1998 Petit Le Mans

Sportscar endurance race in Georgia, US August 2023 thumb|269x269px|The Track map of Road Atlanta The 1998 Petit Le Mans was a sportscar race for the 1998 IMSA GT Championship season, then known as the Professional SportsCar Racing series. It also served as a prelude to the first American Le Mans Series race held at Sebring in 1999. Don Panoz's American Le Mans Series was developed with the backing of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the ruling body of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It took place at the Road Atlanta race track near Braselton, Georgia on October 11, 1998. Premiere Petit Le Mans, 1000 Miles at Road Atlanta Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 1 December 2022 Development Following the demise of the World Sportscar Championship in 1992, sportscar racing was left without a major worldwide series in which to compete. The 24 Hours of Le Mans remained a remnant, still competed by a large number of sportscars, but mostly on a single race basis. Various sportscar leagues had sprung up since the WSC's demise, including the International Motor Sports Association's replacement for their Camel GTP series, the Prototype SportsCar Racing series. In Europe, two series were also developed, the FIA Sportscar Championship and the FIA GT Championship, although they were not combined like IMSA's series. The Automobile Club de l'Ouest, wanting to create a new worldwide series, made an agreement with Don Panoz, owner of the Road Atlanta racing course. The ACO would agree to lend the Le Mans name out to Panoz for the creation of an event called the Petit Le Mans (French for little Le Mans). The race would be similar to the 12 Hours of Sebring, in that it did not run a full 24 hours like Le Mans. Instead, the race would be 10 hours or 1000 mi km, whichever came first. The series would become an experiment for the ACO, in which if enough teams showed interest in Petit Le Mans, the ACO would look into developing a series around the same formula. In order to help drive interest, the ACO promised that the winners of Petit Le Mans would earn automatic invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans without having to apply or earn favor with the ACO. This custom continues to be utilized in the Petit Le Mans, despite American Le Mans Series champions also receiving invites. IMSA, which normally ran at Road Atlanta during their seasons, agreed to allow a joint race for their series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans competitors. However, each series ran slightly different formulas for their competitors, thus forcing the organizers to create seven different classes. LMP1, LMGT1, and LMGT2 for the ACO compliant cars, and WSC, GT1, GT2, and GT3 for IMSA's competitors. Even though both organizers used the GT1 and GT2 names the classes were not actually the same, which is why the ACO classes are preceded by LM. Official results Class winners are marked in bold. Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps Engine 1 LMP1 7 United States Doyle-Risi Racing Belgium Eric van de PoeleSouth Africa Wayne TaylorFrance Emmanuel Collard Ferrari 333 SP Pirelli 391 Ferrari F310E 4.0 L V12 2 LMP1 77 Germany Porsche AGGermany Joest Racing Italy Michele AlboretoSweden Stefan JohanssonGermany Jörg Müller Porsche LMP1-98 Michelin 391 Porsche Type-935 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 3 LMGT1 38 United States Champion Motors Belgium Thierry BoutsenFrance Bob WollekGermany Ralf Kelleners Porsche 911 GT1 Evo Michelin 381 Porsche 9R1 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 4 WSC 8 United States Transatlantic Racing Services United States Butch LeitzingerUnited States Scott SchubotUnited States Henry Camferdam Riley & Scott Mk III Dunlop 378 Ford 5.0 L V8 5 WSC 88 United States Dollahite Racing United States Bill DollahiteUnited States Mike DaviesUnited States Anthony Lazzaro Ferrari 333 SP Yokohama 365 Ferrari F310E 4.0 L V12 6 LMP1 63 Japan AutoExe MotorsportsUnited States Downing Atlanta Japan Yojiro TeradaUnited States Jim DowningUnited States Howard Katz AutoExe AE99 (Kudzu) Goodyear 349 Mazda 2.6 L 4-Rotor 7 LMGT2 81 Germany Freisinger Motorsport France Michel LigonnetUnited States Lance Stewart Porsche 911 GT2 Pirelli 337 Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6 8 GT1 4 United States Panoz Motorsports United States Scott PruettFrance Éric BernardUnited Kingdom Andy WallaceAustralia David Brabham Panoz Esperante GTR-1 Michelin 335 Ford (Roush) 6.0 L V8 9 GT3 76 United States Team A.R.E. United States Peter ArgetsingerUnited States Richard PolidoriItaly Angelo Cilli Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Yokohama 335 Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 10 GT3 6 United States Prototype Technology Group Canada Ross BentleyUnited States Darren LawUnited States Jeff SchaferAustralia David Besnard BMW M3 Yokohama 328 BMW S52 3.2 L I6 11 LMGT2 72 Germany Konrad Motorsport Austria Franz KonradNetherlands Jan Lammers Porsche 911 GT2 Dunlop 322 Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6 12 LMGT1 07 United States Panoz Motorsports United States Doc BundyDenmark John NielsenFrance Christophe Tinseau Panoz Esperante GTR-1 Q9 Michelin 317 Ford (Roush) 6.0 L V8Zytek Hybrid Electric 13 GT2 04 United States CJ Motorsport United States John MortonCanada Ron FellowsCanada John Graham Porsche 911 GT2 Pirelli 311 Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6 14 LMGT2 00 France Larbre Compétition France Patrice GoueslardFrance Stéphane OrtelliFrance Jack Leconte Porsche 911 GT2 Michelin 311 Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6 15 GT2 75 United States Pettit Racing United States Cameron WorthUnited States Scott Sansone Mazda RX-7 ? 