Road America: Series championship preview

CLOSE CHAMPIONSHIP RACES PART OF ROAD AMERICA DRAMA
Still razor thin in all four classes heading to Elkhart Lake

With three rounds remaining in the 2010 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón, championship battles remain tight in all four classes. Seventy points (70) remain available to race-winners at the three remaining 2010 season events: 20 each at Road America - site of this weekend's American Le Mans Series powered by eStar - and next week's round at Mosport, plus 30 points at Road Atlanta's Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA2.

A summary of the four-class points chase as the Series heads to Road America:

LMP: A runner-up finish at Mid-Ohio combined with a DNS for Muscle Milk Team CytoSport firmly entrenched Patrón Highcroft Racing in the drivers seat. David Brabham and Simon Pagenaud lead CytoSport's Klaus Graf by 23 points. Barring no-points race the rest of the way, PHR is in good position to repeat although Porsche factory driver Timo Bernhard will join Graf this weekend, and Romain Dumas will drive the RS Spyder at Mosport.

In the manufacturer championship, Dyson Racing's Mid-Ohio victory over Patrón Highcroft moved Lola to within 13 points of Honda Performance Development for the chassis manufacturer championship. HPD leads Porsche by 23 points in the engine race while Michelin - whose technical partners include Highcroft, CytoSport and Drayson Racing- leads Dunlop - with Dyson Racing, Intersport Racing and Autocon Motorsports.

LMPC: Thanks to four victories this season with Christophe Bouchut, Level 5 Motorsports' Scott Tucker holds an 11-point lead over Green Earth Team Gunnar's Gunnar Jeannette. Tucker's third-place finish with Andy Wallace in a second Level 5 entry at Lime Rock is the difference between he and Bouchut (whose car did not start the race).

The gap is the same - 11 points - between Level 5 and GETG in the team standings.

GT: Good luck sorting this one out!

Defending class champions Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long lead Risi Competizione's Jaime Melo and Gimmi Bruni by just eight points. Each team has three class victories this year. A win for the Lizard pair and no points for Melo/Bruni at Lime Rock is the key point so far. Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner, from the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team camp, are just 3 points behind Bruni and Melo; the Auberlen/Milner pairing has been on the class podium four times, the most in class.

In the manufacturer and team races, BMW (BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team) and Ferrari (Risi) are tied for the championship lead. Porsche/Flying Lizard are just two points behind. So far, the championship battle in the Series' toughest class has lived up to its lofty expectations.

In the tire manufacturer championship, Michelin leads Dunlop by 20 points.

GTC: After missing the season-opener at Sebring and placing eighth at Long Beach, Black Swan Racing drivers Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen have won three times and surged into the championship lead. A pair of TRG pilots - Henri Richard and Andy Lally - sit second and third, respectively. Richard is not entered at Road America, although Lally is back and eager to improve his championship position. He will drive with Duncan Ende.

Velox Racing's Shane Lewis, and Alex Job Racing's Bill Sweedler and Romeo Kapudija are tied for fourth place, 5 points behind Lally and 11 points behind Richard.

Alex Job Racing leads the team championship with Black Swam only 6 points back and TRG another 3 back.

See how the championship chases play out this weekend in the American Le Mans Series powered by eStar, Round 7 of the American Le Mans Series powered by Tequila Patrón. The race is set for 2:05 p.m. CT on Sunday, August 22 from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. SPEED will air the race live at 3 p.m. ET with live radio coverage available on American Le Mans Radio presented by Porsche - a production of Radio Show Limited - as well as Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 242. Americanlemans.com will stream Friday's qualifying session starting at 3:10 p.m. CT. Visit the Series' schedule page for ticket and accommodation information. Live Timing and Scoring, track schedule, entry list and much, much more will be available on Racehub at americanlemans.com.

-source: alms