The Petit Le Mans is a terrific event at Road Atlanta and having been to the race a few times, I know first hand what it means to the teams to win at this historic racing circuit. The ALMS series has enjoyed a long history of racing here but the 2013 Petit Le Mans will signal the final time the series races at Road Atlanta as the merger with Grand Am will end the ALMS series and spring forth a United Sportscar Series sponsored by TUDOR.
Rebellion Racing ‘s Nick Heidfeld, Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost won the 2013 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Saturday laying claim to history books as the team and drivers who not only raced but were victorious on the last-ever ALMS race. I must say that it is indeed a sad day for me to witness the last ALMS race. I considered ALMS some of the best racing in America. When Audi and toyota pulled out on many of the races, after the 2008 economic crunch, the series lost its major push but still produced terrific racing. Here’s the order.
1. P1 Heidfeld/Jani/Prost Rebellion Lola-Toyota 2. P2 Tucker/Briscoe/Franchitti Level 5 HPD -6 laps 3. P2 Sharp/Lazzaro/Brabham Extreme Speed HPD -6 laps 4. P2 Cosmo/Kane/Dumbreck Level 5 HPD -7 laps 5. PC Marcelli/Cumming/Johansson BAR1 FLM -14 laps 6. PC Rayhall/Negri 8Star FLM -14 laps 7. PC Bennett/Kimber-Smith/Wilkins CORE FLM -17 laps 8. GT Henzler/Sellers/Tandy Falken Porsche -19 laps 9. GT Muller/Edwards/Auberlen RLL BMW -19 laps 10. GT Beretta/Malucelli/Liddell Risi Ferrari -19 laps 11. P1 Dyson/Burgess/McMurry Dyson-Lola -20 laps 12. GT Alzen/Martin/Muller RLL BMW -20 laps 13. GT Bomarito/Wittmer/Kendall SRT Viper -21 laps 14. GT Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor Corvette -21 laps 15. GT Farnbacher/Goossens/Dalziel SRT Viper -22 laps 16. GT Long/Braun/Christensen CORE Porsche -22 laps 17. P2 Brown/van Overbeek/Bell Extreme Speed HPD -25 laps 18. GT Sweedler/Keen/Mowlem Ferrari F458 Italia -25 laps 19. GT Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette -25 laps 20. PC Drissi/Mitchell/French BAR1 FLM -29 laps 21. PC Guasch/Cheng/Cameron PR1 Mathiasen FLM -35 laps 22. GTC Canache Jr/Pumpelly/Snow Flying Lizard Porsche -37 laps 23. GTC Dempsey/Lally/Foster Dempsey Del Piero Porsche -37 laps 24. GTC Hedlund/Heylen/Fogarty JDX Porsche -37 laps 25. GTC MacNeil/Bleekemolen/Bleekemolen Alex Job Porsche -38 laps 26. GTC Neiman/von Moltke/Sandberg Flying Lizard Porsche -50 laps 27. GTC Keating/Faulkner/Stanton TRG Porsche -55 laps* 28. GTC Armindo/Nielsen/Benitez Jr NGT Porsche -55 laps 29. PC Junqueira/Ende/Menezes ORECA FLM -99 laps
