Published: April 18, 2011
"I had the plan in my head to get around Chris in the first corner but he did a good job staying ahead," Luhr said. "But I could see I was quicker and made my move a few turns later. The car was good. We had some issues in the first practice and didn't do many laps. The car was running perfectly today."
Shortly after Luhr's pass for the lead, attention turned to a furious GT battle led by Joey Hand in the BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT. While leading the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Patrick Long and the Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R of Oliver Gavin, Hand was caught out by teammate Bill Auberlen, who spun in Turn 2 just before the 30-minute mark and blocked the course as the GT leaders came back around. Gavin seized the moment, promoting his Corvette into the lead on lap 44.
"My eyes were popping out of my head but that's how street racing is," Hand said. "The incident with Bill was interesting. I went to the right and he went to the right. It wasn't his fault because he couldn't see me."
GTC traffic came into play next when Long attempted to use one of the slower cars for a pick on Gavin in an attempt to take the lead 10 minutes later at Turn 7. Hand, who had fallen to third, anticipated the move and passed both Gavin and Long to move back into the GT lead. A flawless pit stop for the BMW Team RLL ensured Dirk Mueller was in position to take the team's second consecutive win.
"It was definitely not easy because we were out of sync with everyone after the pit stop," Mueller said. "The GT battle was fantastic from the beginning. There are so many moments. It was an absolute battle and I knew I had to push like crazy. I was really happy to see the yellow at the end."
The No. 4 Corvette finished second in the hands of Magnussen, who set a new GT race lap record of 1:20.552. Third place went to the hard-charging Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia driven by Toni Vilander and Jaime Melo. The team was forced to start the car from the back of the grid after an accident in qualifying prevented Melo from entering a flying lap.
"If you don't like ALMS GT racing, you don't like racing," Hand said of the thrilling GT race. "If I was a spectator, I'd love to see what is going on out there. I race to put on a show for people watching at home, and I think that's what we all did."
Meanwhile at the head of the field, the Muscle Milk Lola-Aston Martin built as much as a 70-second lead in the 83-lap race after Luhr found himself in the middle of the intense GT battle.
"Lucas laid the groundwork today," Graf said. "He brought the car to the pit stop very well. This is a big reward for our guys after Sebring where things didn't go to plan."
It is the second Long Beach overall win for Luhr, who qualified on the LMP1 pole and set the fastest lap of the race en route to a win for Audi Sport Team Joest in 2008.
"Against the Audi, with that huge amount of power and torque, the Aston Martin is quite easy to drive," Luhr said. "It was easy to spin the Audi out of the hairpin. Your right foot had to be so much more sensible. The view from inside the (Lola-Aston Martin) is much better than I expected. But it's two completely different cars. The handling on the city circuit is better in the Aston Martin."
In LMPC, polesitter CORE autosport faced off against Intersport Racing. The pivotal moment came on lap 56 when Gunnar Jeannette's ORECA FLM09 passed Kyle Marcelli for the lead in Turn 1. It was the first win for the new LMPC team and defending Cooper Tires Prototype Lites championship team but the second in a row at Long Beach for Jeannette. Finishing third overall with Ricardo Gonzalez, Jeannette also set a new LMPC race lap record at Long Beach, a 1:18.620.
"I'm so happy to be up here for CORE autosport's first win," Jeannette said.
Completing the LMPC podium with Intersport's Marcelli and Tomy Drissi were Eric Lux and Elton Julian in the Genoa Racing ORECA FLM09.
Black Swan Racing, which had a rough debut at Long Beach last year, navigated the treacherous streets like veterans this year for its second straight GTC win of the season with Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen behind the wheel of their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry.
The Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup piloted by Bill Sweedler and Leh Keen finished second in GTC, followed by Magnus Racing's John Potter and Craig Stanton.
Level 5 Motorsports was the LMP2 winner, though the team elected to park the Lola-Honda coupe piloted by Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut after 45 laps.
"We're running Le Mans and going to the Test Day next Sunday," team owner Tucker explained. "One of our goals here was bringing the coupe, which is leaving in two hours. We decided this was the best thing to do in the overall picture."
"I am happy to be here and win at Long Beach," Bouchut said. "It is always a big challenge with traffic. Of course the big race at Le Mans is upcoming and we have a lot to do."
The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón will take its traditional break for those teams preparing to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and return for Round 3, the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, on July 9.
The Highlands Today sports staff can be reached at 863-386-5841 or sports@highlandstoday.com.
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