The visiting Peugeot team took a somewhat fortuitous 1-2 result in the twelfth running of the Petit Le Mans enduro at Road Atlanta, with heavy rain, a flooded track and an Allan McNish error all playing into its hands.
Stephane Sarrazin and Franck Montagny claimed the victory after seizing the advantage when McNish spun under yellow flag conditions,and were backed up by team-mates Pedro Lamy and Nicolas Minassian. McNish had been nearly a lap in front when the pace car appeared, having been able to hit the front when Audi managed to pit him for wets after Peugeot had passed the pit entry.
Peugeot's victory marked the end of Audi's run of success, the German marque being beaten for the first time this century when the red flag, shown shortly after the five-hour mark, became chequered when it was clear that the conditions were unlikely to improve.
The second Audi claimed fourth place, ahead the ORECA-Aim, as non-ALMS regulars locked out the top five. Incredibly, the leading ALMS entry was the Patron Highcroft Acura of David Brabham, Scott Sharp and Dario Franchitti, which started from the back of the field after Sharp's monster shunt in practice. Title rival de Ferran Motorsport saw its championship bid derailed by contact with the Intersport LMP1 entry.
Class wins went to the Dyson Lola of Butch Leitzinger, Marino Franchitti and Ben Devlin, and the Risi Competizione Ferrari of Mika Salo, Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer.
Full report and result to follow....
