Charlotte 2000 2:45 hour race

BMW V12 LMR

Audi R8R

The 2:45 hour Charlotte 2000 race , also known as the Grand Prix of Charlotte, Lowes Motor Speedway, Charlotte , took place on April 1st at Charlotte Motor Speedway and was the second American Le Mans Series race of the year.

The race

For the first time since 1986, a sports car race was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway . The 500-km race at Charlotte belonged to the IMSA GT Championship in 1986 and ended with the total victory of Drake Olson and Price Cobb in the Porsche 962 of Dyson Racing . Hans-Joachim Stuck , who shared the cockpit of another 962 with Bob Akin , came in second overall in 1986 . Hans-Joachim Stuck was also at the start in 2000. Together with Johannes van Overbeek, he drove a BMW M3 E46.

The Charlotte Motor Speedway was a high-speed oval course . Similar to the Daytona International Speedway , the course had an infield that was used by GT and sports cars. Audi had won the first race of the season, the Sebring 12-hour race , with the upgraded Audi R8 . However, the vehicles were brought back to Europe in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans . In Charlotte, two R8Rs from the previous year were used. Both cars had problems in the race and did not place in the front field. Michele Alboreto spun in the car with the number 77 and damaged the car considerably. In the subsequent repair, the team lost any chance of overall victory.

The race won JJ Lehto and Jorg Muller in the BMW V12 LMR after second-placed Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S of Jan Magnussen and David Brabham lost too much time during the pit stops.

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	LMP	42	BMW Motorsport	JJ Lehto Jörg Müller	BMW V12 LMR	125
2	LMP	1	Panoz Motor Sports	Jan Magnussen David Brabham	Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S.	125
3	LMP	0	Team Rafanelli SRL	Domenico Schiattarella Didier de Radiguès	Lola B2K / 10	124
4th	LMP	43	BMW Motorsport	Jean-Marc Gounon Bill Auberlen	BMW V12 LMR	124
5	LMP	2	Panoz Motor Sports	Johnny O'Connell Hiroki Kato	Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S.	124
6th	LMP	78	Audi Sport North America	Emanuele Pirro Frank Biela	Audi R8R	122
7th	GTS	91	Viper Team ORECA	Karl Wendlinger Olivier Beretta	Dodge Viper GTS-R	117
8th	LMP	02	Pole team	Mark Simo Norman Simon Günther Blieninger	Riley & Scott Mk III	117
9	GT	51	Dick Barbour Racing	Bob Wollek Sascha Maassen	Porsche 911 GT3-R	113
10	GT	10	Prototype Technology Group	Brian Cunningham Peter Cunningham	BMW M3 E36	113
11	GTS	08	Roock Motorsports North America	Zak Brown Vic Rice	Porsche 911 GT2	112
12	GT	22nd	Alex Job Racing	Mike Fitzgerald Robert Nagel	Porsche 911 GT3-R	111
13	GT	6th	Prototype Technology Group	Hans-Joachim Stuck Johannes van Overbeek	BMW M3 E46	111
14th	GT	70	Skea Racing International	Johnny Mowlem David Murry	Porsche 911 GT3-R	110
15th	GT	30th	White Lightning Racing	Quentin Wahl Gunnar Jeannette	Porsche 911 GT3-R	109
16	GT	21st	MCR Aspen Knolls	Shane Lewis Cort Wagner	Porsche 911 GT3-R	108
17th	GT	23	Alex Job Racing	Randy Pobst Bruno Lambert	Porsche 996 GT3-R	106
18th	GT	71	Skea Racing International	Grady Willingham Rohan Skea	Porsche 911 GT3-R	104
19th	GTS	92	Viper Team ORECA	Tommy Archer David Donohue	Dodge Viper GTS-R	95
20th	LMP	77	Audi Sport North America	Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello Michele Alboreto	Audi R8R	93
21st	GT	5	Dick Barbour Racing	Lucas Luhr Dirk Müller	Porsche 911 GT3-R	91
Failed
22nd	GTS	40	Don McGill.com Porsche Racing	Bertrand Godin Sam Shalala	Porsche 911 GT2	79
23	GT	89	MCR Nygmatech	João Barbosa Ian James	Porsche 911 GT3-R	74

Only in the entry list

No further reports are known for this race.

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
LMP	JJ Lehto	Jörg Müller	BMW V12 LMR	Overall victory
GTS	Karl Wendlinger	Olivier Beretta	Dodge Viper GTS-R	Rank 7
GT	Bob Wollek	Sascha Maassen	Porsche 911 GT3-R	Rank 9

Racing data

• Registered: 23
• Started: 23
• Rated: 21
• Race classes: 3
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm, dry and windy
• Route length: 2.250 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 2: 45: 48.157 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 125
• Total distance of the winning team: 452.628 km
• Winner's average: 163.796 km / h
• Pole position: JJ Lehto - BMW V12 LMR (# 42) - 1: 04.096 = 203.378 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Jan Magnussen - Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S (# 1) - 1: 05.524 = 199.811 km / h
• Racing series: 2nd run for the 2000 ALMS season

Web links

• Race report
• Race results

Individual evidence

1. ^ 1986 Charlotte 500 km race

Previous race 12-hour race at Sebring 2000

American Le Mans Series

Follow -up race 500 km from Silverstone 2000