Penske Porsche Claim 1-2 Finish at Laguna ALMS Finale

Penske Porsche Claim 1-2 Finish at Laguna ALMS Finale

Posted: October 22nd, 2006 in American Le Mans
Author: Penske Racing
Photo By: Joe Martin

The final event of the 2006 American Le Mans Series Championship at Laguna Seca Raceway provided the perfect backdrop for Penske and Porsche to deliver Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr dual driving titles in the LMP 2 class.

The four-hour endurance event, which included both daylight and night-time racing, saw both the Porsche RS Spyder factory cars, prepared by Penske Motorsports, finish one-two in the LMP2 class and wrap up all of the championships available

The Porsche RS Spyder, the car that brought the Porsche factory back to prototype racing for the first time since 1998, won the LMP2 class in seven of the 10 2006 American Le Mans Series races, and finished one-two overall in the event at Mid-Ohio – the only time LMP2 race cars have finished one-two overall in the series’ history.

While Porsche and Penske clinched the manufacturer and team titles several races ago, consistent finishes for the AER-powered Intersport Lola left the driver’s title in doubt until the final event. The team split the long-time driving combination of Maassen and Luhr to maximize its finishing results with four races to go, and the pair had to each win two of the remaining four events with the other one finishing second to reach their goal of a shared championship.

“We accepted Porsche’s decision to split the driving assignments, but we then formulated our own plan to try to finish the season with equal points. It is not easy to plan anything that happens on the race track, but the reliable RS Spyder, great work by the Penske team, and some hard driving by our co-drivers, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, all helped us reach our dreams,” said Maassen, who clinched his third ALMS title with Luhr.

“We accomplished the goals we set for ourselves before the season began,” said Tim Cindric, president of Penske Performance. “We won a race overall, took home the LMP2 manufacturers championships for Porsche, the LMP2 team title for Penske Motorsports, and the LMP 2 Drivers Championship for our drivers. It was also great to see Sascha and Lucas tie for this honor, especially since they were paired in different cars for the latter part of the season.”

Luhr and Dumas, who won the class and finished fourth overall in the race, gave race winner and LMP1 competitor Alan McNish a chase for the overall lead late in the event, but Luhr, who was in the car at the time, realized he couldn’t afford to take a chance of messing up the points.

“I got close to the Audi, but the greater power of the LMP1 car never allowed me to be in a position to pass. Near the end, I pushed too hard and spun, but was fortunate to get back on the track without losing my class lead. I then concentrated on finishing the race and winning the championship,” said Luhr.

Earlier in the event, Dumas lead the race overall from lap 54 to lap 70, and Luhr led
the race overall from lap 99-107. It was during that latter stint when Luhr turned the fastest race lap overall – faster than all the more powerful LMP1 cars. Bernhard also led the race overall in the other RS Spyder from lap 87 through lap 98.

For Porsche, it was the seventh and eighth drivers championship in the eight years of the American Le Mans Series, as well as the seventh, eighth and ninth manufacturers title. Porsche competitors have now earned 71 class victories (Porsche RS Spyder, Porsche 911 Turbo, and Porsche 911 GT3 R/RS/RSR) in the American Le Mans Series, and placed their cars on the pole 70 times – outdistancing all other manufacturers by a wide margin.

For 2007, Penske Motorsports has already announced it will return to the American Le Mans Series to defend its championships in the LMP2 class with updated Porsche RS Spyders.