Werner got around Penske Racing's Romain Dumas in the Porsche RS Spyder with 11 minutes remaining for the overall win. (LAT photo)
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.
"From the beginning the car was good so we didn't make many changes," Werner said. "I was never fastest, and free practice and qualifying are never the same thing. So you can guess we are quite happy with Michelin at the moment. The car setup is really helping us a lot this year, especially in the street circuits. We are in max lock trying to make the turns, especially in the hairpins. But the Michelins are keeping the car where it should be and helping us deal with all the corners."
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.
Werner and Luhr have now won consecutive races after scoring a victory two weeks ago at St. Petersburg. It was Luhr who drove the closing stint and passed Dumas with three minutes remaining there.
"Marco got to do the same thing I did last race at St. Pete," Luhr said. "Now I know how it feels. I couldn't watch it. The team said it would be OK, but I said I'm too old, I can't watch!"
Luhr started sixth on the grid but moved up to second overall before pitting near the 40-minute mark. He was held up in pitlane by Jon Field in the Intersport Lola and lost several seconds before Werner rejoined in ninth place. He worked his way back through the field using the power of the R10 TDI and timely yellow flags to get within range of Dumas and ultimately taking the lead.
The deciding yellow flag came out at the one-hour mark for debris at Turn 11. It only took a couple of laps after the restart for Werner to thunder by Dumas at the end of the frontstretch.
"I think I was quite OK in traffic today," Werner said. "It was the key for the victory, especially before the yellow came out. I think Romain expected me not to make the pass and with the GT car ahead. I tried; it wasn't too much risk but you have to try. We knew he'd be better on braking, but I closed the door and had a good first corner but better second and then the torque took over so I could pull away."
