Round 9 – Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia.
American sportswoman Liz Halliday is hoping for another successful event at the wheel of the Lola-AER LMP2 prototype, this time at one of the most important event of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), Petit Le Mans. Intersport Racing won last year’s event and the UK-based American female driver is hoping that together they can score a second win in two years.
Liz Halliday said: “Along with Sebring, Petit Le Mans is one of the major events of the endurance racing calendar in the US. To win this race, like Intersport did last year, means a lot to the teams as the four class winners (LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2) receive automatic entry to next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours and that is priceless!”
The 26-year-old, who made a quick return flight to Atlanta last Thursday week for a one day test, is confident that Intersport has what it takes to score a strong result and her third win of the year in the ALMS: “Although I am relaxed about the upcoming race, I know that it will be harder than the previous races. Competition will be much tougher with 8 LMP2 cars racing for the class win. As this is the end of the season, a lot of European teams come to the US for the last two rounds of the calendar – Petit Le Mans and then Laguna Seca. Petit Le Mans is a special race and it has always been popular with drivers and teams on both sides of the Atlantic. The LMP2 Horag team, who won at the Nurburgring at the beginning of the month in the Le Mans Endurance Series (LMES), will be hard to beat; they have a strong technical package and good drivers, so it will be interesting and challenging!”
Liz continued: “I had to fly to the US for a one day test on Friday. It went very well – we were quicker than the new Porsche works car which was running as well - and I was on the pace straight away which I am happy with. My lap times were two seconds faster than when I tested there back in April so it shows the progress I have made this year. I had to come back to the UK on Friday as I had an equestrian event commitment but John and Clint Field continued to test over the weekend. The programme went according to plan and we should be right there at the front this weekend.”
Halliday is competing at Petit Le Mans for the second time in a row and she is looking forward to the race: “Last year, I raced with the PK Sport team in a GT2 Porsche and it was a great experience for me. I always wanted to come back to Petit Le Mans and to do it in an LMP2 car is pretty special. Last year we didn’t finish the race as we had some driveshaft failures but having done the event once will be helpful for this year.”
Although the race strategy has not been finalised yet, Liz believes that she will be driving double stints during the race: “I think that John Field will make the start and after that we’ll see how the race unfolds. For sure it will be very competitive but this is the first time this year that I’ll race at a circuit that I know, which is good news as Road Atlanta is not an easy circuit to learn. You can lose time easily without noticing, so track knowledge is important.”
Road Atlanta’s 2.54-mile Grand Prix road course features 12 challenging turns, including the famous “esses” and the tricky Turn 10 complex. The hilly terrain adds an additional degree of difficulty for the competitors, and at the same time provides incredible views for the spectators. The most popular viewing areas are Spectator Hill at Turn 5 and the new Terrace Seating overlooking Turn 10.
Petit Le Mans - Programme of events: - (Time difference: BST-5 hours):
Wednesday 28th September
2.00pm – 3.00pm: Test Session (all classes)
3.00pm – 3.30pm: Test Session (LM P1 / LM P2)
Thursday 29th September
11.15am – 12.15pm: Practice (all classes)
2.00pm – 3.00pm: Practice (all classes)
7.00pm – 9.00pm: Night Practice (all classes)
Friday 30th September
2.05pm – 2.30pm: Qualifying (LM P1 and LM P2)
Saturday 1st October
8.00am – 8.25am: Warm-up (all classes)
11.20am – 5.45pm: Race – 1000 miles or 10 hours maximum
