Cocker shows speed is better than mileage - Wins Road America American Le Mans
by Gary Becker
Sports Car Illustrated
Veiw photograhs of Practice and qualifying by Geoffrey Siehr
Old fashion speed beat high tech fuel mileage as Jonny Cocker put on a driving exhibition fans will be talking about for years in his Drayson Lola Judd as he made up for a late pit stop and won the American Le Mans Series powered by e Star on the last lap when he caught up to and passed Klaus Graf’s Porsche RS Spyder.
With 25 minutes left in the 2 hour and 45 minutes race, Cocker was forced to give up his lead and take on fuel. Cocker’s pit stop handed the lead to Klaus Graf who was followed by David Brabham in his Highcroft Racing ARX and Guy Smith in the Dyson Racing Lola Mazda.
As Cocker exited the pits he found himself more than 20 seconds behind. Cocker began his charge as Graf was faced with having to try to keep the lead and conserve fuel. By the last lap of the race Cocker had cut the lead to five seconds. Catching Graf going into Canada corner, Cocker was able to power by the Porsche taking the lead going to the final turn.
Cocker/Paul Drayson was followed by Graf/Timo Bernhard, Brabham /Simon Pagenaud and Smith/Chris Dyson.
Gunner Jeannette/Elton Julian took LMPC honors in his Green Earth Oreca FLM09 followed by the Luis Diaz/Ricasrdo Gonzalez Alex in their Car Amigo/Alex Job Racing Orca.
The GT class once again put on a great show with the Joey Hand/Dirk Mueller Letterman Rahal BMW M1, followed by the Joerg Bergmeister/ Patrick Long in the Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and the Olivier Beretta/ Oliver Gavin in one of the Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette ZR1s.
GTC winner was Tim Pappas/Jeroen Bleekemolen in their Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
American Le Mans Series powered by eStar
Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Sunday’s results
1. (1) Paul Drayson, London, GB; Jonny Cocker, Guisborough, GB; Lola B09 60/Judd (1, LMP), 69.
2. (3) Timo Bernhard, Dittweiler; Klaus Graf, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (2, LMP), 69.
3. (5) Simon Pagenaud, Montmorrillon, FR; David Brabham, Maidenhead, GB; HPD ARX-01c (3, LMP), 69.
4. (2) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire; Lola B09 86/Mazda (4, LMP), 69.
5. (8) Elton Julian, Santa Monica, CA; Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 67.
6. (6) Ricardo Gonzalez, Monterrey; Luis Diaz, Mexico City; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 67.
7. (14) Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo, Monaco; BMW E92 M3 (1, GT), 66.
8. (15) Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield, DE; Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2, GT), 66.
9. (11) Olivier Beretta, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings, GB; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (3, GT), 66.
10. (12) Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Roskilde, DK; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (4, GT), 66.
11. (26) Ed Brown, Las Vegas, NV; Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, FL; Ferrari 430 GT (5, GT), 66.
12. (17) Jaime Melo, Milan, IT; Gianmaria Bruni, Rome, IT; Ferrari 430 GT (6, GT), 66.
13. (9) Andy Wallace, England; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Oreca FLM09 (3, LMPC), 66.
14. (13) Pierre Kaffer, Salenstein; Mika Salo, Monte Carlo; Ferrari 430 GT (7, GT), 66.
15. (16) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Ferrari 430 GT (8, GT), 66.
16. (30) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (9, GT), 66.
17. (19) Wolf Henzler, Nuertingen, DE; Bryan Sellers, Braselton, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT), 65.
18. (22) Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Jeroen Bleekemolen, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 64.
19. (27) Robert Rodriguez, Zephyr Cove, NY; Galen Bieker, Burbank, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 63.
20. (28) Shane Lewis, Jupiter, FL; Vic Rice, San Rafael, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 63.
21. (29) Romeo Kapudija, Lincolnwood, IL; Bill Sweedler, Westport, CT; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, GTC), 63.
22. (23) Duncan Ende, Los Angeles, CA; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (5, GTC), 63.
23. (31) Loren Beggs, Montclair, CA; Doug Baron, Pacific Palisades, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (6, GTC), 61.
24. (20) David Murry, Atlanta, GA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Design Ford GT (11, GT), 59.
25. (4) Johnny Mowlem, London; Tony Burgess, Toronto; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola B06 10/AER (5, LMP), 59.
26. (7) Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, ON; Chapman Ducote, Miami, FL; Oreca FLM09 (4, LMPC), 47.
27. (10) Christian Zugel, Holmdel, NJ; Frankie Montecalvo, Highlands, NJ; Oreca FLM09 (5, LMPC), 36.
28. (25) Luke Hines, Essex; Bryce Miller, Summit, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (7, GTC), 36.
29. (21) Ryan Dalziel, Orlando, FL; Marc Goossens, Huntersville, NC; Jaguar XKRS (12, GT), 26.
30. (18) Bill Auberlen, Redondo Beach, CA; Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; BMW E92 M3 (13, GT), 8, Contact.
31. (33) Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Christophe Bouchut, France; Oreca FLM09 (6, LMPC), 8.
32. (24) Bret Curtis, Valencia, CA; James Sofronas, Newport Beach, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (8, GTC), 8, Gearbox.
33. (32) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B06/10 AER (6, LMP), 6, Mechanical.
American Le Mans Series powered by e Star
Photographs by Geoffrey Siehr
Practice and Qualifying Photographs
Sunday Morning
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