2008 Monterey Sports Car Championships

Track map of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

The 2008 Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón was the eleventh and final round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, California on 18 October 2008. It was the first time the event had a sponsor in its name since the 2004 season.

## Report

[edit]

### Qualifying

[edit]

The LMP2 category dominated qualifying, led by the four Acura teams who were able to qualify in the top five positions, led by David Brabham in the Highcroft Racing Acura on pole position. The Acura squads were broken up only by the #7 Penske Porsche which qualified third. In LMP1, the #1 Audi led that class but was only ninth overall in the standings. Among the Corvette teams, the #3 car once again earned pole over its teammate, while GT2 was led by Farnbacher-Loles' Porsche. Tafel Racing meanwhile led among Ferrari squads in third place within the class.

#### Qualifying result

[edit]

Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.

Pos  | Class  | Team  | Qualifying Driver  | Time[1]

|
|
|
|

1  | LMP2  | #9 Patrón Highcroft Racing | David Brabham | 1:10.103
2  | LMP2  | #15 Lowe's Fernández Racing | Luis Díaz | 1:10.202
3  | LMP2  | #7 Penske Racing | Timo Bernhard | 1:10.351
4  | LMP2  | #66 de Ferran Motorsports | Gil de Ferran | 1:10.451
5  | LMP2  | #26 Andretti Green Racing | Tony Kanaan | 1:10.567
6  | LMP2  | #6 Penske Racing | Sascha Maassen | 1:10.586
7  | LMP2  | #5 Penske Motorsports, Inc. | Ryan Briscoe | 1:10.606
8  | LMP2  | #16 Dyson Racing | Guy Smith | 1:11.010
9  | LMP1  | #1 Audi Sport North America | Emanuele Pirro | 1:11.264
10  | LMP1  | #2 Audi Sport North America | Lucas Luhr | 1:11.825
11  | LMP2  | #20 Dyson Racing | Butch Leitzinger | 1:12.089
12  | LMP1  | #48 Corsa Motorsports  | Johnny Mowlem | 1:12.819
13  | LMP2  | #8 B-K Motorsports  | Ben Devlin  | 1:13.321
14  | LMP1  | #37 Intersport Racing | Jon Field  | 1:13.379
15  | LMP1  | #88 Creation Autosportif | Stephen Simpson | 1:13.481
16  | LMP1  | #12 Autocon Motorsports  | Chris McMurry  | 1:14.549
17  | GT1  | #3 Corvette Racing | Jan Magnussen | 1:19.291
18  | GT1  | #4 Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin | 1:19.790
19  | GT2  | #87 Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport  | Dirk Werner | 1:22.060
20  | GT2  | #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports | Jörg Bergmeister | 1:22.380
21  | GT2  | #71 Tafel Racing  | Dominik Farnbacher | 1:22.701
22  | GT2  | #46 Flying Lizard Motorsports | Patrick Pilet | 1:22.869
23  | GT2  | #62 Risi Competizione | Mika Salo | 1:22.962
24  | GT2  | #99 JMB Racing | Pierre Kaffer | 1:23.243
25  | GT2  | #61 Risi Competizione | Niclas Jönsson | 1:23.928
26  | GT2  | #21 Panoz Team PTG  | Joey Hand | 1:24.084
27  | GT2  | #18 VICI Racing  | Nicky Pastorelli | 1:24.111
28  | GT2  | #007 Drayson-Barwell  | Jonny Cocker | 1:24.626
29  | GT2  | #54 Black Swan Racing  | Anthony Lazzaro | 1:24.711
30  | GT2  | #40 Robertson Racing  | David Murry | 1:24.727
31  | GT2  | #73 Tafel Racing  | Pierre Ehret  | 1:24.970
32  | GT2  | #11 Primetime Race Group  | Chris Hall  | 1:26.124
33  | GT2  | #44 Flying Lizard Motorsports | Seth Neiman | 1:26.704
34  | LMP1  | #10 ECO Racing  | Did Not Participate | No Time

### Race

[edit]

The final round of the ALMS season was slowed by a total of twelve caution periods over the four-hour race distance, including four within the first hour alone. This allowed for a variety of pit strategies to come into place as teams chose to make their first pit stops during different caution periods. The Acura teams led early, but Audi was eventually able to take the overall lead, eventually completing the race first and second, led by the #2 car of Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr. In LMP2, Acura's also finished first and second, but the #7 Penske Porsche's finish of third was able to secure Porsche the Manufacturers Championship within the class by a single point.

In GT1, the #4 Corvette of Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin earned their third win of the season over their teammates, while the #71 Tafel Racing Ferrari secured its fourth victory in GT2 in 2008. The Risi Competizione Ferrari and Farnbacher-Loles Porsche completed the GT2 podium, while the PTG Panoz had a strong fourth-place finish a lap behind.

