Mike Rockenfeller - Le Mans GT2 win

Mike Rockenfeller scored a triple in les 24 Heures du Mans 2005, notching
the GT2 class win, pole position and fastest race lap. Rockenfeller, of
Monaco, Leo Hindery, Jr. of New York and Marc Lieb of Leipzig, Germany, also
set a class distance record, covering 332 laps of the 13.65-kilometre French
road course during the race on June 18 and 19.

 

Rockenfeller earned the GT2 pole position in the No. 71 Alex Job Racing
sponsored by BAM! Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. He drove first on Saturday, followed
by Lieb and Hindery. Rockenfeller and Lieb then tested their endurance with
triple night stints, followed by single stints on Sunday. Hindery took the
final run to the checkered flag.

 

The trio swapped the class lead with two challengers during the first part
of the race, but regained it in the sixth hour and stayed ahead to win by a
one-lap margin. They led the class for about 20 hours of the 24-hour race.
Rockenfeller also set the fastest GT2 race lap, with a time of four minutes
7.164 seconds.

 

"I didn't think we would win like that. It was performance. It was not
lucky; it was because we were quicker all the time. We had the better car
and we were doing better lap times. It was hard work, that's for sure,
because of the temperature [32 C] and the long driving time," Rockenfeller
said. "The car was running really good, the tires were extremely good, we
had no problems at all. We changed the radio in the car once and we changed
the brakes. The rest we didn't touch."

 

Rockenfeller, 21, has his sights set on an overall victory at Le Mans, but
he'll savor the GT2 win first: "Of course, I would like to win overall, but
right now it's not possible. It's my second time at Le Mans and I already
won! I'm really pleased, really happy. It's just perfect to have this result
right now."

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