Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Green flag in: 
 
 
 
  • Posted 11.20.09
  • HEAVY SERIES FLAVOR IN FIRST LIST OF LE MANS INVITES
  • Two berths for Le Mans, Petit Le Mans winner Risi Competizione

  • Risi Competizione and Flying Lizard Motorsports are each on the list of the first 27 invites to the 2010 Le  Mans 24 Hours.
    Five teams and six entries from the American Le Mans Series are among the first 29 teams offered official invitations to next year’s running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As has been the case for the last 11 seasons, all championship-winning entrants in each American Le Mans Series class receive invites to compete the following year in the world’s greatest auto race along with class winners at the annual Petit Le Mans.

    Risi Competizione’s two entries and the first invite for reigning LMP1 champion Patrón Highcroft Racing lead the Series’ contingent. Not only did the trio of Jaime Melo, Pierre Kaffer and Mika Salo give Risi its second straight GT2 crown at Le Mans this year, but the trio also drove the Risi Ferrari F430 GT to a second consecutive class win at Petit Le Mans in September.

    Flying Lizard Motorsports appears on its way to a sixth straight appearance at Le Mans with its Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The team won its second consecutive Series GT2 championship this year with six victories for Porsche works drivers Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister.

    Will Duncan Dayton take his Patrón Highcroft squad to Le Mans in 2010? The team has its official invite.
    Both Patrón Highcroft and Lowe’s Fernandez Racing – LMP2 – also received entries for their championship performances. Patrón Highcroft owner Duncan Dayton has made no secret of his ambitions to take his team to Le Mans in the past.

    Corvette Racing also received an invite for winning the GT1 class in 2009. With the team’s move to GT2, however, it is likely that it will decline the automatic entry.

    Since 1999, American Le Mans Series teams have been driving forces at Le Mans with eight overall championship and 25 class championships.