10-hour Petit Le Mans will test the mettle of the metal

Pirelli-Shod P2, GTS and GT Teams Will Battle in the Georgia Hills BRASELTON, Georgia, September 23, 2004 Following last month sRoad America 500 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, the ALMS teams are regrouping at Road Atlanta for the eighth round of the series, the 10-hour Chevy presents Petit Le Mans. Scot Robin Liddell had scored four P2-class victories with Clint Field in Field s #30 Intersport Racing Lola B2K/Judd in the first six races this year, but that streak ended with a broken throttle cable in the first 30 minutes of the Road America race. Field and Liddell, ably aided and abetted by Milka Duno for the 10-hour Petit enduro, the secondlongest race in the series behind the Sebring 12-Hour, are looking to rebound with another class win. But it won tbe easy because the P2 entry list for Road Atlanta has swelled to six, including the new Courage C65/AER, which won at Road America. At Road America, Terry Borcheller and Johnny Mowlem earned their sixth podium of the year in the ACEMCO Saleen S7R, third behind the dominant factory Corvettes. ACEMCO Motorsports now has a substantial lead for the coveted IMSA Cup presented to the top independent team in GTS. ACEMCO was one of the Pirelli-shod teams that tested at Road Atlanta prior to this weekend s race and is optimistic that what they have accomplished will move the team closer to the class-leading Corvettes at Petit. The ACEMCO driver lineup takes on an even more international flavor this weekend with Joao Barbosa from Portugal joining the Borcheller/Mowlem duo. The GTS Krohn-Barber Lamborghini Murcielago R-GTs return in force this weekend, following a suspension failure that sent the team back to the drawing boards for a redesign. David Brabham, Peter Kox and Nic Johsson will share the #5 Lambo with Tracy Krohn, Scott Maxwell and Joe Fox in #6. Ten cars will battle for GT class honors this weekend at Petit Le Mans. Only two of the 10 are not Porsches and both are on Pirellis. The Risi Competizione Ferrari 360 Modena GTC piloted by Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro won at Lime Rock and the duo has battled for podium positions all year long. Fabrizio De Simone of Rome, Italy joins the team for the 10-Hour Petit Le Mans. The Pirelli-shod Panoz Motor Sports Esperante GT-LM of Gunnar Jeannette and David Saelens made its debut at Mid-Ohio and shocked the predominantly Porsche GT class by qualifying second and running for the lead until an accident and a broken half shaft put an end to their day. Since that initial success, the season has been a series of ups and downs for the Panoz team. But hot-shoe Gunnar Jeannette believes the testing and development the team has done in the month following Road America should pay dividends at Road Atlanta, which also happens to be the teams home track. Top Gunnar will share the Panoz with Marino Franchitti and Christophe Tinseau at Petit.