Lucas Luhr tops opening ALMS practice

Lucas Luhr ended a damp practice Friday morning with the fastest time in a two-hour session for the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patr¢n. The two-time ALMS winner at Long Beach set a time of 1:33.121 (76.082 mph) in Muscle Milk Pickett Racing’s Honda Performance Development ARX-03a. He and Klaus Graf are the defending overall race winners and can become the first pair to win in consecutive years at the Tequila Patr¢n American Le Mans Series at Long Beach.

Luhr was 0.527 seconds clear of Kyle Marcelli in Merchant Services Racing’s ORECA FLM09. The young Canadian was the fastest Prototype Challenge entry at 1:33.648 (75.654 mph). The speeds were well below times from previous years due to heavy rain that pelted Long Beach just as the session began.

The track dried in the last 30 minutes, and the top five cars set their quickest times on their next to last laps.

Martin Plowman was the fastest P2 driver at 1:33.875 for Conquest Racing and its Morgan-Nissan prototype. Team Falken Tire’s Wolf Henzler reminded everyone of his sterling performance in the wet last year at Mid-Ohio with the fastest GT lap Friday – 1:33.964 in his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Michael Valiante set the quickest time in GT Challenge for JDX Racing with a lap of 1:40.020 (70.834 mph). That class battle was the closest of the session with Alex Job Racing’s Leh Keen only 0.162 seconds back.

Qualifying is set for 5:05 p.m. PT today with live coverage on ESPN3 for U.S. viewers. Outside the U.S., fans can watch qualifying on ALMS.com.

ESPN2 will air Saturday’s race live from the world famous Long Beach street circuit just outside Los Angeles starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. The race will be carried simultaneously on ESPN3.

Viewers outside the U.S. can always watch races live on ALMS.com. The Series’ website offers additional content such as live in-car cameras, timing and scoring, and car-to-pit radio for all users around the world.