Content area
Full Text
TOOELE - Emanuele Pirro took a late lead after early mistakes by teammate Frank Biela threatened to drop them from contention. But he had to hold off a final-lap charge from Lucas Luhr to complete the redemption process.
Pirro held off Luhr by a 0.314 seconds to claim the overall victory after 65 laps in the inaugural Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday night. Pirro and Biela, the defending
Le Mans Prototype 1 champions in the
American Le Mans Series, also secured a LMP1 class victory.
Luhr only trailed by a half second heading into the final lap, but could not get around Pirro.
"It is great to fight for first place so close to the end," Pirro said.
Biela, the pole-sitter for the LMP1 class, failed to retain his lead for even one lap. He drifted wide on the fourth turn of the first lap and veered briefly off the track, creating an opening for Alan McNish and James Weaver to jump ahead of him.