For those paying attention to race series overseas, here’s a quick update taken straight from a Porsche press release (edited for style and grammar).
American Le Mans Series: Overall win for RS Spyder, GT lead extended
At round eight in Mosport/Canada, Klaus Graf and Porsche works pilot Romain Dumas drove the Porsche RS Spyder of Muscle Milk Team Cytosport for their second overall victory this season after missing out on first place by just one second a week earlier in Elkhart Lake. There was success for Porsche in the well-supported GT class, too: Works drivers Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long secured their fourth win on the race track near Toronto in the #45 911 GT3 RSR of Flying Lizard Motorsports. They will travel to the final — Petit Le Mans — in Road Atlanta, Georgia (October 2), going into the race leading their nearest competitors by 22 points. With the latest win, Porsche regained the lead of the GT manufacturers’ classification.
Le Mans Series: Lieb and Lietz net victory number three
With a 9.9-second advantage after 1,000 kilometers of racing, Porsche factory pilots Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz won the fourth of five Le Mans Series rounds on the Hungaroring (August 22). Over the entire distance, the Felbermayr-Proton drivers in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR were locked in a clinch with Ferraris. After six hours they brought home their third win of the season from four starts. Lieb and Lietz travel to the season final in Silverstone (September 12) as points’ leaders. The Porsche success was made perfect by works driver Patrick Pilet and Raymond Narac yielding third in the 911 GT3 RSR fielded by IMSA Performance Matmut.
British GT Championship: Trackspeed Porsche victorious at Silverstone
At the eighth of 15 races of the British GT Championship at Silverstone (August 15), David Ashburn pushed home to victory from tenth on the grid in Trackspeed Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R in a 25-strong field. 2.4 seconds separated Ashburn from the second-place Ferrari after nearly 300 kilometers of intense racing. Richard Westbrook put in an impressive drive in Trackspeed’s second Porsche by setting the fastest race lap. Towards the end, however, Westbrook had to take the sting out of his pace which shuffled him from second down to fourth.
Update 9/13/2010: David Ashburn’s GT3 R was formerly referred to as a GT3 RSR.
Porsche Mobil1 Supercup: Nick Tandy keeps title race open
Britain’s Sean Edwards of Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit won round nine in Spa-Francorchamps from pole eleven seconds ahead of Jaap van Lagen. In the title fight, his compatriot Nick Tandy pushed through the field from 16th on the grid to finish sixth. Tandy, who has already won the BBS Rookie Classification, still has a small chance to snatch the title from points’ leader René Rast at the final in Monza (September 12). Rast finished third at Spa.
Carrera Cup Deutschland: Nick Tandy hunts favorites in Zandvoort
At the Dutch Circuit Park Zandvoort, Nick Tandy scored an emphatic win at round six (August 22) with a 14.2-second advantage. With his third win of the season, the 25-year-old Konrad Motorsport pilot moved back into second overall and shrunk the gap to points’ leader Nicolas Armindo, who finished tenth after his string of three victories. Second place for guest starter Jaap van Lagen made the double win for Konrad Motorsport complete. Uwe Alzen claimed third and now ranks third in the points, level with Tandy leading up to the race in Brands Hatch (September 5).
Carrera Cup Great Britain: Two wins for Michael Caine in top duel
At races 13 and 14 at Silverstone (August 22), Tim Harvey, points’ leader and nine-time winner this season, had no antidote to his toughest rival Michael Caine, who brought home victory from both races ahead of Harvey in the Motorbase Performance team 911 GT3 Cup. Thanks to his third and fourth win, Caine reduced the gap to Harvey with six races left on the calendar.
Race notes
Porsche Cars Great Britain again supports two young drivers in 2011 with each receiving £50,000 as part of the “Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain Scholarship Program.” More information can be found at Porsche’s U.K. website. + Works pilot Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers win the Michelin Green X Challenge environmental award at the ALMS race in Elkhart Lake (August 22) with the 911 GT3 RSR run by Falken Tire. + In Elkhart Lake, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Tim Pappas snatch victory number four in the GTC class in the 911 GT3 Cup. + Niclas Kentenich and Sebastian Asch finish races 11 and 12 of the ADAC GT Master on the Nürburgring (August 28/29) in their a-workx Porsche in second and third. + After 12 races, Robin Rudholm leads the Carrera Cup Scandinavia by 33 points over Fredrik Larsson. Four rounds are still on the calendar, with a maximum of 120 points still up for grabs. At races 11 and 12 in Karlskoga (August 13/14) both top drivers yielded victory. + GT3 Cup Challenge Brasil, Interlagos (August 28/29): Ex-Formula 1 pilot Ricardo Rosset extends his lead in the 997 class with win number three of the season at race nine. Ricardo Baptista wins race ten. André Posses remains unbeaten with his fifth victory from five races in the 996 class. + Tim Bergmeister/Frank Schmickler place second in the Porsche 911 GT3 R at the tenth of 14 races in the ADAC GT Masters on the EuroSpeedway Lausitz (August 15). + Matt Kingsley remains unbeaten with the 911 GT3 Cup of the Action Tyres and More team after three races of the GT3 Cup Challenge in Morgan Park, Queensland, (August 14/15). With this, the reigning champion and clear points’ leader now has a string of nine straight victories to his credit.
