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14.04.2007 Porsche RS Spyder again on the first row of the grid A Porsche RS Spyder takes up the third round of the American Le Mans Series in Long Beach from the first row. In the final seconds of a suspenseful qualifying Ryan Briscoe (Australia) secured the second fastest time at the wheel of his number 6 RS Spyder. Manning the second Penske Motorsports RS Spyder with the starting number 7, Timo Bernhard (Germany) qualified the sports prototype, developed and built in Weissach, on the second row of the grid. The American Le Mans Series races on the famous street course in California for the first time. “This was a really good qualifying. The drivers who already know this circuit from other race series have a clear advantage,“ said Ryan Briscoe, who celebrated his first victory in the American Le Mans Series two weeks ago in St. Petersburg. “It's naturally annoying to lose the pole position in the final lap, but I'm feeling very confident for the race. We very quickly found an excellent set-up with the team for this course.“ In the fight for the pole position on the 3.198 kilometre course through the city streets, Ryan Briscoe was beaten by just three-tenths of a second. Briscoe shares driving duties with Sascha Maassen from Germany. Just one-tenth of a second behind the duo, Timo Bernhard, teaming up with Romain Dumas (France), set the third fastest time. After heading into the St. Petersburg race side-by-side from the first row – a first in the American Le Mans Series – the RS Spyders were again able to beat the more powerful vehicles in the LM P1 class. The two RS Spyders run by the US Dyson Racing team take up the race from the fourth and fifth grid row. Andy Wallace (Great Britain) posted the sixth quickest time in the LM P2 class at the wheel of his number 16 RS Spyder. He contests the race with Butch Leitzinger (USA). One position behind the pair, team mates Chris Dyson (USA) and Guy Smith (Great Britain) take up the race with the number 20 RS Spyder. Qualifying for the GT2 category for modified near-standard sportscars also turned into a hotly-contested battle. Patrick Long (USA) celebrated a successful comeback after not starting at the St. Petersburg round. Just two tenths of a second shy of the best time, Long claimed second at the wheel of his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR fielded by Flying Lizard Motorsports. Title defender Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) clinched third position in the second 911 GT3 RSR of the team. The race gets underway on Saturday at 4pm local time (1am CET Sunday) and runs over 100 minutes.