Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf flexed their Muscle Milk Pickett Racing prototype’s strength yesterday, repeating as winner of the American LeMans Series’ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge, their fifth straight victory this season.
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On a hot, humid, breezy afternoon, first Luhr and then Graf led almost all the way in the 2-hour, 45-minute timed race, completing 123 laps around the 2.23-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Of course, they had to beat only two other cars in the top prototype division of a race that included five classes.
“It’s never easy; we had a couple little things going, a little drama,” said Graf, even though they won by more than a lap over the second-place Dyson Racing team. “But, all in all, this was a good day for us.”
Taking the prototype 2 division were Scott Tucker and Chris Bouchut. Rusty Junco and Marino Franchitti won in the prototype challenge, and Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner won in GT.
Team Viper making its big return to the ALMS series managed to not only keep both cars running through to the finish, but actually logged consistently improved performance throughout the two-hour, 45-minute timed event. As an added bonus, one of the Viper GTS-Rs had a top-10 finish.
Conquest Endurance claimed its first MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge victory and the first for Nissan today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. The win follows the team’s first ever American Le Mans Series class win at the previous event.
Drivers Martin Plowman of Indianapolis and David Heinemeier-Hansson of Chicago helped take team owner Eric Bachelart’s Indianapolis based LMP2 team to victory in America’s premier environmental motorsports competition.
The win is also the first for Nissan and chassis maker Morgan. The E-10 fueled Conquest team finished second in the LMP2 class and fourth overall in the two-hour 45 minute race on the 2.258 mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Taking the MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge GT class award was the #55 BMW Team RLL driven by Redondo Beach, California’s Bill Auberlen and Jorg Muller of Monte Carlo. Starting the race from the GT class pole, the E-85 fueled BMW E92 M3 led the early stages of the race and finished third in the rugged GT class.
The MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge win is the second of the season for the team headed by former Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal.
“Our second Michelin Green X challenge trophy of the season recognizes our efficient use of energy over the course of today’s race. The trophy is proof that we get everything out of our BMW on every lap,” said Rahal.
| Pos | Starting | Class Pos | Class | Car Number | Drivers | Best Time | Laps | Make |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | P1 | 6 | Lucas Luhr / Klaus Graf | 1:12.526 | 123 | HPD ARX-03a |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | P1 | 16 | Chris Dyson / Guy Smith | 1:13.127 | 122 | Lola B12/60 |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | P2 | 055 | Scott Tucker / Christophe Bouchut | 1:15.305 | 121 | HPD ARX-03b |
| 4 | 5 | 2 | P2 | 37 | Martin Plowman / David Heinemeier Hansson | 1:15.146 | 121 | Morgan |
| 5 | 7 | 3 | P2 | 95 | Scott Tucker / Ricardo Gonzalez | 1:15.497 | 120 | HPD ARX-03b |
| 6 | 8 | 1 | PC | 52 | Rudy Junco / Marino Franchitti | 1:16.897 | 118 | Oreca FLM09 |
| 7 | 12 | 2 | PC | 06 | Alex Popow / Ryan Dalziel | 1:17.496 | 118 | Oreca FLM09 |
| 8 | 11 | 3 | PC | 8 | Kyle Marcelli / Antonio Downs | 1:17.167 | 116 | Oreca FLM09 |
| 9 | 6 | 4 | P2 | 27 | Patrick Dempsey / Joe Foster / Dane Cameron | 1:15.665 | 116 | Lola B12/87 |
| 10 | 9 | 4 | PC | 9 | Bruno Junqueira / Tomy Drissi | 1:17.033 | 115 | Oreca FLM09 |
| 11 | 20 | 1 | GT | 4 | Oliver Gavin / Tommy Milner | 1:20.875 | 115 | Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 |
| 12 | 17 | 2 | GT | 45 | Jörg Bergmeister / Patrick Long | 1:20.778 | 115 | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR |
| 13 | 3 | 3 | P1 | 20 | Michael Marsal / Eric Lux | 1:14.608 | 114 | Lola B11/66 |
| 14 | 15 | 3 | GT | 55 | Jörg Müller / Bill Auberlen | 1:21.214 | 114 | BMW E92 M3 |
| 15 | 13 | 5 | PC | 25 | Henri Richard / Duncan Ende | 1:18.405 | 114 | Oreca FLM09 |
| 16 | 23 | 4 | GT | 17 | Wolf Henzler / Bryan Sellers | 1:22.274 | 114 | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |
| 17 | 21 | 5 | GT | 56 | Joey Hand / Dirk Müller | 1:21.408 | 114 | BMW E92 M3 |
| 18 | 18 | 6 | GT | 01 | Scott Sharp / Johannes Van Overbeek | 1:21.188 | 113 | Ferrari F458 Italia |
| 19 | 26 | 7 | GT | 44 | Seth Neiman / Marco Holzer | 1:20.874 | 113 | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR |
| 20 | 16 | 8 | GT | 02 | Ed Brown / Guy Cosmo | 1:20.957 | 112 | Ferrari F458 Italia |
| 21 | 10 | 6 | PC | 05 | Jonathan Bennett / Colin Braun | 1:17.190 | 112 | Oreca FLM09 |
| 22 | 22 | 9 | GT | 48 | Bryce Miller / Sascha Maassen | 1:21.960 | 112 | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |
| 23 | 32 | 10 | GT | 91 | Kuno Wittmer / Dominik Farnbacher | 1:22.791 | 111 | SRT Viper GTSR |
| 24 | 25 | 11 | GT | 23 | Bill Sweedler / Townsend Bell | 1:22.826 | 109 | Lotus Evora |
| 25 | 24 | 12 | GT | 93 | Marc Goossens / Tommy Kendall | 1:22.997 | 109 | SRT Viper GTSR |
| 26 | 28 | 1 | GTC | 11 | Timothy Pappas / Jeroen Bleekemolen | 1:26.592 | 108 | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |
| 27 | 29 | 2 | GTC | 66 | Al Carter / Spencer Pumpelly | 1:26.611 | 107 | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |
| 28 | 31 | 3 | GTC | 33 | Bob Faieta / Patrick Huisman | 1:26.707 | 107 | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |
| 29 | 30 | 4 | GTC | 22 | Cooper MacNeil / Leh Keen | 1:26.631 | 107 | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |
| 30 | 27 | 5 | GTC | 34 | Peter LeSaffre / Damien Faulkner | 1:26.548 | 106 | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |
| 31 | 19 | 13 | GT | 3 | Antonio Garcia / Jan Magnussen | 1:20.814 | 105 | Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 |
| 32 | 14 | 7 | PC | 7 | Tony Burgess / James Kovacic | 1:17.743 | 88 | Oreca FLM09 |
