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Le Mans / ALMS
ALMS: Muscle Milk Wins, Champions Crowned At VIR
Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner take GT title, Alex Popow (PC) and Cooper MacNeil (GTC) also clinch class championships...
Muscle Milk Pickett Racing scored top honors in Saturday's VIR 240. (Photo: Dan Boyd/LAT)
Muscle Milk Pickett Racing returned to its winning ways Saturday in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón, the same day where three class driver championship battles ended at VIRginia International Raceway. It marked a magical day for the ALMS in its debut at VIR.
Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr teamed for a three-lap victory in the four-hour race driving Muscle Milk’s Honda Performance Development ARX-03a. The day also belonged to Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, who clinched the GT title with a class victory; and Alex Job Racing’s Cooper MacNeil, who clinched the GT Challenge championship thanks to a class win with Leh Keen.
CORE autosport’s Alex Popow wrapped up the Prototype Challenge title with a third-place class finish in the No. 06 ORECA FLM09 as CORE teammates Colin Braun and Jon Bennett won in the No. 05 entry.
The P1 and P2 championships will go down to the season’s final race – Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta. Level 5 Motorsports’ Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker won in P2 in a back-and-forth affair with Conquest Racing’s David Heinemeier-Hansson and Martin Plowman.
In GT, Gavin and Milner led twice for more than three hours and took the lead for good at the one-hour, 15-minute mark in the No. 4 Corvette C6 ZR1. Gavin made his 100th ALMS start a memorable one by clinching his fourth class championship. Milner won his first at his home track to go along with a class victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2011.
The victory also sewed up the team championship for Corvette Racing and manufacturer title for Chevrolet.
The Gavin/Milner duo received a good omen at the race’s start. Mark Patterson in the No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda spun at the first turn, and Gavin narrowly escaped unscathed. He went back and forth early with Extreme Speed Motorsports’ Johannes van Overbeek, the GT pole winner, in the early going. The pairing swapped the lead twice before Gavin assumed command during the race’s second caution.
“I was hoping things would go well for us, with this being my 100th start,” Gavin said. “When I managed to get through the melee in Turn 1, I thought this could very well be our day. Things worked out for us today, but we've worked at it. We made our own luck. We clambered and put ourselves in the right position. We executed that four times this year, and that’s why we won the championship.”
Both Milner and Gavin had their hands full throughout – Milner with Dirk Müller in the No. 56 BMW M3 GT and Gavin with Jörg Bergmeister in the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The top four cars finished on the lead lap, and Gavin beat Bergmeister by 19.539 seconds.
“This championship feels really, really good,” Milner said. “I’ve had two short years with Corvette Racing. The team made me feel welcome since day one, and to bring this championship to them is amazing. The cars (in the GT class) are so close, and each car has its benefits. Our car is so great in the braking, which is helpful because the two best passing zones here are under braking.”
The GT pole winning No. 01 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari captured the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge win in the GT category at VIR. The MGXC is a race within a race, tracking which teams run the cleanest, fastest and most efficient. It was ESM’s first MGXC win since Long Beach.
MacNeil and Keen looked destined for a runner-up finish in GTC but took the lead on the next-to-last lap when JDX Racing’s Michael Valiante stopped for a late splash of fuel. Keen and the No. 23 AJR Porsche 911 GT3 Cup held off NGT Motorsport’s Jeroen Bleekemolen by 0.423 seconds.
The victory also gave Alex Job Racing its first ALMS team championship since 2004.
Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr teamed for a three-lap victory in the four-hour race driving Muscle Milk’s Honda Performance Development ARX-03a. The day also belonged to Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, who clinched the GT title with a class victory; and Alex Job Racing’s Cooper MacNeil, who clinched the GT Challenge championship thanks to a class win with Leh Keen.
CORE autosport’s Alex Popow wrapped up the Prototype Challenge title with a third-place class finish in the No. 06 ORECA FLM09 as CORE teammates Colin Braun and Jon Bennett won in the No. 05 entry.
The P1 and P2 championships will go down to the season’s final race – Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta. Level 5 Motorsports’ Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker won in P2 in a back-and-forth affair with Conquest Racing’s David Heinemeier-Hansson and Martin Plowman.
In GT, Gavin and Milner led twice for more than three hours and took the lead for good at the one-hour, 15-minute mark in the No. 4 Corvette C6 ZR1. Gavin made his 100th ALMS start a memorable one by clinching his fourth class championship. Milner won his first at his home track to go along with a class victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2011.
The victory also sewed up the team championship for Corvette Racing and manufacturer title for Chevrolet.
The Gavin/Milner duo received a good omen at the race’s start. Mark Patterson in the No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda spun at the first turn, and Gavin narrowly escaped unscathed. He went back and forth early with Extreme Speed Motorsports’ Johannes van Overbeek, the GT pole winner, in the early going. The pairing swapped the lead twice before Gavin assumed command during the race’s second caution.
“I was hoping things would go well for us, with this being my 100th start,” Gavin said. “When I managed to get through the melee in Turn 1, I thought this could very well be our day. Things worked out for us today, but we've worked at it. We made our own luck. We clambered and put ourselves in the right position. We executed that four times this year, and that’s why we won the championship.”
Both Milner and Gavin had their hands full throughout – Milner with Dirk Müller in the No. 56 BMW M3 GT and Gavin with Jörg Bergmeister in the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The top four cars finished on the lead lap, and Gavin beat Bergmeister by 19.539 seconds.
“This championship feels really, really good,” Milner said. “I’ve had two short years with Corvette Racing. The team made me feel welcome since day one, and to bring this championship to them is amazing. The cars (in the GT class) are so close, and each car has its benefits. Our car is so great in the braking, which is helpful because the two best passing zones here are under braking.”
The GT pole winning No. 01 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari captured the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge win in the GT category at VIR. The MGXC is a race within a race, tracking which teams run the cleanest, fastest and most efficient. It was ESM’s first MGXC win since Long Beach.
MacNeil and Keen looked destined for a runner-up finish in GTC but took the lead on the next-to-last lap when JDX Racing’s Michael Valiante stopped for a late splash of fuel. Keen and the No. 23 AJR Porsche 911 GT3 Cup held off NGT Motorsport’s Jeroen Bleekemolen by 0.423 seconds.
The victory also gave Alex Job Racing its first ALMS team championship since 2004.
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