Luhr, Muscle Milk Lead Monterey Test
Lucas Luhr put the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing entry on the top of the speed charts during American Le Mans Series testing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Thursday. (ALMS Photo)
MONTEREY, Calif. — One round removed from its first victory of the season in the American Le Mans Series, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing set the fastest time Thursday in testing for the American Le Mans Monterey presented by Patrón.
Lucas Luhr posted a best lap of 1:16.88 (104.788 mph) in the Honda Performance Development ARX-03a prototype he shares with Klaus Graf for Saturday’s six-hour race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Graf and Luhr won just a few hours down the road at Long Beach in the previous ALMS round. The pairing will try for their first Series victory together in Monterey.
Luhr turned just 11 laps in Thursday’s test compared to 38 for Level 5 Motorsports’ HPD ARX-03b of Luis Diaz, Scott Tucker and Franck Montagny. Diaz set the car’s best time at 1:17.674 (103.726 mph) to sit second overall and first among the P2 runners. Diaz was 0.723 seconds clear of Dyson Racing’s Lola-Mazda of Chris Dyson, Guy Smith and Johnny Mowlem — the second-quickest P1 car.
Level 5’s second HPD was second among the P2 runners with Franck Montagny’s lap of 1:18.473 (102.670 mph). He will drive with Christophe Bouchut and Tucker. Dempsey Racing’s new Lola-Judd of Hollywood star Patrick Dempsey, team co-principal Joe Foster and Jonny Cocker was third in P2 at 1:19.698 (101.092 mph).
Corvette Racing picked up where it left off at Long Beach with a 1-2 finish in GT on Thursday. Oliver Gavin set the quickest time at 1:23.894 (96.035 mph) in the Corvette C6.R he drives with Tommy Milner. The pairing won last time out in Long Beach, and Gavin found himself 0.320 seconds quicker than Jan Magnussen in the second Corvette. He drives with Antonio Garcia.
Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long and Richard Lietz finished the session third at 1:24.240 (95.641 mph).
Kyle Marcelli made his final lap count for Merchant Services Racing. The young Canadian – last year’s Prototype Challenge pole-winner – set the fastest time in the class Thursday with a lap of 1:19.710 (101.076 mph). Marcelli – driving his ORECA FLM09 with Lucas Downs and Dean Stirling – was 0.847 seconds clear of the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports’ duo of Butch Leitzinger and Ken Dobson.
Green Hornet Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Damien Faulkner, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen and Peter LeSaffre was the quickest GT Challenge entry with a lap of 1:29.109 (90.415 mph). The top three cars in class were within 0.118 seconds.
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Posted by NSSN Staff
on May 11 2012 Filed under ALMS, Latest Headlines, Road Racing, Top Stories.
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