Luhr sets fast lap in Mid-Ohio warmup; Viper shows improvement

Pickett Muscle Milk Racing looks to dominate the American Le Mans Series event at Mid-Ohio. On a semi-cloudy humid day, Lucas Luhr set the fastest lap in warm-up with a time of 1:12.869 for a speed of 111.554 mph on the 2.4 circuit. The German and his teammate Klaus Graf were shaking down their Honda HPD ARX-03a in preparation for the start later today at 1:05pm EST.

Bill Auberlen had the best lap for the GT class with a 1:20.436 (101.059 mph) in the No. 55 BMW RLL E92 M3. Corvette’s No. 4 was not far off the pace; a positive Doug Fehan said, “Everything it going great!”

Martin Plowman was fastest for P2 class as he is “very comfortable” with the car and the track. In the No. 37 Conquest Racing Morgan Nissan, his best lap was a 1:16.181 (106.704 mph).

In the Prototype Challenge, Ryan Dalziel and Colin Braun traded off the top lap time, and Dalziel took it in the closing minute. The Scotsman clocked a lap of 1:16.460 (106.314 mph) in the No. 06 CORE autosport Oreca FLM08.

Damien Faulkner was fastest in the GT Challenge in the Green Hornet Racing Porsche with a time of 1:25.564 (95.003 mph). The team is already laying out the needed supplies for what will be a very hot race: Bottled water, energy drinks and bars, and lots of ice.

The new SRT Viper is ready for their debut race later today. They had a good warmup with a 1:22.158 (98.941 mph). While not the top of the GT class, they realize that today will be a “test run”. Bill Riley said after the warmup: “We hope to finish, and this session was better.”

The former Trans-Am champion and sports car ace, Tommy Kendall is “looking forward “ to today’s race but like his co-driver Marc Goossens, they know the aim is to finish. The data from this event will aid the team in further testing.