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Petersen/White Lightning 20 hour report
Petersen/ White Lightning -- LM GT Class Leader -- Le Mans 20 Hour Report LE MANS, France, June 13, 2004 -- With the final four hours in sight, the battle for supremacy of the LM GT class at this year's 24 Heures Du Mans has come down to a ...
Edited: Jun 14, 2004, 1:36 AM
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Petersen/ White Lightning -- LM GT Class Leader -- Le Mans 20 Hour Report
LE MANS, France, June 13, 2004 -- With the final four hours in sight, the battle for supremacy of the LM GT class at this year's 24 Heures Du Mans has come down to a head-to-head, lap time-to-lap time battle between the No. 90 Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing Porsche and the No. 85 Freisinger Porsche. The Petersen-owned team dominated the division to date earning the pre-qualifying fast lap, the provisional and final pole positions and leading for most of the early race. However, two cable failures-- the first for the gearbox linkage, the second for the throttle-- caused the driving trio of Sascha Maassen (Raeren, Belgium), Jorg Bergmeister (Langenfield, Germany) and Patrick Long (Oak Park, Calif.) to lose five laps to the leader and drop the car as low as fifth in class. A spin off course cost two additional laps. However, inspired drives by Bergmeister, Long and Maassen caused quite a stir as they, in cooperation with lightning fast pit stops by the crew, have returned the Westward Ho Casino/ MMPIE/ PAWS/ mail2web.com/ Michelin Porsche to second on the GT rostrum only one laps down.
Bergmeister, Long and Maassen continue to lap at a ferocious pace trying to cut the gap to the No. 85 car. The staggering battle has claimed several victims along the way; the most recent is the No. 87 BAM Porsche which was parked by the team.
fuel: All restrictions are off as Petersen/ White Lightning and Porsche have called for an all-out effort to catch, pass and defend its 2003 24 Heures Du Mans title. The drivers will be allowed to push as hard as they can to close the gap on the leader and take the lead.
Michelins: The Michelin Pilot tires will be changed with each stop from here to the finish to get the very most out of them. Again, the drivers will be allowed, and encouraged, to push as hard as they can.
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