Gavin and Beretta, defending class champions, won by nearly a minute over the Aston Martin Racing DBR9 of Tomas Enge and Darren Turner. The two pairings sit 1-2 in the championship standings after six rounds, and Corvette Racing holds an 11-point edge over Aston Martin in the team championship.
"The car was very good. We tried to avoid the mess up in the chicane," said Beretta, who also posted the class' fastest race lap and is now a four-time winner at Portland. "I just took care not to make any mistakes. In the end, we managed to cruise. This is an unbelievable team. They work so hard."
The pole-sitting Risi Competizione Ferrari F430GT came from the rear of the field after a first-lap collision sent Jamie Melo to the pits, but, just as they did at Salt Lake City, Melo and Mika Salo returned from the back of the pack to record a hard-earned GT2 victory. The duo are the first pairing to win multiple times this season in the American Le Mans Series' most competitive class.
"It's not very good because we have to work a lot," said the pole-sitting Melo, who had another off near the 90-minute mark. "After we changed the tires, the car was working very well. We tried to push as much as possible. The team did a very good job as well. The Michelin tires worked very well, so the package is very good. The results are coming."
Salo made the winning pass on Patrick Long in the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche with 18 minutes remaining. Only a few laps earlier, Long pitted for a late splash of fuel but didn't take on fresh tires in hopes that the Michelins would hold up the remaining 25 minutes.
Long rejoined the race with a 1.38-second lead over the
Ferrari. But Salo with fresher tires and traffic ahead of Long proved to be the difference. The Ferrari eventually finished 20 seconds ahead of the Petersen/White Lightning Porsche. In third was Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand in
BMW Team PTG's No. 21 BMW M3, another 28 seconds behind.
