by Chris Hayes
Reigning LMP1 champions Audi seized back the initiative in this year's American Le Mans Series Class 1 championship with a thrilling victory at St. Petersburg thanks to an auspicious charge from three-time champion Lucas Luhr in the dying laps.
Luhr took the lead of the Acura Sports Car Challenge with three laps to go after storming past Romain Dumas' Porsche on the main straight at the third and final race restart.
The 29-year-old German had already led the incident-packed race after pulling off a breathtaking overtaking manoeuvre on Dumas at the end of the second yellow flag phase. But after losing the position to his rival while negotiating backmarkers the Koblenz-born ace was forced to re-take the lead all over again at the third restart, which he did effortlessly with the help of his TDI power down the straight.
Luhr's team-mate Marco Werner, who set the stage for victory on Friday with a mightily impressive pole lap, was full of praise for his team-mate's last minute assault.
"A great day for Audi," the 42-year-old exulted, "at the end it was a thriller. I'm proud of Lucas as he did an excellent job, especially after the restart. That's why we drive TDI!"
Luhr himself meanwhile acknowledged that it had been a difficult day behind the wheel of his Audi.
"It was a tough race for us. We struggled a bit in the heat," confessed Luhr after the race, "but at the end, we got it and that is what counts."
Audi's triumph on Saturday makes of up the team's disappointment at Sebring where both cars failed to finish as a result of mechanical problems and on-track accidents.
"I feel very pleased, particularly after the disappointing result in the first round at Sebring," confirmed Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport.
"It is all the more surprising that we managed to clinch the victory on a street course which is normally not so well-suited to the strengths of the Audi R10 TDI. This is a great motivation for the next races as well as for the whole 2008 season."
