Datum: 29.09.2008 · ALMS

Pierre Ehret Starts in American Le Mans Series in Road Atlanta

Next Weekend Pierre Ehret is going to start at the 9th round of the Amercian Le Mans Series. In the Team of Jim Tafel Racing he will race on a Ferrari F430 GTC in Road Atlanta (Georgia - USA).

The ALMS already guests for the eleventh time in Road Atlanta and Pierre Ehret will share his cockpit with teamhead Jim Tafel (USA) and Alex Figge (USA).

„I am really looking forward to the event and this fast circuit“, Ehret stated shortly before his departure to the USA. “Our aim is to finish the race. If this will be a rank among the top five of the GT2 category, it will be even better. The track has a new asphalt and I am quite curious.”

The race in Georgia, about 80 kilometres from Atlanta, is called Petit Le Mans. The explanation is that the four winners of LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2 will be qualified for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2009.

Moreover the circuit attracts a lot of spectators and owns a very special flair. But this is less important to Pierre Ehret. More important is the question of the tyres: “We will race on Michelin and I am anxious to see the differences to our Dunlop tyres, which we used successfully during the Le Mans Series in Europe.”

Concerning the Ferrari F430 GTC there will not be major changes. “Technical it is the basic car and we did not modify anything”, Ehret says. Regarding the 4.088 kilometres long circuit Ehret does not expect any suprises, since he already raced there a few times.

A favourite for the victory is the teammate car of Tafel Racing. Dominik Farnbacher and Dirk Müller are second in the championship and aiming for the top again.

With 10 hours the 1000KM race „Petit Le Mans“ is the second longest event of the season. This far 40 cars (16 in GT2 category) will take part in the race. On Friday qualifying will take place and on Saturday the popular race starts at 11.15. (Text: Ralph Monschauer - motorsport-xl.de)


Timetable ALMS Road Atlanta (MESZ)
Wednesday, 1st October
20:10 – 20:40 Test Session (GT2)

Thursday, 2nd October
16:30 – 17:30 Free Practice
21:05 – 22:05 Free Practice
01:00 – 03:00 Night Training

Friday, 3rd October
15:05 – 16:05 Training
21:25 – 21:50 Qualifying (GT2)

Saturday, 4th October
14:15 – 14:40 Warm-up
17:15 – 03:15 Race