#### Race result

[edit]

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).[2]

Pos  | Class  | No  | Team  | Drivers  | Chassis  | Tire  | Laps

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Engine
1  | LMP1  | 2  |  Audi Sport North America |  Marco Werner
Lucas Luhr | Audi R10 TDI | M | 145
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
2  | LMP1  | 1  |  Audi Sport North America |  Emanuele Pirro
Christijan Albers | Audi R10 TDI | M | 145
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
3  | LMP2  | 26  |  Andretti Green Racing |  Franck Montagny
Tony Kanaan | Acura ARX-01B | M | 145
Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8
4  | LMP2  | 66  |  de Ferran Motorsports |  Gil de Ferran
Simon Pagenaud | Acura ARX-01B | M | 145
Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8
5  | LMP2  | 7  |  Penske Racing |  Timo Bernhard
Romain Dumas | Porsche RS Spyder Evo  | M | 145
Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8
6  | LMP2  | 5  |  Penske Motorsports, Inc. |  Hélio Castroneves
Ryan Briscoe | Porsche RS Spyder Evo  | M | 145
Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8
7  | LMP2  | 16  |  Dyson Racing |  Chris Dyson
Guy Smith | Porsche RS Spyder Evo  | M | 145
Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8
8  | LMP2  | 20  |  Dyson Racing |  Butch Leitzinger
Marino Franchitti | Porsche RS Spyder Evo  | M | 144
Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8
9  | LMP2  | 15  |  Lowe's Fernández Racing |  Adrian Fernández
Luis Díaz | Acura ARX-01B | M | 144
Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8
10  | LMP2  | 6  |  Penske Racing |  Patrick Long
Sascha Maassen | Porsche RS Spyder Evo  | M | 144
Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8
11  | LMP1  | 48  |  Corsa Motorsports  |  Gunnar Jeannette
Johnny Mowlem
Stefan Johansson | Ginetta-Zytek 07S  | D | 142
Zytek 4.5 L V8
12  | GT1  | 4  |  Corvette Racing |  Oliver Gavin
Olivier Beretta | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | M | 139
Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0 L V8
(E85 ethanol)
13  | GT1  | 3  |  Corvette Racing |  Johnny O'Connell
Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | M | 139
Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0 L V8
(E85 ethanol)
14  | GT2  | 71  |  Tafel Racing  |  Dominik Farnbacher
Dirk Müller | Ferrari F430GT  | M | 139
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
15  | LMP2  | 9  |  Patrón Highcroft Racing |  Scott Sharp
David Brabham | Acura ARX-01B | M | 139
Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8
16  | GT2  | 62  |  Risi Competizione |  Jaime Melo
Mika Salo | Ferrari F430GT  | M | 139
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
17  | GT2  | 87  |  Farnbacher-Loles Motorsports  |  Dirk Werner
Bryce Miller | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR  | M | 138
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
18  | LMP1  | 88  |  Creation Autosportif |  Jamie Campbell-Walter
Stephen Simpson
Liz Halliday | Creation CA07 | D | 138
AIM (Judd) YS5.5 5.5 L V10
(E85 ethanol)
19  | GT2  | 21  |  Panoz Team PTG  |  Tommy Milner
Joey Hand | Panoz Esperante GT-LM  | Y | 137
Ford (Élan) 5.0 L V8
20  | GT2  | 46  |  Flying Lizard Motorsports |  Johannes van Overbeek
Patrick Pilet | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR  | M | 137
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
21  | GT2  | 44  |  Flying Lizard Motorsports |  Darren Law
Seth Neiman
Lonnie Pechnik  | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR  | M | 135
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
22  | GT2  | 99  |  JMB Racing
Aucott Racing  |  Ben Aucott
Pierre Kaffer | Ferrari F430GT  | D | 134
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
23  | GT2  | 007  |  Drayson-Barwell  |  Paul Drayson
Jonny Cocker | Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2  | D | 134
Aston Martin 4.5 L V8
(E85 ethanol)
24  | GT2  | 54  |  Black Swan Racing  |  Tim Pappas
Anthony Lazzaro
Andy Pilgrim | Ford GT-R Mk.VII  | F | 133
Ford 5.0 L V8
25  | GT2  | 45  |  Flying Lizard Motorsports |  Jörg Bergmeister
Wolf Henzler | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR  | M | 133
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
26  | GT2  | 73  |  Tafel Racing  |  Harrison Brix
Alex Figge
Pierre Ehret  | Ferrari F430GT  | M | 132
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
27  | GT2  | 61  |  Risi Competizione
Krohn Racing |  Tracy Krohn
Niclas Jönsson | Ferrari F430GT  | M | 129
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
28  | GT2  | 40  |  Robertson Racing  |  David Robertson
Andrea Robertson
David Murry | Ford GT-R Mk.VII  | D | 129
Ford 5.0 L V8
29  | GT2  | 11  |  Primetime Race Group  |  Joel Feinberg
Chris Hall  | Dodge Viper Competition Coupe  | H | 112
Dodge 8.3 L V10
30  | LMP2  | 8  |  B-K Motorsports  |  Gerardo Bonilla
Ben Devlin
Raphael Matos | Lola B08/86 | D | 106
Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4
(E85 ethanol)

DNF  | LMP1  | 37  |  Intersport Racing |  Jon Field
Ryan Lewis
Richard Berry  | Lola B06/10 | D | 102
AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8
(E85 ethanol)

NC  | LMP1  | 12  |  Autocon Motorsports  |  Chris McMurry
Tony Burgess  | Lola B06/10 | D | 87
AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8

DNF  | LMP1  | 10  |  ECO Racing  |  Andrew Prendeville
Hideki Noda | Radical SR10  | D | 46
ECO (AER) 5.0 L Turbo V10
(Diesel)

DNF  | GT2  | 18  |  VICI Racing  |  Nicky Pastorelli
Francesco Pastorelli
Marc Basseng | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR  | K | 17
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2008 Monterey Sports Car Championships.

1. ^ "ALMS Final Grid" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. October 18, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
2. ^ "ALMS Provisional Result" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. October 18, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2008.

American Le Mans Series

Previous race:
2008 Petit Le Mans | 2008 season | Next race:
None

* v
* t
* e

Monterey SportsCar Championship

* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1989
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template