2007 Mosport International Raceway

2007 was the ninth season for the American Le Mans Series. A couple of the more notable news stories for the year was an agreement with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council to use ethanol fuel in the entries powered by gasoline. Secondly, there were some significant changes to the schedule. In 2006 there were ten race weekends; this season, there would be twelve. The series would drop Portland International Raceway and add venues at St. Petersburg, Long Beach and Belle Isle.

The championship kicked off with the 55th edition of 12 Hours of Sebring. It was followed by one of the newest stops on the calendar - a temporary street circuit at St. Petersburg, Florida. After St. Petersburg, the teams traveled to California for an event on the streets of Long Beach. The series then headed to Texas for a race weekend at Reliant Park. In May, the championship returned to a traditional road course, Miller Motorsport Park in Utah. The series took a break in June to allow some of the teams to compete at the 24-Hour of Le Mans. In early July, competitors returned to North America to participate in the New England Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, which is followed by the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Road America and Mosport International Raceway. On Labour Day weekend, the teams return to another temporary circuit, Belle Isle, in Detroit. The penultimate round is Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta and the season finale is held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The championship rules were unchanged from 2006. The series is guided by the regulations used at the legendary 24 Hour of Le Mans. This meant four categories are competing for class honours.

Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) – These are the purpose-built race cars powered by a 6.0-liter normally aspirated or 4.0-liter turbocharged engine. The cars can weigh no less than 924-kilograms (approximately 2,040-pounds). Competing in the series was the factory-supported diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI. Privateer teams were entered in cars such as the Lola B06/14, Creation CA06/H and Zytek 07S. These cars are powered by a wide range of engines producing between 600-700 horsepower.
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) – LMP675 class was introduced in 2001 for vehicles that could weigh no less than 675-kilograms. In 2004, this became the LMP2 class and the minimum weight was set at 775-kilograms (approximately 1,708-pounds). The rules are written so that the two LMP classes (LMP1 and LMP2) would be contending for the overall win. Manufacturers producing cars for this class included Acura, Lola, Radial and Porsche. LMP2 cars use smaller displacement engines producing between 500-550 horsepower.
Grand Touring 1 (GT1) – This class includes production-based vehicles such as the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, Saleen S7.R and Aston Martin DBR9. The cars are permitted to use 8.0-liter normally aspirated or 4.0-liter turbocharged engines, which produce between 600-650 horsepower. These cars could weigh no less than 1,125-kilograms (approximately 2,480-pounds).
Grand Touring 2 (GT2) – The GT2 cars were also restricted to a 1,125-kilogram weight rule and had similar engine limitations as the GT1 class. These are also production-based machines, which include vehicles such as the BMW M3, Porsche GT3RSR, Panoz Esperante GT-LM and Ferrari F430 GT.

Race nine of the 2007 American Le Mans Series was held at Mosport International Raceway. The event presented by Mobil 1 was called, ‘The Grand Prix of Mosport.’ The contest would be two-hours, forty-five-minutes in length around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

The start of round nine for the 2007 American Le Mans Series at Mosport International Raceway. Leading the field of twenty-five starters into corner one is the Audi R10 TDI of the pole-sitter, Rinaldo Capello. Behind Capello is his teammate and the third-fastest qualifier, Emanuele Pirro. The all-conquering, LMP2 class Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyders of Romain Dumas and Ryan Briscoe trail Pirro.

Penske Racing drivers, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, delivered another solid performance at Mosport. It began when Dumas put the No. 7 Porsche RS Spyder on the pole. Bernhard drove the final stint and was chasing the race leader, Allan McNish when the No. 1 Audi developed a mechanical issue. He passed McNish on lap-121 to lead the final five-circuits and win by a margin of 19.576-seconds.

The No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R was qualified by Johnny O’Connell. O’Connell would start behind his teammate, Oliver Gavin and the Pratt Miller entry piloted by Ron Fellows and Andy Pilgrim. O’Connell and his co-driver, Jan Magnussen, took control of the race when the No. 4 Corvette driven by Gavin was knocked off course by an LMP1. They would go on to score their second victory of 2007.

At Mosport, Rinaldo Capello topped the timesheet in qualifying. It appeared that Capello and his co-driver, Allan McNish might be able to claim their first outright victory since race two. Capello led the first forty-five-laps and McNish enjoyed the top spot until the Audi developed a gearbox issue. The problem allowed the No. 7 Porsche to pass for the overall victory. Capello and McNish finished second but won LMP1.

The race for the top honours in the GT2 category ended early. The class pole-sitter, Jaime Melo, was leading in the Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT when the first full-course caution occurred. The overall race leader, Rinaldo Capello, had lapped all the GT2 competitors except Mello. On the restart, he was a full lap ahead of the competition. Mello and his co-driver, Mika Salo, scored a comfortable victory.

The LMP2 podium for the Grand Prix of Mosport. In the center are the overall and class winners, Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard. Standing on the left side of the rostrum are the runner-ups and the winner’s teammates from Penske Racing, Ryan Briscoe and Sascha Maassen. Earning a well deserved third-place finish were Bryan Herta and Marino Franchitti from Andretti Green Racing.

