The Muscle Milk Lola Aston Martin of Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf took its first win in the LMP1 class at the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach race.
Luhr took the lead from the pole-winning Dyson Lola Mazda in Turn Five on the first lap and never lost it, cruising home comfortably with a 24-second margin.
“I had the plan in my head to get around Chris [Dyson] in the first corner but he did a good job staying ahead,“ Luhr told ESPN3. ”I could see I was quicker, and made my move a few turns later. The car was good. The car was running perfectly today. For me, this is very special.
“I had a bit of a moment with the Flying Lizard Porsche. I saw three GT cars battling and that they were getting pretty close to each other. I lifted because I could see something was about to happen. As I got closer, I could see his suspension was broken and he kept going and got closer and closer as I approached.
BMW won in GT for the second race in a row, with the #56 M3 of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand beating the #4 Corvette of Jan Magnusson and Oliver Gavin.
Hand spoke to ESPN3 about the race. “We’ve been coming out of the trailer really, really good this year. The BMW has been so strong.
“I don’t know the last time I started a race but it is very nerve-wracking. I had to get the car to Dirk, and the way things were shaking out it was a race of near-misses. If you don’t like ALMS GT racing, you don’t like racing. If I was a spectator, I’d love to see what is going on out there.”
In LMPC, Gunnar Jeannette got his first win with his new team, after a good fight with Kyle Marcelli in the #89 Intersport car. “I’m so happy to be up here for CORE Autosport’s first win,“ he said. ”Ricardo [co-driver Ricardo Gonzalez] did a fantastic job today and put in a monster first stint.
“We decided to take tires under green, and props to our guys for being able to do a four-tire change under green and get us out behind the Intersport car.
“It’s never easy to win here at Long Beach and any street course in the ALMS. To have two wins here in a row, I have to pinch myself.” (Jeannette won in 2010 driving for Green Earth/Team Gunnar.)
Black Swan picked up its second win of the season, with team owner Tim Pappas and co-driver Jeroen Bleeckemolen using pit strategy as well and quick driving to finish ahead of the #23 Alex Job Porsche of Leh Keen and Bill Sweedler.
““Last year we came here and had a terrible weekend—one of those that you want to forget” Pappas told ESPN3. “But we decided to come out here this year and be strong. The car was perfect and we didn’t have any problems. We kept crossing our fingers all weekend.”
The final battle in P1 didn’t materialize as the race ended under caution. After taking the lead on the first lap, Lucas Luhr brought the Aston Martin in for fuel and a driver change on lap 44, with 54 minutes left in the race. Chances are the big 6-liter Aston Martin V12 would have been too thirsty to last ‘til the end without a splash of fuel. Had not the final seven minutes of the race been run under yellow, things might have gotten extremely exciting.
Luhr took the lead from the pole-winning Dyson Lola Mazda in Turn Five on the first lap and never lost it, cruising home comfortably with a 24-second margin.
“I had the plan in my head to get around Chris [Dyson] in the first corner but he did a good job staying ahead,“ Luhr told ESPN3. ”I could see I was quicker, and made my move a few turns later. The car was good. The car was running perfectly today. For me, this is very special.
“I had a bit of a moment with the Flying Lizard Porsche. I saw three GT cars battling and that they were getting pretty close to each other. I lifted because I could see something was about to happen. As I got closer, I could see his suspension was broken and he kept going and got closer and closer as I approached.
BMW won in GT for the second race in a row, with the #56 M3 of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand beating the #4 Corvette of Jan Magnusson and Oliver Gavin.
Hand spoke to ESPN3 about the race. “We’ve been coming out of the trailer really, really good this year. The BMW has been so strong.
“I don’t know the last time I started a race but it is very nerve-wracking. I had to get the car to Dirk, and the way things were shaking out it was a race of near-misses. If you don’t like ALMS GT racing, you don’t like racing. If I was a spectator, I’d love to see what is going on out there.”
In LMPC, Gunnar Jeannette got his first win with his new team, after a good fight with Kyle Marcelli in the #89 Intersport car. “I’m so happy to be up here for CORE Autosport’s first win,“ he said. ”Ricardo [co-driver Ricardo Gonzalez] did a fantastic job today and put in a monster first stint.
“We decided to take tires under green, and props to our guys for being able to do a four-tire change under green and get us out behind the Intersport car.
“It’s never easy to win here at Long Beach and any street course in the ALMS. To have two wins here in a row, I have to pinch myself.” (Jeannette won in 2010 driving for Green Earth/Team Gunnar.)
Black Swan picked up its second win of the season, with team owner Tim Pappas and co-driver Jeroen Bleeckemolen using pit strategy as well and quick driving to finish ahead of the #23 Alex Job Porsche of Leh Keen and Bill Sweedler.
““Last year we came here and had a terrible weekend—one of those that you want to forget” Pappas told ESPN3. “But we decided to come out here this year and be strong. The car was perfect and we didn’t have any problems. We kept crossing our fingers all weekend.”
LMP1
The final battle in P1 didn’t materialize as the race ended under caution. After taking the lead on the first lap, Lucas Luhr brought the Aston Martin in for fuel and a driver change on lap 44, with 54 minutes left in the race. Chances are the big 6-liter Aston Martin V12 would have been too thirsty to last ‘til the end without a splash of fuel. Had not the final seven minutes of the race been run under yellow, things might have gotten extremely exciting.
