ROMAIN REPEATS THE FEAT
L
i m e R o c k
It was back to work this
week for the American Le Mans Series after a six-week break. To say that the
weekend went well for Romain Dumas would be an understatement, so easy was the
whole two days of racing for the works Porsche driver at the Connecticut circuit.
To celebrate renewing his association with the Porsche Spyder RS, the
driver from Alès in southern France drove majestically to set the fastest time
in every ses- sion, whether it was in practice, qualifying or the race. On the
short Lime Rock track, which requires only 45 seconds to complete a lap, Romain
had a certain amount of success, dominating proceedings in his Porsche 996 GT3
RSR. "It's a circuit which
not many drivers like, because it's quite dangerous, particularly for the prototypes,
but as far as I am concerned, I really like racing here, even if the track itself
is a bit bumpy. With the Penske and Porsche engineers, we quickly found a good
set-up, which meant we could challenge the LMP1 cars, like the Audi and the
Lola, and even be quicker than them. Setting pole position time and a new sportscar
track record served only to reinforce my confidence that we would have a good
result at this event", was Romain's
verdict after the end of qualifying.
On Saturday afternoon, the two
Penske Motorsport Porsche Spyder RS were proudly aligned on the front row of
the grid for the start of the race, which was to be the last appearance of an
Audi R8 in competition. Romain made an excellent start and immediately went
into the lead at the first corner. He held the lead until almost 45 minutes
into the race, when the first neutralisation period precipitated the first round
of pit-stops. During the following hour, Timo Bernhard, who in his turn had
led for a while, always remained in touch just behind the Audi. Another race
neutralisation, just under an hour from the end of the race, saw both the Audi
and the Porsche call into the pits again. Romain took over the car and exited
in the lead again. He held that position for 15 minutes until the Audi managed
to get by while they were lapping backmarkers. "On
this very short circuit, traffic is a big problem. Just before the start of
the main straight, I had to lift off, because there were some slower cars ahead
and the Audi, which was hard on my heels, used its momentum, to get by me on
the straight", Romain explained. "It was just a shade quicker than
us and even if I had taken some chances to get by, I don't think we could have
stopped them winning. Our main aim has to be victory in the LMP2 class and it
was important to remember this, even if on many occasions this year we've had
the chance to fight with the cars in the bigger class. This win, our second
in a row, in LMP2, confirms the huge potential of the car as well as its reliability".
The fight back in the championship therefore continues for the crew of
car no. 7. The next event, where two diesel-powered Audi R10's will be entered,
will take place in two weeks time at the new circuit of Salt Lake City.
Romain DUMAS