The 2008 Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally New Mazda6 was the eleventh running of the Petit Le Mans and the tenth round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States of America on October 4, 2008. This race marked the first time that the American Le Mans Series awarded victors in their Green Challenge, in preparation for a full championship in the 2009 season.

Report

Qualifying On Friday afternoon before Saturday's race, qualifying was held in two 25-minute sessions. The two GT categories ran first, led by the lone GT1 entries of Corvette Racing. Halfway through the session, it was Johnny O'Connell's #3 Corvette which achieved the fastest time before the squad ended the session early. In GT2, much of the battle was between the various Porsche and Ferrari teams. The Porsche of Farnbacher-Loles and the Ferrari of European entrant JMB Racing led early, but Jaime Melo in the Risi Competizione was able to give Ferrari the pole position by a margin of 0.057 seconds. Marc Goossens' LG Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette was the fastest qualifier not in a Ferrari or Porsche, completing the session in seventh.

After a short break, the two Le Mans Prototype classes began their qualification session. After six minutes, Allan McNish in the Audi R10 TDI claimed overall pole position. Although Peugeot closed the gap on the Audi, McNish eventually returned to the pits to end his session. As McNish exited the car, Stéphane Sarrazin was able to better the Audi's time by 0.085 seconds and claim overall pole position for the race. In the LMP2 category, returning Penske Porsche driver Ryan Briscoe led the class early. He was eventually joined by his two Penske teammates, giving the team a lock on the top three qualifying positions in the class. Andretti Green Racing's Acura followed the Porsche trio.

Previous qualifying records for all four classes were broken in these two sessions. The top six overall qualifiers, the Peugeot, two Audis, and three Penske Porsches were also able to break an absolute track qualifying record initially set by Davy Jones in a Jaguar XJR-9 in 1992. Sarrazin's Peugeot bettered the Jaguar's record lap by approximately in average speed.

Qualifying result Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.

Pos Class Team Qualifying Driver Time 1 LMP1 #07 Peugeot Sport Total Stéphane Sarrazin 1:06.242 2 LMP1 #1 Audi Sport North America Allan McNish 1:06.327 3 LMP1 #2 Audi Sport North America Marco Werner 1:06.818 4 LMP2 #5 Penske Motorsports, Inc. Ryan Briscoe 1:07.061 5 LMP2 #7 Penske Racing Romain Dumas 1:07.149 6 LMP2 #6 Penske Racing Sascha Maassen 1:07.401 7 LMP2 #26 Andretti Green Racing Franck Montagny 1:07.486 8 LMP2 #66 de Ferran Motorsports Simon Pagenaud 1:07.656 9 LMP1 #50 Team LNT Olivier Pla 1:07.656 10 LMP1 #37 Intersport Racing Jon Field 1:07.784 11 LMP2 #15 Lowe's Fernández Racing Adrian Fernández 1:07.866 12 LMP2 #9 Patrón Highcroft Racing David Brabham 1:08.064 13 LMP2 #16 Dyson Racing Guy Smith 1:08.175 14 LMP2 #20 Dyson Racing Marino Franchitti 1:08.446 15 LMP2 #8 B-K Motorsports Ben Devlin 1:08.896 16 LMP1 #88 Creation Autosportif Harold Primat 1:09.402 17 LMP1 #48 Corsa Motorsports Stefan Johansson 1:09.504 18 LMP1 #30 Intersport Racing Ryan Lewis 1:09.785 19 LMP1 #888 Creation Autosportif Stuart Hall 1:09.944 20 GT1 #3 Corvette Racing Johnny O'Connell 1:16.542 21 GT1 #4 Corvette Racing Olivier Beretta 1:16.589 22 GT2 #62 Risi Competizione Jaime Melo 1:19.399 23 GT2 #87 Farnbacher-Loles Motorsports Dirk Werner 1:19.456 24 GT2 #71 Tafel Racing Dirk Müller 1:19.795 25 GT2 #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister 1:19.885 26 GT2 #99 JMB Racing Pierre Kaffer 1:20.206 27 GT2 #61 Risi Competizione Niclas Jönsson 1:20.667 28 GT2 #28 LG Motorsports Marc Goossens 1:20.743 29 GT2 #007 Drayson-Barwell Darren Turner 1:20.940 30 GT2 #21 Panoz Team PTG Tom Milner Jr. 1:21.419 31 GT2 #40 Robertson Racing David Murry 1:21.438 32 GT2 #54 Black Swan Racing Anthony Lazzaro 1:21.616 33 GT2 #18 VICI Racing Marc Basseng 1:21.876 34 GT2 #11 Primetime Race Group Chris Hall 1:22.302 35 GT2 #44 Flying Lizard Motorsports Seth Neiman 1:23.589 36 GT2 #73 Tafel Racing Alex Figge 1:23.096† 37 LMP1 #12 Autocon Motorsports Did not participate No time 38 GT2 #46 Flying Lizard Motorsports Did not participate No time

† - The #73 Tafel Racing was penalized due to a rule infraction during a pit stop in qualifying. The car was therefore moved to the back of the starting grid.

Race Just twenty minutes short of the ten-hour limit, the #1 Audi of Allan McNish completed the endurance just 4.5 seconds ahead of the #07 Peugeot of Christian Klien. The second Audi finished the overall podium, also on the lead lap. In LMP2, rookie Petit Le Mans entrant Hélio Castroneves led the trio of Penske Porsches past the checkered flag, locking out the podium. Porsches finished in five of the top six positions in the LMP2 class, joined only by the de Ferran Acura in fifth.

After earlier mechanical problems with the #4 Corvette, its #3 teammate led to victory in the GT1 class unchallenged. The GT2 class was won by a Ferrari for the first time in the event's history, the #62 car of Risi Competizione leading the marque. It was followed by several seconds by the championship-leading Flying Lizard Porsche.

