I recently added a couple of Yahoo! Alerts. First it was the Oakland Athletics and then Barry Bonds. Three days ago I added - Porsche - to my alerts.

Here are a couple of stories that I thought you might find interesting:

1) Johannes van Overbeek WINS Porsche Cup

Porsche Cup won by series driver
Date 2007-12-10

LIZARDS' VAN OVERBEEK WINS PORSCHE CUP
The Porsche Cup is staying with Flying Lizard Motorsports and the American
Le Mans Series. Johannes van Overbeek was presented over the weekend with
the Porsche Cup, which goes annually to the world's top independent Porsche
driver. He finished second in the GT2 driver championship with Flying Lizard teammate & Porsche factory driver Jorg Bergmeister.

Van Overbeek, 34 and from San Francisco, appeared in all 12 American Le Mans Series rounds in 2007 with three victories (including his first Petit Le Mans win) and seven podium finishes. He and Bergmeister led the class championship through the seven races as the Lizards finished second in the team title chase.

For his efforts, He receives the sought-after silver-gold trophy as well as 37,000 Euros ($48,100) in prize money. The Porsche Cup is endowed with prize money totalling 153,000 Euros ($198,900).

Darren Law finished second in the Porsche Cup standings as Flying Lizard drivers placed 1-2 for the second year in a row. He made nine starts with two runner-up finishes on the season. Tafel Racing's Wolf Henzler, last year's Porsche Cup winner, placed third.

American Le Mans Series drivers held six of the top 10 positions and represented by GT2 and LMP2. Dyson Racing's contingent of Butch Leitzinger, Andy Wallace, Chris Dyson and Guy Smith each placed in the top 10. The Series has produced the past three winners of the award: van Overbeek, Henzler and Tim Sugden (2005 with J3 Racing).


2nd article about -> Johannes van Overbeek wins 2007 Porsche Cup

Flying Lizard Motorsports racer and one of the team's principal owners took a step up this year in the final tally for the Porsche Cup championship. Johannes van Overbeek is the proud recipient of this year's Porsche Cup, the tall lanky American was second last year to Wolf Henzler.

The top award for drivers racing Porsches does include the manufacturer's factory drivers who have rides with teams that are not factory owned but are considered privateer entrants. The award was presented to van Overbeek at the Porsche Motorsports Night in Weissach, Germany. He joins an elite group of racers who have earned the top Porsche driver award since the formation of the Porsche Cup in 1970, Price Cobb was the first of the USA drivers to win the special prize
in 1994.

Van Overbeek is the 5th American to earn the honor, he follows Cort Wagner (99)
Mike Fitzgerald (00) and Kevin Buckler (02) - but he is the second racer from the Flying Lizard team. Van Overbeek and last year's winner Henzler were teammates in the American Le Mans Series LMGT2 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. In 2006, Henzler also ran in the Grand-Am Rolex Series with Tafel Racing, the same team he remained with in their move this year to the ALMS GT2 class. The German and the American raced together at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the Grand-Am Rolex Series season opener for the Tafel team.

This year, van Overbeek was teamed in the No. 45 with Jorg Bergmeister. The duo
had the job of taking on the power of the dominant Ferrari teams in ALMS competition. They took the challenge and even though they finished second in the team, drivers' and manufacturers' championship, it was one of the best on-track battles of the season. The two drivers' earned second in their title fight with Mika Salo and Jaime Melo (Ferrari) taking the top honors. Third in the GT2 drivers title chase was Henzler.

Van Overbeek and Bergmeister scored wins at Lime Rock Park, Mid-Ohio and the Petit Le Mans in 2007. The most spectacular fire in a Porsche car came in the hands of the new Porsche Cup winner at Detroit which gave the Flying Lizard team little time to prepare a new Porsche 911 before heading to Road Atlanta for the 10,000-mile or 10-hour PLM. The victory at Petit with third driver Marc Lieb (2003 Porsche Cup winner) was one not only inportant for the two racers but for the team as it forced the championship fight to the season ending race at Laguna Seca.

"Petit is one of the big classics that every sports car team would like to win," van Overbeek said after the team earned their first Petit Le Mans victory. "We've been on the podium before and to get this one is fantastic. The team rebuilt the car after the fire and a lot of credit to the team for that. It's a new tub and its transit started before the end of the race at Detroit so thanks to Porsche."

Bob Wolleck remains at the top of the Porsche Cup winners with seven victories. The Frenchman no doubt will always hold that spot since Porsche changed the rules
plus the addition of the factory drivers now on the eligibility list. The competition is tight with drivers racing in worldwide competition that includes the Porsche Supercup, Porsche Carrera Cup, FIA-GT, the Porsche GT3 series, Le Mans Series, Grand-Am and the Grand Cup Koni Challenge series, plus the ALMS.

Placing second for the 2007 Porsche Cup was American Darren Law who co-drove the No. 44 for the Flying Lizards - again the team ended up one-two for the top independent Porsche team drivers - and Law did not race the full-season! The 2006 Porsche Cup winner, Henzler, ended third for the 2006 season.

ALMS racers placed three others in the top ten with all four of Dyson Racing's drivers: Butch Leitzinger, Andy Wallace, Chris Dyson and Guy Smith.


2) AMERICAN Patrick Long to Penske Racing in the RS Spyder

Patrick Long is the only American who has the honor of being a Porsche factory (works) driver and over the past years, including his time in Europe, he goes where Porsche Motorsports places him without question. Long was one of the extra drivers for the Penske Racing effort in a Porsche RS Spyder for last year. He received the news while at the Porsche Motorsports Night in Weissach, Germany that he has landed the available FT seat in the LMP2 entry for 2008.

"I'm extremely happy to embark on this journey; motorsports is all about making the most of your opportunities and this is one I've always aspired to," commented Long. "I'm completely focused on making the most of it and pushing for wins in 2008."

The racer who has already proven that he can handle any type of Porsche returns with bells on to the American Le Mans Series, where he once notched the co-driver' championship in the LMGT2 class for the German marque. 2006 Porsche drive Ryan Briscoe has moved to open-wheel racing with Penske in the IndyCar series, leaving Long the open spot.

Long aided the championship hunt with 2007 P2 champions' Timo Bernhard & Romain Dumas at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The 3 landed the class victory and just missed the overall win in a very close finish to LMP1 champions' Allan McNish & Rinaldo Capello. The Porsche lost to the Audi R10 TDI by only 0.923 seconds after 1,000 miles of a hard-fought battle.

"I had the fortune to have a taste of racing the RS Spyder with Penske in 2006 & 2007, and to continue in a full-time effort is very exciting," Long said. "I look forward to picking up where we left off with Penske and the RS Spyder from the victory at Petit Le Mans."

At the Twelve Hours of Sebring, Long was teamed with Wolf Henzler & Robin Liddell in the No. 71 Tafel Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR under the LMGT2 class. It was Tafel Racing's first race at the always challenging Sebring venue and the three racers deftly handed the team their first ALMS podium, finishing third.

Long ended the 2007 ALMS season with points in two categories: P2 and GT2.
The 2005 co-drivers' champion put in impressive showing for a "fill-in" driver. He raced at Long Beach in the No. 44 Flying Lizard Motorsports GT2 Porsche with Darren Law, finishing second in the new venue for the series.

The Belle Isle Grand Prix in Detroit was another new addition to the schedule and Long joined Law once again to take second in the GT2 class with the Flying Lizards.

The highlight of his racing career this year would have to be the win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Teaming up with Raymond Narac & Richard Lietz for the Imsa Performance Matmut team in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Long stood on the top podium in the LMGT2 class for the second time at Le Mans.

His first Le Mans victory came in 2004, agian in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, this time teamed up with Jorg Bergmeister & Sascha Maassen. The 2004 Porsche racers not only took the GT2 victory but they finished 10th overall on the La Sarthe circuit. Their team, which was a rarity, saw two ALMS teams combining their efforts for Le Mans: Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing and Alex Job Racing (AJR).

In 2005 and '06, Long was one of the two Petersen/WLR drivers, Bergmeister was his co-driver. The duo appeared unstoppable in their GT2 Porsche, they earned the co-drivers' title in '05. The only reason Long did not share the championship in 2006 was because he missed the ALMS season opener that year with the team when he was loaned out to co-drive with Bernhard and Dumas in the Penske team's Sebring debut.

The two were still dynamite this year when they teammates in the AJR Daytona Prototype for the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Bergmeister and Long earned the Montreal victory in the team's Porsche Crawford.

Long will turn laps in his new full-season ride on January 28-30 in the ALMS Open Test at the Sebring circuit in Florida. His teammates in the two Penske Porsche entries have yet to be named. "I want to thank Porsche and Penske Racing for this opportunity the challenge starts now and we'll be working hard!"


3) TAFEL RACING MAKES SWITCH TO FERRARIS FOR 2008

Tafel Racing will field two Ferrari F430 GTs next year in the GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series. Tafel Racing is heading in a different direction for the 2008 American Le Mans Series season after announcing it will campaign two Ferrari F430 GTs in the highly competitive GT2 class. The move comes following a 2007 season that saw the Cumming, Ga.-based team record six podium finishes and third place in both the drivers and team championships using Porsche GT3RS'.

But Ferraris record of nine class wins in 12 races, 11 GT2 pole positions and the class manufacturer title, and the driver and team championships with Risi Competizione made team owner Jim Tafel look hard at a switch.

"We spent the majority of the 2007 season in the rear-view mirror of the Ferrari teams," said Tafel, who also drives for the team. "We took a long hard look at what it would take to get back on a level playing field with teams like Risi Competizione and Petersen Motorsports, and after much soul searching and a very informative visit to Ferrari and Micheletto, who build the cars for Ferrari, we saw that the only way forward was to make the change."

Jim Tafel: ""We took a long hard look at what it would take to get back on a level playing field" with other Ferrari teams in GT2. The team will have at least one of its two Ferraris on the track for the annual American Le Mans Series Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway on January 28-30. Also coming in the near future are announcements regarding drivers and sponsorship plans.

"It's very hard to change a manufacturer after the success we have had," said Tony Dowe, team vice president and technical director. "Our sophomore year in the American Le Mans Series will be critical to our future planning. After the enormous effort that we made in 2007, we felt we needed a different foundation from which to move forward. After looking at all of the options it was clear that the move to Ferrari was our best opportunity to win races in 2008. The open communication that we already have with Micheletto has helped to confirm that we have made the right decision to go to the Prancing Horse for 2008."

The 10th season of the American Le Mans Series begins with the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida.