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ALMS: Maassen, Muller head for GT Championship Showdown after 1-2 finish at Vegas

30 October 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
LAS VEGAS-- The #51 Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven by by GT points leader Sascha Maassen of Germany and sports car veteran Bob Wollek of France, avoided the traffic shunts and corner bumping that have plagued the team in earlier events to pilot their Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R to its fifth American Le Mans Series victory of the year.

In scoring the one-lap win, Maassen and Wollek propelled themselves into the points lead in the GT class over the second-place finishers - the #5 Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Dirk Muller and Lucas Luhr, both German drivers who now live in Monaco. Muller turned the fastest race lap during his stint, was unable to catch his teammates after Luhr had tangled with the #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R earlier in the event. Luhr had to come in for a stop-and-go penalty for that incident and lost time the team was unable to make up.

Randy Pobst, from Melbourne, Florida, who is also in the fight for the season points championship, had a recurrence of the transmission problems that faced them at Road Atlanta in September, losing time when the #23 Alex Job Porsche he and Bruno Lambert drove was stuck in fourth gear. Although the crew fixed that problem, third gear shattered a few laps later, poking a hole in the transmission and putting the car in the pits for more than 45 minutes. With five minutes to go, Pobst came in to change tires to make a run at the fastest lap - and the one point that goes with it - but he was unable to go any faster than Muller's 103 mph.

The veteran Wollek hadhigh praise for the 33 year-old Maassen, who is in the driver's seat for the championship, and for the Dick Barbour Racing crew.

"Sascha is the best GT driver in the series right now." said Wollek.

"He was fast in qualifying, and fast in the race, and he gave me the car with a one-lap lead. All I had to do is cruise home safely. "The #51 Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R we drove today was the GT3 R I have ever driven. The team a great job of preparation, making all the right decisions all week," he said.

This was the fifth victory for Maassen/Wollek (Charlotte, Silverstone, Portland, Atlanta and now Las Vegas) and the eighth win for Dick Barbour Racing, as Maassen/Luhr have won at Sebring, Nurburgring, and Sears Point. Porsche has won 10 of the 11 events with one race remaining. Randy Pobst/Bruno Lambert have won two events (Mosport and Texas), and the BMW of Boris Said/Hans Stuck won the other event (Laguna Seca).

With one event remaining - December 31 in Adelaide, Australia - here are the revised GT points standings: Maassen - 209; Wollek - 207; Muller - 202; Luhr - 195; Pobst - 189; Lambert - 187. As the top ten finishes count for the season championship - and everyone has at least ten finishes, here are the number of points each driver will drop for previous lowest finishes: Maassen - 11; Wollek - 11; Muller - 10; Luhr - 0; Pobst - 7, Lambert - 7. Thus, if Maassen wins in Australia, he wins the championship. If Muller wins, and Maassen finishes second, Sascha still wins the title. Randy Pobst, who was in the thick of the battle coming into the event, has very little chance for the title.

The three drivers who were entered to gain Porsche Cup points didn't fare so well this weekend. The #21 MCR/Aspen Knolls Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Shane Lewis and Grand American series runner-up Darren Law, lost its engine, leaving contender Law with no Porsche Cup points. Similarly, the #52 Christophe Bouchut/Tony Burgess Seikel Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R - with Bouchut trying improve his second-place position in the Porsche Cup, DNFed after the shifter cable sheared when the car collected debris on the track. Mike Fitzgerald, who leads the Porsche Cup standings, did not score any points in his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car earlier in the day due to an accident near the end of the Speedvision Cup event, and was ninth in the GT event in the Petersen Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Other Las Vegas GT finishers included the Stuck/Said BMW (third); B. Cunningham/Jonnson BMW (4th); the David Murry/Johnny Mowlem Skea Racing International Porsche 911 GT3 R (5th); the Doc Bundy/Richard Dean/Rohan Skea Porsche 911 GT3 R (6th); the Tommy McGlynn/Rick Polk Racer's Group Porsche 911 GT3 R (7th); the Kim Hiskey/Grady Willingham Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (8th); the Mike Petersen/Cort Wagner/Mike Fitzgerald Porsche 911 GT3 R (9th); the P. Cunningham/van Overbeek BMW (10th); the Kye Wankum/Greg Doff/Joe Foster Kyser Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (11th); Kevin Buckler/Philip Collin Racer's Group Porsche 911 GT3 R (12th); and the Randy Pobst/Bruno Lambert Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (13th).

The last race for the 2000 American Le Mans Series will be the Race for 1000 years - a 1000 km event in Adelaide, Australia on December 31. The race will telecast same day by NBC-TV at 2:00 PM EST. Check your local listings for the exact time and station in your area. Live radio broadcast of the race can be heard on the American Le Mans Web Radio Network at www.americanlemans.com. Updates on the Porsches contesting the event in Adelaide will be posted on www.porsche.com.

Text Provided By Porsche

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