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BRASELTON, Ga. (October 4, 2008) - The Porsche RS Spyder/Acura prototype pilots battle in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) LMP2 class ended happily for the German sports car manufacturer as Penske Racing drivers Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) took their No. 7 DHL Penske Porsche RS Spyder to a 2008 American Le Mans Series championship at the 11th running of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

This is the second straight LMP2 driver’s championship for Bernhard and Dumas, which they achieved by finishing second (fifth overall) in the 1000-mile event.  It also marked the third ALMS team championship for Penske Racing.

“This championship was even more special than last year because Acura provided such stiff competition,” said Bernhard, who has won drivers titles in both LMP2 and GT2 with Porsche. “Acura came to the series this year with the full resources of the Honda factory, and pressed us to the limit, but Penske Racing and Porsche Motorsport responded with improved performance, a new direct injection 3.4-liter V8 engine, perfect car preparation and strategy, and teamwork that makes us champions.”

The driving duo finished behind the No. 5 DHL Penske Porsche RS Spyder, driven by teammates Ryan Briscoe (Australia) and Helio Castroneves (Brazil), who were victorious in their first ALMS pairing.  Team Penske IndyCar Series drivers Briscoe and Castroneves piloted an additional Penske Porsche RS Spyder in the Petit Le Mans to assist Porsche in its battle against Acura, and that addition paid off as the duo won the LMP2 class.

Castroneves, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, said, while he and Ryan were “visitors” to the RS Spyder team this weekend, they felt like major contributors to the effort. “Remember, I drove the RS Spyder in 2006, and have tested it several times, and Ryan was a regular on the team last year, so we fit right in,” said Castroneves, who is the only driver to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Petit Le Mans. “The race against the Acuras was tough, but our car was well-prepared and we were able to maintain a lead until the Andretti/Kanaan/Montagny Acura crashed late in the event, assuring us the win.”

Completing the sweep of the LMP2 podium was the No. 6 DHL Penske Porsche RS Spyder driven by Patrick Long (USA), Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Emmanuel Collard (France). Long, Maassen, Collard and the No. 6 team also won in class in the American Le Mans Series Green Racing Challenge, which measures and rewards teams that achieve high performance on the race track combined with the greatest fuel efficiency.

Porsche is primed to take the 2008 ALMS Manufacturer’s Championship at the season-ending race on Saturday, October 18 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.   

Petit Le Mans Provisional Results

Road Atlanta / 2.54 miles

October 4, 2008 / Braselton, Georgia

 Overall finish/Class finish/Car No./Class/Drivers/Overall Race Time/Fastest Lap Time, On Lap/Car/Status

1 1 1 P1 Capello/(McNish*)/Pirro 394 -.--- 9:41:17.825 1:07.579 104 Audi R10 / TDI Running

2 2 07 P1 (Minassian)/Sarrazin*/Klien 394 4.512 9:41:22.337 1:07.056 ‡ 173 Peugeot 908 Running

3 3 2 P1 Luhr/(Werner*) 394 7.565 9:41:25.390 1:07.626 157 Audi R10 / TDI Running

4 1 5 P2 Castroneves/(Briscoe*) 394 42.672 9:42:00.497 1:08.489 ‡ 118 Porsche RS Spyder Running

5 2 7 P2 Dumas*/(Bernhard) 394 1:04.350 9:42:22.175 1:08.849 247 Porsche RS Spyder Running

6 3 6 P2 Maassen*/(Long)/Collard 392 2 Laps 9:42:06.379 1:09.262 10 Porsche RS Spyder Running

7 4 20 P2 Franchitti*/(Leitzinger)/Lally 391 3 Laps 9:42:26.117 1:09.613 381 Porsche RS Spyder Running

8 5 66 P2 (de Ferran)/Pagenaud*/Dixon 388 6 Laps 9:42:04.646 1:08.809 258 Acura ARX-01B Running

9 6 16 P2 Smith*/(Dyson) 384 10 Laps 9:42:08.423 1:09.626 289 Porsche RS Spyder Running

10 1 3 GT1 (O'Connell*)/Magnussen/Fellows 365 29 Laps 9:42:09.435 1:17.053 ‡ 106 Chevrolet Corvette C6R Running

11 2 4 GT1 (Beretta*)/Gavin/Papis 359 35 Laps 9:41:31.475 1:17.095 93 Chevrolet Corvette C6R Running

