Porsche 1-2 in Utah – Penske Racing teammates Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard led a Porsche 1-2 finish in the Larry H. Miller Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City. Dumas took the checkered flag ahead of Penske’s Patrick Long.
Dumas and Bernhard captured their first overall win in the American Le Mans Series since the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring with Emmanuel Collard. They also won the LMP2 class after seeing their eight-race class winning streak end in the previous round at Long Beach.
Dumas inherited the lead when Audi Sport North America’s Emanuele Pirro pitted from first place near the two-hour mark, but still had to withstand challenges from the two Audi R10 TDIs. Lucas Luhr suffered a slow puncture with 30 minutes to go while running within 3 seconds of Dumas, and Pirro was knocked off course by David Robertson’s Ford GT just two minutes later.
Long and Sascha Maassen recorded their best finish of the season with their second place, 22.656 seconds adrift of the sister car. They were 4.183 seconds ahead of Simon Pagenaud and Gil de Ferran in the de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-01b, which made its first ALMS start.
LMP2 cars were the first six cars to cross the finish line, as the lighter, more nimble prototypes took advantage of their cornering abilities around the 3.048-mile, 15-turn circuit.
Luhr and Marco Werner were seventh overall but finished first in LMP1 for the third consecutive race. After entering with a two-race overall winning streak, the No. 2 Audi lost time with the spin and puncture and also a late-race penalty.
Intersport Racing’s Lola B06/10-AER finished second in class, its best finish of the season. Jon Field led early before a couple of spins and briefly losing power steering. Pirro and Frank Biela were third in class.
Corvette Racing’s Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen won their third GT1 race in four starts this season in the No. 3 Corvette C6.R. Magnussen finished more than a minute up on Oliver Gavin in the sister car.
Olivier Beretta began from the pole in the No. 4 Corvette but O’Connell and Magnussen won the race in pit lane. In each of the previous three rounds, the pole-sitting car ended up as the race winner.
Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Wolf Henzler and Jörg Bergmeister drove their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to their first GT2-class win since Sebring with a one-lap victory over the sister Lizard Porsche of Johannes van Overbeek and Patrick Pilet.
Henzler jumped out to a 20-second lead early and gained nearly a lap on the field during the race’s first caution. Werner in the overall leading Audi was between the two Porsches, allowing Henzler a free pass around the circuit to catch the rear of the field.
The 1-2 finish was the second of the season for Flying Lizard and allowed Bergmeister and Henzler to move back into the class championship lead by one point over Tafel Racing’s Dirk Mueller and Dominik Farnbacher. The Tafel drivers finished third in GT2 in their Ferrari F430 GT.
Indianapolis 500 Field Set – Buddy Lazier was the hero of Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 Bump Day qualification session, and race rookie Mario Dominguez was heroic in defeat.
Dominguez tried valiantly to earn a spot in his first Indy 500, only to crash on a run that was good enough to make the show. He crashed on his second lap. His first lap was faster than Marty Roth’s speed that was on the bubble as the session-ending gun sounded at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Lazier, the 1996 race winner, earned the $50,000 bonus from Firestone as the final qualifier. He will start on the last row with A.J. Foyt IV and Roth.
Foyt was the day’s fastest qualifier with a four-lap average of 219.184 mph. Lazier’s speed was 219.015 mph, with Roth escaping with a 218.965 mph. No other drivers made the show.
Dominguez was in the 33-car field only to be bumped out before he crashed trying to re-qualify. Roger Yasukawa also was in before he was knocked out. Max Papis’ clutch failed as he tried to leave pit road for a qualifying effort late in the day.
Foyt had the day’s other accident. A crew member did not properly install the fuel containment mechanism, which allowed fuel to spray out as he drove down the backstretch. He spun in the third turn, his car catching on fire. Neither he nor Dominguez was injured.
Phil Giebler did not return to the track following Saturday’s crash. He suffered bruised lungs and a neck sprain and was not released to compete. His American Dream Motorsports crew could not assemble another car in time to participate.
STARTING LINEUP FOR THE 92ND INDIANAPOLIS 500
Row 1
1. Scott Dixon, 226.366 mph
2. Dan Wheldon, 226.110
3. Ryan Briscoe, 226.080
Row 2
4. Helio Castroneves, 225.733
5. Danica Patrick, 225.197
6. Tony Kanaan, 224.794
Row 3
7. Marco Andretti, 224.417
8. Vitor Meira, 224.346
9. Hideki Mutoh, 223.887
Row 4
10. Ed Carpenter, 223.835
11. Tomas Scheckter, 223.496
12. Townsend Bell, 222.539
Row 5
13. Graham Rahal, 222.531
14. Darren Manning, 222.430
15. Bruno Junqueira, 222.330
Row 6
16. Justin Wilson, 222.267
17. Buddy Rice, 222.101
18. Davey Hamilton, 222.017
Row 7
19. Alex Lloyd, 221.788
20. Ryan Hunter-Reay, 221.579
21. John Andretti, 221.550
Row 8
22. Sarah Fisher, 221.246
23. Will Power, 221.136
24. Jeff Simmons, 221.103
Row 9
25. Oriol Servia, 220.767
26. EJ Viso, 220.356
27. Milka Duno, 220.305
Row 10
28. Mario Moraes, 219.716
29. Enrique Bernoldi, 219.422
30. Jaime Camara, 219.345
Row 11
31. A.J. Foyt IV, 219.184
32. Buddy Lazier, 219.015
33. Marty Roth, 218.965
[Source: AutoWeek.com]
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