Panoz claims two titles in Las Vegas
The Panoz team won the manufacturers' and team titles in the final round of the 1999 American Le Mans Series on Sunday, but drivers David Brabham and Eric Bernard failed to win the drivers' championship.
Panoz claimed the both championships in Las Vegas, two points ahead of BMW with 149-147.
Dyson Racing's Elliot Forbes-Robinson, who went into Sunday's race with a three-points cushion, claimed the drivers' title with 141 points, ahead of Panoz's Eric Bernard [136] and David Brabham [135].
BMW also took its first one-two of the season, which secured its second place in the championship.
The #42 car of JJ Lehto and Steve Soper took the lead just 17 minutes from the end of the two-hours 45-minute race.
They were followed to the finish by the pairing of Joachim Winklehock and Bill Auberlen.
It is the fourth win out of six ALMS races contested for the German marque.
'It turned out to be a great first year for the American Le Mans Series and a fantastic year for BMW, said Scott Doniger, motorsport manager for BMW North America.
'Even though we didn't win the championship in the prototype category, we were on the pole if not winning almost every race the car competed in.
'We're extremely happy that the programme that BMW Motorsport came to the US. We're hopeful that the car and the team will come back next year.'
Results from Las Vegas:
|
Position |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
|
1 |
Brabham/Bernard |
Panoz LMP-1 |
1:07.404 |
|
2 |
O'Connell/Magnussen |
Panoz LMP-1 |
1:07.539 |
|
3 |
Van de Poele/Schiattarella |
R&S Mk III/Judd |
1:07.930 |
|
4 |
Gounon/Tinseau |
Lola B98/10 / Judd |
1:08.583 |
|
5 |
Lehto/Soper |
BMW V12 LMR |
1:08.619 |
|
6 |
Auberlen/ Winkelhock |
BMW V12 LMR |
1:08.698 |
|
7 |
Matthews/Johansson |
Ferrari 333 SP |
1:08.765 |
|
8 |
Forbes-Robinson/Weaver |
R&S Mk III/Ford |
1:09.085 |
|
9 |
Lietzinger/Wallace |
R&S Mk III/Ford |
1:09.435 |
|
10 |
Baldi/ Theys |
Ferrari 333 SP |
1:10.268 |
|
11 |
McNish/Kelleners |
Porsche 911 GT1 |
1:10.354 |
|
12 |
Taylor/Caffi |
Ferrari 333 SP |
1:10.923 |
|
13 |
Angelelli/De Radigues |
Ferrari 333 SP |
1:11.459 |
|
14 |
Field/Mirro |
Lola B98/10/Ford |
1:11.802 |
|
15 |
Bingham/Sutherlnd/Cutler |
R&S Mk III/Ford |
1:11.831 |
|
16 |
Debban/Tenery |
R&S Mk III/Ford |
1:12.549 |
|
17 |
Beretta/Donohue |
Dodge Viper GTS-R |
1:13.873 |
|
18 |
Wendlinger/Archer |
Dodge Viper GTS-R |
1:14.290 |
|
19 |
Fellows/Kneifel |
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R |
1:14.542 |
|
20 |
Hurtgen/Ahrle |
Porsche 911 Turbo |
1:16.505 |
|
21 |
Johnson/Borcheller |
Saleen SR |
1:16.959 |
|
22 |
Snow/Collins |
Porsche 911 Turbo |
1:17.416 |
|
23 |
Brown/Butiero |
Porsche 911 Turbo |
1:17.702 |
|
24 |
Wagner/Muller |
Porsche 911 GT3 R |
1:18.217 |
|
25 |
Jorg Hofer/Riccitelli |
Porsche 911 GT3 R |
1:18.606 |
|
26 |
Murry/Mowlem |
Porsche 911 RSR |
1:19.201 |
|
27 |
Konrad/Sobrero/Slater |
Porsche 911 Turbo |
1:19.306 |
|
28 |
Stuck/Overbeek |
BMW M3 |
1:19.742 |
|
29 |
Cunningham/Cunningham |
BMW M3 |
1:19.860 |
|
30 |
Conte/Pobst |
Porsche 911 RSR |
1:20.189 |
|
31 |
Havens/Fitzgerald |
Porsche 911 RSR |
1:20.401 |
|
32 |
Reiser/Willingham/Stanton |
Porsche 911 RSR |
1:20.819 |
|
33 |
Said/Simo |
BMW M3 |
1:21.144 |
|
34 |
Dollin/Peeler |
Porsche 911 RSR |
1:22.394 |
|
35 |
Petersen/White/Gaughran |
Porsche 911 RSR |
1:23.095 |
|
36 |
Coker/Buckler |
Porsche 911 GT3 R |
1:23.144 |
|
37 |
Hiskey/Hill/Valentinetti |
Porsche 911 RSR |
1:25.230 |
Share Or Save This Story
How GT3’s rise surpassed even the wildest expectations
Top five roles on Motorsport Jobs this week
Why Hamilton now has everything in the right place at Ferrari
Green wins again as GB4 title race heats up at Oulton Park
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments