2004 Le Mans Rain Finish
One of the most important endurance races in the world and one of the largest such events in North America.
Petit Le Mans is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a duration of 10 hours since 2014, having previously been held for either 1,000 miles (1,600 km) or 10 hours, whichever came first.
- Winner
- Audi Sport Team Joest (R8 #7)
- Winning Drivers
- Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello, Emanuele Pirro
- Key Condition
- Heavy rain for the final hours
- Historical Significance
- Audi's first Le Mans victory
- Defending Champion Status
- Porsche finished second
Lore & Background
The race was founded by Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz to bring the rules and spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to North America. The success of the inaugural event in 1998 led to the creation of the American Le Mans Series in 1999. Petit Le Mans was a flagship event for the ALMS. Since 2014 the race has been one of the crown jewel events of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Class winners originally received an automatic invitation to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, but this was removed in 2012.
In Their Own Story
The sky over La Sarthe opened up with terrifying intensity as midnight approached. Inside the cockpit of the #7 Audi R8, Tom Kristensen gripped the wheel, his eyes scanning the blurred horizon through sheets of rain. The roar of the engine was drowned out by the hiss of tires cutting through deep water. Every corner became a gamble; one mistake meant a spin into the grass or worse. Yet, amidst the chaos, the German machine held its line, inching closer to history while the Porsche rivals slipped in the deluge.
Reader's Guide
Petit Le Mans is held annually at Road Atlanta, a 2.54-mile (4.09 km) permanent road course in Braselton, Georgia. The race has been run for a duration of 10 hours since 2014, prior to which it was run for either 1,000 miles or 10 hours, whichever came first. Teams use multiple drivers, usually three per entry. The event is one of the Endurance Cup rounds in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and traditionally serves as the season-ending round. The race usually starts at around 12 p.m. local time on Saturday and ends at 10 p.m.
Did You Know?
- Rinaldo Capello holds the record of most race wins, having won in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
- The 2009 and 2015 races were shortened due to heavy rains making the track impassable.
- The 2015 race featured the first time a GT car won overall against the faster prototypes.
- Panoz's participation in the 1998 race with the Q9 GTR-1 Hybrid marked the first time in motorsport history that hybrid technology had been used to record a race start, finish, and class win.
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