Audi scored 1-2 finish in the American Le Mans Series

Audi scored its second straight 1-2 finish in the American Le Mans Series, as Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr scored a 2.463-second win in their diesel-powered R10 TDI over the sister car of Marcel Fässler and Emanuele Pirro. Werner passed race leader David Brabham on Road America’s long front stretch for the lead with 20 minutes left.
Werner and Luhr won for the sixth time this season in LMP1 and fourth time overall. Luhr qualified on the pole, leading to Audi’s first overall win at Road America for the first time since 2006. The R10s also won back-to-back overall for the first time in two years.

Intersport Racing’s LMP1 entry led early, thanks to a strong drive early from Jon Field. The Lola B06/10-AER of Field, son Clint and Richard Berry finished third in class and seventh overall.

David Brabham and Scott Sharp scored their third LMP2 win of the season for Patrón Highcroft Racing and Acura, thanks in large part to Franck Montagny’s crash in the Andretti Green Racing Acura with 11 minutes remaining. Montagny, who teamed with James Rossiter, tried to dive down to the inside of a slower GT2-class Aston Martin at the end of the long backstretch, leading to the contact.

Montagny qualified on the class pole and second overall. Before crashing out of the race, he had passed Brabham at turn one two minutes earlier and appeared on the way to Andretti Green’s first series win since Sebring in 2007.

Defending overall race winners Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas finished second in LMP2 and fourth overall, just 0.867 seconds behind Brabham. Dyson Racing scored its first podium finish since Sebring, with Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti coming home third in class in their Porsche RS Spyder.

Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen won in GT1 in Corvette Racing’s No. 3 Corvette C6.R after the dominating sister car crashed out with 52 minutes remaining. Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta dominated until that point and led the entire way before Gavin inexplicably went off track on the long backstretch.

O’Connell and Magnussen won for the sixth time in seven races and were a full lap ahead of Terry Borcheller and Chapman Ducote in Bell Motorsports’ Aston Martin DBR9.

Farnbacher Loles Racing took its maiden GT2 victory with a tense, late-race win for Dirk Werner, Richard Westbrook and Bryce Miller in their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Werner got around Risi Competizione’s Mika Salo and his Ferrari F430 GT at the start of the last lap.

Salo spun at turn five when he tried to outbrake Werner in the sharp left-handed turn. Werner went on to win by 7.345-seconds over Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Wolf Henzler, who teamed with fellow class championship leader Jörg Bergmeister. Tafel Racing’s Dirk Mueller and Dominik Farnbacher finished third in class, another 3.641 seconds back.

source: AutoWeek