Petersen/ White Lightning Lightning Bolts - News and Notes for December

Lightning Bolts- News, Notes and Story Ideas


2005 – Month of December


No. 31 MMPIE/ PAWS/ Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 

 

Web:     www.petersenmotorsports.com

 

Eco-Racing

Awards for the 2005 season continue to roll into the Las Vegas race shop of
Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing. On November 26, the Automobile
Club de l’Ouest (ACO), sanctioning body for the 24 Hours of Le Mans,
announced that the team had won the inaugural Automobile Club de France
(ACF) Ecology Trophy for the LM GT2 class. The joint award of the ACO and
ACF is presented to the team in each class that is deemed, through a complex
set of calculations, to have the best environmentally friendly effort at Le
Mans. The calculation takes into account both thermal efficiency (the index
comprising average speed over total distance, weight of the car and fuel
consumption) and noise level (this index is derived from the 20 lowest noise
measurements taken during the race). The Petersen/ White Lightning Porsche
911 GT3 RSR— driven by Jörg Bergmeister (Langenfeld, Germany), Timo Bernhard
(Germany) and Patrick Long (Las Vegas)— finished second in class while
attempting to win their third-straight race at la Sarthe. 

 

Mike Petersen (team owner): “This is quite a surprise and honor for
Petersen/ White Lightning. The Ecology Trophy is a great idea and I
compliment the ACO for stepping-up and doing this. Everyone needs to be more
knowledgeable and work to maintain our environment. Even though people don’t
often think of motorsports and environmental friendliness at the same time,
I think changing that is something very worthwhile to strive for. Winning is
always our top priority but this award is something very unique and special.
We didn’t set out to win this but I think it shows the overall efficiency of
our program. We are certainly grateful for the ACO and ACF in recognizing
that.”

 

Road & Track

One of the most prominent automobile magazines in the world joined Petersen
Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing recently for a day of driving the very
best road and track cars ever crafted by Porsche. Senior Editor Kim Wolfkill
piloted the 2005 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT2 Championship winning
Petersen / White Lightning Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and a bright yellow Porsche
Carrera GT, also owned by Michael Petersen. The laps at Pahrump, Nevada’s
Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch were for a head-to-head look at the
premier iteration of Porsche’s 911 and the Carrera GT, the most advanced
Porsche street car ever built. Joining Wolfkill behind the wheel of the two
cars— both of which are capable of over 200 mph— was ’05 Petersen/ White
Lightning driver Patrick Long (Las Vegas, Nev.). Long introduced Wolfkill,
himself an accomplished racer, to the yellow, white and red Porsche that he
co-drove with Jörg Bergmeister (Langenfeld, Germany) to the Team, Driver and
IMSA Cup championships in ’05 while Michael Petersen introduced both to the
Carrera GT. All three exchanged notes on the day. The track activities will
appear in an upcoming issue of Road & Track magazine and on their web site
(www.RoadandTrack.com <http://www.roadandtrack.com/> ). Select images of the
day can currently be seen at www.PetersenMotorsports.com
<http://www.petersenmotorsports.com/> . 

 

Dakar

It has long been a vision of Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing
owner Michael Petersen (Las Vegas) and team manager Dale White (Bozeman,
Mt.) to win in every major endurance event in the world. The two are well on
their way with victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (’03 and ’04), the 24 At
Daytona (’01), the 12 Hours of Sebring (’05), the Petit Le Mans (’05), the 6
Hours At The Glen (’98) and the Monterey Sports Car Championships (’05)
already crossed-off the list in sports car racing. Prior to becoming one of
the most decorated, privately-owned Porsche teams in road racing, the pair
joined to dominate off-road competition for Chevrolet. In total they earned
four victories (three overall) in both the Baja 1000 and Baja 500 as well as
over 50 other major victories. Now, Petersen and White will begin a serious
effort at conquering what is considered the most daunting of all motorsports
events: Dakar. For Dakar 2006, the two will follow only the early stages of
the event to get more acquainted with the overall procedures and processes
in participating in such a major event. With the knowledge learned during
these early “sprints”, as well as over a decade of international motorsports
experience, they will begin serious preparations on an assault planned for
2007 or ’08. This is the second time the two longtime partners have visited
Dakar, the first coming in 2001. Crew chief Stefan Pfeiffer (Croatia) is a
multi-time participant in the world-renowned rally. Petersen and White will
travel to Lisboa, Portugal for the December 31st competitor briefing and
first stage. From there they will travel with the Dakar race through to the
south of Spain. They will then return to the United States to prepare for
the 2006 ALMS season. Overall, the event will travel from Lisboa to Dakar,
Africa completing the 15 stages on January 15 after covering 9,043
kilometers. 

 

Lightning Strikes

Patrick Long (Las Vegas) will represent his teammate Jörg Bergmeister
(Langenfeld, Germany) and Petersen/ White Lightning at the annual American
Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters (ARRWBA) Banquet in Indianapolis, Ind. on
December 3. Long and Bergmeister have been named to the 2005 AARWBA
All-American Auto Racing Team’s First Team in the “At Large” category. The
two GT2 Champions were the only ALMS drivers named to the 2005 First Team. *
Team owner Michael Petersen (Las Vegas) and crew chief Stefan Pfeiffer
(Croatia) will join 2005 drivers Bergmeister and Long at the annual Porsche
Motorsports Banquet in Weissach, Germany on December 10th. * Team manager
Dale White has traded his desert view in Nevada for a mountain view in
Montana. White, a lifelong resident of Nevada, has moved from Las Vegas to
Bozeman. Petersen/ White Lightning will continue to be based in Las Vegas
and White will continue to be team manager of the 2005 GT2 champions. *  Two
new features have been added to www.PetersenMotorsports.com
<http://www.petersenmotorsports.com/>  to entertain and educate fans of the
team. New to the “Team” section is a live pit stop showing the sequence of
events that one of the fastest pit crews in the business undergoes to
prepare the No. 31 MMPIE/ PAWS/ Michelin Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to return to
competition. The second feature, shown in the “Porsche” section, is a
breakdown of the working elements of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. This detailed
image illustrates several of the key mechanical components of the Petersen/
White Lightning Porsche. 

 

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

 

### 

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

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