Miami: Race report

Biela, Pirro win inaugural Miami American Le Mans event.

MIAMI (October 5, 2002) -- Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro won their second consecutive race on the American Le Mans Series Saturday in the inaugural Cadillac American Le Mans Challenge event on the Miami Downtown Street Circuit.

Co-driving the Audi Sport North America Audi R8, Biela and Pirro won the two-hour, 45-minute sports car endurance race with only one fuel stop and without changing their Michelin tires. Biela, who started from the pole, drove the first hour of the race and then brought the car in for its only pit stop. Pirro brought the car back to the lead and finished with a 14.021-second margin of victory.

The Cadillac LMP 02 of JJ Lehto and Max Angelelli finished second, the highest finish ever for the Cadillac Prototype, while the other factory Audi of Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen finished third.

Claudia Huertgen and Chad Block won their second straight race in the LMP 675 class, driving the KnightHawk Racing Lola EX257-MG to a seven-lap victory. James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger finished second in another Lola-MG after coming back from a starter problem.

Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell took their sixth win of the season in the GTS class, leading a 1-2 sweep for the factory Chevrolet Corvette C5-R team. They won by a lap over teammates Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins.

Sascha Maassen tied the record for the most wins in the four-year history of the American Le Mans Series when he co-drove to the GT class win with Lucas Luhr in the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Maassen's 14th career win matched the record of Olivier Beretta, who won his races in the 1999 and 2000 seasons in the GTS class.

The race was the first street racing event in Miami since 1995 and was run on a 1.387-mile circuit that included portions of Biscayne Boulevard, Bayfront Park and other Miami city streets.

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