Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Comments on Lucas Luhr

Luhr Released to Audi for Petit Le MansBRASELTON, Ga., October 6, 2007 � Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing driver Lucas Luhr (born in Koblenz, Germany but now living in Ermatingen, Switzerland) will step out of the No. 31 MMPIE/PAWS/Petersen Holdings/Michelin Ferrari F430 GT to replace Emmanuel Pirro in the No. 2 Audi R10 LMP 1 today. Luhr, an Audi factory driver, was allowed by the German company to compete this weekend in the Petit Le Mans American Le Mans Series race for the two-time defending GT2 class race winners. However, after a practice incident earlier in the week with the Audi R10, Pirro was not cleared to drive in today's 10 Hour/1,000 mile race. Audi officials approached team owner Michael Petersen (Las Vegas, Nev.) and team manager Dale White (Bozeman, MT) during this morning's 25-minute warm-up session to ask if Luhr could be released from his contract with the Nevada-based team for today's event. Petersen and White immediately agreed to allow Luhr to join the LMP1 pole-winning car which would have had to be withdrawn from the event had they denied the request. With Luhr no longer in the driver lineup, the team will rely on Peter Dumbreck (born in Scotland but living in Adderbury, England) and Dirk M�ller (a native of Germany now living in Monaco) to race for the team's third-consecutive victory here at Petit Le Mans. While the move forced a strategy change within the Nevada-based team, there was little drama and no effort to find a replacement for Luhr. The two-time American Le Mans Series Driver Championship-winning team has used only two drivers in its Petit Le Mans efforts the last two years. M�ller will take the green flag at 11:16 AM (ET) before handing over driving duties to Dumbreck, who is making his Road Atlanta debut. QuotesDale White, Team Manager/Entrant: “Dr. Ulrich came to us during the warm-up and asked that, if it did not interfere with our strategy, if we would be willing to allow Lucas to replace Pirro today. Mike and I discussed it briefly on the spot and agreed, even as Lucas was sitting in the No. 31 Ferrari doing his warm-up laps, to do it. We are certainly disappointed that Lucas won't be racing with us but there was no question on the decision. We have won this race the last two years with a two-driver lineup and Dirk and Peter are more than up to the task. Certainly it required us to do some strategy changes but nothing that we can't overcome. We wish Audi the best and plan to see them on the podium at the end of the day.” The 10th Anniversary Petit Le Mans will start at 11:15 AM (ET) on Saturday, October 6 with live television coverage on SPEED Channel. The event can also be heard live on the American Le Mans Series Radio Web, available through the American Le Mans Series web site. Live timing and scoring of each on-track session and the race can be found at www.AmericanLeMans.com. More on Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing can be found at www.PetersenMotorsports.com
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