ST. PETERSBURG, Fla—The American Le Mans Series St. Petersburg Grand Prix was a race of spins, collisions, and cautions, with some amazing racing mixed in.
Between yellow flags, spectators were treated to classic racing battles: Audi and Porsche traded the lead throughout the race, with the diesel-powered Audi making the race-winning pass with only two laps to go; Ferrari and Porsche fought it out in GT2, in a battle that was settled, sadly, by a collision near the end of the race.
In between cautions, fans got to see driving so daring it was almost reckless, as when Lucas Luhr pushed the #2 Audi outside of Romain Dumas in the #7 Penske Porsche through Turn One, somehow kept control, and seized the inside line—and the race lead—going through Turn Two
The three-car Flying Lizard Porsche team fought the single Tafel Ferrari team for the GT2 crown from the beginning of qualifying until the final yellow. (The Lizards won the class pole, the Tafel team took the class win.)
Early in the race, Mika Salo took the Ferrari around the class-leading Flying Lizard Porsche of Wolf Henzler. When he couldn't fit through, he forced his way past on the other side, nearly driving Henzler into the wall.
The race got off to a bad start when the GT2 Aston Martin broke down on the pace lap. The race restarted with the cars single-file rather than two abreast (as per the rule regarding restarts) which could have eliminated some of the first-turn theatrics. However, Sascha Maasen in the #6 Porsche and the #9 Acura of Scott Sharp collided. Neither car was damaged, but the mood was set.
ALMS races are really four races in one—four different classes of cars run simultaneously. At St. Pete, two classes were decided by accidents, not racing.
Forty-five minutes into the race, Joel Feinberg in the GT2 Primetime Racing Dodge Viper collided with the Bell Motorsports GT1 1 Aston Martin DBR 9 driven by Terry Borcheller, putting both cars out of the race. The Aston was the only opposition for the GT1 Corvettes so the GT1 race was reduced to, which one of the 'vettes would win.
And with just fifteen minutes to go in the race, the #20 Dyson Porsche driven by Butch Leitzinger spun out. He managed to catch the spin but found himself face head-on into oncoming traffic. Leitzinger tried to edge up against the wall, but he could get quite far enough to let the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche to pass. The resulting damage to the Porsche's radiator ensured that the Tafel Ferrari would win the GT2 title.
The resulting yellow flag allowed the field to bunch up, setting up a final sprint between Lucas Luhr in the #2 Audi and Romain Dumas in the #7 Penske Porsche. The more powerful diesel Audi won the sprint at the restart, and once ahead he was able to hold off the Porsche for the final lap and a half.
 The Timo Bernhard/ Romain Dumas Porsche screams through Turn One, during Saturday's ALMS race. The team would eventually finish second. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 The Sascha Maasen/ Patrick Long Porsche leads on of the Dyson Porsches through Turn One. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 The three-car Flying Lizard Porsche team took the GT2 pole but lost its lead car in a late-race accident. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 The #71 Tafel Ferrari F430 GTC went on to win GT2. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 The Ford GT-40 rebuild, the Ford GT2, evoked memories of Le Mans domination but only managed a 26th place finish. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 The Intersport racing Lola is chased by the BK Racing Lola-Mazda and the GT1 winner Corvette C6R. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 This Porsche driver is obviously not too concerned with crossing a double yellow line. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 The narrowness of the course is clear; this Audi takes up half the road as it exits the corner. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 A Risi Cometizione Ferrari pursues one of the Flying Lizard Porsches for the GT2 class win. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 The Patron-Highcroft Acura, driven by David Brabham and Scott Sharp, leads the Penske Porsche of Patrick Long and Sascha Maassen. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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