ALMS

Laguna Seca: Alex Job Racing race notes

California win Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen teamed up for their fifth American Le Mans Series GT win of the season, capping a tight race on the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca Raceway road course. Their teammates JÃ¶rg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard were ...

Published: Sep 24, 2002, 5:45 PM

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California win

Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen teamed up for their fifth American Le Mans Series GT win of the season, capping a tight race on the 2.238-mile Laguna Seca Raceway road course. Their teammates Jörg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard were headed for victory when a mechanical failure dropped them off the podium.

Luhr started the No. 23 McKenna Xybernaut Porsche from the class pole position, just ahead of Bergmeister in the No. 22 Porsche. Luhr led the first hour of the two-hour 45-minute race, then pitted during the first caution period to hand over to Maassen. Bergmeister pitted at the same time, with Bernhard taking the wheel. The No. 23 pitstop was a tick slower than that of the No. 22 car, so Bernhard grabbed the lead, only to be overtaken by Maassen on the restart. Another caution followed, and another pass, giving Bernhard the lead for the next hour. With 20 minutes to go, the shifter broke on the No. 22 car. Bernhard was able to repair it enough to get back to the pits, but a lengthy pitstop followed. Luhr and Maassen took the class win; Bergmeister and Bernhard finished sixth.

Lucas Luhr "I was a little bit careful with the tires, but everything was perfect on the car. We lost a position in the pits because our pitstop was slow and the 22 car got past, but I knew Sascha would get Timo back. It was really close, for sure, but I think we would have caught them at the end. It was a really good race."

Sascha Maassen "Timo and I were racing each other and then he broke a shifter. I feel really sorry for him because it happened to me twice here. You hace to be careful with the shifter here. We addressed that and our team did a good job, but I was shifting very carefully!"

Jörg Bergmeister "The start was okay; I was right behind Lucas. Then I had some problems with traffic and there were about five seconds to Lucas, but the safety car made up a little bit and I was able to come into the pits directly behind him. The guys did a really good job so Timo went out first. The car was very good."

Timo Bernhard "It's very disappointing, we were so close to winning in a few races. We only won once and we could have won three times. It was fun to race with Sascha. I was leading, but we had a very good, close race until the gearshift broke. It was not driving anymore, so I played with the cables and put it into second. It took me two laps to do it because I'm not a mechanic! But I'm lucky I got it in gear and could get back to the pits."

-ajr-

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