Road America: Porsche Motorsports qualifying summary

Lucas Luhr rips off fastest lap of the weekend to gain Road America GT pole in Alex Job Porsche; 500-Mile Alms race to have three pit stops.

ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. - July 6 - The Alex Job Racing McKenna Xybernaut Porsches sat out the first ten minutes of the 20-minute qualifying session at the Road America 500, but both cars stormed out of the pits to take the top two spots on the grid for tomorro w's first-ever American Le Mans Series event in Wisconsin.

Lucas Luhr, who was involved in an accident last week while contesting for the GT lead at Mid-Ohio, turned a qualifying lap in his #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS a full half a second faster than the rest of the field to take the pole position. Luh r, in earning his first pole position of the season and fifth of his career, let it all hang out during his only lap at speed.

"After missing out on the 'most laps in the race' point last week because of the accident, the pole point was really important for me. I took all the risk on one lap, and was able to get my fast lap," said Luhr. Co-driver Sascha Maassen has captured two GT poles so far this year.

Second on the grid for tomorrow's event, which will go 500 miles or until 5:45 PM EDT - whichever comes first - is the #22 Alex Job Porsche qualified by Jorg Bergmeister for his drive Sunday with co-driver Timo Bernhard. Third is the #31 Petersen Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RS qualified by Randy Pobst, who will drive with Johnn y Mowlem Sunday, while the #66 The Racer's Group Porsche of Kevin Buckler/Michael Schrom/Brian Cunningham qualified fourth.

The GT cars should be able to finish the race with three pit stops for fuel/tires/driver changes. In all, there are ten cars in the GT class - nine of them Porsche 911 GT3 RS racers.

The American Le Mans Series Road America 500 will be broadcast live on the CBS television network starting at 4:00PM Eastern time on Sunday, July 7. The network will join the race in progress and broadcast live to the finish. The race will be broadcast i n Europe on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, July 14, at 20:00 Central European Time on the Eurosport television network. The Road America event will be broadcast live online on the American Le Mans Radio Network, which can be accessed on the Web at www.ims aracing.net. That same American Le Mans Series/IMSA web site will also have live timing and scoring during the race event.

The official Porsche web site - www.porsche.com - will have qualifying information on the Road America event for all the Porsches entered, and will file stories and photos during and after the race.

ALMS Road America 500 GT Qualifying

23, Sascha Maassen, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Alex Job Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:12.862

22, Timo Bernhard, Germany; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Alex Job Racing; Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2;13.516

31, Michael Petersen, Las Vegas, NV; Randy Pobst, Melbourne, FL; Johnny Mowlem, England; Petersen Motorsports, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:14.049

66, Kevin Buckler, Novato, CA; Brian Cunningham, Ashland, KY; The Racers Group, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:14.093

52, Tony Burgess, Canada; Phillip Collin, Lincolnshire, IL; Seikel Motorsport; Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:15.485

79, Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; Mike Fitzgerald, Phoenix; David Murry, Atlanta; J3 Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:15.696

89, Adam Merzon, Greenwich, CT; Robert Julien, Canada; Porschehaus Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:16.196

43, Leo Hindery, Hillsborough, CA; Peter Baron, San Mateo, CA; Orbit, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:16.821

34, Stefano Buttiero, Italy; Craig Stanton, Seal Beach, CA; XL Racing; Ferrari 550 Maranello, 2:16.446

42, Gary Schultheis, Boca Raton, FL; John Lloyd, Jr., Boston, MA; Tony Kester, Michigan City, IN; Orbit, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 2:23.264

88, Stephane Veilleux, Canada; Peter Overing, Canada; Porschehause Racing; Porsche 911 GT3 R, withdrawn (driver illness)

-porsche-