O'Connell/Magnussen/Panoz Win at Mosport Gives American Le Mans Series Three Winners In Three Races. RCR Finishes Fifth, Seventh, After a Hard-Fought GT Battle.


The victory by Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen in the new Panoz LMP-1 Roadster at the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix at Mosport gives the new series three different winners in as many races.

O'Connell, driving anchor for the Panoz team, led until two laps to go but backed off when he learned that the other Panoz car, driven by David Brabham, would have a 20-second penalty attached for a crewman working on the car while it was being refueled on its final pit stop.

The Panoz team's 1-2 finish was its first-ever, the first win for the new LMP-1 and its first win of 1999. The BMW factory effort with its V12 LMR wheeled by Tom Kristensen, Jorg Muller and J.J. Lehto, took the Superflo 12 Hours at Sebring and Team Rafanelli, with Eric van de Poele and Mimmo Schiattarella in a Riley & Scott Mk III/Judd, took the second race of the season, the Grand Prix at Road Atlanta Presented by Lease Plan.

The Panoz 1-2 finish made the team the 14th to achieve that finish in SPORTS CAR prototype/GT history. It was also the second major sports car victory for the team with a front-engine car, the other coming in 1998 at Sebring with its GTR chassis.

For O'Connell, it was his ninth win in SPORTS CAR prototype/GT competition. Magnussen's victory, after getting the pole, was his first. Brabham, co-driving with Eric Bernard, moved to fifth in season driver points as a result of the second-place finish.

GTS also produced a 1-2 finish as the Team Oreca Dodge Vipers achieved the feat with Olivier Beretta and David Donohue winning over teammates Tommy Archer and Karl Wendlinger. The win was the first in SPORTS CAR/ALMS competition for both drivers.

In GT, Cort Wagner became the first two-time ALMS winner, teamed with Dirk Muller in the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 RSR. It was Wagner's fourth win in a 37-race SPORTS CAR career. Muller's triumph was his first after taking the pole and finishing second at Road Atlanta.

Wagner is the only driver to finish on the lead lap in class in the first three ALMS events. He seeks to become only the fifth driver in SPORTS CAR prototype/GT history to lead class point standings wire-to-wire. He has 76 points to 60 for Johannes van Overbeek and Brian Cunningham. Porsche leads BMW in the manufacturers battle, 76-69.

Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Butch Leitzinger continue to lead the Prototype points with 64 and 63, respectively. They're followed by Alex Caffi with 47 and Wayne Taylor with 46. Ferrari leads the manufacturers points over Panoz, 55-40.

Martin Snow continues to lead the GTS division with 65 points, followed by John Morton with 49. Porsche leads Saleen in the manufacturers standings, 72-50.

RCR, coming off its Mid-Ohio win, was in for a bit of a letdown. Both cars qualified in the top ten, and both had problems which held them back. #02, the lead car driven by Johnny Mowlem and Craig Stanton, required a last minute engine swap which put them at the back of the pack for the start of the race. They worked the car up through the field, only to encounter another setback when an oil cooler broke.
#03, driven by team owner Joel Reiser and co-driver Grady Willingham, suffered a flat tire and a loose headlight cover which finally dropped off. #03 was also assessed a stop and go penalty for a pit lane speed violation. Unfortunately, both cars had off-track excursions which didn't help their forward progress.

Nevertheless, #03 managed a fifth place and #02 a seventh. Two cars in the top ten must be something of a consolation. RCR maintains its third place in the ALMS GT standings. The team now heads to Sears Point for the ALMS race on 7/23-25 and then on to Portland.

Race information courtesy of ALMS.



Top 10 GT Finishers:


1 Dirk Muller/Koln Germany
Cort Wagner/LosAngeles/CA Aerofab/Michelin/
Porsche 911 RSR

2 Hans Stuck/Austria
Christian Menzel/Germany Yokohama/
Flextronics
Level One/
BMW M3

3 Brian Cunningham/Danville/KY
Johannes van Overbeek/San Francisco/CA Yokohama/
Flextronics
Level One/
BMW M3

4 Scott Peeler/Sandy/UT
Geoff Auberlen/Redondo Beach/CA Goodyear/
Ethan Allen Furniture, Salt Lake/
Porsche 996

5 Grady Willingham/Birmingham/AL
Joel Reiser/Mendon/NY Metamor Software
Solutions Worldwide/
Porsche 911 RSR

6 Darryl Havens/Seattle/WA
Mike Fitzgerald/Atlanta/GA Aerofab/Michelin/
Porsche 911 RSR

7 Johnny Mowlem/Berkshire England
Craig Stanton/Long Beach/CA Metamor Software
Solutions Worldwide/
Porsche 911 RSR

8 Peter Argetsinger/Fort Lauderdale/FL
Richard Polidori/Boca Raton/FL A.R.E./Yokohama/
Technodyne/
SSF/Motul/
Porsche 911 RSR

9 Mark Simo/Carlsbad/CA
Peter Cunningham/West Bend/WI Yokohama/
Flextronics
Level One/
BMW M3

10 Mike Conte/Seattle/WA SSF Imported
Car Parts/
Porsche 911 RSR









48 Entries For Sears Point, 47 For Portland In Back To Back
American Le Mans Series Events


INDIANAPOLIS, July 12, 1999 - A huge entry list, with 48 for Sears Point on Sunday, July 25 and 47 for Portland on Sunday, Aug. 1 highlight the American Le Mans Series' biggest two weeks of its inaugural season.

The Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sears Point and the Rose City Grand Prix-Portland, both presented by Toshiba Copiers & Fax, will be televised live by NBC Sports, the first network telecasts of sports car racing in the United States since the 1994 season. Telecast time is 4 p.m. (ET).

In the GT division, Prototype Technology Group will field four BMW M3s for each race and Alex Job Racing two Porsches. Cort Wagner leads the series point standings over Johannes van Overbeek and Brian Cunningham from the Prototype Technology Group.

Practice begins Friday, July 23 at Sears Point with a provisional qualifying session to follow that afternoon. Qualifying continues Saturday with the race on Sunday.

At Portland, competitors will follow the same schedule with provisional qualifying on Friday, July 30, final qualifying on Saturday, July 31 and the race on Sunday, Aug. 1.

In addition, the Women's Global GT Series returns to action for the second and third rounds of its eight-race series at both Sears Point and Portland, with Audrey Zavodsky leading the point standings after the inaugural event in April at Road Atlanta.

Radio Le Mans Web will provide live radio coverage of qualifying and race activities of both the American Le Mans Series and Women's Global GT Series. The network is on the air 5-8 p.m. (ET) Friday and Saturday of race weekend and 2-8 p.m. on Race Day

Update courtesy of ALMS.