The early season LMP2 points leaders were Ryan Briscoe and Sasch Maassen as the result of victories at St. Petersburg, Miller and Lime Rock. But since round seven at Mid-Ohio, they were finishing behind their teammates, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas. At Mosport, Briscoe qualified second in class, but once again, they finished behind the drivers of the No. 7 Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder.

Pratt & Miller entered the No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R for Andy Pilgrim and local hero Ron Fellows. It was a fitting match as this duo scored Corvette Racing’s first victory in 2000 at Texas Motor Speedway. In qualifying, Fellows would split the series regulars, Oliver Gavin and Johnny O’Connell, by setting the second-fastest time. Pilgrim and Fellows finished on the same lap as the leader in third place.

The LMP1 podium for round nine at Mosport International Raceway. Standing in the center for the sixth time this season are the race winners and class points leaders, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello. Their Audi Sport North America teammates and runner-ups, Marco Werner and Emanuele Pirro, are on the left side. The final position on the podium belongs to Chris McMurry and Canadian Tony Burgess.

Drivers of the No. 2 Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI, Marco Werner and Emanuele Pirro captured victories at Sebring International Raceway and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. But for most of the season, they were chasing the defending class champions in the No. 1 Audi, Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello. It would be much of the same at Mosport, where they finished second in class.

At the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Gianmaria Bruni and Eric Helary joined the Risi Competizione team driving the No. 61 Ferrari F430 GT. They delivered an excellent result in their debut - finishing third in GT2. After a sixth-place at Road America, the duo was back on form at Mosport. Bruni qualified second in class and eighteenth overall. At the checkered flag, the pair were third in the GT2 category.

The round nine American Le Mans Series GT1 podium at Mosport International Raceway. For the first time since Sebring, all the spots on the rostrum are occupied. Standing in the center and scoring their second victory of the season are Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen. On the left are the runner-ups and GT1 points leaders, Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta. Completing the podium are Ron Fellows and Andy Pilgrim.

The first caution of the race occurred on lap-6 when the van der Steur Racing Radical SR9 went off course in corner one and impacted the tire barrier. Adam Pecorari was behind the wheel of the car he would share with team principal, Gunnar van der Steur when it seemed that the right rear suspension failed. Pecorari appeared to be uninjured and racing resumed on lap-12.

Confusion during the second caution period jumbled the race order, with some of the class leaders being penalized. One team that appeared to benefit from the inconsistent officiating was the Rahal Letterman Racing Porsche GT3 RSR. During the full course yellow, they did not receive any penalties. When the race resumed, Ralf Kelleners and Tommy Milner were second in GT2 and held the position to the checker.

The GT2 podium for race nine of the 2007 American Le Mans Series. Standing on the top step for the sixth time this season are the class points leaders, Jaime Melo and Mika Salo. On the right side of the rostrum are runner-ups, Tommy Milner and Ralf Kelleners. The final spot is occupied by the winner’s teammates from Risi Competizione and third-place finishers, Eric Helary and Gianmaria Bruni.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	LMP2	Dumas / Bernhard	Porsche RS Spyder	125	-
2	LMP1	Capello / McNish	Audi R10 TDI	125	-
3	LMP2	Maassen / Briscoe	Porsche RS Spyder	125	-
4	LMP1	Pirro / Werner	Audi R10 TDI	125	-
5	LMP2	Franchitti / Herta	Acura ARX-01a	125	-
6	LMP2	Devlin / Bach	Lola B07/46	125	-
7	LMP2	Dyson / Smith	Porsche RS Spyder	124	-
8	LMP2	Diaz / Fernandez	Lola B06/43	124	-
9	LMP2	Leitzinger / Wallace	Porsche RS Spyder	124	-
10	GT1	Magnussen / O'Connell	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	116	-
11	GT1	Gavin / Beretta	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	116	-
12	GT1	Fellows / Pilgrim	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	116	-
13	GT2	Melo / Salo	Ferrari F430 GTC	112	-
14	GT2	Bruni / Helary	Ferrari F430 GT	111	-
15	LMP1	McMurry / Burgess	Creation CA06H	111	-
16	GT2	Milner / Kelleners	Porsche GT3RSR	111	-
17	GT2	Dumbreck / Mueller	Ferrari F430 GT	110	-
18	GT2	Bergmeister / Van Overbeek	Porsche GT3RSR	110	-
19	GT2	Henzler / Liddell	Porsche GT3RSR	109	-
20	GT2	Pechnik / Neiman	Porsche GT3RSR	109	-
21	GT2	Tafel / Farnbacher	Porsche GT3RSR	94	-
22	LMP1	Berry / Field / Field	Creation CA06/H	86	Transmission
23	GT2	Auberlen / Hand	Panoz Esperante GTLM	54	Retired
24	LMP2	Johansson / Brabham	Acura ARX-01a	48	Accident
25	LMP2	Pecorari / van der Steur	Radical SR9	6	Accident

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