The 2008 Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón was the eleventh and final round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, California on 18 October 2008. It was the first time the event had a sponsor in its name since the 2004 season.

Report

Qualifying The LMP2 category dominated qualifying, led by the four Acura teams who were able to qualify in the top five positions, led by David Brabham in the Highcroft Racing Acura on pole position. The Acura squads were broken up only by the #7 Penske Porsche which qualified third. In LMP1, the #1 Audi led that class but was only ninth overall in the standings. Among the Corvette teams, the #3 car once again earned pole over its teammate, while GT2 was led by Farnbacher-Loles' Porsche. Tafel Racing meanwhile led among Ferrari squads in third place within the class.

Qualifying result Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.

Pos Class Team Qualifying Driver Time 1 LMP2 #9 Patrón Highcroft Racing David Brabham 1:10.103 2 LMP2 #15 Lowe's Fernández Racing Luis Díaz 1:10.202 3 LMP2 #7 Penske Racing Timo Bernhard 1:10.351 4 LMP2 #66 de Ferran Motorsports Gil de Ferran 1:10.451 5 LMP2 #26 Andretti Green Racing Tony Kanaan 1:10.567 6 LMP2 #6 Penske Racing Sascha Maassen 1:10.586 7 LMP2 #5 Penske Motorsports, Inc. Ryan Briscoe 1:10.606 8 LMP2 #16 Dyson Racing Guy Smith 1:11.010 9 LMP1 #1 Audi Sport North America Emanuele Pirro 1:11.264 10 LMP1 #2 Audi Sport North America Lucas Luhr 1:11.825 11 LMP2 #20 Dyson Racing Butch Leitzinger 1:12.089 12 LMP1 #48 Corsa Motorsports Johnny Mowlem 1:12.819 13 LMP2 #8 B-K Motorsports Ben Devlin 1:13.321 14 LMP1 #37 Intersport Racing Jon Field 1:13.379 15 LMP1 #88 Creation Autosportif Stephen Simpson 1:13.481 16 LMP1 #12 Autocon Motorsports Chris McMurry 1:14.549 17 GT1 #3 Corvette Racing Jan Magnussen 1:19.291 18 GT1 #4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin 1:19.790 19 GT2 #87 Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport Dirk Werner 1:22.060 20 GT2 #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister 1:22.380 21 GT2 #71 Tafel Racing Dominik Farnbacher 1:22.701 22 GT2 #46 Flying Lizard Motorsports Patrick Pilet 1:22.869 23 GT2 #62 Risi Competizione Mika Salo 1:22.962 24 GT2 #99 JMB Racing Pierre Kaffer 1:23.243 25 GT2 #61 Risi Competizione Niclas Jönsson 1:23.928 26 GT2 #21 Panoz Team PTG Joey Hand 1:24.084 27 GT2 #18 VICI Racing Nicky Pastorelli 1:24.111 28 GT2 #007 Drayson-Barwell Jonny Cocker 1:24.626 29 GT2 #54 Black Swan Racing Anthony Lazzaro 1:24.711 30 GT2 #40 Robertson Racing David Murry 1:24.727 31 GT2 #73 Tafel Racing Pierre Ehret 1:24.970 32 GT2 #11 Primetime Race Group Chris Hall 1:26.124 33 GT2 #44 Flying Lizard Motorsports Seth Neiman 1:26.704 34 LMP1 #10 ECO Racing Did Not Participate No Time

Race The final round of the ALMS season was slowed by a total of twelve caution periods over the four-hour race distance, including four within the first hour alone. This allowed for a variety of pit strategies to come into place as teams chose to make their first pit stops during different caution periods. The Acura teams led early, but Audi was eventually able to take the overall lead, eventually completing the race first and second, led by the #2 car of Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr. In LMP2, Acura's also finished first and second, but the #7 Penske Porsche's finish of third was able to secure Porsche the Manufacturers Championship within the class by a single point.

In GT1, the #4 Corvette of Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin earned their third win of the season over their teammates, while the #71 Tafel Racing Ferrari secured its fourth victory in GT2 in 2008. The Risi Competizione Ferrari and Farnbacher-Loles Porsche completed the GT2 podium, while the PTG Panoz had a strong fourth-place finish a lap behind.

