1999 2:45 hour Sears Point race

Sonoma Raceway

The 1999 2:45 hour race at Sears Point , also known as The Grand Prix of Sonoma, Sears Point Raceway , took place on July 25th at Sonoma Raceway and was the fourth round of the American Le Mans Series of that year.

The race

The race in Sonoma was the fourth race in the history of the American Le Mans Series. The sports car and GT racing series created by Don Panoz had its first season in 1999 . In the first year of this racing series, the BMW V12 LMR used by Schnitzer Motorsport proved to be the most successful prototypes . After winning the Sebring 12-hour race , a BMW also won at Sonoma. JJ Lehto and Steve Soper won after several caution phases with a narrow lead of 2.4 seconds on the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S driven by David Brabham and Éric Bernard .

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	LMP1	42	BMW Motorsport	JJ Lehto Steve Soper	BMW V12 LMR	97
2	LMP	1	Panoz Motor Sports	David Brabham Éric Bernard	Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S.	97
3	LMP	2	Panoz Motor Sports	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S.	96
4th	LMP	20th	Dyson Racing	Butch Leitzinger Elliot Forbes-Robinson	Riley & Scott Mk III	96
5	LMP	43	BMW Motorsport	Bill Auberlen Joachim Winkelhock	BMW V12 LMR	96
6th	LMP	0	Team Rafanelli SRL	Érik Comas Domenico Schiattarella	Riley & Scott Mk III	96
7th	LMP	26th	Price & Bscher	Pedro Lamy Thomas Bscher	BMW V12 LM	95
8th	LMP	36	Doran Matthews Racing	Stefan Johansson Jim Matthews	Ferrari 333SP	94
9	LMP	27	Doran Lista Racing	Didier Theys Fredy Lienhard	Ferrari 333SP	94
10	LMP	11	Doyle-Risi Racing	Max Angelelli Didier de Radiguès	Ferrari 333SP	94
11	LMP	74	Robinson Racing	Jack Baldwin George Robinson	Riley & Scott Mk III	93
12	LMP	38	Champion Racing	Allan McNish Andy Pilgrim	Porsche 911 GT1 Evo	93
13	LMP	16	Dyson Racing	James Weaver Rob Dyson	Riley & Scott Mk III	93
14th	LMP	18th	Dollahite Racing	Mike Davies Bill Dollahite	Ferrari 333SP	92
15th	LMP	15th	Hybrid R&D	Ross Bentley Chris Bingham	Riley & Scott Mk III	92
16	LMP	8th	Transatlantic Racing	Scott Schubot Rick Sutherland	Riley & Scott Mk III	90
17th	GTS	91	Dodge Viper Team Oreca	Olivier Beretta David Donohue	Dodge Viper GTS-R	90
18th	GTS	3	Corvette Racing	Ron Fellows Chris Kneifel	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R	89
19th	GTS	92	Dodge Viper Team Oreca	Karl Wendlinger Tommy Archer	Dodge Viper GTS-R	89
20th	GTS	55	Saleen-Allen Speedlab	Terry Borcheller Ron Johnson	Saleen SR	88
21st	GTS	56	Martin Snow Racing	Martin Snow Kelly Collins	Porsche 911 GT2	88
22nd	GT	9	Prototype Technology Group	Boris Said III Hans-Joachim Stuck	BMW M3	88
23	GT	23	Manthey Racing	Dirk Muller Cort Wagner	Porsche 996 GT3-R	88
24	GTS	48	Freising Motorsport	Wolfgang Kaufmann Michel Ligonnet	Porsche 911 GT2	87
25th	GTS	61	Konrad Motorsport	Bob Wollek Franz Konrad	Porsche 911 GT2	87
26th	GT	10	Prototype Technology Group	Darren Law Johannes van Overbeek	BMW M3	87
27	GT	22nd	Alex Job Racing	Mike Fitzgerald Darryl Havens	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	86
28	GT	24	Alex Job Racing	Randy Pobst Jim Kelly	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	86
29	GT	02	Reiser Callas Racing	Doc Bundy David Murry	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	86
30th	GT	68	The Racers Group	Kevin Buckler Vic Rice	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	85
31	GT	03	Reiser Callas Racing	Craig Stanton Joel Reiser Grady Willingham	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	85
32	GT	25th	RWS Motorsport	Luca Riccitelli Hans-Jörg Hofer	Porsche 996 GT3-R	84
33	GTS	83	Chiefie Motorsports	Stefano Buttiero Zak Brown	Porsche 911 GT2	83
34	GT	67	The Racers Group	Spencer Trenery Michael Schrom	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	83
35	GT	88	Vanderhoof Racing	Joe Varde Tim Ralston	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	82
36	GT	17th	Contemporary Motorsports	Mike Conte Bruno Lambert	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	78
37	LMP	63	Downing Atlanta	Chris Ronson Jim Downing	Kudzu DLY	63
Failed
38	GT	6th	Prototype Technology Group	Mark Simo Brian Cunningham	BMW M3	79
39	LMP	12	Doyle-Risi Racing	Wayne Taylor Alex Caffi	Ferrari 333SP	73
40	LMP	28	Intersport Racing	Jon Field Niclas Jönsson	Lola B98 / 10	38
41	GT	76	Team ARE	Simon Sobrero Harry Rady	Porsche 993 Carrera RSR	36
42	GT	7th	Prototype Technology Group	Christian Menzel Brian Cunningham	BMW M3	2
Not started
43	LMP	29	Intersport Racing	John Mirro Sam Brown Steve Romak	Riley & Scott Mk III	1
44	LMP	60	Head Precision Race Products	Kris Wilson Tim Moser	Boar KII	2
45	LMP	97	Team Cascadia	Ed Zabinski Shane Lewis	Lola B98 / 10	3

¹ not started ² not started ³ not started

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
46	GTS	04	J Motorsports	John Morton John Graham	Porsche 911 GT2
47	LMP	5	Whittington Brothers	Don Whittington Dale Whittington	Lola B98 / 10
48	GT	40	Team PRC	Scott Peeler Mike Doolin	Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
49	GT	52	Manthey Racing		Porsche 996 GT3-R
50	GT	90	Millennium Motorsports	David Friedman	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR

Class winner

class	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
LMP	JJ Lehto	Steve Soper	BMW V12 LMR	Overall victory
GTS	Olivier Beretta	David Donohue	Dodge Viper GTS-R	Rank 17
GT	Boris Said III	Hans-Joachim Stuck	BMW M3	Rank 22

Racing data

• Registered: 50
• Started: 42
• Rated: 37
• Race classes: 3
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm and dry
• Route length: 4.056 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 2: 44: 00.499 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 97
• Total distance of the winning team: 393.388 km
• Winner's average: 143.890 km / h
• Pole position: JJ Lehto - BMW V12 LMR (# 42) - 1: 22.387 = 174.010 km / h
• Fastest race lap: JJ Lehto - BMW V12 LMR (# 0) - 1: 23.835 = 174.010 km / h
• Racing series: 4th round of the 1999 ALMS season

Web links

• Race results

Previous race of the 2:45 hour Mosport race in 1999

American Le Mans Series

Succession Race 2: 45-hour race at Portland 1999