ALMS action from Long Beach: Race recap

Saturday’s Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach street race did not disappoint. The narrow streets made for some door to door action and some white knuckle drama. There was a string of three cautions in the first half of the race that kept the on track action tight as both the established and new teams were able to take victories in their respective classes.

In P1, returning Long Beach champions Muscle Milk/Pickett Racing put their dream team of Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr on the top of the podium for the third straight year. The team’s pit strategy and precise driving brought them from midfield to overtake the lead from Rebellion Racing 47 minutes before the finish.

Scott Sharp’s P2 class team, Extreme Speed Motorsports, brought both of their Honda HPD ARX-03b’s to the chequered flag for an impressive 1-2 finish in only their second start.

Another returning third time consecutive Long Beach winner, CORE Autosport, was untouchable. With a class victory in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class and an astonishing third place finish overall. Quite a remarkable race for this team. Their teamwork and skill showed everyone why they are the reigning 2011/2012 class champions.

In the highly contested GT class Team RLL held off the Corvettes, Ferrari’s and Vipers bringing their BMW Z4 GTE’s across the line in first and second, which puts them in a tie with Corvette Racing for the class points lead. A truly amazing display for Team RLL’s second race.

The GT Challenge spec class saw NGT Motorsports beat the other nine Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars home by a mere 2.130 seconds ahead of, second place, Flying Lizard Motorsports. NGT Motorsport’s driver Sean Edwards demonstrated amazing longevity by staying out for 80 minutes without pitting for fuel or tires.

The next stop on the schedule is the American Le Mans Monterey presented by Patron. the 4 hour race will be held at Laguna Sega on May 11th.