rear of the field after suffering gearbox problems in qualifying,which wasn’t solved until halfway through morning warm up, Julian put in a storming stint to move up to third by Lap 21.

“I was certain that we hadn’t won, thinking of ACO regulations with the way things work,” Julian said. “Mind you, I did lose a podium to a Penske Porsche in ’06 for the same reason, so I kind of feel good about getting it back!”

“We anticipated there being more yellows at the end, but unfortunately there wasn’t to give us that last quarter of a lap,” Jeannette explained of the strategy. “We stopped once and [Mark Shomann] was actually not telling me to conserve fuel because he was pretty confident we would run out right at the start/finish line. Unfortunately, I think he was three-tenths of a mile off. That’s pretty darn good fuel calculation.”

It was also a good points day for the team. The championship leading Level 5 Motorsports entry of Christophe Bouchut crashed out in warm-up, damaging the Oreca’s tub beyond on-site repair. While Scott Tucker still gained third-place points for his drive in the team’s sister No. 95 car, Jeannette has closed to within four points of the Level 5 owner/driver.

Unforgettable Win For Pickett

While Saturday’s victory was Muscle Milk Team CytoSport’s second win of the season, it marked the first time the California-based team scored overall honors in an ALMS race. For team owner, Greg Pickett, the win was extra special considering the competition he and Klaus Graf were up against.

“It was very gratifying to win Sebring, a brutally tough endurance contest,” Pickett said. “But first overall is first overall. At the Twelve Hours, our competition, particularly Highcroft, had to have some misfortune, which they did, which helped with that win. There was no help from that win today.”
Team CytoSport scored its first-ever overall victory in ALMS competition. (John Dagys)

“When I walked out to give a big applause with the whole team, when Klaus ran across the finish, I then heard a big clapping and hollering,” Pickett explained. “I turned around and it was the Highcroft team en masse giving us big applause. That really struck me, with how unique and great that was. Those guys are a hard driving, hard working team. They appreciated what we did and I want to give kudos for that.”

In the year since rolling out with its Porsche RS Spyder, the Geoff Carter-led organization has yet to not finish on the podium, a remarkable feat for one of the smallest, but hardest working teams in the sport.

“We had no idea that it would go this way,” Pickett said of the team’s success. “I think this is our ninth straight podium since we started this car at Mid-Ohio last year. I’m very surprised. We have three or four full-time guys, and the rest are part-time guys that come in and help us. We work very hard and this car keeps running. That’s a testament both to the team and to Porsche.”

News & Notes

• Jorg Bergmeister scored his fifth consecutive class victory at Lime Rock, steering the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche to the GT win with Patrick Long. With the win, the duo retake the point lead after Risi Competizione’s Jamie Melo and Gimmi Bruni crashed out of the race early.

• It’s worth noting Jaguar RSR had a trouble-free run, finishing 15th overall and ninth in the highly competitive GT category. Perhaps the reliability woes plaguing the Paul Gentilozzi-led squad are now behind them. If so, the focus must now be on finding more speed, as the Jag’s best lap time was over 2.5 seconds slower than the quickest car in GT.

• A number of ALMS regulars are headed to Belgium next weekend for the Spa 24 Hours. Porsche factory drivers Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Long and Wolf Henzler plus BMW ace Dirk Muller, Ferrari driver Gimmi Bruni and Belgian Marc Goossens will all be taking part in the twice-around-the-clock GT enduro. For the first time, SPEED.com will be on-site, with coverage starting on Wednesday.

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