The two Audi Sport North America R10 TDI prototypes had a chance to clinch another overall American Le Mans Series victory at Miller Motorsport Park near Salt Lake City, but a dramatic finish meant that it had to be content merely to win the LMP1 class.
The start of the race, the fourth round of the ALMS campaign, again produced an impressive demonstration of the performance of Audi TDI power as, after starting from rows three and four, Marco Werner and Frank Biela were able to use the torque of their V12 engines to overtake all of the cars in front of them, diving into the first corner in first and second positions - before then being caught and passed by Jon Field's AER-powered Lola.
Using an early caution period to refuel, both Audis remained towards the front of the field at half-distance, but a problem during the second pit-stop cost Werner and co-driver Lucas Luhr 25 seconds and the lead. Despite that, Luhr was able to catch the leading Porsche again - before being hit by a slower GT2 car. The contact cut the right rear tyre on the R10, causing Luhr to spin and costing the chance of overall victory as Luhr was then assessed a stop-go penalty for 'avoidable contact'.
"We were in a strong position until a slower car hit me in the right rear," the German fumed, "I got a puncture and additionally a stop-and-go penalty. I can't understand these rules. We had the speed to win."
"Of course we are disappointed," Werner echoed, "At the beginning, things were running well. We had the pace, and you can't do more than come to the pits after your stint as the leader. But, from that moment on, everything went wrong.
"First, the car did not start properly and Lucas had a very slow first lap that cost him a lot of time. Then there was contact with a GT car which touched him in the rear - and Lucas got a stop-and-go penalty for that. You can discuss about this but, for me, this was not okay. It destroyed our race. It's a shame. We had the victory in our hands, but could not bring it home."
Just two laps later, Emanuele Pirro was also hit by a GT car, forcing the Italian to stop out on track with broken left rear suspension. At that time, the veteran was running in second position, just 16 seconds behind the eventual winner.
