Petit Le Mans 2012: Race Results and Pictures

There were winners and losers this past Saturday at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA.  The loser was my monopod.  About five minutes into the race, the stem snapped, leaving the mounting screw stuck in my camera so that I could not even use my camera strap.  I carried backups of everything except my monopod.  I was fortunate to borrow pliers from a mechanic and remove the screw.  I fastened my strap, but would need to handhold all of my panning shots, quite a challenge with the long lenses used in motorsports photography, especially at dusk and into the evening.

A great tradition of the Petit Le Mans is allowing fans access to the drivers and their cars prior to the race.  The grid is open for an hour for fans to view the cars from inches away and have a chance to talk to their favorite drivers.

The Nissan Delta Wing was the most photographed car on the course, and yours truly was as guilty as anyone.  Looking at the car, it is hard to believe that the Delta Wing can steer through corners.  At half the weight and half the horsepower of the average prototype, it is an amazing feat of engineering that is very kind to the tires.  It finished sixth, and during the race, ran as high as third. The crew deserves kudos for repairing the badly damaged rear end after the crash on Wednesday.

The Nissan Delta Wing is put through the paces coming out of turn one.

When the Number 8 car got into the back of the Number 25 car, it pushed it around and off the track into the barriers.  The driver managed to scrub off enough speed to minimize the damage, as the car drove off under its own power.

Race winners are listed below.  The fans were the biggest winners to experience the race on an absolutely beautiful Southern autumn day.  Fabulous weather, exciting racing and scrumptious bratwurst.  It doesn't get any better than that.  And now for some race shots and results:

The P1 winner was the Number 12 Rebellion Racing Lola driven by Andrea Belicchi, Neel Jani, and Nicolas Prost.

The P2 category winner was the Number 95 Level 5 Motorsports HPD-ARX driven by Luis Diaz,  Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchet.

The Prototype Challenge (PC) class was won by the Number 06 CORE Autosport with Alex Popow, Ryan Dalziel, and Mark Wilkens guiding the Orca FLM09 around the track.

The Extreme Motorsports Ferrari was the top car in the GT class piloted by Scott Sharp, Johannes Van Oberbeek, and Toni Vilandander.

The GT Challenge category (GTC)  saw the Number 30 NGT Motorsport Porsche leading the way with Henrique Cianero, Marino Farnbacher and Kakub Giermaziak at the wheel.

The crew is on overtime as Number 91 receives service with the sun setting on the track.

A crowd favorite was the Number 27 Dempsey Racing Lola (P2).  Yes, Patrick Dempsey was one of the drivers along with Dane Cameron and Lawrenceville, Georgia native Joe Foster.  Unfortunately, the car left the race early after a couple of contacts with other cars.

It was a tremendous day of racing excitement, fun, and beautiful weather.  Next year's race date is October 19th.  If you are in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend making Road Atlanta one of your stops.

Enjoy the day,
George 

Petit Le Mans 2012: Day 2

Day 2 at the Petit Le Mans was a big practice day.  Here are the Mazda fins all lined up and ready to be put to use.

 The Nissan Delta Wing was repaired as the crew worked through the night to get it in ship shape.  In looking at this, it is hard to believe it will steer though corners with such a small distance between the front wheels.

Here is the HomeLink Orca in the Prototype Challenge class being put through the paces coming out of turn five.

 

Night practice is on the menu and the Rebellion Racing Lola is approaching the bridge before heading down to turn 12.

Any of the three drivers who will be driving in the night portion of the race, are required to do at least three laps in the car during this night practice session.

The Number 6 Muscle Milk HPD climbs up the hill out of turn 10B towards the bridge .

The Number 1 Nissan Zytek Z11SN in the P2 class screams towards the bridge prior to the descent into turn 12.

An exciting day two at Road Atlanta.  Saturday is the big race day with 1000 miles or 10 hours.  In talking with one of the pit crew members, he said that they have been racing in the rain for the last few races and they are looking forward to the good weather forecasted for this race.  So are we.  It should be a splendid fall day in the South.  More to come...

Enjoy the day.
George

Petit Le Mans 2012: Day 1

Day 1 at the Petite Le Mans at Road Atlanta was a practice day, and an unfortunate one for the Nissan Delta Wing which was involved in a crash during a practice run.

 The Nissan Delta Wing looks good on the course.

After the crash, the demeanor of the crew seems to indicate that the repairs will be successful.

Here is one of the the GT Padron cars in the paddock.  Great looking car.

 

 The Padron GTE AM car looks pretty good on the course.

 The Merchant Services crew works on one of their cars prior to practice.

 The Obe Road Winery Porsche gets a few adjustments for the driver's comfort.

The Home Link Prototype Challenge Car (PC) rocks up the hill out of turn 1.

It was beautiful weather in North Georgia and a great day of racing preparations for this weekend's race.  More to Come.

Have a great day!
George