Backstretch Motorsports

Traffic at Mosport International Raceway did little to faze Audi Sport North America’s Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner on Sunday as they drove to their third straight overall American Le Mans Series victory in the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport. Luhr crossed the finish line 21.392 seconds ahead of teammate Emanuele Pirro as Gil de Ferran ran out of fuel on the last lap while leading in LMP2. That sent David Brabham and Scott Sharp to their fourth class victory of the season.

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Audi scored its second straight 1-2 finish in the American Le Mans Series with Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr scoring a 2.463-second victory in their diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI over the sister car of Marcel Fässler and Emanuele Pirro. Werner passed race leader David Brabham on Road America’s long frontstretch for the lead with 20 minutes left to win the Generac 500 presented by Time Warner Cable at Road America.

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Audi returned to its dominating style at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with a 1-2 finish in the Acura Sports Car Challenge on Saturday with Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner taking the first overall victory for the R10 TDI since April. Luhr crossed the finish line 7.717 seconds ahead of teammates Emanuele Pirro and Dindo Capello.

Luhr drove the last 1:55 with the same set of Michelin tires and one more stop for fuel. Werner started fifth on the grid but moved up to third on the first lap, was second on the third lap and took the lead for good when Werner passed pole-sitter Gil de Ferran’s Acura ARX-01b a minute later.

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Gil de Ferran won his third straight pole position at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Friday…seven years since his last. The storybook debut season for De Ferran Motorsports continued with de Ferran’s first pole in the American Le Mans Series, a record-breaking 1:07.969 (119.596 mph) for the Acura Sports Car Challenge.

De Ferran’s Acura ARX-01b led a second straight overall sweep of the front row for Acura in a home race before thousands of Honda and Acura employees and guests. The two-time CART and former Indianapolis 500 winner qualified 0.224 seconds ahead of Patrón Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham, who sat on the pole a week ago at Lime Rock and won the race overall with Scott Sharp.

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Two ALMS races within eight days
US comeback for defending champion Dindo Capello
“Clean Diesel” with advantage over Ethanol

Ingolstadt [2008/06/30] – After a seven-week break, the American Le Mans Series continues in the middle of July with back-to-back races: At Lime Rock (Connecticut) and Mid-Ohio (Ohio) the world’s fastest sportscar contest two races within eight days on 12 and 19 July.

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Sunshine, rain and hail on official test day
Nine Audi factory drivers complete almost 2,600 kilometres
Audi R10 TDI runs with next-generation bio fuel for the first time

Ingolstadt/Le Mans – All set for the “race of the year”: covering a total of almost 2,600 kilometres on the only official test day, the Audi drivers prepared themselves for the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans to be staged on 14 and 15 June. The Audi R10 TDI vehicles completed the eight-hour test without the slightest technical problem.

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Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard gave Porsche and Penske Racing their second straight victory at Miller Motorsports Park with a 1-2 finish for the two Porsche RS Spyders. Dumas took the checkered flag in front of Patrick Long in the Larry H. Miller Utah Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels.

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It’s hard to remember a time when an Audi victory in the American Le Mans Series was considered a surprise. But that’s just what happened on Saturday though as Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr scored an unlikely victory in the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach as the two Audi R10 TDIs finished 1-2.

Werner crossed the finish line 1.964 seconds ahead of Emanuele Pirro in the sister Audi as the German manufacturer finished 1-2 overall in an American Le Mans Series race for the first time since St. Petersburg in 2007, also a street circuit.

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Marco Werner’s affinity for street circuits shone again Friday. The Audi factory driver captured the overall pole position for Saturday’s Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg presented by XM Satellite Radio with a record run, besting Penske Racing’s Romain Dumas as Audi looked to regain its winning ways in the American Le Mans Series.

Werner’s best lap was a 1:02.825 (103.144 mph) around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn circuit on the bayfront of St. Petersburg. His time also beat Dumas’ overall pole-winning time from 2007 by 0.214 seconds in the diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI he will share with Lucas Luhr.

And it could have been even better. Werner was on pace to improve his time on the next lap before running too hard into Turn 8 and spinning the car. The R10 did stop before impacting the tire barrier so there was no damage.

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