Dumas and Bernhard win again

Audi had looked set to end their long victory drought after Pirro shot from fourth to first on a restart with 50 minutes to go, but he could not fend off the charging Dumas in the closing moments and had to settle for second overall in the R10 TDi he shared with Marco Werner.

Polesitter Ryan Briscoe led the first 10 laps in the other Penske Porsche before spinning while trying to lap GT2 leader Mika Salo. The Australian was given a drivethrough penalty for causing the incident and dropped back to eighth, putting Bernhard into the lead.

But Briscoe brought himself back into contention by staying out when most of the leaders pitted under the first yellow after half an hour. Dyson's Guy Smith and Fernandez's Luis Diaz used the same tactic, but Briscoe soon overtook both and pulled away rapidly. He established a 24-second lead over Smith before finally making his first fuel and tyre stop 45 minutes later.

Audi's Allan McNish took the lead once the out of sequence cars had all stopped, the Scot having passed Bernhard on the earlier restart. He would lose out at the next pit stops when a stubborn wheel nut delayed the R10 and allowed Bernhard's co-driver Dumas to emerge in front.

These stops came at the start of what would become a 30 minute full course caution, caused by a tangle between GT2 Porsche drivers Johannes van Overbeek and Robin Liddell. Both got their damaged cars moving again, but van Overbeek's Flying Lizard entry then caught fire further around the track. Van Overbeek fortunately escaped before the blaze took hold.

Dumas led from Smith's co-driver Chris Dyson, Dindo Capello (in for McNish) and Pirro when the restart finally came. The number two Audi had recovered well after Werner was assessed an early penalty for contact with David Brabham's Highcroft Acura, and Pirro then made the most of the car's torque to launch from fourth into the lead at the restart.

An absorbing dice followed as the Audi escaped from the Porsche on the straights only to be caught again in the twisty sections. It looked like Pirro had done enough to stay ahead, but on lap 102 Dumas got alongside at Turn 4. Although Pirro edged back in front on the following straight, he then ran wide at the next corner, allowing Dumas to grab the lead at last.

"Obviously when you lead for so long you start believing in it, but Dumas was a lot quicker," said Pirro. "I tried everything but I cannot play dirty, I don't like it. I had a lot of (tyre) pick-up and I couldn't do more.

"Audi did a wonderful job, I can't believe we finished so close to first. I'm very satisfied, congratulations to Romain."

Bernhard was thrilled to take such a hard-fought win on the circuit revived by his team boss Roger Penske.

"It was a perfect show in the last three laps," he said. "I'm so happy for us, for the team, for Roger and for Porsche. I can't believe it's another overall victory - we're having the season of our lives."

Capello brought the second Audi home third after Dyson dropped back to seventh thanks to a brief gearbox glitch. His teammates Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace finished fourth, ahead of the Highcroft and Fernandez cars.

The second Penske Porsche dropped out of contention after losing its rear wing when clipped by the spinning Highcroft Acura 45 minutes from the flag.

It was also a bad race for the Andretti-Green Acura, which ran third early on but lost 14 laps with electrical problems.

Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen took their second GT1 win in six days, having gained a one lap lead on Corvette teammates Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta thanks to the timing of the first yellow.

The Salo/Jaime Melo Risi Ferrari dominated GT2, leaving the competition standing all afternoon. Flying Lizard Porsche's Pat Long briefly challenged Melo after the final yellow, but the Brazilian pulled away to win by 20 seconds.

Pos  Drivers                        Make                 Laps
 1.  R.Dumas, T.Bernhard            Porsche RS Spyder    106
 2.  E.Pirro, M.Werner              Audi R10 TDI         106
 3.  R.Capello, A.McNish            Audi R10 TDI         106
 4.  B.Leitzinger, A.Wallace        Porsche RS Spyder    106
 5.  D.Brabham, S.Johansson         Acura ARX-01a        106
 6.  A.Fernandez, L.Diaz            Acura Lola BO6       106
 7.  C.Dyson, G.Smith               Porsche RS Spyder    106
 8.  J.Bach, B.Devlin               Mazda Lola B07-40    105
 9.  S.Maassen, R.Briscoe           Porsche RS Spyder    104
10.  J.O'Connell, J.Magnussen       Corvette C6.R        103
11.  O.Gavin, O.Beretta             Corvette C6.R        102
12.  M.Salo, J.Melo                 Ferrari 430 GT       101
13.  D.Law, P.Long                  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  101
14.  P.Dumbreck, D.Mueller          Ferrari 430 GT       100
15.  E.Helary, G.Bruni              Ferrari 430 GT       100
16.  G.Pickett, K.Graf              AER Lola B06-10       99
17.  J.Tafel, D.Farnbacher          Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   98
18.  T.Pappas, T.Borcheller         Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   98
19.  B.Herta, M.Franchitti          Acura ARX-01a         92
20.  B.Auberlen, J.Hand             Panoz Esperante       73
21.  J.Feinberg, C.Ducote           Dodge Viper           67
22.  R.Kelleners, T.Milner          Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   61
23.  J.Van Overbeek, J.Bergmeister  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   57
24.  W.Henzler, R.Liddell           Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   53
25.  J.Field, C.Field               Creation CA06H Judd    1