One could say that the 2009 Grand-Am Championship has not smiled once on Romain Dumas.

Every round has had its own particular small or large problem which has hampered the progress of the No 12 Penske Porsche. At the final round of the championship at Homestead, it was no different.
However, times from testing were more or less respected and Romain had qualified in a very promising third place despite excessive heat in the cockpit. The team had chosen the best gear ratios in practice and this together with his good start, allowed Romain to maintain his third place at the beginning of the race and to keep up with the leaders and even to put pressure on the second place car. Only a few laps were needed before the No 12 Riley-Porsche was able to slip past into second spot. The works Porsche driver then set about catching the leader, and passed him without too much trouble and then opened up a lead. The first of several yellow flag interruptions soon followed and Romain was able to call into the pits to refuel. He lost two places while doing this and worse,  found himself among cars less heavy with fuel and had to use all his skills to retain his position. At about half-distance, there was another Safety Car period, when the team called Romain in to hand over to his team-mate, Timo Bernhard.

Timo rejoined in heavy traffic in 13th place. The German driver had to work hard to make up positions, but thanks to some superb overtaking, other cars stopping for fuel and more yellow flag interruptions, Timo eventually got up to sixth, eight seconds behind the leader. Everything was now possible but a full course yellow was declared for the umpteenth time; unfortunately, Timo anticipated the re-start by a fraction and was given a drive-through penalty, which dropped the No 12 Penske Riley-Porsche back to 13th place. Twenty minutes later, when the chequered flag fell for the end of the race, the German had only managed to make up one place and so crossed the finishing line in twelfth.

Disappointment for everyone in the team because like many others Romain and Timo could have won this race, apart from just little niggles, which upset the team's efforts throughout the season and which prevented them reaping the reward for all their hard work.

Credit Photos : Porsche