9-25-04
-- For Immediate Release
Alex Job Racing One and Two in GT at Road Atlanta
Braselton,
Georgia -- Alex Job Racing drivers Timo Bernhard, Jorg Bergmeister
and Sascha Maassen drove their number 23/McKenna/mail2web.com/Xybernaut/Alex
Job Racing/Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to victory today at Road Atlanta
in round eight of the American Le Mans Series. The number 24 AJR
Porsche driven by Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Wolf Henzler finished
in a close second. This is the fourth win in as many years for the
Florida based team.
A tactical
call by the Job team early in the race proved very strategic for
the number 24 car. A full course yellow was shown on lap eleven,
the team brought the Dumas driven Porsche into the pits to top off
the fuel. On the restart a crash ensued and when the dust settled
on lap 21, the number 24 car was in the lead by one lap on the GT
field.
On
lap 75 Timo Bernhard was able to unlap himself and get directly
behind his teammate. On the next driver change, Sascha Maassen took
over the number 23 car and was able to pass new comer and teammate
Wolf Henzler to lead for the first time on the day, only to loose
the lead to Dumas again on lap 200. The
battle between the two team cars continued into the evening. At
approximately 8:30 p.m., with 1.5-hours remaining in the 10-hour
event, Maassen once again passed Henzler to put the 23 car into
victory lane.
The
two Porsche racers ran flawlessly the entire day, pitting only for
routine service and driver changes. For most of the race the two
team cars ran within one second of each other for top honors in
the GT class. The cars finished two laps ahead of the third place
Peterson car.
The
first place finish by Bernhard puts him in a command position for
the driver's championship with a 15 point lead over his second place
pursuer.
Timo
Bernhard, #23 McKenna/mail2web.com/Xybernaut/Alex Job Racing/Porsche
911 GT3 RSR: "I made a small mistake early with a spin and
my teammates Jorg and Sascha were able to recover the lap that we
lost. The car was good all day. It is nice when your closest competition
is your companion car. We ran a nice consistent race and didn't
have any incidents in traffic. This makes the championship look
better going to Laguna Seca."
Jorg
Bergmeister, #23 McKenna/mail2web.com/Xybernaut/Alex Job Racing/Porsche
911 GT3 RSR: "We had a really good day. I had some small issues
downshifting to third early in the race, but it was never a factor
after that. The 24 car was really strong today. Timo is looking
good for the championship and I will continue to support him at
Laguna Seca in three weeks."
Sascha
Maassen, #23 McKenna/mail2web.com/Xybernaut/Alex Job Racing/Porsche
911 GT3 RSR: "I was on holiday here this weekend. Driving a
great car, in nice weather and going home with a big trophy. It
was great to be back with the team after Sebring. Timo and Jorg
did a great job and now Timo looks strong for the championship."
Romain
Dumas, #24 McKenna/mail2web.com/Xybernaut/Alex Job Racing/Porsche
911 GT3 RSR: "I had a good start. We made a nice decision to
pit early and then getting the one lap advantage was great. We lost
our lead and then I was able to get it back again, so second is
not so bad considering our bad luck from the last few races. We
didn't have issues with the car, although we were worried about
the balance before the race - it was not an issue."
Marc
Lieb, #24 McKenna/mail2web.com/Alex Job Racing/Porsche 911 GT3 RSR:
"No drama today for us in the 24 car. We had a nice gap at
the beginning due to good strategy. The cars were very equal; we
were running together for most of the race matching lap times. Our
car ran perfect, no unscheduled starts or issues at all."
Wolf
Henzler, #24 McKenna/mail2web.com/Alex Job Racing/Porsche 911 GT3
RSR: "This was my first endurance race and my first time driving
at night. I wanted to take a careful approach to the weekend and
learn as much as possible. The car is a little different than my
Supercup car, especially the brakes. The traffic in this series
takes a lot to get used to, but I am happy with my performance and
a second place is great my first time here."
Alex
Job, team owner: "It was a near perfect day for us. The cars
ran flawlessly, the drivers didn't put a wheel off and the pit stops
were great. The cars ran in lock-step for nearly 50% of the race.
There were no team orders, it was great to watch two competitive
cars race clean. Timo is setup nice for the last race and the championship;
we just need to replicate our performance at Laguna Seca in three
weeks."
The
final race of the American Le Mans Series will be run on Saturday,
October 16th at Laguna Seca.
ALMS
GT Top Ten Road Atlanta Finishers:
1. Bernhard/Bergmeister/Maassen AJR Porsche
2. Lieb/Dumas/Henzler AJR Porsche
3. Stanton/Murry/Peterson Porsche
4. Kelleners/Lazzaro/De Simone Ferrari
5. van Overbeek/Law/Huisman Porsche
6. Luhr/Hindery/Jones Porsche
7. Wagner/Long/Rockenfeller Porsche
8. Jackson/Sugden/Pompidou Porsche
9. Ehret/Collin/Nearn Porsche
10. Ortelli/Bouchut Porsche
AJR
thanks team sponsor McKenna Porsche and associate sponsors mail2web.com
and Xybernaut as well as partners Mobil 1, Michelin, Puma and ZF
Sachs.
For
more information or photos, please refer www.alexjobracing.com or
contact
Kyle Chura at chura@aol.com or (248) 821-0468.
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