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The 2005 Petit Le Mans is marked as perhaps the most important race of the 2005 American Le Mans Series. Its extended length, ten hours or 1000 miles, whichever comes first, means that there are more points at stake than the shorter 'sprint' races of the season. Being the second to last race of the season also means that the season championship could be won or lost depending on the outcome of the race. Coming into the race, twenty-one drivers were still in contention for the drivers' championship in their respective classes, and seven different teams were still competing for the top spot in each class.
With so much at stake coming into the race, one has to wonder what was going through the heads of the lead drivers coming into the first corner on the first lap of the race. An incident involving the pole-sitting Zytek Engineering 04S, the No. 1 Champion Audi driven by JJ Lehto, and the Dyson Lola driven by James Weaver took out several contenders after just a few seconds into the race. Three P1 cars came into the cornder abreast, with the Zytek braking early to allow the Dyson to take the inside. With all three drivers feeling as though they had won the corner, a three way collision occurred, resulting in race-ending damage for the Zytek and Dyson and a lengthy pitstop for the Audi.
The collision brought an easy win for the No. 2 Audi driven by Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro who both clinched the drivers' championship in P1. This was the sixth straight year that the R8 has won Petit Le Mans, and it remains undefeated at the race. "I'm very happy for Champion Racing and Dave Maraj (team owner)," said Biela after the race. "I can't remember when I have had so much fun. The race today was tough since the main competition was out early, [although] it was much easier for us than expected." The No. 1 Audi managed to finish on the podium in third place, despite being involved in two collisions and spending several laps in the pits for repairs. The No. 5 Dyson split the two Audis to finish in second.
In P2, the Porsche RS Spyder was supposed to make its debut at Petit Le Mans, but some technical delays left the focus on the three way battle for the class championship. Miracle Motorsports held a slim two point lead over Intersport Racing going into the race followed by the Mazda-powered BK Motorsports Courage C65. Following the checkered flag, Miracle was down to third place, and Intersport's class win put it in first place just ahead of BK Motorsports who finished second in class and eighteenth overall.
Despite the fact that Corvette Racing has already wrapped up the class title, one of the more highly anticipated battles was in the GT1 class where Aston Martin was returning to ALMS to defend its Sebring victory against the dominant C6-R duo. The score between the two stood at 1-1 following the C6-R's victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The ACEMCO Saleen S7-R, however, was the fastest on the track pre-race and took the pole followed by the Corvettes. The Saleen had the potential to win the race, but a plethora of problems ranging from punctured tires to steering and shifting problems prevented the car from finishing better than third. "The race started off terrible with the power steering belt, said team Owner Jeff Giangrande. "Then it seemed like on thing after another started to happen - punctures, body work, and everything else. We just kept the wheels turning and were able to make something out of a tough day with the podium finish." Aston Martin felt it had the pace to win the race as well, but it faced its own set of problems during the race including a twenty-five minute delay due to a drivetrain change. "We had the pace to win it for sure with the 58 car," said Team Principal George Howard-Chappell. "We are disappointed because we came here to win." The Aston Martins finished second and fifth in class, giving the Corvettes the advantage in the British-American grudge match.
In GT2, the Petersen/White Lightning Porsche team continued their ALMS win streak with their third straight first place finish to extend their class lead. Although starting in third position, their lowest starting position of the season, drivers Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long took advantage of two separate collisions by the pole-setting No. 23 Alex Job Porsche to take the lead early in the race. Despite the No. 24 Porsche finishing second, the loss of points to their competitors continued a frustrating season for the normally-dominant Alex Job team whose hopes of another class championship slipped further away. The hometown Panoz team, who finished in the top spot in GT2 at Road Atlanta earlier in the season, finished a distant seventh.
The 2005 Petit Le Mans finished with success for some and disappointment for others. The Audi R8 and Corvette Racing teams proved they were up to challenge from the competition, although teams like Zytek, Aston Martin, and Saleen showed huge potential for the 2006 season. The race was also a resounding success for the ALMS, who saw its largest crowd attend the race. "The quality of racing on the race tracks I don't think has ever been better," said Scott Atherton, president and CEO of the American Le Mans Series. "This championship has never been better for our fans."
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