Happiness in Ohio !
As
the words of the French national anthem say, "the day of glory is here".
In Mid-Ohio Romain finally seemed to have lost the monkey off his back. At the
third round of the American Le Mans Series, Romain Dumas, from Alès in southern
France, scored one of his best, if not the best win, of his career.
Although
credited with the fastest lap during qualification, the Porsche Spyder RS No.
7 driven by Romain and his team-mate Timo Bernhard, was put to the back of the
grid, after the car was found by the scrutineers to be 2kg under the minimum
weight. Despite this minor setback, Timo was back with the leading three cars
just a few laps into the race. The German's excellent opening stint was to be
followed by an equally exceptional drive by Romain. The Frenchman took over
the wheel after more than an hour and during a magnificent series of laps got
the No. 7 car into the lead of the race! "Timo
drove a great start to our race but then got held up behind the LMP1's, so the
team decided to bring him in a few minutes early for our first stop, which gave
me a clear road for several laps. During that time I put in several fastest
laps and that allowed me to get ahead of the Dyson Lola and the Champion Audi
R8. " However, the sister Porsche
was still ahead… The gap between Romain and Lucas Luhr was down to six seconds,
when the appearance of the Safety Car brought the two cars right together and
set up a two-way battle for the lead between the two Team Penske cars. "When
I saw the No. 6 car ahead of me, I knew we had the chance to fight for the win,
but I also had to contend with my tyres which were well-worn by then. As we
caught up with backmarkers, we passed and re-passed each other and then the
Safety Car was brought out again. Following a little touch, totally unintentional,
Lucas had to call into the pits but of course he came out on new tyres, just
behind me. At the last re-start, my tyres had been on the car for more than
a stint and I had to drive very carefully to avoid any mistakes and to keep
Lucas behind me to the finish",
Romain explained.
The gamble of not changing tyres appeared to have paid
off as Romain kept his advantage right up to the chequered flag! Not only had
he won a great duel with his team-mate, but Romain could be very proud of the
fact that he had contributed to the very first win by a Porsche Spyder LMP2
in the annals of long-distance racing!
"It's
an indescribable pleasure for several reasons. First of all, it's a just reward
for all the hard work done by Porsche and Penske at the tracks and in the design
offices. We didn't have the reliability we needed for the first two races but
everyone worked really hard and we finally got everything right. I'm also very
happy because after a long fight with the two LMP1 cars and our team-mates in
the sister Penske car, Timo and I came out winners, not only because of what
we did on the track but also thanks to our strategy. But above all, I am very
proud to give Porsche its very first overall win in the American Le Mans Series.
It wasn't clear-cut, because we were up against the Audi R8 whose performance
everyone knows, and the latest generation Lola, which is also now very competitive.
The Porsche Spyder RS LMP2 is a truly fabulous race car. I think this win is
the starting point for a superb history for this car and I am very proud to
have played a part in it".
Before
the next round of the ALMS at Lakesville in early July, Romain will take part
in the Le Mans 24 Hours race with the IMSA Performance team.Romain DUMAS