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Petit Le Mans Preview

Will Ford overtake Chevy at Petit? [Photo by Jack Webster]

Will Ford overtake Chevy at Petit? [Photo by Jack Webster]

By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine

With 9 events down and just one yet to run, Petit Le Mans this year looks to be a very exciting race.

In a season that began at the grueling Rolex 24 at Daytona and finishes next week with Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, the various championships in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship are all still up for grabs. After a very competitive season, the points standings in all four TUDOR classes are still undecided.

After the last race in Austin, things have tightened up even more.

In the Prototype class, things are as tight as ever, with VisitFlorida.com Racing drivers Michael Valiante and Richard Westbrook leading the driver’s standings over Action Express drivers Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi by only 6 points, an increase of 5 since Austin. Tied for second now are teammates Dane Cameron and Eric Curran in the other Action Express entry. A bit further back, but certainly not out of the picture, are Ganassi Racing drivers Joey Hand and Scott Pruett driving for Ford, who have closed the gap somewhat on the Chevrolet powered cars thanks to their dominating win at COTA last week.

In the LMPC class, things are just about as tight, with Jon Bennett and Colin Braun of Core Autosport leading the championship by only 11 points over PRI Mathiasen Motorsports drivers Mike Gausch and Tom Kimber-Smith. Closely following in third are RSR drivers Chris Cumming and Bruno Junqueira another 3 points back.

In the GLTM class it has been a battle all season long among drivers for Porsche, Corvette, BMW and Ferrari. Porsche currently leads the manufacturers championship over BMW and Corvette, with Ferrari close behind. In GTLM drivers, Patrick Pilet leads the way for Porsche, with BMW pilots Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner jumping into second in the standings thanks to their performance in Austin. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen are right behind for Corvette. At Petit Le Mans, the GTLM battle is going to be fascinating to watch – anyone can win.

In the GTD class, the top drivers: Christina Nielsen, Christopher Haase, Dion Von Moltke, Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler are only separated by only 4 points – closer than they have been all season. Audi took the lead in the manufacturers battle over Ferrari and Porsche at Austin, but again the point margins are tiny. Anyone can win this battle at Petit. Audi, Ferrari, Porsche and BMW are only separated by 6 points.

Petit Le Mans has always been a classic, and this year in addition to a fantastic 10 hour endurance contest we are going to witness a huge battle for championships among some of the best sports car drivers in the world. Nothing will be left on the table in this one – it is going to be a flat out, win or lose contest.

May the best teams and drivers enjoy their championships.

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