Westbrook wins at Road America

At his third attempt, British Porsche star Richard Westbrook became a winner in the American Le Mans Series when he drove to victory at Road America on Saturday. Westbrook teamed up with regular ALMS co-driver Dirk Werner plus Bryce Miller, and the trio’s Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche 997 GT3-RSR won a thrilling fourhour race.

It was Westbrook’s first time at the leafy Road America circuit in Wisconsin, a three-hour drive from Chicago in a state famed for its cheese production. The location of the circuit is so rural that its safety fences are angled the opposite way to usual, to protect not the spectators but the competitors (from deer).

“What a track,” said Richard. “It’s a lovely circuit – a bit tricky to learn, because it’s four miles long, but I soon got to grips with it.” The team seemed to be in a strong position to win when a spate of safety-car periods neutralised the race and brought strategy into play. “When I got in the car the pitlane speed limiter wasn’t working,” said Westbrook. “As soon as I realised that I braked, but it was too late – they called me in for a stop and go. “You can’t take a penalty under a safety-car period, but we had a new strategist for this weekend and he was really good. He pulled me in for my penalty as soon as the race went green, and just after that happened it went yellow again. So then he pulled me in again for a fuel top-up. “I was stone last in the queue, but we had full tanks and one less pitstop than the rest to make. I really came through the field and did a lot of overtaking, got up to second on the road and then handed over to Dirk.”

Werner passed the leading Ferrari on the final lap, to give two-time Porsche Supercup champion Westbrook his maiden ALMS win. “That was great to watch – a great move,” said Porsche works driver Westbrook. “People have been getting bored with us saying we should’ve won, so it was time to back that up. The team got it right in every department: strategy, setup, longevity, and the pitstops were amazing. Even without all those yellows we would’ve won. And full credit to Bryce: he came into the team for this race and did a very good job – he’s got a good future ahead of him in the championship.”

That’s the end of Westbrook’s ALMS exploits for 2008. He now heads back to Europe for a race in a similarly rural region – Germany’s Eifel mountains – this weekend, when he races the Farnbacher Porsche in the latest round of the Le Mans Series at the Nurburgring.

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