Muscle Milk Pickett Racing cruised to its second straight victory in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón on Friday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. But another thrilling GT battle stole the show as Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner also took their second consecutive class win.
The last 90 minutes of the GT race undoubtedly was the highlight of the American Le Mans Monterey presented by Patrón. Seven cars in the class were within two seconds in the closing hour including the two Corvettes, BMW Team RLL’s two BMW M3s and Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs from Flying Lizard Motorsports and Team Falken Tire.
Gavin made what turned out to be the winning pass in his Corvette C6.R on Team Falken Tire’s Wolf Henzler with a little less than an hour left at the final turn. But the drama carried on for the next 60 minutes. Bill Auberlen in the No. 55 BMW M3 GT looked set to challenge Gavin for the race win before Jan Magnussen in the sister Corvette muscled his way past the BMW with less than 15 minutes to go.
“It was so tight in our class. You could never let off and think ‘I’m alright now,’” Gavin said. “I had a few close calls in the pitlane, and then Wolf passed me for the lead. He was hard but fair, and he gave me just enough room to get by at the last turn. I managed to sneak by a lot of people today, and we managed to catch all the breaks. It was a great race for me today.”
Two rare less-than-stellar pit stops seemed to take the No. 4 Corvette out of contention past the halfway point. First there was a refueling issue that sent the car from first to seventh under caution, and then the team couldn’t get the left-rear tire changed on another stop. It was a sickening feeling, Milner admitted but hope always remained.
“It was frustrating, but the car really was one of the best race cars I’ve ever had,” Milner said. “I knew it would be tough to make it back to the front there. From first on back to sixth, the cars were so competitive. Passing is pretty difficult and I knew I had to bide my time, and be careful in many situations. I had a few close calls and a little contact, but beyond that we got up to third or fourth, gave it over to Oliver and he took it to the finish. “
Magnussen and Antonio Garcia wrapped up the Corvette 1-2 after Magnussen’s daring pass. Their No. 3 Corvette also won the GT portion of the Michelin Green X Challenge due to its superior efficiency and emissions control compared to the rest of the GT cars.
Auberlen and Jörg Müller placed third in the GT standings.
At the front of the field, Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr dominated in their Honda Performance Development ARX-03a prototype. The duo trailed for less than a quarter of the opening lap after a strong start at the green flag by Dyson Racing. Graf regained the advantage at the third turn – he claimed Chris Dyson jumped the start – and the Muscle Milk car lapped the field within the first two hours.
“We had to keep pushing to keep our rhythm,” Graf said. “We did competitive laps; that’s what we wanted to do. It is the safest way to drive. If you go away from the path it is dangerous. We have to stay predictable in traffic too, so we can’t stray too much. You always have close calls, and there is no way to avoid that. Some guys don’t see you and that is the way it is. You have to look ahead and pay close attention.”
The Muscle Milk HPD ran flawless over the course of the race – a trait that carried over the entire weekend. It was quickest in every practice session, Graf was the fastest qualifier, and Luhr set the fastest race lap.
Dyson’s trio of Chris Dyson, Guy Smith and Johnny Mowlem placed third. The Muscle Milk duo moved into the P1 championship lead with the victory – a luxury the Pickett squad has never enjoyed in the ALMS.
