The winning Audi

Audi Sport North America scored a surprising victory on Saturday in the Tequila Patr¢n American Le Mans Series as Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr recorded their second straight win with a stunning performance. The Audi R10 TDI claimed its maiden victory on the streets of southern California.

Werner crossed the line of 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.

Werner got around Penske Racing’s Romain Dumas in the Porsche RS Spyder with 11 minutes remaining for the overall lead and used the torque and power of the R10 TDI to pull away after a late caution period. Pirro did the same as he teamed with Frank Biela in the runner-up car.

In LMP2, David Brabham and Scott Sharp scored the first victory for Patr¢n Highcroft Racing as Brabham made passed Dumas on the next-to-last lap to score the first win for the new Acura ARX-01b. Brabham crossed the finish line 1.036 seconds ahead of the Porsche as Acura won for the first time since its Series debut last year at Sebring.

Brabham became the first driver to score victories in four different American Le Mans Series classes, and Sharp won for the first time in the Series. Dumas and Timo Bernhard saw their eight-race class win streak end with their second-place finish. They finished ahead of Penske teammates Patrick Long and Sascha Maassen.

Corvette Racing’s Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen scored their second GT1 victory of the season with a 1.374-second victory over the sister car of Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin. Magnussen began on the class pole position, and he and O’Connell never trailed.

The duo also assumed the lead in the class championship, breaking a tie with their teammates.

Dirk Mueller had to do a little extra work to score Tafel Racing’s second straight GT2 victory with Dominik Farnbacher. Mueller and the Tafel Ferrari F430 GT held off Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Wolf Henzler and his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR by 0.102 seconds. It wasn’t decided until the final corner as the two cars started on their final lap just before Werner took the checkered flag.

The two cars were nose-to-tail the entire final lap and were joined by Patrick Pilet in the No. 46 Flying Lizard Porsche, who finished third with Johannes van Overbeek. The finish was the second-closest finish in the history of the American Le Mans Series and tightest in GT2.

Tequila Patr¢n American Le Mans Series at Long Beach
Long Beach street circuit, Long Beach, Calif.
Saturday’s results
1. (6) Lucas Luhr, Germany; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (1, P1), 71.
2. (7) Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi AG R10/TDI (2, P1), 71.
3. (3) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-01B (1, P2), 71.
4. (1) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (2, P2), 71.
5. (4) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Sascha Maassen, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (3, P2), 71.
6. (5) Bryan Herta, Valencia, CA; Christian Fittipaldi, Miami, FL; Acura ARX-01B (4, P2), 71.
7. (9) Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Porsche RS Spyder (5, P2), 71.
8. (2) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (6, P2), 71.
9. (8) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (7, P2), 71.
10. (10) Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, FL; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B07 46 Mazda (8, P2), 70.
11. (12) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (1, GT1), 70.
12. (13) Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (2, GT1), 70.
13. (17) Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Dirk Mueller, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (1, GT2), 68.
14. (15) Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2, GT2), 68.
15. (14) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Patrick Pilet, France; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (3, GT2), 68.
16. (27) Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Creation CA07-002 Judd (3, P1), 67.
17. (20) Johnny Mowlem, England; Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Ferrari F430 GT (4, GT2), 67.
18. (19) Harrison Brix, San Jose, CA; Patrick Friesacher, Austria; Ferrari F430 GT (5, GT2), 66.
19. (18) Alex Davison, Australia; Marc Basseng, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (6, GT2), 65.
20. (21) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT2), 65.
21. (23) Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Nathan Swartzbaugh, La Habra Heights, LA; Rueben Carrapatoso, Brazil; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT2), 65.
22. (16) Jaime Melo, Brazil; Mika Salo, Finland; Ferrari F430 GT (9, GT2), 65.
23. (25) Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, FL; Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (10, GT2), 64.
24. (24) Jonny Cocker, UK; Paul Drayson, London, UK; Aston Martin DBRS 9 (11, GT2), 64.
25. (28) David Murry, Cumming, GA; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT-R (12, GT2), 63.
26. (11) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Lola B06/10 AER (4, P1), 62.
27. (22) Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Panoz Esperante Ford (13, GT2), 51.
28. (26) Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Dodge Viper Comp Coupe (14, GT2), 0, Excluded.