Laguna Seca: Michelin race notes

Michelin masters Monterey...scores Overall, GTS and GT victories.

Monterey, Calif. -- Michelin joined partners Audi, Porsche and Prodrive Ferrari in victory circle today in American Le Mans Series action at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro led all 112 laps to score the overall victory in an Audi R8 by 25.799 seconds over the ADT Champion Audi driven by Stefan Johansson and Johnny Herbert. A Cadillac driven by JJ Lehto and Max Angelelli completed the all-Michelin podium by scoring its second consecutive third-place finish of the year.

Michelin Scores First GTS Win of 2002 Season

In perhaps the most exciting race of the day, Tomas Enge and Peter Kox gave Michelin its first GTS win of the year in a Ferrari 550 Maranello. Enge overtook the GoodYear-shod Corvette driven by Kelly Collins with 9 minutes remaining in the race. In a bid to run down his competitors, Enge ran the final one-hour, forty-five minutes of the race on the same set of Michelin tires.

"For sure, we asked the tires to do a lot today," said Jerry Rinaldo, Michelin racing manager. "We had not planned to double stint the tires on the Ferrari, but had no choice if we wanted to be in position to win. The Michelins, the Ferrari and Tomas were all up to the challenge."

GT Streak Continues

Michelin took two of the top three GT positions, including the victory at the hands of Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen. The win marked Luhr and Maassen's fifth of the season in a Michelin-shod Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Kevin Buckler and Brian Cunningham scored a third-place finish in their Porsche.

Qualifying Success

Michelin recorded pole positions yesterday in the LMP900, GTS and GT categories. An Audi R8 driven by Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro maintained Michelin's season-long streak of poles in LMP900. In their first ALMS appearance this season, Tomas Enge and Peter Kox piloted their Ferrari 550 Maranello to Michelin's first GTS pole of the 2002 season. Scoring the GT pole yet again for Michelin was the McKenna Xybernaut Porsche driven by Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen.

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