294 Mazda 2.0 L 3-Rotor 16 GT3 1 United States Prototype Technology Group United States Peter CunninghamUnited States Brian SimoUnited States Terry BorchellerCosta Rica Javier Quiros BMW M3 Yokohama 289 BMW S52 3.2 L I6 17DNF GT3 10 United States Prototype Technology Group United States Bill AuberlenUnited States Mark SimoUnited Kingdom Andy Pilgrim BMW M3 Yokohama 281 BMW S52 3.2 L I6 18DNF WSC 39 United States Matthews-Colucci Racing United States David MurryUnited States Jim MatthewsUnited States Hurley Haywood Riley & Scott Mk III Pirelli 273 Ford 5.0 L V8 19 GT3 86 United States G&W Motorsport United States Steve MarshallUnited States Danny MarshallCanada Sylvain Tremblay Porsche 911 Carrera RSR ? 271 Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 20DNF LMGT1 26 Germany Porsche AG United Kingdom Allan McNishGermany Uwe AlzenFrance Yannick Dalmas Porsche 911 GT1-98 Michelin 235 Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 21DNF WSC 28 United States Intersport Racing United States Jon FieldUnited States Jeret SchroederUnited States Joaquin DeSotoUnited States John Mirro Riley & Scott Mk III Goodyear 229 Ford 5.0 L V8 22DNF LMGT2 73 Germany Konrad Motorsport Italy Angelo ZadraUnited States Peter KitchakUnited States Charles Slater Porsche 911 GT2 Dunlop 157 Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6 23DNF GT3 12 United States T.C. Kline United States Randy PobstUnited States Pete HalsmerUnited States Shane Lewis BMW M3 ? 96 BMW S52 3.2 L I6 24DNF GT3 96 Ecuador Team Ecuador Ecuador Henry TalebEcuador Xavier ColladoNew Zealand Rob Wilson Nissan 240SX Yokohama 63 Nissan KA24DE 2.4 L I4 25DNF WSC 27 United States Doran Enterprises Belgium Didier TheysSwitzerland Fredy LienhardItaly Mauro Baldi Ferrari 333 SP Yokohama 59 Ferrari F310E 4.0 L V12 26DNF GT2 68 United States Charles Coker Jr. United States Charles Coker Jr.United States Joe VardeUnited States Joe FosterUnited States Dave White Porsche 968 Turbo RS Pirelli 50 Porsche 3.0 L Turbo I4 27DNF LMGT2 59 Netherlands Marcos Racing International Netherlands Cor EuserUnited Kingdom Christian VannGermany Harald Becker Marcos Mantara LM600 Dunlop 49 Chevrolet 6.0 L V8 28DNF WSC 29 United States Intersport Racing United States Sam BrownUnited States Ken DrommUnited States Simon GreggCanada Jacek Mucha Riley & Scott Mk III Goodyear 31 Ford 5.0 L V8 29DNF GT3 23 United States Alex Job Racing United States Kelly CollinsUnited States Darryl HavensUnited States Cort Wagner Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Pirelli 0 Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 DNS GT1 5 United States Panoz Motorsports United States Johnny O'ConnellUnited Kingdom Jamie DaviesFrance Éric Bernard Panoz Esperante GTR-1 Michelin - Ford (Roush) 6.0 L V8 DNS LMP1 21 France Solution F France Philippe GacheFrance Anthony BeltoiseFrance Jérôme Policand Riley & Scott Mk III Pirelli - Ford 5.0 L V8 Statistics Pole Position - Allan McNish (#26 Porsche AG) - 1:13.754 Fastest Lap - Allan McNish (#26 Porsche AG) - 1:15.239 Average Speed - 164.62 km/h Post-race With a total of 31 entrants, including a large number of European teams, the ACO considered the race a success. The only downside was that BMW, who had initially entered their V8-powered Riley & Scott Mk IIIs, did not show up for the race. That car tested after the race, alongside the new Lola B98/10. The ACO and Don Panoz pushed ahead with their plans and announced the American Le Mans Series for 1999. IMSA, whose own racing series was faltering, decided to take instead take over as sanctioning body for the new American Le Mans Series. thumb | right | Porsche 911 GT1 picture at the Goodwood festival of speed The #26 Porsche 911 GT1, which had won the pole position for the race, did not finish the race; the car, piloted by Yannick Dalmas, flipped in a blowover between turns 8 and 9. This incident, as well as similar blowover incidents to the BMW V12 LMR during the 2000 Petit Le Mans and the Mercedes-Benz CLR during the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, resulted in Champion Racing not racing a GT1-98 and new regulations introduced in 2004 that changed the cars' geometry and reduced the chance of blow-overs.https://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2008-06/when-le-mans-racecars-fly/ When le Mans Racecars Fly 18 March 2019 The ACO later organised further one-off experimental races in preparation for new series, with the 1999 Le Mans Fuji 1000km, the 2000 Race of a Thousand Years, the 2003 1000km of Le Mans and the 2009 1000 km of Okayama. References 1998 1999 None External links 1998 Petit Le Mans results (WSRP) 1998 Petit Le Mans results (WSPR-Racing) 1998 Petit Le Mans Photos and News https://web.archive.org/web/20101008032910/http://www.lasersol.com/CyberMotor/plm_1998/ 2010-10-08 Petit Le Mans Category:Petit Le Mans Category:October 1998 sports events in the United States