ONE FOR THE CAPTAIN; Dumas gives Penske his due reward.(Competition)

Byline: GARY WATKINS

The IndyCar Series was not the only entertaining show on Detroit's revived Belle Isle circuit, and it was fitting that Porsche factory drivers Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard claimed a last-gasp win to give event mastermind Roger Penske a home win. Dumas realized that he could give the boss "a present for all his hard work'' when he got a scent of victory as the two-hour, 45-minute race drew to a close.

Dumas led with an hour and 15 minutes of the race to go, after he took over from Bernhard during the second full-course caution period. Given that the Porsche RS Spyder was easily the fastest car and his teammates were back in the pack, a sixth overall win of the season looked likely for Dumas and Bernhard.

Dumas didn't count on a phenomenal restart from Audi driver Emanuele Pirro when the race finally went green with 49 minutes to go. Pirro, who co-drove as usual with Marco Werner, used every ounce of the R10 turbo-diesel's torque to blast into the lead from fourth behind the pace car.

Pirro had to make two more strong getaways before the race finished, courtesy of another pair of cautions. Each time, he had the measure of Dumas and was able to edge away.

With 12 minutes to go, the gap was nearly three seconds. Then Dumas started to close in and, within five laps, was right behind the Audi.

Pirro had tire problems, which coincided with a renewed push from Dumas. The Penske team reminded Dumas over the radio that second overall and first in the LMP2 class was good enough. The driver had other ideas, even though he was racing on probation after receiving a 10-point penalty during the ALMS' previous race, at Mosport.