Dumas tops Monday Petit LeMans test

Dumas in the No. 1 Audi R18

Audi Sport’s Romain Dumas waited until the second-to-last lap Monday to set the fastest time in the second day of testing for the 14th annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda – a 1:08.394 (133.696 mph) lap at Road Atlanta. The Frenchman set the time in the diesel-powered Audi R18 TDI that he will share in Saturday’s 1,000-mile/10-hour race with Timo Bernhard and Marcel Fassler.

Dumas’ time ended what had been a day of dominance for Peugeot Sport Total, which sat 1-2 for most the afternoon. The No. 7 entry of Sebastien Bourdais, Anthony Davidson and Simon Pagenaud ended Monday second at 1:08.569 (133.355 mph). The second Peugeot of Franck Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin and Alexander Wurz sat third at 1:09.311 (131.927 mph).

Petit Le Mans, the final round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr¢n, marks the resumption of a Road Atlanta battle between the two diesel powers that dates back to 2008. Peugeot won the last two years, and both factory teams are back with first-year prototype coupes. The Audi bested Peugeot in June at the 24 Hours of the Le Mans and the French manufacturer is looking for retribution this weekend. The 908 was fastest at Road Atlanta on Sunday with a 1:08.291 (133.898 mph).

In LMP2, Level 5 Motorsports’ Luis Diaz set the quickest lap at 1:13.291 (124.763 mph) in the team’s new HPD ARX-01g. The Mexican star – who is teaming with Scott Tucker and Marino Franchitti – also posted his time two laps from the end of the session.

Level 5 was 1-2 in the class with the second HPD prototype of Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa only 0.438 seconds back. Signatech Nissan’s ORECA 03 prototype of Franck Mailleux, Lucas Ordonez and Jean-Karl Vernay was third in class at 1:14.003 (123.563 mph).

Flying Lizard Motorsports, winner of the most recent ALMS round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, was the quickest GTE Pro car at 1:20.251 (113.943 mph). The car of Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long and Marc Lieb led a pack of four class cars that were within 0.586 seconds.

Risi Competizione’s Ferrari F458 Italia of Raphael Matos, Jaime Melo and Toni Vilander was next at 1:20.669 (113.352 mph). It was 0.107 seconds ahead of Corvette Racing’s Corvette C6.R of Olivier Beretta, Antonio Garcia and Tommy Milner.