Running with E85 racing fuel, the pair also clinched top honors in the Michelin Green X Challenge, an environmentally conscious “race within a race” coinciding with the main event.
Graf and Luhr set the fastest time in Thursday testing and led the Friday morning official practice only to damage the right side and rear of the team’s Aston Martin Lola in a Friday spin. The team rebounded to earn the pole in qualifying on Saturday and dominated the early stages of Sunday’s two-hour 45 minute race as Luhr built a lead of more than 50 seconds in the first half hour of competition.
The team failed to pit immediately when the pits opened for stops during the first full course caution period and that 50-second lead instantly became a 29-second deficit.
“We were on a roller coaster, one minute up, then suddenly down, and we had to push really hard to get through traffic,” says Graf, the defending race champion.
“Lucas did a great job getting the lead back. He was actually past the pit lane entrance when they opened the pits. We both had some great fights along the way. Michelin was a big part of bringing us home in front, again,” he reports.
Chris Dyson and Guy Smith finished second in their Mazda, while teammates Humaid al Masaood and Steven Kane finished third.
“The competition is very good and we are pleased to see our Michelin technical partner teams back on top of the podium,” says motorsports manager Silvia Mammone. “Our Michelin tire developers, designers, engineers and support teams all work very hard to have the right tires to help our teams perform at the highest levels.”
For more information, visit www.michelinman.com.
