Le Mans Test Day- Morning Session - Petersen/ White Lightning Sets New Unofficial GT2 Track Record in Le Mans Testing

Petersen/ White Lightning Sets New Unofficial GT2 Track Record in Le Mans
Testing

 

LE MANS, France, June 5, 2005 – Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing
driver Timo Bernhard (Dittweiler, Germany) set a new unofficial GT2 class
track record in morning testing in preparation for the June 18-19th 24
Heures Du Mans. Bernhard lapped the 8.6-mile, 11-turn Circuit Des 24 Heures
nearly one second faster than the previous unofficial track record with a
time of four minutes, 4.915 seconds. The previous unofficial track record,
set at the 2004 Le Mans Test Day by Jörg Bergmeister driving the No. 90
Westward Ho Casino/ MMPIE/ PAWS/ Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, was 4:05.975.
Bernhard’s lap was one of three that bettered both the official and
unofficial track records. Patrick Long (Las Vegas, Nev.) was first in the
Petersen/ White Lightning Porsche at the drop of the green flag this morning
at 9 am (local time). The young American was immediately quick flirting with
the 2004 pole position time with a lap of 4:07.751 on his first at-speed,
timed lap. Owner/ driver Michael Petersen (Las Vegas) drove “clean-up” in
the four hour session. Petersen set his own competitive laps before the team
manager Dale White (Las Vegas) called his longtime partner in one hour from
the completion of the session. The team now is making final adjustments
prior to the 2 pm start of the second, five hour session. 

 

Today’s record continued the Las Vegas-based team’s success at Le Mans in
the GT2 (formerly GT) class. The Petersen/ White Lightning team holds both
the official and unofficial GT2 track records as well having earned the
class pole positions and race victories the last two seasons. The 2004 GT2
pole position time, earned in the No. 90 by Sascha Maassen with a time of
4:07.394. The 2003 success came in cooperation with Alex Job Racing. 

 

More on Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing can be found at
www.PetersenMotorsports.com <http://www.petersenmotorsports.com/> . Learn
more about Porsche at www.Porsche.com <http://www.porsche.com/> . 

 

quotes…

Michael Petersen, team owner/ driver: “It is a great feeling to be back for
the race now that all of the official activities have been started. The team
worked very hard on the setup and preparation of the car which is clearly
evident by the consistent times that the drivers are able to turn. We’re
looking forward to this afternoon’s practice to work on tire wear and setup
to make the car even better and faster for the race. The guys let me have
quite a few laps this morning and I am looking forward to getting back in
the afternoon and maybe even doing a complete stint. It sure is cool to go
that fast, that many times on a track.” 

 

Dale White, team manager: “We’re very pleased with that. All the drivers did
a very good job and we have a lot of useful feedback after this morning’s
session. To be honest, we were even a little surprised with how fast the car
was and, more so, how quickly it was that fast. We didn’t expect the really
quick times to come until this afternoon. Now, with the track clean after
four hours of running, we will start focusing entirely on the race.”