The Battle Begins - Petersen/ White Lightning Opens Attack for First ALMS Title

The Battle Begins – Petersen/ White Lightning Opens Attack for First ALMS
Title

 

ELKHART LAKE, Wis., August 15, 2005 – Having fallen from the top-spot in the
GT2 class point championship for the first time since the start of the
American Le Mans Series (ALMS) season, Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning
Racing now has a new angle on the title but not a new approach. The Michael
Petersen-owned team opened the season winning its class at the Mobil 1
Twelve Hours of Sebring in the No. 31 Westward Ho Casino/ MMPIE/ PAWS/
Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and has been on the attack for the team’s first
ALMS title since then. The ongoing strategy for the team has always been to
win without consideration for points. A string of bad luck proved Murphy’s
Law at the Grand Prix of Portland, the most recent ALMS round, and resulted
in the team’s first trip off the podium in the first six races of the
season. Drivers Jörg Bergmeister (Langenfeld, Germany) and Patrick Long (Las
Vegas, Nev.) fought-back from the bottom of the standings at Portland to
finish eighth but fell six points behind the factory-supported Porsche of
Alex Job Racing (AJR) in the standings. With the Generac 500 at Road
America— round seven of ten— being run Sunday, August 21st, at Elkhart Lake,
Wisconsin’s Road America circuit, the two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winners
find themselves in a more familiar role of hunter instead of hunted. A role
they have played well over the years.

 

The Dale White-managed team knows how to win championships with multiple
class titles in off-road racing. The Las Vegas-based team opened 2005 with
the goal of winning the IMSA Cup Championship- awarded to the highest
finishing privately-owned entrant in each class- and currently holds a
significant lead in that chase after capturing six of the seven event IMSA
Cups awarded this season. Petersen and White altered their goals to include
the overall GT2 title when it became apparent the team would be a serious
threat to the AJR juggernaut that has dominated the sport in recent years.
With the decision to compete in the full ALMS championship for only the
third time since joining the series in 2000, it is the program’s first
serious threat for the title.  

 

Road America could prove to be the perfect site for the team to return to
victory lane and, with it, the point’s lead. The team won its first ALMS
class event here on the 4.048-mile, 12-turn track becoming the only team to
topple AJR in 2003. They finished second, capturing the IMSA Cup, in 2004.
Bergmeister was part of the winning driving duo here last year and in 2002
adding to the team’s expertise at the longest course on the ALMS schedule. 

 

The Generac 500 at Road America can be seen live on SPEED on Sunday at 3 PM
(EDT). Live timing and scoring for all sessions as well as the Petersen
Paddock Cam presented by Firetide can be viewed at
<http://www.americanlemans.com/> www.AmericanLeMans.com. 

 

Quotes…

 

Mike Petersen, owner/ driver: “We are chasing the top spot after some very
bad luck at the last race. This team is just too strong to let this happen
and sit back. All of us enjoy the challenge and now the pressure is on some
other team to keep their head above water. These next couple of races are
our strong suit, as the fastest two tracks are getting closer. As the season
winds down and the races get closer, we will be raising the bar to get back
to the top of the podium and finish what we all want. The team has had good
luck at Road America and we are looking forward to returning to Wisconsin.
This will be business as usual and we can hardly wait to throw the hammer
down!” 

 

Dale White, team manager: “We took the time between the races to make some
changes to the car. We put in the updated ECU (Engine Control Unit) and that
should put us on an even footing with the other Porsche teams. Road America
has always been one of our favorite tracks. We won our first Trans-Am race
and our first ALMS race there. No matter who is behind the wheel we have
seemed to perform well at Road America. This is the perfect track to get
ourselves back into a winning rhythm. Our goal has been to win every race
and that is going to continue to be our goal.”

 

Jörg Bergmeister, driver: “It’s definitely, along with Mosport, my favorite
ALMS event. I really like the track and enjoy driving it. It reminds me
quite a lot of the Nürburgring Nordschleife [the famous 15-mile long circuit
in Germany] with all of the elevation changes and the blind corners. The
last couple of years I always had a lot of fun driving there and it should
be quite a bit of fun again this year.”

 

Patrick Long, driver: “Road America presents a little different case in the
championship. The key has always been to win races. We have to stay
consistent and make sure that we don’t have any more hiccups like two tough
races. Luck goes in three and we have had three tough races; Le Mans, Sonoma
and Portland. But, we are ready to turn this thing around. We’re confident.
I’m looking forward to getting back to work.”

 

 

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

 

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Digital images and complete team and driver bios available upon request.

Editors, please do not publish any contact information other than web sites.
Thank you.

 

contact: Tom Moore, Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing, 

615-778-1614 (office), 615-509-5000 (cell),  
tom@darkhorsecom.com