The parade of wins continues in North America

M o s p o r t   -   D e t  r o i t

Summer is coming to an end and so too is the 2007 American Le Mans Series  campaign. With two rounds to go, Romain Dumas has staked his claim for the LMP2 title in a truly masterful manner, and thereby allowing Penske and Porsche to also strengthen their grip on their respective titles.
Two weeks ago it was at Mosport that the driver originally from Alčs held sway. After a fruitful test session with Michelin a few days beforehand, the Penske driver and his team-mate, Timo Bernhard, won an unexpected, but no less deserved victory. First of all, they started the race from the LMP2 pole, set by Romain himself for the fourth time this season. Then there was the 2 hours and 45 minutes of intense racing with the two Audi R10’s.  “I was passed by Pirro in the first corner and I spent the first part of the race with Franchitti in the Acura right on my tail. Then I was able to make up some ground. Timo took over during a full-course yellow period. We profited from that to move ahead of the second place Audi, who in the end never managed to get in front of us again” Romain explained. But the craziest was yet to come, when just five minutes from the end of the race and Timo was comfortably leading LMP2, the Audi R10 driven by McNish suffered a major gearbox problem! So the Scots driver handed victory to the two Porsche team-mates, who scored their third consecutive, overall win.

“Since the start of my career, I’ve never won a race by benefiting in such a way. I’m really sorry for Audi, who deserved to win. It’s a totally unexpected victory, even if Timo and I had a great race by staying in touch with the Audis. Motorsport sometimes springs these sorts of surprises . Sometimes for you, sometimes for others!” This win represents another step on the way for Timo and Romain towards the championship title, which seems increasingly theirs for the taking. And this inexorable trend continued in Detroit last weekend, scene of the tenth round of the season, at an historic circuit, which once upon a time hosted an Indycar race. With the backing of Roger Penske, who is based in Detroit, the track has returned to centre stage, thanks to a huge amount of modern improvements undertaken by the Penske Corporation. So on a new circuit to the ALMS teams but very dear to Roger Penske’s heart, Timo and Romain wanted whole heartedly to do well here, as much for their boss’ honour, as for their own sporting ambitions. Timo didn’t quite manage to set pole time in qualifying but the race gradually turned in his favour, and therefore in Romain’s too. “Timo stayed in second place for the first part of the race until Briscoe made an error and we profited by taking the lead. We made our first stop during a neutralisation period and we dropped down back in the field. Luckily, a short while later at about the halfway stage, there was another full-course yellow period when we were able to make our second stop and I took over the car. The stop went well and we were able to rejoin in the lead again”.

Unfortunately, at the restart, Pirro’s Audi surged ahead of the No 7 Porsche RS Spyder before the green flag was shown! “I understand that the diesels have a lot of acceleration but to overtake before the race was restarted is not on ...”  It was to prove not too important. Romain just had to wait his moment, which came about 15 minutes later. “In a straight-line, because the Audis have so much power, I knew it was impossible to overtake. But there was just the slimmest of chances between Turns 4 and 6. I chanced my hand just with just five minutes to go. It worked but Pirro cut back under me and passed me again. But I immediately did the same to him  and this time it stuck”. Now with just three minutes before the end of the race, Romain was able to maintain his lead over the Audi and steer his way to his fourth consecutive overall victory and his sixth in the LMP2 class of the year. “It was pure sport, a real duel. Very correct, very intense, very exciting. It’s  great to have won the manufacturer and the team titles for Porsche and for Penske on Penske’s home turf. It was our priority for the season and we’ve achieved our aim and it’s a great reward for the whole team, who have all performed exceptionally well all year. With Timo, we’ll now make the most of the opportunities  in the last two races to try to win the drivers title”.  With a 37 point lead going into the Petit Le Mans race at the end of the month, Romain and Timo know what is ahead of them and all the pitfalls…

www.romaindumas.com