Road Atlanta: Two-hour report

TWO HOURS, FOUR CAUTIONS EARLY AT PETIT Allan McNish took the lead on the fourth restart at Petit Le Mans just through two hours as Audi regained the lead in the 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic at Road Atlanta. He passed Penske Racing's Timo ...

TWO HOURS, FOUR CAUTIONS EARLY AT PETIT

Allan McNish took the lead on the fourth restart at Petit Le Mans just through two hours as Audi regained the lead in the 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic at Road Atlanta. He passed Penske Racing's Timo Bernhard in the No. 7 Porsche RS Spyder in a race mired with lengthy cautions and some heavy damage in the American Le Mans Series' cornerstone event.

The fourth caution came out when Darren Manning spun the No. 10 Zytek P1 car at Turn 7 after being hit by Ryan Briscoe in the other Penske Porsche. Clint Field in the No. 37 Intersport Lola and Luis Diaz in the Lowe's Fernandez Racing Acura-Lola both were collected in the incident.

Bernhard held the P2 lead over Danny Watts in the factory Zytek with Highcroft Racing's Stefan Johansson running third.

Corvette Racing's Max Papis in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R led in GT1 over Andrea Bertolini in the pole-sitting Maserati MC12 for Doran Racing. The second Corvette, the No. 3 entry, was retired in the first hour when Jan Magnussen went off track hard at Turn 4.

Jamie Melo led in GT2 for Risi Competizione in the No. 62 Ferrari F430 GT that started from pole position. Dominik Farnbacher was running second for Tafel Racing in the No. 71 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Tafel's other Porsche, the No. 73 car, was withdrawn after Nathan Swartzbaugh's crash between Turn 5 and Turn 6 when the rear of the car slid out under power. Andretti Green Racing's Acura also was retired due to contact.