Laguna Seca: Joest Audi dominates

"The car was perfect right from the start," admitted Biela. "It's never easy, and with no pressure, sometimes it's worse."

The Joest team's job was made easier when Champion Racing developed an electrical problem on its R8, requiring a transmission change when Johnny Herbert handed over to JJ Lehto. The delay dropped the Finn to 10th overall, although he put in a monumental effort to climb to fourth at the finish.

The LMP675 class Dyson Racing Lola of James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger finished second overall, the only other car on the same lap as the leader. Olivier Beretta and David Saelens took third overall in the LMP900 class Panoz LMP01.

Tomas Enge and Peter Kox seemingly cruised to their first win of the year in the GTS class, but their car was disqualified for failing the 'stall test' in post-race scrutineering. This handed the win to the second of the Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello's, driven by Jan Magnussen and David Brabham.

Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr claimed victory in the GT class in the Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3, enough to unofficially secure the class title. The pair finished a full lap clear of the Risi Competizione Ferrari, which was chased home by autosport.com columnist Johnny Mowlem, who shared his Porsche 911 with Craig Stanton.