In front of many race-fans, the fifth round of the American Le Mans Series in Lime Rock Park has been exciting all along. The first hour was especially turbulent, the last one was thrilling and there were battles throughout all classes. The show was great. Cytosport reaped the fruit of victory thanks to Klaus Graf who brought Greg Pickett’s team their first overall win. This was the first victory of a Porsche RS Spyder since 2008. The Highcroft HPD finished second after a rough end which might make the news. Team Gunnar won the LMPC class and clinched third place overall despite running out of gas in the last lap! The Flying Lizard took another victory ahead of both BMWs in the GT2 class. TRG won in the GTC class and took the Series lead. The results are here.

Race notes

When the race started, Simon Pagenaud and his Highcroft HPD were passed by the more powerful Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda, the Drayson Racing Lola-Judd and the Intersport Racing Lola-AER. Second on the grid, the Cytosport Porsche is now fourth. In LMP Challenge, the #55 car didn’t start because it crashed during the warm-up. The Intersport Formula Le Mans leads ahead Mathiasen Motorsport. In the GT2 class, the Flying Lizard and Falken Porsches are still leading the pack, as well as Black Swan in GT Challenge,

A tough battle between Chris Dyson and Jonny Cocker took place for leading. Both drivers exchanged positions several times before Dyson had to slow down. He was able to come back to the pits, but the race is over because of an engine failure. Drayson Racing is first overall and Mathiasen Motorsport is leading the LMPC after a GT2 car hit the Intersport FLM. Jaime Melo is now second in GT2 ahead of Wolf Henzler.

Cocker had an 18-second lead when the first FCY period started, with only 12 minutes in the race. The Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3 Cup hit the tire-wall after a contact with the Intersport Lola. All GT2 cars pitted but Risi Competizione #61 car. Ten minutes later, the restart turned into a big mess! Cocker kept the lead ahead of Pagenaud and Pickett, but in the next lap, the Drayson Racing Lola-Judd has stopped in the Esses. Meanwhile, there was a contact between the GMG Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, the Robertson Ford and the RSR Jaguar. Moreover, Risi Ferrari #62 was pushed off track in Turn 1 by Johnny O’Connell’s Corvette and hit the tire wall. The damage to the right rear of the car after heavy contact with the barriers was too severe for it to continue running, and the leading pair Melo/Bruni has to retired.

The safety-car is back on track. Cocker was able to restart after his electrical gremlins, but he is now in the pits for a while. Pagenaud now leads as Greg Pickett, second, hit class leader Black Swan Racing GT3 Cup. Luke Hines, who started from the back, takes the class lead. The GT2 class is still very exciting thanks to both BMWs and Olivier Beretta’s Corvette. Beretta was vigorously defending fourth place against a pair of BMWs when he was notified to come into the pits to serve a hard-to-believe stop-and-go penalty for blocking… Seconds later, the No. 3 Corvette’s race came to an abrupt end in Turn 1 after contact with Velox Motorsport #88 car damaged the left rear suspension. The immobilized race car was loaded onto a flatbed and taken to the Corvette Racing transporters. Cytosport is in the pits whereas Highcroft stayed on the track.

Green flag and the GT Challenge is getting thrilling. Only three tenths between Andy Lally and Jeroen Bleekemolen! The Dutchman was able to pass a few laps later while LMPC leader Tom Papadopoulos spun. Klaus Graf is catching up with the leader as the gap between both is now two seconds. Pageanud defends the lead till the first and only pitstop. Klaus Graf pitted three laps later and is back on the track… nine seconds ahead of David Brabham! In the GT2 class, the Flying Lizard Porsche took the lead as the # 92 BMW pitted. After the pitstop, the Porsche was still ahead of both BMWs, but behind the Risi #61 car as it has still not pitted. The pair Salo/Kaffer is down to fourth after the pitstop.

The end of the race is gripping. It started to rain on a few corners and Brabham can catch up with Graf from 15 to 6 seconds. The gap is down to two seconds with 15 minutes to go in the race. The climax of the battle is reached on lap 157. Brabham and Graf are side by side, but the German driver didn’t give up and pushed Brabham wide and on to the grass heading down the main straight. A slow right rear puncture deflated the following lap, causing bodywork damage and forcing Brabham to limp back to the pits. Although Graf served a stop-go penalty for blocking, he took the checkered flag in first overall. The Cytosport Porsche put an end to three consecutive victories for Brabham and Pagenaud.

The Team Gunnar Formula Le Mans, driven by pairing Jeannette/Julian is third overall despite it ran out of gas in the last lap. Mathiasen Motosports is second as he winner took the checkered flag in the pit lane!

The first GT2 car is fifth and it is the Flying Lizard Porsche. Patrick Long was able to defend the lead against the Rahal-Letterman BMWs, who are leading the Series ranking. Risi is fourth thanks to teammates Kaffer and Salo, but lost a lot in the #62 car retirement. The #4 Corvette is finished fifth and Team Falken is eighth ahead of a Jaguar which is getting better.

In GTC, TRG kept the lead till the finish line as Lally/Richard won and took the Series lead. Black Swan finished second despite leading for a long time, and Velox third.

Anthony Mégevand and Cécile Bonardel