Braselton - GA (September 30th, 2006) Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz has pulled off its best team result of the 2006 season with the Toronto-based squad finishing third and fourth in the GT2 class at Petit Le Mans.
David Brabham, Scott Maxwell and Sebastien Bourdais scored their second podium result of the year with third place at Road Atlanta. The trio opened the 2006 season with victory together in GT2 at Sebring.
Gunnar Jeannette, Tom Milner and Panoz newcomer Andy Lally finished in fourth place at the end of the 1000 mile classic – the second consecutive fourth place finish for Jeannette and Milner who scored the same result at the last round at Mosport.
The #50 Panoz clinched the final podium position in the dying moments of the race after Bourdais was initially passed by the BMW of Bill Auberlen shortly after the final safety car period.
The two-time Champ Car World Series title-holder then began a chase of the former Panoz driver, closing the gap from 2.8 seconds down to only .493 of a second during a five lap run.
With Bourdais applying the pressure, Auberlen then made an error at corner 10A, spinning into the sand trap after bouncing off the inside kerb.
The result elevated both Panoz machines to third and fourth place – positions they held to the checkered flag.
"The racing at the end between Sebastien and Bill Auberlen in the BMW was a colossal battle – it was really amazing to watch," Multimatic Motorsports Vice President and Motorsports Technical Director, Larry Holt said.
"I feel sorry for Billy who threw it off but he was under huge pressure from Sebastien who did a fantastic job again. Seb really is an incredible talent and we are delighted that he was able to race with us a couple of times this year.
"I am very pleased with third and fourth but the day could have been a light brighter. Our race was all about tire conservation because we had a construction problem with the tires.
"The outside surface of the left rear was collapsing after about 25 laps. If we pushed too hard, the tire went away very quickly. We really had the quickest car out there but our engineers Rob Taylor and Jean-Francois Chretien made a great call to get the guys to nurse the rubber throughout their stints.
"The cars ran impeccably all day and that is a great credit to Sean Mason and the boys. Last year the Esperante's had major mechanical problems at this race but this year the cars were faultless. That is the job that Don Panoz hired us to do and I am very proud of my guys."
