The strategy at the beginning was to take care of the car, and the race would come to us," the German explained, "It was very tough to stay to the strategy when there were times we didn't feel it was going to work, but we trusted team and, as usual, they were right.
Maassen and Long were caught in the frenetic dash to turn one at the beginning of the race, and found themselves in ninth place after only 2500 yards, but they too stuck to the strategy, moving up two spots when two Acuras collided in that turn, and more spots when Audis had their problems. Finally, with 15 minutes left, Long lead the de Ferran Acura by ten seconds, a lead he was able to maintain until the chequered flag was in sight.
"Sascha really kept the car out of danger in a very difficult first stint, Long commented, "After that, we were conserving fuel when Pagenaud was catching us, but we turned several equal laps to make sure he knew we could do it if pushed."
Dumas and Bernhard now lead Highcroft Acura duo Scott Sharp and David Brabham by 28 points in the LMP2 championship, with both Dyson Racing pairings in hot
pursuit. In the manufacturers' championship, Porsche has a 21-point lead over Acura, while Penske also heads the teams' championship by 28 points.
