The impact of the broken guardrail on the Mosport backstraight after Luke Hines' accident. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

An update from the previous post. Following the red flag, here is an official statement released from IMSA, the ALMS sanctioning body, that says the race is now complete:

“Due to the massive crash that involved the No. 48 car with the barrier, the decision has been made to end the race with the cars in their current positions instead of asking fans to remain for another 29 minutes of racing. The time to repair the damage is estimated to be in excess of three hours. A final lap by all cars in the field will be made with the pace car in the lead.”

The Muscle Milk Team CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder takes the overall win with drivers Klaus Graf and Romain Dumas. Unofficially, the GT class winners are Patrick Long and Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, with the Challenge class winners Gunnar Jeannette and Elton Julian (LMPC, Green Earth Team Gunnar), and Lawson Aschenbach and Shane Lewis (GTC, Velox Motorsports).

Stay tuned for further updates from Mosport.

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The field came onto pit lane during the red flag that eventually ended the race at Mosport. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

More than two hours are complete in the two-hour, 45-minute race at Mosport. The race went under its second full course caution after a heavy accident for one of the GTC class Porsche GT3 Cups, but with just less than a half an hour remaining the race has been red-flagged. All cars are onto pit road with 29 minutes to go.

Just mere minutes before the two-hour mark in the two-hour, 45-minute race, there was contact between the Drayson Racing Lola Judd Coupe and the GTC-leading ORBIT/Paul Miller Racing Porsche GT3 Cup. The Porsche with Luke Hines driving had a serious accident, which caused heavy damage to the guardrail the backstraight. Some sections will need to be replaced.

Most of the field came in for another round of pit stops just after the caution flew. Of the leaders, the Muscle Milk Team CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder took fuel only while the Highcroft HPD ARX 01-c took both fuel and tires. In GT, the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche edged the No. 62 Risi Ferrari out of the pits for the class lead.

In the last stint, Simon Pagenaud did a fantastic job to stay on the lead lap for Highcroft. He restarted ahead of the leading CytoSport Porsche with Klaus Graf driving. Although he was nearly about to be lapped throughout the stint, Pagenaud worked through traffic to his advantage around the 2.459-mile Mosport International Raceway to stay on the lead lap.

When the race restarts, Pagenaud only has a few seconds in-between him and Graf in the leading CytoSport Porsche.

And in GT it should be a barnburner between the Lizard Porsche, Risi Ferrari and the No. 92 Rahal Letterman BMW, which had led the middle stint. Both of the Corvettes in fourth and fifth are also on the lead lap.

The Challenge class leaders are Gunnar Jeannette (LMPC, Green Earth Team Gunnar) and Lawson Aschenbach (GTC, Velox Motorsports).

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The CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder leads the Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Photo credit: Rick Dole for Michelin North America

We are past half distance and a yellow flag has altered the complexion of the penultimate round of the 2010 ALMS season at Mosport.

Several GT cars went off course on Turn 9 just past one hour into the race including the No. 90 Rahal Letterman BMW and the No. 40 Robertson Racing Doran Ford GT-R.

While most of the field had completed its first pit stops, the leading No. 6 Muscle Milk Team CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder was still in its first stint as the yellow flag flew.

The Porsche pitted under caution and changed drivers from Romain Dumas to Klaus Graf, and retains the lead after the restart. The Highcroft HPD car is still on the lead lap, but at the tail end as it restarts ahead on the road of the Porsche. Either way, the Porsche went five laps longer on its first stint (56 laps to 51) than Highcroft for both of the E10-fueled prototypes.

In GT, the No. 92 Rahal Letterman BMW leads with Tommy Milner aboard the car. Michelin technical partner teams Flying Lizard Motorsports with Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 45 Porsche and Risi Competizione with Gianmaria “Gimmi” Bruni now in the No. 62 Ferrari second and third in class. The BMW did pit nine laps sooner (35 to 44) than the other GT cars for its first stop.

Leaders in the Challenge classes are Gunnar Jeannette (LMPC, Green Earth Team Gunnar), and Luke Hines (GTC, ORBIT/Paul Miller Racing).

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We’re through a half an hour of the eighth round of the 2010 American Le Mans Series season and largely, the stories of the race have involved charges from the back of the field. So far there have not been any yellow flags or pit stops, except for the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette ZR1 and No. 75 Jaguar XKR.

Romain Dumas, who started the polesitting No. 6 Muscle Milk Team CytoSport Porsche RS Spyder, has led overall and in LMP from the green flag. But as the race has progressed, the field has closed in. Though Dumas led by more than 12 seconds at one point, the gap is back down to single digits to David Brabham. ‘Brabs’ of course is celebrating his 100th start in the ALMS today in the usual No. 1 Highcroft HPD ARX 01-c, renumbered No. 100 for this weekend.

Both the Intersport and Dyson Lolas started from the rear of the field. The Intersport Lola AER didn’t set a time in qualifying but Jon Field has flown through the 29-car field to fourth place, and the Dyson Lola Mazda driven by Chris Dyson just passed him to move up to third. The Dyson car changed tires before the start of the race and started from pit lane.

The Intersport Lola was the first of the prototypes to pit after 36 laps and with 45 minutes complete.

In GT, Toni Vilander has risen from last in class up to fourth behind the leading No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche, No. 4 Corvette and No. 92 Rahal Letterman BMW. A great drive then from the Finn, filling in for the sidelined Jaime Melo in the “rosso red” Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT. Melo is out today with a stomach virus. The starting drivers were Patrick Long, Oliver Gavin and Bill Auberlen.

Leaders in the Challenge classes are Elton Julian (LMPC, Green Earth Team Gunnar) and Bryce Miller (GTC, ORBIT/Paul Miller Racing).