Audi dominate Mid-Ohio race

Just as they had last week at Lime Rock, the two R10 TDis swiftly charged to the front in the race after mediocre qualifying performances - but unlike the Lime Rock race, at Lexington they managed to stay out of trouble and maintain their superiority to the chequered flag.

Penske Porsche's Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard fended off Lime Rock victors David Brabham and Scott Sharp's Highcroft Acura to win LMP2 in third overall, while the pole-sitting de Ferran Motorsports Acura had to retire after a terrifying pit fire that left a crew member injured.

Werner had wasted little time in moving forward from fifth on the grid when the race began - making up two positions at the start, taking second from Sharp on lap four, and then passing Gil de Ferran for the lead four laps later.

Capello then reached second in the No.1 Audi before the race was 20 minutes old, and although a quick spin saw him drop back behind the de Ferran Acura, his co-driver Pirro reclaimed second soon after the first full course yellow. He lost the position once again - this time to Dumas - in the final stops, only to again move back ahead of the LMP2 car as soon as racing resumed.

That secured second for the Italian duo, but their teammate Luhr was already comfortably established in the lead and had little difficulty holding it to the flag, allowing his lead to dwindle by seven seconds as he cruised in the closing stages.

The de Ferran pit fire was by far the most dramatic incident of the race, and occurred after Simon Pagenaud pulled away slightly prematurely and caused the hose to become detached.

The pit crews quickly extinguished the fierce blaze that subsequently erupted, but one team member had to be taken to hospital for attention to his burns. Although no firm details of his condition were immediately available, the team reported that his vital signs were good and he was seen waving to the crowd and talking to the medics while being transported to the ambulance.

Prior to the fire, the de Ferran Acura had lost first place in LMP2 to the No.7 Penske Porsche, which went on to lead the class for the rest of the race.

Penske's main challenger Brabham dropped behind the No.6 Penske Porsche and the Fernandez Acura at the final restart, and by the time he had re-passed them, Dumas was several seconds ahead. The Australian quickly closed the gap, only to lose a few seconds with a half-spin in the closing minutes.

Undeterred, Brabham immediately resumed his charge and finished just 0.6 seconds behind the Porsche, with Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz taking third in class and fifth overall.

The Andretti-Green Acura barely featured, finishing eight laps down after early contact with a Penske Porsche led to a long stop while a steering arm was replaced.

Dirk Muller and Dominik Farnbacher took Tafel Ferrari's third GT2 win of the year, benefiting from excellent pit work and strategy to advance from their early fourth place.

The Jaime Melo/Mika Salo Risi Ferrari and the Richard Westbrook/Dirk Werner Farnbacher Loles Porsche had battled for the lead at first, with Westbrook moving ahead of Melo just prior to the first stops, only to lose a lot of time with a jack problem when he stopped.

With an ill-timed yellow and a restart incident later costing Risi several positions, the Flying Lizard Porsches came through to complete the class podium.

Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen beat teammates Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta in GT1, but both Corvettes finished way down the order after incurring a string of penalties for banging wheels in the pits and then passing a red flag at the pit exit as they focused on each other - causing an official to hurry out of the way in the process.

Pos  Cl   Drivers                    Car                     Time
 1.  P1   Luhr/Werner                Audi R10 TDI            111 laps 
 2.  P1   Pirro/Capello              Audi R10 TDI          +   7.717
 3.  P2   Dumas/Bernhard             Porsche RS Spyder     +  11.272
 4.  P2   Brabham/Sharp              Acura ARX-01b         +  11.881
 5.  P2   Fernandez/Diaz             Acura ARX-01b         +  18.519
 6.  P2   Maassen/Long               Porsche RS Spyder     +  32.758
 7.  P2   Dyson/Smith                Porsche RS Spyder     +  52.516
 8.  P2   Leitzinger/Franchitti      Porsche RS Spyder     +  56.665
 9.  GT2  Farnbacher/Muller          Ferrari 430 GT        +  7 laps
10.  GT2  van Overbeek/Pilet         Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   +  7 laps
11.  GT2  Bergmeister/Henzler        Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   +  7 laps
12.  GT2  Werner/Westbrook           Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   +  8 laps
13.  GT2  Salo/Melo                  Ferrari 430 GT        +  8 laps
14.  P2   Montagny/Matos             Acura ARX-01b         +  8 laps
15.  P1   Lewis/Faulkner             Lola B06/10 AER       +  8 laps
16.  GT2  Brix/Friesacher            Ferrari 430 GT        +  9 laps
17.  GT2  Milner/Sutherland          Panoz Esperante       +  9 laps
18.  GT2  Tafel/Figge                Ferrari 430 GT        + 10 laps
19.  GT2  Pastorelli/Pastorelli      Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   + 10 laps
20.  P2   Bonilla/Devlin             Mazda Lola B07-46     + 12 laps
21.  GT1  O'Connell/Magnussen        Corvette C6.R         + 13 laps
22.  GT1  Gavin/Beretta              Corvette C6.R         + 13 laps
23.  GT2  Drayson/Cocker             Aston Martin Vantage  + 17 laps
24.  GT2  Robertson/Murry/Robertson  Doran Ford GT-R       + 18 laps
25.  P1   Willman/McMurry            Creation CA07-002     + 19 laps
26.  P2   de Ferran/Pagenaud         Acura ARX-01B         + 44 laps
27.  GT2  Feinberg/Hall              Dodge Viper           + 68 laps
28.  GT2  Neiman/Pechnik             Porsche 911 GT3 RSR   + 74 laps
29.  GT2  Pappas/Lazzaro             Doran Ford GT-R       + 84 laps
30.  P1   Field/Field/Berry          Lola B06/10 AER       + 88 laps