In the first ever Green Challenge, Penske Racing and Corvette Racing won in their respective categories. The #6 car was the most efficient of the LMP cars, while the already victorious #3 Corvette was also the most efficient amongst GTs.

Race result Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not classified (NC).

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps Engine 1 LMP1 1 Audi Sport North America Emanuele Pirro Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish Audi R10 TDI 394 Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12(Diesel) 2 LMP1 07 Peugeot Sport Total Nicolas Minassian Stéphane Sarrazin Christian Klien Peugeot 908 HDi FAP 394 Peugeot HDi 5.5 L V12(Diesel) 3 LMP1 2 Audi Sport North America Marco Werner Lucas Luhr Audi R10 TDI 394 Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12(Diesel) 4 LMP2 5 Penske Motorsports, Inc. Hélio Castroneves Ryan Briscoe Porsche RS Spyder Evo 394 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 5 LMP2 7 Penske Racing Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas Porsche RS Spyder Evo 394 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 6 LMP2 6 Penske Racing Patrick Long Sascha Maassen Emmanuel Collard Porsche RS Spyder Evo 392 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 7 LMP2 20 Dyson Racing Butch Leitzinger Marino Franchitti Andy Lally Porsche RS Spyder Evo 391 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 8 LMP2 66 de Ferran Motorsports Gil de Ferran Simon Pagenaud Scott Dixon Acura ARX-01B 388 Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 9 LMP2 16 Dyson Racing Chris Dyson Guy Smith Porsche RS Spyder Evo 384 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 10 GT1 3 Corvette Racing Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Ron Fellows Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 365 Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0 L V8(E85 ethanol) 11 GT1 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta Max Papis Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 359 Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0 L V8(E85 ethanol) 12 GT2 62 Risi Competizione Jaime Melo Mika Salo Ferrari F430GT 358 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 13 GT2 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler Marc Lieb Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 358 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 14 LMP1 50 Team LNT Conquest Racing Danny Watts Olivier Pla Ginetta-Zytek 07S 355 Zytek 4.5 L V8 15 GT2 71 Tafel Racing Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller Ferrari F430GT 355 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 16DNF LMP2 26 Andretti Green Racing Franck Montagny Marco Andretti Tony Kanaan Acura ARX-01B 347 Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 17 GT2 61 Risi Competizione Krohn Racing Tracy Krohn Eric van de Poele Niclas Jönsson Ferrari F430GT 346 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 18 GT2 99 JMB Racing Aucott Racing Ben Aucott Pierre Kaffer Stéphane Daoudi Ferrari F430GT 344 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 19 GT2 44 Flying Lizard Motorsports Darren Law Seth Neiman Lonnie Pechnik Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 339 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 20 GT2 73 Tafel Racing Jim Tafel Alex Figge Pierre Ehret Ferrari F430GT 331 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 21DNF GT2 46 Flying Lizard Motorsports Johannes van Overbeek Patrick Pilet Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 311 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 22DNF GT2 007 Drayson-Barwell Paul Drayson Jonny Cocker Darren Turner Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 294 Aston Martin 4.5 L V8(E85 ethanol) 23DNF GT2 18 VICI Racing Nicky Pastorelli Francesco Pastorelli Marc Basseng Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 291 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 24 GT2 54 Black Swan Racing Tim Pappas Anthony Lazzaro Andy Pilgrim Ford GT-R Mk.VII 291 Ford 5.0 L V8 25 GT2 21 Panoz Team PTG Tom Milner Jr. Joey Hand Andreas Wirth Panoz Esperante GT-LM 282 Ford (Élan) 5.0 L V8 26DNF LMP2 15 Lowe's Fernández Racing Adrian Fernández Luis Díaz Michel Jourdain Jr. Acura ARX-01B 281 Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 27DNF GT2 11 Primetime Race Group Joel Feinberg Chris Hall Dodge Viper Competition Coupe 280 Dodge 8.3 L V10 28DNF GT2 87 Farnbacher-Loles Motorsports Jörg Hardt Dirk Werner Bryce Miller Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 277 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 29DNF GT2 40 Robertson Racing David Robertson Andrea Robertson David Murry Ford GT-R Mk.VII 263 Ford 5.0 L V8 30DNF LMP1 30 Intersport Racing Ryan Lewis Luke Hines Georges Forgeois Lola B07/17 237 Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10 31DNF LMP1 37 Intersport Racing Jon Field Clint Field Richard Berry Lola B06/10 160 AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8(E85 ethanol) 32DNF LMP1 88 Creation Autosportif Jamie Campbell-Walter Stephen Simpson Harold Primat Creation CA07 138 AIM (Judd) YS5.5 5.5 L V10(E85 ethanol) 33DNF LMP1 12 Autocon Motorsports Chris McMurry Bryan Willman Tony Burgess Lola B06/10 122 AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8 34DNF LMP1 888 Creation Autosportif Liz Halliday Dean Stirling Stuart Hall Creation CA07 113 AIM (Judd) YS5.5 5.5 L V10(E85 ethanol) 35DNF LMP1 48 Corsa Motorsports Gunnar Jeannette Johnny Mowlem Stefan Johansson Zytek 07S 73 Zytek 2ZG408 4.0 L V8 36DNF GT2 28 LG Motorsports Lou Gigliotti Tomy Drissi Marc Goossens Chevrolet Corvette C6 37 Chevrolet LS3 6.0 L V8 37DNF LMP2 9 Patrón Highcroft Racing Scott Sharp David Brabham Dario Franchitti Acura ARX-01B 16 Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 DNS LMP2 8 B-K Motorsports Gerardo Bonilla Ben Devlin Lola B08/86 - Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4(E85 ethanol)

References