Road Atlanta: Porsche qualifying notes

Porsche ALMS regulars battle Europeans, Ferrari to secure GT pole for Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta; 13 Porsches qualify for Saturday race.

ATLANTA, Georgia - October 11 - The #22 Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche 911 GT3 RS, driven by 2001 Porsche Supercup champion Jorg Bergmesiter, has captured the GT pole for the Fifth Annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

Bergmeister, whose Road Atlanta pole is his first in ALMS, edged his teammate Sascha Maassen in the #23 Alex Job Porsche by less than two-tenths of a second. It was the ninth pole in ten races for the Alex Job Racing team. It was a good start for the Ale x Job team as Maassen and co-driver Lucas Luhr could not earn the pole and still qualify to finish the weekend as co-champions.

"Because Lucas is a point ahead of Sascha, the bonus point for the pole would have thrown off our plan, but we're glad that Jorg got the pole as he and Tim Bernhard are battling with Kevin Buckler for third place in the standings," said Job.

According to Bergmeister, now that the two drivers are tied, Mark Lieb, the third driver for the car and the 2002 Porsche Carrera Cup champion, will spend the most time in the car to gain that bonus point so Bergmeister and Bernhard can remain tied and con tend for the runner-up poisition in the final standings.

"If we can finish ahead of Kevin Buckler, the #23 drivers will tie for the championship, and Timo and I will tie for second," said Bergmeister.

Third on the grid is the 2002 Porsche Supercup champion, Stephane Ortelli from Monaco, who gave notice to the others that he will be competitive in the race by qualifying less than two-tenths of a second behind Maassen. Ortelli pointed out, however, that set-up, not speed, was their objective during the qualifying session.

"Although we were very interested to see what the Alex Job cars could do, our race set-up was the most important project during qualifying. We still have work to do, but we are pleased that we can keep up with the Job cars," said Ortelli. Ortelli's co-dr iver, Christophe Bouchut from France, is also an experienced FIA-GT driver.

After the Ferrari 360 Modena, which qualified fourth, is the #31 Petersen Motorsports Porsche with Johnny Mowlem qualifying the car in the fifth position for himself and co-driver Randy Pobst, while the #60 British P.K. Sport entry of Philipp Peter/Joe Fos ter is sixth.

The American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans race will be broadcast live on the Speed Channel television network starting at 11:30 M Eastern time on Saturday, October 12. It will be broadcast in Europe on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, October 20, at 20:00 C entral European Time on the Eurosport television network. The Atlanta event will be broadcast live online on the American Le Mans Radio Network starting at 11:00 AM EST, and can be accessed on the Web at www.imsaracing.net. That same American Le Mans Serie s/IMSA web site will also have live timing and scoring during qualifying and race event.

The official Porsche web site - www.porsche.com - will have qualifying information on the Atlanta event for all the Porsches entered, and will file stories and photos during and after the race. Porsche web site uses should click on "North America" from the home page when prompted to select a country, choose "motorsports," the n "news" to find the ALMS updates.

AUDI PETIT LE MANS GT QUALIFYING Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia

1. #22, Timo Bernhard, Miesau, Germany; Jorg Bergmeister, Langenfeld, Germany; Marc Lieb/Germany, Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche Xybernaut Mobil 1 Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:23.922

2. #23, Lucas Luhr, Monaco; Sascha Maassen, Aachen, Germany; Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche Xybernaut Mobil 1 Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:24.068

3. #98, Stephane Ortelli, Monaco; Christophe Bouchut, Paris, France; Cirtek Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:24.231

4. #35, Anthony Lazzaro, Acworth, GA; Ralf Kelleners, Duesseldorf, Germany; Risi Competition Ferrari Modena 360, 1:25.104

5. #31, Michael Petersen, Las Vegas, NV; Randy Pobst, Atlanta, GA; Johnny Mowlem, London, England; Petersen Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:25.424

6. #60, Robin Liddell, Northampton, England; Philipp Peter, Austria; Joe Foster, Lawrenceville, GA; P.K. Sport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:25.432

7. #79, Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; Mike Fitzgerald, Phoenix, AZ; David Murry, Atlanta, GA J3 Racing, J3 Motorsport, Inc., Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:25.551

8. #66, Kevin Buckler, Sonoma, CA; Brian Cunningham / Danville, KY; The Racers Group Mail2Web.com Adobe Road Winery Rennlist.com / Brackenridge Racing,Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:25.594

9. #43, Leo Hindery, Hillsborough, CA; Peter Baron / San Mateo, CA; Orbit YES Network Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1 :25.725

10. #61, Steve Donovan, Nottingham, England; Gavin Pickering, England; Piers Masarati; P.K, Sport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:26.596

11. #21, Michel Neugarten; Angelo Barretto, Manila, Philippines; Thierry Perrier, Paris, France; Monaco Perspective USA Corporation Dunlop Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:26.874

12. #52, Tony Burgess, Toronto, Ontario; Philip Collin, Ridge Park, IL; Grady Willingham, Birmingham, AL; Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:27.125

13. #34, Craig Stanton, Seal Beach, CA; Hugh Plumb, Chadds Ford, PA; Gilles Vannelet, France; Ferrari 550, 1:27.457

14. #10, Emil Assentato, Locust Valley, NY; Chris Gleason, Johnstown, PA; Alegra Motorsports Tradition Securities BMW M3, 1:29.272

15. #42, Gary Schultheis, Boca Raton, FL; Joe Policastro, Greenburg, PA; Jay Policastro; Orbit Dark Dog Soy Technologies Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:29.291

16. #40, Carlos de Quesada, Miami, FL; Scooter Gable, Tampa, FL , Boris Said, Carlsbad, CA; Alegra Motorsports, BMW M3, 1:38.420

17. #29, Bart Hayden, Carlton, England; Richard Dean, Yorkshire, England; Jurgen Von Gartzen, Germany; Sebah Automotive Porsche 911 GT3 RS, no time.

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