The2013 Orion Energy Systems 245 was asports car race held at Road America inElkhart Lake, Wisconsin on August 11, 2013. The race was the sixth round of the2013 American Le Mans Series.
American Le Mans Series (ALMS) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2013 American Le Mans Series schedule in October 2012.[1] It was the twelfth consecutive year the event was held as part of the American Le Mans Series. The 2013 Orion Energy Systems 245 was the sixth of ten scheduled sports car races of2013 American Le Mans Series.[2] It was held at the fourteen-turn 4.048 mi (6.515 km)Road America inElkhart Lake, Wisconsin on August 11, 2013.[1] The event was run alongside theRolex Sports Car Series event as a double-header.[2]
Before the race,Klaus Graf andLucas Luhr led the P1 Drivers' Championship with 102 points, 44 ahead ofNick Heidfeld andNeel Jani.[3] With 92 points,Marino Franchitti led the P2 Drivers' Championship over Scott Tucker by 3 points.[3] In PC, Colin Braun led the Drivers' Championship with 86 points, ahead of Mike Guasch.[3]Dirk Müller led the GT Drivers' Championship with 70 points, 5 points ahead ofOliver Gavin andTommy Milner.[3] With 77 points,Jeroen Bleekemolen andCooper MacNeil led the GTC Drivers' Championship, ahead ofNelson Canache Jr. andSpencer Pumpelly.[3]
A 65-minute qualifying session divided into four 15-minute sessions was held in the morning of August 10.[5] The rules required each team to nominate one qualifying driver, with the quickest laps determining each class' starting order.[6]
Luhr's 1:51.460 lap secured Muscle Milk's third pole position.[7] The lap time was more than two-seconds faster than McMurry's No. 16 Dyson Lola and Legge in the DeltaWing rounded out the P1 field.[7][8] Level 5 earned the P2 pole position with a time of 1:54.806 set by Franchitti. Cosmo's No. 01 ESM car andSimon Pagenaud's Level 5 entry were second and third in class.[9][7]
Colin Braun took his fifth pole position of the season in PC with a lap of 1 minute, 57.630 seconds. He was joined byBruno Junqueira's RSR Racing car on the grid's front row with his best lap being 0.082 second slower.[7] Bomarito's 2:03.410 lap secured him his second consecutive pole position of the season in GT. García qualified the No. 3. Corvette second. Keen in the No. 23 AJR Ferrari set the third fastest time, but would start at the back of the field after his car failed the post-qualifying technical inspection. As a result,Oliver Gavin would start in third position.[7]Pumpelly reset the GTC lap record with a time of 2:11.931, putting the No. 45 Flying Lizard on pole.[10] Edwards qualified the NGT car second and Heylen's No. 11 JDX Porsche was third in class.[7]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Entry | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P1 | 6 |  Muscle Milk Pickett Racing |  Lucas Luhr | 1:51.460 | — | 1‡ |
| 2 | P1 | 16 | Dyson Racing Team | Chris McMurry | 1:53.580 | +2.120 | 2 |
| 3 | P2 | 552 | Level 5 Motorsports |  Marino Franchitti | 1:54.806 | +3.346 | 3‡ |
| 4 | P1 | 0 | DeltaWing Racing Cars | Katherine Legge | 1:55.362 | +3.902 | 4 |
| 5 | P2 | 01 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Guy Cosmo | 1:55.622 | +4.162 | 5 |
| 6 | P2 | 551 | Level 5 Motorsports |  Simon Pagenaud | 1:55.793 | +4.333 | 6 |
| 7 | P2 | 02 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Johannes van Overbeek | 1:56.085 | +4.625 | 7 |
| 8 | PC | 05 | CORE Autosport | Colin Braun | 1:57.630 | +6.170 | 8‡ |
| 9 | PC | 9 | RSR Racing |  Bruno Junqueira | 1:57.712 | +6.252 | 9 |
| 10 | PC | 18 | Performance Tech Motorsports | Tristan Nunez | 1:57.885 | +6.425 | 10 |
| 11 | PC | 81 | DragonSpeed |  Renger van der Zande | 1:57.912 | +6.452 | 11 |
| 12 | PC | 8 | BAR1 Motorsports |  Kyle Marcelli | 1:58.399 | +6.939 | 12 |
| 13 | PC | 7 | BAR1 Motorsports | Rusty Mitchell | 2:00.352 | +8.892 | 13 |
| 14 | PC | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Mike Guasch | 2:00.478 | +9.018 | 14 |
| 15 | GT | 93 | SRT Motorsports | Jonathan Bomarito | 2:03.410 | +11.950 | 15‡ |
| 16 | GT | 3 | Corvette Racing |  Antonio García | 2:04.212 | +12.752 | 16 |
| 17 | GT | 23 | Team West/AJR/BoardwalkFerrari | Leh Keen | 2:04.269 | +12.809 | 331 |
| 18 | GT | 4 | Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin | 2:04.277 | +12.817 | 17 |
| 19 | GT | 48 | Paul Miller Racing | Marco Holzer | 2:04.347 | +12.887 | 18 |
| 20 | GT | 91 | SRT Motorsports | Dominik Farnbacher | 2:04.427 | +12.967 | 19 |
| 21 | GT | 55 | BMWTeam RLL | Bill Auberlen | 2:04.609 | +13.149 | 20 |
| 22 | GT | 06 | CORE Autosport | Patrick Long | 2:04.619 | +13.159 | 21 |
| 23 | GT | 56 | BMWTeam RLL | John Edwards | 2:04.630 | +13.170 | 22 |
| 24 | GT | 62 | Risi Competizione |  Matteo Malucelli | 2:04.911 | +13.451 | 23 |
| 25 | GT | 17 | Team Falken Tire | Bryan Sellers | 2:06.088 | +14.628 | 24 |
| 26 | GTC | 45 | Flying Lizard Motorsports | Spencer Pumpelly | 2:11.931 | +20.471 | 25‡ |
| 27 | GTC | 30 | NGT Motorsport | Sean Edwards | 2:12.386 | +20.926 | 26 |
| 28 | GTC | 11 | JDX Racing |  Jan Heylen | 2:12.403 | +20.943 | 27 |
| 29 | GTC | 66 | TRG |  Damien Faulkner | 2:12.489 | +21.029 | 28 |
| 30 | GTC | 44 | Flying Lizard Motorsports |  Dion von Moltke | 2:12.844 | +21.384 | 29 |
| 31 | GTC | 22 | Alex Job Racing | Jeroen Bleekemolen | 2:12.989 | +21.529 | 30 |
| 32 | GTC | 27 | Dempsey Racing/Del Piero | Andy Lally | 2:13.047 | +21.587 | 31 |
| 33 | GTC | 68 | TRG | Jeff Courtney | 2:15.073 | +23.613 | 32 |
| Sources:[11][12] | |||||||
Class winners inbold and‡. Cars failing to complete 70% of their class winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).
| American Le Mans Series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: SportsCar Grand Prix | 2013 season | Next race: Baltimore Sports Car Challenge |
