Richard Westbrook dominated the first Porsche Michelin Supercup series race of the 2006 United States Grand Prix weekend, winning from the pole and beating second-place finisher Uwe Alzen to the finish line.
Kelvin Burt, driving the No. 15 MRS-PC Service Team entry, finished an impressive third despite starting 16th.
Robert Wickens won the first Formula BMW USA race of the weekend.
Westbrook, from London, either maintained or increased his lead in every lap of the 16-lap race, beating Alzen by 7.432 seconds in the No. 17 Racing Team Morellato PZ Essen entry. Alzen drives the No. 5 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car for PZ Koblenz – Team SPS. The race average speed was 85.637 mph.
Westbrook entered the two round of competition this weekend at the 2.605-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with the lead in the series championship. Today’s domination extends his lead, and he carries additional momentum into Sunday’s second race by starting on pole.
“I was in control of the race, but then everyone started knocking each other off, and I couldn’t believe my luck,” Westbrook said. “I wish they were all that easy. The win gives me some confidence going into tomorrow. We’re leading the championship. We’ve got a big points advantage now, so confidence is flying high, but I’m sure it won’t be that easy. It’s a dream coming out here. It’s so different than what we’re used to in Europe and it’s just such a lovely atmosphere here. It’s all the more special to win it.”
Westbrook won the pole for the race by .147 of a second over arch-rival David Saelens of Belgium, who dominated both rounds of Porsche competition at the 2005 United States Grand Prix, winning both poles and both races.
Saelens started second and ran in that position through Lap 7. He said that he was hit from behind by Alzen entering Turn 1 midway through the race and finished 10th.
The result in Race No. 1 only added to Saelens’ frustration for the weekend. He posted the fastest lap in qualifying for the weekend’s second race, but did so during a yellow-flag period. As a result, the race stewards penalized him by also taking away his second-fastest lap, so Saelens will start third, behind Westbrook and Austrian Richard Lietz.
Former Indianapolis 500-Mile Race competitor and 2005 Porsche Michelin Supercup series champion Alessandro Zampedri was involved in a Lap 2 accident with Hannes Neuhauser that brought out the Safety Car for two laps. Both drivers were eliminated from the race.
