Success for Porsche at the American Le Mans Series race in Elkhart Lake: With the Porsche RS Spyder run by the US customer team Cytosport, Klaus Graf (Germany) and Greg Pickett (USA) secured third in the LMP2 class, earning their second podium result from two races with the sports prototype from Weissach. In the GT2 class, Porsche works driver Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) further extended their lead with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports. With just three races left to the season, the five-time winners are on a steady title course.

On the legendary Road America, the demanding time-honoured circuit in the US State of Wisconsin, spectators experienced a particularly exciting race in the GT2 class that waged from start to finish. In the dying moments of the race, Patrick Long slipped past the Ferrari of Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer - his toughest rivals for the title - to sit third. He then became caught up in heavy traffic and lost an almost certain last podium spot in the penultimate lap to the Corvette of Jan Magnussen and Johnny O’Connell. Trying everything up his sleeve in his charge forward he was finally beaten by just 0.411 seconds. Up until this race, he and Joerg Bergmeister had won five races in a row.

“During the final caution phase, my pit crew called me in to change the tyres. This was a clever strategy because it helped me overtake the Ferrari,” said Patrick Long. Narrowly missing out on a podium result in the end was not particularly tragic for his teammate Joerg Bergmeister either. “We wanted to increase our lead in the championship and we achieved this. That’s the most important thing. Of course we would have loved to have continued our string of wins to make it six in a row, but every winning streak comes to an end sometime. What counts is that we took another step towards winning the title.”

At the wheel of Farnbacher Loles Racing’s 911 GT3 RSR, Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Bryce Miller (USA) saw the flag in tenth due to a suspension problem. Darren Law (USA) and Seth Neiman (USA) finished eighth in the second 911 GT3 RSR of Flying Lizard Motorsports.

Putting in a strong performance, Klaus Graf and Greg Pickett continued the excellent comeback of the Porsche RS Spyder in the American Le Mans Series. Only one week after claiming second in Mid-Ohio, they drove the Cytosport-run sports prototype from Weissach home to take third in the LMP2 class, and yielded their second podium result - despite having been handed a Stop-and-Go penalty. The reason: Team owner Pickett came into the pits too early during a caution phase to avoid running out of fuel. It made no difference that Klaus Graf turned the fastest race lap in his class. “What a shame, we deserved better today,” he said. “That was a very close race, but I just ran out of time.”

In the ALMS Challenge, Martin and Melanie Snow (USA) secured their third win of the season with their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, further extending their lead in this new category below the GT2 class.

Round 8 of the American Le Mans Series takes place on 30 August in Mosport/Canada.

Result GT2 class
1. Auberlen/Hand (USA/USA), BMW E92 M3, 68 laps
2. Müller/Milner (D/USA), BMW E92 M3, 67
3. Magnussen/O’Connell (DK/USA), Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, 67
4. Bergmeister/Long (D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 67
5. Melo/Kaffer (BRA/D), Ferrari F430 GT, 67
6. Berretta/Gavin (MC/GB), Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, 67

Points’ standings GT2 class
Drivers
1. Joerg Bergmeister, Patrick Long, Porsche, 130 points
2. Jamie Melo, Pierre Kaffer, Ferrari, 91
3. Dirk Müller, Tommy Milner, BMW, 63
4. Dominik Farnbacher, Ian James, Panoz, 62
5. Wolf Henzler, Porsche, 51
6. Seth Neiman, Porsche, 49

Manufacturers
1. Porsche 130 points
2. Ferrari 91
3. BMW 79

Teams
1. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche, 130 points
2. Risi Competizione, Ferrari, 91
3. BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team, 79