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| Petit Le Mans Update: 6 Hours |
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The Audis have their work cut out for them.
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Petit Le Mans Update: 6 Hours
The sun is getting low in the sky, temperatures are cooling, and the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta is now six hours old. The only lead change has been for overall position, with the No. 2 Audi of Allan McNish currently leading the field with a half-second lead over Emanuele Pirro in the No. 1 Audi.
There is still plenty to talk about, though.
At the front, the lead went to McNish with 15 minutes left in the fourth hour, thanks to a pit stop by the No. 1 car.
The No. 16 Dyson was still on the same lap as the Audis, with Andy Wallace behind the wheel. Things went well for the team until early in the sixth hour, when the motor on the car caught fire and gave out. The car was retired, giving up third place overall. After Dyson's No. 20 car crashed violently earlier, it marked a disappointing early finish for Dyson Racing.
With Dyson out, third has gone to the No. 15 Zytek, with Stefan Johansson again behind the wheel.
In P2, the No. 37 Intersport Racing Lola is still holding onto the lead, with Jon Field at the helm. Both the No. 6 and No. 7 Penske Porsches are working hard to close the gap, but the second-place No. 6 has three laps to make up before having a chance of taking the lead.
The No. 009 Aston Martin DBR9 is still at the front of GT1, and Pedro Lamy has little to worry about at the moment with a two-lap lead. The No. 3 Corvette follows with Johnny O'Connell driving, but he has Darren Turner in the No. 007 Aston Martin behind him and on the same lap.
Perhaps one of the busiest classes has been GT2. Although the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3 RSR was leading with Marcel Tiemann behind the wheel, the No. 61 Ferarri was on the same lap and trying to get the top spot back again.
The two cars in the championship battle are the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche and the No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche, but neither team is having an easy day. The No. 45 car was the first to have trouble, when Wolf Henzler pitted just after the conclusion of hour three with damage from contact with one of the Penske Porsches. The team had been running in second, and their trip behind the wall is what allowed the Ferarri to take over the spot.
Just after six hours of racing were completed, the front right suspension broke on the No. 23 Porsche. Tiemann was able to get into pit lane but the team will be in the pits for a while, and they lost the lead.
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