The Eleventh running of the 1000 Mile Petit Le Mans resulted in a classic Audi-Peugeot-Audi battle in the last half of the race. Andrew Jennings was at Road Atlanta taking these fantastic images for us.

There was drama even before the race had started. 2nd place starter Allan McNish lost control on a warm-up lap and spun his Audi R10 TDi into the barriers. The Scott managed to get the deranged car back to the pits where the Audi crew set to repair the car.

“I lost control of the Audi due to cold tyres – it was my error,” reflected McNish. “The team did a magnificent job to get it repaired in just 45mins and get me out just three minutes after the start of the race – I’d thought I was out of the race even before it had started!"

Meanwhile, the new Lola Mazda Coupe had suffered a similar fate, but was not repairable. Not the debut Mazda were hoping for at the Mazda sponsored event.

The race started from a rolling start, with McNish still in the pits for repairs. Peugeot led away with their extra power, with the No2 Audi close behind. As you can see above, their was a sea of 'P2' Porsche's behind with Acura immediately behind.

McNish would finally take to the track 2 laps down. It appeared his day was done, but McNish was telling his engineer that he was very sorry but he would win. Few thought that was possible, even from McNish.

The high entry resulted in lots of traffic. The P1 and P2 cars continuously having to pass through GT battles. No surprise that many of the Yellow Caution flags were caused when GT and Prototype wanted to share the same part of the road.

The Peugeot appeared to have the pace. Christian Klien was very quick, despite being at Road Atlanta for the first time.

For most of the race, the battle was between the No2 Audi of Marco Wener and Lucas Lohr and the Peugot of Sarrazin, Klien and Minassian.

The Audi would generally be quicker in pit stops thanks to its open cockpit – No need to clean the windscreen, easier to change drivers. However on track it was very close, with the Peugeot appearing to have the edge on speed.

But the Pirro, Capello, McNish car was on a major charge from 2 laps down. Helped with Caution periods, when the No1 Audi could close up the gap, some excellent driving and stragety,  including double stints from McNish moved the Audi up the leader board and on the tail of the lead battle with a few hours to go.

Klien was in the car for the last stint. Odd choice given that it was his first visit, to what is a tough track to learn, and having to finish the race at night.

Werner and Klien were battling hard, but McNish was back in the car and had changed to soft tyres. This was a risky decision as the soft's were not expected to last to the end of the race. A couple of cautions late on, helped the tyres.

McNish passed his team mate and then set himself up to take the Peugeot. Traffic was continuing to be an issue and McNish slipped past Klien. Wener almost followed through. Having started two laps down, McNish was now in the lead and pulling away.

McNish came under a little bit of pressure when Klien tried to pass, as you can see above, but the Peugeot driver ended up with two wheels on the dirt and had to back out.

Allan McNish went onto win by just 4.512 seconds. Allan has a number of great wins to his name, but this must rank as one of the best. The former triple American Le Mans Series champion, who had previously won the Petit race in 2000, ‘06  ’07 added another win to go with his Le Mans win earlier this year. 

It was an amazing performance by the whole team. McNish, Emanuele Pirro and Dindo Capello  did an amazing job in the No 1 Audi.Audi remains unbeaten in the classic race after making its début in 2000. 

Peugeot finished in second with the second Audi. of 2008 P1 Champions, Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner in 3rd. The new Ginetta-Zytek of Olivier Pla and Danny Watts came forth on their debut, having led the race early on.

P2 saw a Porsche-Acura battle early on. Penske-Porsche going for drivers and manufactures title. Porsche has added an extra car to their roster fielded by Penske IRL drivers, Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, and crewed by IRL mechanics. Thhe newcomers were immediately competitive and keeping their more experienced team mates in check.

Penske's job was made easier when the Patron Highcroft Acura spun out of the race in the 1st hour. In a state of confusion, Scott Sharp left the car and the car was towed away. Scott was later allowed to work on the car, but the damage was terminal and the lead Acura was out. A huge set back, but the remaining three Acura's, seen above chasing the P1 Autocon Lola, kept Porsche busy.

The Andretti Green Acura was doing well, with Franck Montagny joined by Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan.

As night descended the Andretti Green car was looking at a good result. However, after one of the many re-starts, further down the road, a P1 Intersport Lola had spun, over a blind crest. The Patrick Pilet Flying Lizard Porsche came over the hill and crashed into the Lola. The Andretti Green Acura, following behind, missed the Lola and Porsche, but collected a flying wheel, taking out the Acura's left front corner….Acura were down to just one car.

At the flag, the Penske 'IRL crew' brought their RS Spyder home first. Castroneves being particuarly impressive. Romain  Dumas and Timo Bernhard took second, taking the P2 title provisionaPeugeotlly, with the third Penske home close behind.

The results of the Penske cars remain provisional after the Highcroft Lola team protested the fuel used by Penske. Apparently an additive has been added to help the Direct injection work on the Porsche. Acura claim this gives a performance advantage.

 A privateer Dyson Porsche of Marino Franchitti, Butch Leitzinger and Andy Lally finshed forth ahead of the remaining Acura.

The de Ferran Acura of Simon Pagenaud, Scott Dixon and Gil de Ferran himself,was the only Acura to finish and while the brand must be disappointed, it was a reasonable result for the team, who only made their debut in the ALMS half way through the season.

The Porsche team celebrate their provisional 1-2-3

In the GT classes the Risi Competition Ferrari of Mika Salo and Jamie Melo finally avoided the bad luck that has plagued them all season to take a win in the GT2 class, a follow up to their class win at Le Mans. 

Risi came under pressure from Flying Lizard Porsche and JMB and Tafel Racing during the race. Lizards' Jorg Bergmister and Wolf Henzler finished second, taking the GT2 Drivers and Team Championship.

The Drayson-Barwell Aston finally found a good turn of speed this weekend running as high as 3rd in GT2 early on. The team have been beset with reliablity and development problems all season after introducing the new Aston earlier this year.

The team drafted in Aston Martin Le Mans winner Darren Turner for the weekend which paid dividends. Turner had helped develop the GT2 car with Prodrive last year, so the extra experience, coupled with some much needed reliability racked up the miles.

Unfortunately, the car would retire in the last hour, but it was a promising performance for the team, who look like they will retreat back to Europe next year as part owner and driver, Lord Drayson is back in the UK Government.

Lack of power and reliability have also dogged both Ford GT's all season. With no support from Ford, these Doran built cars are really up against it. There main competition being the Aston and the Dodge Viper.

Both cars retired. The Robertson Racing GT retiring just after half distance, with the Falken car lasting a little longer.

The Viper faired a little better. It looked like it would finished, which would have been quite an achievement for the car that is probably the closest to its roadcar relative. Again, no help from Dodge on this one. However, the Viper suffered a transmission failure with just 20 laps to go. Racing can be very cruel.

The Corvette Racing team were the only guys in GT1 class. The Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen, Ron Fellows Car took victory after the No4 Corvette suffered more if its season-long bad luck, finishing six laps down.

ALMS paid a nice gesture for Paul Newman this weekend. Most of the cars carried 'PLN' stickers (at the front of the door on the 'vette) and a couple of advertising hoardings showed the same famous three letters. Nice touch.

The American Le Mans series goes to the famous Laguna Seca circuit in a couple of weeks time for the climax of what has been a fantastic season. Thanks to Andrew Jennings for the excellent images!

-Andy Blackmore

Images: Andrew Jennings, Audi, Marshall Pruett/Speed

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