ALMS : Las Vegas : BMW 1st & 2nd
7.11.99
At the final round of the American Le Mans Series, the Grand Prix of Las Vegas, Elliot Forbes-Robinson became the 1999 Champion despite not having won a single race. Partnered by James Weaver in a Riley & Scott Ford, he finished the Las Vegas race in sixth place and this was good enough, together with many other excellent placings, to give him the title.
Going into the final round, the showdown would undoubtedly be between the two Panoz LMP Roadsters and the two BMW V-12 LMRs. The Ferrari "class" included four 333SPs, with the Matthews/Johansson car qualifying in seventh place, Theys/Baldi 10th, Taylor/Caffi 12th and De Radigues/Angelelli in 13th.
The race was indeed a ferocious Panoz vs. BMW battle. The Panoz', driven by Magnussen/O'Connell and Brabham/Bernard, pulled out a useful lead from the start, with the BMWs being crowded not just by the R & Ss but even by the lead Ferrari, that of Matthews/Johansson.
Bernard's Panoz was the first casualty when it made contact with a spinning Porsche but after hasty repairs it continued to chase hard after the leading pack as there was still a possibility that Brabham could win the Championship from Elliot Forbes-Robinson.
Towards the end of the race, however, it all went wrong for the front-engined Panoz Roadsters. The Brabham/Bernard car retired with engine failure and the Magnussen/O'Connell car slipped back into the field with brake problems. This left the two BMWs to run to a photo-finish, with the DAMS-Lola of Gounon/Tinseau in third, ahead of the surviving Panoz of O'Connell/Magnussen and then the best of the Ferraris (Matthews/Johansson).
The two Doyle-Risi Ferraris of Taylor/Caffi and Angelelli/De Radigues finished seventh and eighth, whilst the Theys/Baldi 333SP was taken out by yet another spinning Porsche.
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