Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing driver Lucas Luhr will step out of the #31 MMPIE/PAWS/Petersen Holdings/Michelin
Ferrari F430 GT to replace Emmanuel Pirro in the #2 Audi R10 LMP 1 today.
Luhr, an Audi factory driver, was allowed by the German company to compete this weekend in the Petit Le Mans American Le Mans Series race for the two-time defending GT2 class race winners.
However, after a practice incident earlier in the week with the Audi R10, Pirro was not cleared to drive in today's 10 Hour/1,000 mile race.
Audi officials approached team owner Michael Petersen and team manager Dale White during this morning's 25-minute warm-up session to ask if Luhr could be released from his contract with the Nevada-based team for today's event.
Petersen and White immediately agreed to allow Luhr to join the LMP1 pole-winning car which would have had to be withdrawn from the event had they denied the request.
"Dr. Ulrich came to us during the warm-up and asked that, if it did not interfere with our strategy, if we would be willing to allow Lucas to replace Pirro today,” explained White.
“Mike and I discussed it briefly on the spot and agreed, even as Lucas was sitting in the #31 Ferrari doing his warm-up laps, to do it. We are certainly disappointed that Lucas won't be racing with us but there was no question on the decision.”
With Luhr no longer in the driver line-up, the team will rely on Peter Dumbreck and Dirk Muller to race for the team's third-consecutive victory here at Petit Le Mans. While the move forced a strategy change within the Nevada-based team, there was little drama and no effort to find a replacement for Luhr.
The two-time American Le Mans Series Driver Championship-winning team has used only two drivers in its Petit Le Mans efforts the last two years.
Müller will take the green flag at 11:16 am [local time] before handing over driving duties to Dumbreck, who is making his Road Atlanta debut.
