Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy scored a 61 seconds victory over teammates Anthony Davidson, Marc Gene and Alexander Wurz Saturday as the American Le Mans Series wrapped up its 2010 season.
The two Peugeots teams combined to lead 299 of the 394 laps of the race with Audi's Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Dindo Capello taking third after a late-race puncture.
In LMP2, David Brabham, Simon Pagenaud and Marino Franchitti took the class victory for Patrón Highcroft Racing. Both the team and the drivers (Brabham and Pagenaud) won the 2010 titles. Honda Performance Development won the class manufacturer championship.
Second in class was of Klaus Graf, Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr's Porsche RS Spyder. The team could have won the class title had PHR left Road Atlanta without points, but they led all laps from the 18th on.
Jacques Nicolet, Patrice Lafargue and Frederic Da Rocha placed third in class in what was their first start in the series.
In GT2, Olivier Gavin (Jan Magnussen and Emmanuel Collard) drove by the leading Ferrari F430 GT of Toni Vilander, who ran out of fuel, two laps to the end of the race to win a first event this season.
Vilander and Bruni were credited with thrid place, behind Dominik Farnbacher, Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek, second. It was the first victory for a Corvette C6.R this season.
BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team took the manufacturer championship and the team title by placing fourth with one of its two BMW M3 GTs Saturday.
In LMP Challenge, Level 5 Motorsports won and claimed its first season championship with Scott Tucker, Marco Werner and Burt Frisselle. Tucker won the drivers' title. Kyle Marcelli teamming up with Chapman and David Ducote finished second; Luis Diaz, Ricardo Gonzalez and Ryan Lewis took third.
In GT Challenge, Black Swan Racing took the team championship as did their drivers Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen in the drivers' championship.
Andy Lally, Henri Richard and Duncan Ende nevertheless won the GTC race Saturday, for TRG, taking the lead on lap 336 only. The new champions took second in front of Andrew Davis, John Potter and Ryan Eversley in their first series start.
The race was slowed by nine caution periods in the first 288 laps. A record-breaking crowd was in Road Atlanta: 124,000 fans showed up for this last race of the season. The series return on March 19, 2011, for the Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Road Atlanta, Petit Le Mans, Race Results:
1. (2) Franck Montagny, Grandvaux; Stephane Sarrazin, Ales; Pedro Lamy, Lisbon; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (1, P1), 394.
2. (1) Marc Gene, Barcelona; Alexander Wurz, Monte Carlo; Anthony Davidson, Brackley, Northamptonshire; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (2, P1), 394.
3. (4) Allan McNish, Monte Carlo; Dindo Capello, Canelli; Tom Kristensen, Monte Carlo; Audi R15 (3, P1), 392.
4. (8) Simon Pagenaud, Montmorrillon, FR; Marino Franchitti, Edinburgh, Scotland; David Brabham, Maidenhead, GB; HPD ARX-01c (4, P2), 383.
...7. (7) Klaus Graf, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Monte Carlo; Sascha Maassen, Lontzen; Porsche RS Spyder (7, P2), 372.
...9. (12) Jacques Nicolet, Paris; Frederic Da Rocha, Cenon; Patrice Lafargue, Nantes; Pescarolo P01/Judd (9, P2), 359.
10. (21) Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings, GB; Emmanuel Collard, Paris; Jan Magnussen, Roskilde; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (10, GT2), 355.
11. (19) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Dominik Farnbacher, Ansbach; Ferrari 430 GT (11, GT2), 355.
12. (17) Toni Vilander, Kankaanpaa; Gianmaria Bruni, Rome, IT; Ferrari 430 GT (12, GT2), 354.
...16. (15) Marco Werner, Kreuzlingen; Burt Frisselle, Aspen, Colorado; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 354.
...18. (43) Romain Dumas, Ales; Mike Rockenfeller, Monte Carlo; Timo Bernhard, Dittweiler; Porsche 911 GT3R Hybrid (3, GTH), 350.
...22. (32) Andy Lally, New York, NY; Duncan Ende, Los Angeles, CA; Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 337.
23. (31) Jeroen Bleekemolen, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Haarlem; Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 337.
24. (11) Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Chapman Ducote, Miami Beach, FL; David Ducote, Houston, TX; Oreca FLM09 (7, LMPC), 336.
25. (33) Andrew Davis, Lilburn, GA; Ryan Eversley, Winder, GA; John Potter, Salt Lake City, UT; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 332.
...32. (10) Ricardo Gonzalez, Monterrey; Luis Diaz, Mexico City; Ryan Lewis, Indianapolis, IN; Oreca FLM09 (8, LMPC), 311.
Etc.