Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela coaxed a remarkable victory out of their factory Audi R8 in an action packed Cadillac American Le Mans Challenge in Miami as all gripes over the track surface were forgotten in another gripping ALMS encounter.
Using just one set of Michelin tyres for both qualifying and the entire two and three quarter hour race, defending LMP900 Champions Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro drove faultlessly from start to finish to record their second win on the trot in Saturday's inaugural Cadillac American Le Mans Challenge.
From pole position Biela was able to maintain a slender lead during a caution-filled opening 45-minutes as the tight, bumpy and above all slippery 1.387-mile Bayfront Park circuit provided all the closely packed frantic action expected of it. With 35 cars (minus 1 Graham Nash Motorsports Saleen) taking the start the leading LMP900 drivers had to be on constant alert through the seemingly endless packs of slower traffic. Whereas many fell foul of the concrete walls, other cars and more often than not their own machinery, Biela and Pirro remained almost inch perfect.
Their passage wasn't an easy one and had it not been for a pair of late race stop/go penalties for their two nearest rivals, Pirro's well-worn rubber might not have held up in the closing laps.
A daring single-stop strategy by the privateer Champion Audi team came agonisingly close to paying off and Johnny Herbert led the middle portion of the race before the team were forced to push the car back in its pit stall during its sole intended stop in order to avoid a stationary Saleen in the next pit. As the #38 crew pushed Johansson back, the R8 ran over an air-hose, which resulted in a penalty and the loss of a lap.
