ALLAN McNISH the ninth annual American Le Mans Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta, the only car on the lead lap. He and RINALDO CAPELLO co-drove 394-lap race. Their car led three times, for 228 laps, more than any other. The race ran 9hrs 16min 49.835secs.
Their team-mates parked in the pits, eleven laps from the end. MARCO WERNER was driving when the car developed mechanical problems. He was the only other car on the lead lap at the time. Werner's co-drivers were FRANK BIELA and EMANUELE PIRRO. They finished seventh after leading three times. Evidently the mechanical problems were outside the realm of all the practice pit-stops the team exercised during Thursday's night practice, when they stopped 44 times, role-playing every possible worst case scenario requiring a parts change.
McNish was as ever affable and jubilant. He said he and Capello reunited the winning team from 2000 and "we showed tonight just how strong we are."
The other class winners were: EMMANUEL COLLARD, TIMO BERNHARD and SASCHA MAASSEN's #6 Penske Motorsports Porsche RS Spyder in LMP2, fifth overall,eight laps down; TOMAS ENGE and DARREN TURNER's #007 Aston Martin DBR9 in GT1, eighth overall, 20 laps down; and JORG BERGMEISTER, NIC JONSSON and PATRICK LONG's #31 Petersen White Lightning Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in GT2, fourteenth overall, 38 laps down.
Polesitter NIC MINASSIAN qualified the #88 Creation Autosportif Creation CA06/H-01-Judd with a lap of 1min 10.829secs, narrowly beating McNish. Minassian and team-mates JAMIE CAMPBELL-WALTER and HAROLD PRIMAT finished fifth. Minassian led the first 25 laps of the race.
LMP2 polesitter, LUCAS LUHR, finished second in class, sixth overall, nine laps down.
Corvette's JOHNNY O'CONNELL had the pole for the GT1 class and finished third in class behind the sister Corvette. It was O'Connell's twenty-fifth pole, a number equalled by one of his co-drivers, RON FELLOWS. They were joined by MAX PAPIS. They finished eleventh overall, 23 laps down.
Twenty-one of the 28 starters finished the race.
The only class winner to also turn the fastest class lap was P2 winner Bernard. The other fastest class drivers included JAMES WEAVER (#16 Dyson Racing Team Lola B06/10 AER), who DNF'd due to an engine fire while co-driver ANDY WALLACE was driving. The third driver was BUTCH LEITZINGER. In GT1, OLIVER GAVIN's #4 Corvette took fastest lap, but finished third in class, 22 laps down with co-drivers OLIVIER BERETTA and JAN MAGNUSSEN. GT2 polesitter RALF KELLENERS (#62 Risi Competizione
Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta) set fastest class lap but DNF'd when the car hit the pit-wall. His co-drivers were STEPHANE ORTELLI and MARKUS PALTTALA, and they finished twenty-seventh, tenth in class and 333 laps down.
