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One-two in qualifying for Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

In his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Marco Holzer posted his first pole position in the American Le Mans Series at Elkhart Lake. On the legendary Road America race track in the US state of Wisconsin, which hosts round seven of the American Le Mans Series on Saturday, the Porsche works driver from Germany set a new qualifying record in the GT class. The second quickest time, a mere 0.01 seconds behind the leader, went to his factory pilot colleague and five-time Road America winner Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) in the second Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

For Porsche, Marco Holzer's top time marks the first pole position so far this season in the American Le Mans Series. With Holzer sharing driving duties with team owner Seth Neiman (USA), the #44 Flying Lizard Porsche takes off into the race from the head of the strong GT field for the first time ever in the race series featuring the world's fastest sports cars.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to have clinched my first pole in the American Le Mans Series. I'm really pleased for the team that our number 44 car is at the very front of the grid," says Marco Holzer. "This track is fantastic and it's great fun competing here. With the race running over four hours it's very long and a great deal can happen in this time. Still, pole position is always a great place to start from."

"The race weekend began very well for Porsche with positions one-two in qualifying," said Joerg Bergmeister, who has clinched three of his victories on this track with his current team mate Patrick Long (USA). "Already during free practice we were going very well so our good qualifying result actually comes as no great surprise."

At the wheel of Falken Tire's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Porsche factory driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) set the eighth quickest time. Henzler teams up with Bryan Sellers (USA) for round seven in Elkhart Lake. Bryce Miller (USA) turned the tenth quickest time in Paul Miller Racing's 911 which he shares with Sascha Maassen (Germany).

The race in Elkhart Lake starts on Saturday, 18 August, at 14.30 hrs local time (21.30 hrs CEST) and runs over four hours. The race is broadcast live on www.americanlemans.com.


Qualifying result

GT class
1. Marco Holzer (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 2:04.415 minutes
2. Jörg Bergmeister (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 0.01 seconds
3. Oliver Gavin (GB), Chevrolet Corvette, + 0.45
4. Bill Auberlen (USA), BMW E92 M3, + 0.49
5. Antonio Garcia (E), Chevrolet Corvette, + 0.50
6. Johannes van Overbeek (USA), Ferrari F458 Italia, + 0.57
8. Wolf Henzler (D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 2.23
10. Bryce Miller (USA), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, + 2.76

GTC class
1. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 2:12.773 minutes


This is the American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was created in 1999 for sports prototypes and GT vehicles. The field is divided into five classes that start together but are classified separately:
GT class: This most popular class amongst car manufacturers traditionally receives the most support: Slightly modified standard sports cars with 440 to 500 hp and a minimum weight of 1,245 kilograms (e.g. Porsche 911 GT3 RSR).
GTC class: This class is reserved for vehicles from one-make race series like the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
LMP1 class: Sports prototypes with up to 550 hp and a minimum weight of 900 kilograms.
LMP2 class: Sports prototypes with ca. 440 hp and a 900 kg minimum weight.
LMPC class: Prototype brand trophy series for the ORECA FLM 09.