The Farnbacher Loles team secured its first win in the American Le Mans Series at Road America after coming out on top of a titanic battle for class honours in the Generac 500.

In a race hit by numerous caution periods, the #87 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR found itself in a huge battle with the Risi Ferrari for class honours, with Mika Salo at the wheel of the Ferrari leading the way ahead of Dirk Werner in the Porsche.

Following a late caution, Salo found himself blocked in by traffic which gave Werner the chance to dive through into the lead in the final minute of the four-hour long race. Salo then fought back but as he tried to retake the lead, he suffered a spin that saw him drop down to fifth place and handed Werner the win alongside team-mates Bryce Miller and Richard Westbrook.

"After the last caution, the tyres were right there," Werner said. "I thought, 'Okay on the last lap, you have to try something.' I got a little bit lucky because Mika tried to overtake his team-mate, and he [the team-mate] couldn't see him, so he brake-checked him and I could dive to the inside. The next three corners were really amazing because Mika was right on my bumper. I think he just wanted to try everything. When he saw an advantage in turn five, he braked even later than I did and he couldn't make it and spun out.

"But that was really an awesome race. The key that put us in the position to win was the pit strategy. We came from fifth to second on the last caution when everybody pitted. Then the car was really good – nobody other than Mika and I could go the pace in the end. I'm really proud we managed to get our first win in our first ALMS season with Farnbacher Loles."

Salo meanwhile was left understandably disappointed with the way the race had drawn to a close, especially with the sister car having been the one that caused him to lose time on the vital final lap.

"I had to try to pass him [Werner] again; it was win or nothing," said Salo afterwards. "I had to go for it, but there was grass on the track and lots of cars on the track as they'd been bunched up behind the pace car. Up until then, the re-starts were the only time that Werner could get close to us.

"If I hadn't been blocked, he wouldn't have been able to get me before the flag. He was a bit quicker than us in the first sector, but I could pull away for the rest of the lap. It's very, very annoying to finish like this."