12 1 62 GT2 (Melo*)/Salo 358 36 Laps 9:42:19.536 1:20.107 ‡ 167 Ferrari 430 Berlinetta GT Running

13 2 45 GT2 (Bergmeister*)/Henzler/Lieb 358 36 Laps 9:42:21.853 1:20.710 356 Porsche 911 RSR Running

14 4 50 P1 (Watts)/Pla* 355 39 Laps 9:41:32.787 1:08.697 10 Ginetta - Zytek 07S Running

15 3 71 GT2 (Mueller*)/Farnbacher 355 39 Laps 9:41:46.851 1:20.407 185 Ferrari 430 Berlinetta GT Running

16 7 26 P2 Montagny*/(Kanaan)/Andretti 347 47 Laps 8:23:04.321 1:09.181 245 Acura ARX-01B Contact

17 4 61 GT2 Krohn/(Jonsson*)/van de Poele 346 48 Laps 9:41:23.108 1:21.493 51 Ferrari 430 Berlinetta GT Running

18 5 99 GT2 Aucott/(Kaffer*)/Daoudi 344 50 Laps 9:41:49.524 1:20.748 161 Ferrari 430 GT Running

19 6 44 GT2 Pechnik/Neiman*/(Law) 339 55 Laps 9:41:25.242 1:21.853 15 Porsche 911 RSR Running

20 7 73 GT2 (Figge*)/Tafel/Ehret 331 63 Laps 9:42:19.292 1:21.315 184 Ferrari F430GT Running

21 8 46 GT2 (van Overbeek)/Pilet 311 83 Laps 8:22:54.738 1:20.958 166 Porsche 911 RSR Contact

22 9 007 GT2 Drayson/(Cocker)/Turner* 294 100 Laps 8:01:51.177 1:21.526 87 Aston Martin Vantage GT2 Mechanical

23 10 18 GT2 Basseng*/(N.Pastorelli)/F.Pastorelli 291 103 Laps 8:03:22.854 1:21.838 290 Porsche 911 RSR Contact

24 11 54 GT2 (Lazzaro*)/Pappas/Pilgrim 291 103 Laps 9:41:22.236 1:22.345 146 Doran Ford GT-R Running

25 12 21 GT2 Hand/(Milner*)/Wirth 282 112 Laps 9:42:40.841 1:22.006 155 Panoz Esperante Running

26 8 15 P2 Fernandez*/(Diaz)/Jourdain 281 113 Laps 7:00:53.067 1:09.663 155 Acura ARX-01B Contact

27 13 11 GT2 (Feinberg)/Hall* 280 114 Laps 9:13:35.770 1:23.538 90 Dodge Viper Not Running

28 14 87 GT2 (Werner*)/Miller/Hardt 277 117 Laps 7:26:57.686 1:20.458 10 Porsche 911 RSR Mechanical

29 15 40 GT2 D.Robertson/A.Robertson/(Murry*) 263 131 Laps 7:25:37.740 1:21.925 133 Doran Ford GT-R Engine

30 5 30 P1 (Lewis*)/Hines/Forgeois 237 157 Laps 8:22:33.479 1:11.221 37 Lola B06/10 Contact

31 6 37 P1 (J.Field*)/C.Field/Berry 160 234 Laps 6:06:16.953 1:11.764 131 Lola B06/10 Mechanical

32 7 88 P1 Campbell-Walter/Primat*/(Simpson) 138 256 Laps 3:55:38.267 1:11.001 50 Creation CA 07 Gear Box

33 8 12 P1 (McMurry)/Burgess/Willman 122 272 Laps 3:24:44.904 1:12.423 41 Creation CA06H-001 Contact

34 9 888 P1 Halliday/(Hall*)/Stirling 113 281 Laps 3:02:53.462 1:11.150 11 Creation CA 07 Contact

35 10 48 P1 (Mowlem)/Jeannette/Johansson* 73 321 Laps 1:49:20.511 1:10.495 38 Zytek 07S Contact

36 16 28 GT2 Gigliotti/(Drissi)/Goossens* 37 357 Laps 1:16:42.714 1:23.676 24 Chevrolet Riley Corvette C Mechanical

37 9 9 P2 Brabham*/(Sharp)/Franchitti 16 378 Laps 23:59.912 1:10.800 10 Acura ARX-01B Mechanical