Race result Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Engine 1 LMP1 2 Audi Sport North America Marco Werner Lucas Luhr Audi R10 TDI 145 Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12(Diesel) 2 LMP1 1 Audi Sport North America Emanuele Pirro Christijan Albers Audi R10 TDI 145 Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12(Diesel) 3 LMP2 26 Andretti Green Racing Franck Montagny Tony Kanaan Acura ARX-01B 145 Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 4 LMP2 66 de Ferran Motorsports Gil de Ferran Simon Pagenaud Acura ARX-01B 145 Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 5 LMP2 7 Penske Racing Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas Porsche RS Spyder Evo 145 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 6 LMP2 5 Penske Motorsports, Inc. Hélio Castroneves Ryan Briscoe Porsche RS Spyder Evo 145 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 7 LMP2 16 Dyson Racing Chris Dyson Guy Smith Porsche RS Spyder Evo 145 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 8 LMP2 20 Dyson Racing Butch Leitzinger Marino Franchitti Porsche RS Spyder Evo 144 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 9 LMP2 15 Lowe's Fernández Racing Adrian Fernández Luis Díaz Acura ARX-01B 144 Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 10 LMP2 6 Penske Racing Patrick Long Sascha Maassen Porsche RS Spyder Evo 144 Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 11 LMP1 48 Corsa Motorsports Gunnar Jeannette Johnny Mowlem Stefan Johansson Ginetta-Zytek 07S 142 Zytek 4.5 L V8 12 GT1 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 139 Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0 L V8(E85 ethanol) 13 GT1 3 Corvette Racing Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 139 Chevrolet LS7-R 7.0 L V8(E85 ethanol) 14 GT2 71 Tafel Racing Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller Ferrari F430GT 139 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 15 LMP2 9 Patrón Highcroft Racing Scott Sharp David Brabham Acura ARX-01B 139 Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 16 GT2 62 Risi Competizione Jaime Melo Mika Salo Ferrari F430GT 139 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 17 GT2 87 Farnbacher-Loles Motorsports Dirk Werner Bryce Miller Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 138 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 18 LMP1 88 Creation Autosportif Jamie Campbell-Walter Stephen Simpson Liz Halliday Creation CA07 138 AIM (Judd) YS5.5 5.5 L V10(E85 ethanol) 19 GT2 21 Panoz Team PTG Tommy Milner Joey Hand Panoz Esperante GT-LM 137 Ford (Élan) 5.0 L V8 20 GT2 46 Flying Lizard Motorsports Johannes van Overbeek Patrick Pilet Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 137 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 21 GT2 44 Flying Lizard Motorsports Darren Law Seth Neiman Lonnie Pechnik Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 135 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 22 GT2 99 JMB Racing Aucott Racing Ben Aucott Pierre Kaffer Ferrari F430GT 134 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 23 GT2 007 Drayson-Barwell Paul Drayson Jonny Cocker Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 134 Aston Martin 4.5 L V8(E85 ethanol) 24 GT2 54 Black Swan Racing Tim Pappas Anthony Lazzaro Andy Pilgrim Ford GT-R Mk.VII 133 Ford 5.0 L V8 25 GT2 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 133 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 26 GT2 73 Tafel Racing Harrison Brix Alex Figge Pierre Ehret Ferrari F430GT 132 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 27 GT2 61 Risi Competizione Krohn Racing Tracy Krohn Niclas Jönsson Ferrari F430GT 129 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 28 GT2 40 Robertson Racing David Robertson Andrea Robertson David Murry Ford GT-R Mk.VII 129 Ford 5.0 L V8 29 GT2 11 Primetime Race Group Joel Feinberg Chris Hall Dodge Viper Competition Coupe 112 Dodge 8.3 L V10 30 LMP2 8 B-K Motorsports Gerardo Bonilla Ben Devlin Raphael Matos Lola B08/86 106 Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4(E85 ethanol) 31DNF LMP1 37 Intersport Racing Jon Field Ryan Lewis Richard Berry Lola B06/10 102 AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8(E85 ethanol) 32NC LMP1 12 Autocon Motorsports Chris McMurry Tony Burgess Lola B06/10 87 AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8 33DNF LMP1 10 ECO Racing Andrew Prendeville Hideki Noda Radical SR10 46 ECO (AER) 5.0 L Turbo V10(Diesel) 34DNF GT2 18 VICI Racing Nicky Pastorelli Francesco Pastorelli Marc Basseng Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 17 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6

References