PEUGEOT SET THE PACE AT PETITE PRACTICE

Peugeot has set the early pace for this weekend's running of the Petite Le Mans at Road Atlanta, the second round of the Le Mans Intercontinental Cup Frank Montagny set the fastest lap in Wednesday’s first official with a 1:07.652 (217.5026 kph) in the Peugeot 908 HDi that he will share with Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy. The first of the Audis – driven by Marcel Fässler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer – set a time of 1:08.717 and was less than a half-second better than the sister car of Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. The second Peugeot of Alexander Wurz, Anthony Davidson and Marc Gene – the winners at Sebring in March – were fourth just ahead of Intersport Racing’s Lola-AER of Clint Field and Jon Field. In LMP2, Muscle Milk Team CytoSport’s Sascha Maassen set the pace with a lap of 1:10.947 in the Porsche RS Spyder he is driving with Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf. The Muscle Milk squad enters the weekend still alive in the American Le Mans Series’ LMP championship. However it needs to have Patrón Highcroft Racing finish less than 70 percent of the race Saturday.

PEUGEOT POWERS BACK IN PORTUGAL

After playing second fiddle to the Peugeot factory team for most of 2010, the Oreca Peugeot team of Stephane Sarrazin, Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre have won the Algarve 1000 kms in Portugal, the third round of the 2010 Le Mans Series. It was a dominant performance by the works assisted team, winning the race by five laps after starting from pole. "It's good to win!." said Sarrazin after the race. "The team did a super job. We were under a little pressure but we did what we had to. The refuelling stops were excellent and we dove the right kind of race - a good pace and no mistakes. It's also worth underling the way the team's matured since the Le Castellet 8 Hours. I'm delighted to taste the joys of victory again." Second place went to the Rebellion Racing Lola of Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani, It was a great performance by the team who drove their way through the field after starting the race in last place. Aston Martin was third today with Team Signature coming back strong after the retirement at Le Mans. The third place was also a great result for Vanina Ickx who shared the drive with Pierre Ragues and Franck Mailleux.

BRABHAM, PAGENAUD WIN UTAH ALMS

Australian David Brabham and team-mate Simon Pagenaud have raced to their third consecutive victory in the American Le Mans Series with a hard-fought victory in the Utah Grand Prix. Pagenaud drove the final 1:45 in the team’s HPD ARX-01c, and the Patrón Highcroft crew took advantage of a quick final pit stop to beat Drayson Racing’s Emanuele Pirro to the line by 19.116 seconds at Miller Motorsports Park. Pagenaud and Brabham haven’t lost since the Long Beach round in April and increased their championship lead in LMP to 11 points over Muscle Milk Team CytoSport’s Klaus Graf. He and Greg Pickett, driving a Porsche Spyder, were third, 90 seconds behind the winning car.

WATCH ALMS LAGUNA SECA LIVE (& Free!)

This weekend as Matthew Brabham races to try and maintain his Victorian Formula Ford Championship lead at Sandown, his Le Mans winning Uncle David, will be looking to strengthen his lead in the American Le Mans Series, at the Six hour of Monterey  at Laguna Seca. The Six Hour Race at the famous circuit will be streamed live via the Internet but to receive it you will need to pre-register. Viewing is limited and spots are running out fast. To register go to  www.americanlemans.com/live In Pit Lane is in no way affiliated with either the American Le Mans Series or they're streaming provider read all their conditions of service carefully. Mmm Laguna Seca overnight and Sandown all weekend, no wonder I'm so tired.

AUDI FINISH ON A HIGH AT LAGUNA SECA

Another stunning come from behind win has given Audi its seventh win in the 2008 American Le Mans Series.  Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner celebrated a narrow victory in front of their team mates Christijan Albers and Emanuele Pirro. It was Pirro's final race for the team. Starting from row five of the grid, the Audi drivers were able to take advantage from the enormous torque of their TDI engine  at the many  restarts brought about after the Safety Car was deployed no less than twelve times – the most occasions all season.    Werner crossed the finish line the eventual winner only 1.941 seconds ahead of an emotional Pirro who had tears in eyes following his last race in the Audi R10 TDI.  It was the seventh outright victory for Audi in the eleven-round American Le Mans Series. Acura/Honda and Porsche each scored two victories. Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner celebrated their eighth win of the season in the LM P1 class. The two Germans had already secured the title in the LM P1 Drivers Championship. Pirro finished third in the Championship while Christijan Albers finished his first sportscar race on the podium.

BRABHAM TAKES POLE FOR ALMS CLOSER

Australian driver David Brabham clinched his third overall American Le Mans series pole position of the season in what was his last qualifying session in the LMP2 Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.  Brabham set a blistering fastest time of 1:10.103, taking pole position by 0.099 seconds and setting a new Laguna Seca ALMS lap record in the process.

SPEED TV PETIT LE MANS WRAP

PEUGEOT ON POLE FOR PETIT LE MANS

Puegeot's single car entry will start from pole for the 2008 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Stephane Sarrazin's time of 1:06.242 (138.039 mph) just edged out the Audi Sport North America's R10 of  Allan McNish by 0.085 seconds to set up another classic confrontation between the two giants of international sports prototype racing. “We are very happy,“ said Sarrazin, who also captured pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans the last two years for Peugeot. “It is very good for us and the team. We will focus now on a good start and a long race for tomorrow. It is a different target now than Sebring (in March). We were a newer car then and we did not finish. Then we advanced at Le Mans, so now we have even more time with the car.“ The rapid improvement in Le Mans racing was clearly evident as in the  top 15 qualifiers were all under Marco Werner's pole-winning time of 1:08.906 (132.703 mph) from 2006, with Sarrazin 2.564 seconds under. Werner, himself qualified third in the second of the Audi R10 TDIs at 1:06.818 (136.849 mph). Penske Racing's Ryan Briscoe led a Porsche sweep of the top three qualifying positions in LMP2. Briscoe made a triumphant return to Road Atlanta with a class-record pole run of 1:07.061 (136.353 mph) in one of Penske's three Porsche RS Spyders that he will share with two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves.