Leading the class with 5 minutes to go, RCR's hopes are dashed by a back-marker.

BRASELTON, GA, April 18 -- Porsche customer race teams swept the top three spots in the GTS class here Sunday in the 1999 Grand Prix at Road Atlanta, the second round of the inaugural American Le Mans Series. The Porsche parade to the GTS podium was led by the Schumacher Racing entry of Larry Schumacher and John O'Steen, who waged quite a battle with eventual second-place finishers, Martin Snow and Kelly Collins, out of the Martin Snow Racing stable. Capturing third was the Konrad Motorsport Team of Franz Konrad and Peter Kitchak.

It was O'Steen and Collins who went nose-to-tail for the better part of the last half-hour of the 2-hour, 45-minute race, thrilling the estimated crowd of more than 30,000. O'Steen and Collins exchanged the lead twice during the final moments of the event, before O'Steen took the checkered flag. There were other exciting moments, courtesy of the GT class, where the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 RSR team recorded a second-place with drivers Cort Wagner and Dirk Muller. The Reiser Callas Rennsport Porsche team of David Murry and Craig Stanton actually had control of the GT lead with some five minutes to go in the race, before Murry absorbed contact by a Mazda Kudzu Prototype race car, spinning him off the track into a tire barrier. By attrition, a BMW M3 with drivers Brian Cunningham and Johannes van Overbeek moved up to take the win, followed by the Wagner-Muller duo, then another BMW M3.

In the Prototype class, Porsche's lone entry -- the Champion Porsche 911 GT1 Racing team of Thierry Boutsen and Bob Wollek -- were out of the race inside the first hour due to engine problems. They had qualified 12th on the grid.

The overall winner and Prototype champion was the R&S MK III of Eric van de Poele and Mimo Schiattarella, who started from the 34th spot on the grid. They had actually garnered the pole position in qualifying on Friday, posting a track record in the process, before being forced to the 34th spot due to having a "dimensionally non-compliant" car. The winner averaged more than 110 mph for the race, recording a margin of victory of 24 seconds in the process.
 
Top Finishers In The Grand Prix At Road Atlanta
1) Eric van de Poele/Mimo Schiattarella - R&S MK III - 120 laps
2) Didier Theys/Mauro Baldi - Ferrari 333SP - 120 laps
3) Elliott Forbes-Robinson/Butch Leitzinger - R&S MK III - 120 laps
4) Massimiliano Angelelli/Didier de Radigues - Ferrari 333SP - 119 laps
S) Eric Bernard/David Brabham - Panoz LMP - 119 laps
6) Wayne Taylor/Alex Caffi - Ferrari 333SP - 118 laps
7) Jim Matthews/Tommy Kendall - Ferrari 333SP - 117 laps
8) Scott Schubot/Henry Camferdam - R&S MK III - 116 laps
9) Bill Dollahite/Mike Davies - Ferrari 333SP - 115 laps
10) Don Whittington/Tim Hubman - Lola Ford - 114 laps
 
(courtesy Porsche Cars North America, Inc.)

Team standings as of Road Atlanta (American LeMans Series).

GT TEAMS
1 Alex Job Racing
2 Prototype Techngy Group
3 Reiser Callas Rennsport
4 Aasco Performance
5 Gallade
6 Team Transenergy
7 G&W Motorsports
8 Bell Motorsports
9 Auto Sport South
10 Alegra Motorsport
11 Aspen Knolls Racing
12 Vanderhoof Racing
13 Broadfoot Racing
14 Millennium Motorsports
15 Toad Hall Racing
16 Team ARE
17 Team Pumpelly Racing