"Klaus and I had a chat about Sebring, I think we were almost over it, then we saw a video about Sebring and it all came back to mind," Luhr admitted. "The Sebring is the Super Bowl of Sports Car racing. It still hurts, and at the end of the day you have to get over it. A good team comes back strong and that is what we did today. So hopefully we continue to win races the rest of the year."

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing proved that clean, fast and efficient can coexist by also claiming the Michelin Green X Challenge prototype victory. This was the team's second consecutive MGXC victory at Long Beach and ninth since the conception of the challenge.

"HPD and Honda have proven to be a reliable and fuel efficient combination," said winning co-driver Klaus Graf. "We feel very strongly that in long-distance races a big part of the race is to go the furthest, fastest and use the least amount of energy. Future rules will change in that direction and we are pleased to partner with HPD to have success both in the race and in the Michelin Green X Challenge."

Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin gave Corvette Racing its first victory at Long Beach since 2009 and its first in ALMS since Mosport in July with an 8-second victory over BMW Team RLL's Joey Hand and Dirk Müller

Milner won for the first time in ALMS and was part of a dynamic opening fight between Corvette and BMW.

"I've had some great podiums and big heartbreaks after chances to win," Milner said. "With an unknown car from the rain sessions, it was great to get a win that meant something. I learned a bit from last year where I had put myself in bad situations so I focused on keeping out of them this year. It's a big team win today."

Following the restart, it didn't take Gavin long to track down Müller in the leading BMW M3 GT. The Englishman felt he had the superior car and with 46 minutes left, finally got the break he needed on the late part of a lap to get around Müller and drive away.

"It certainly was a great job from Corvette Racing putting together a great car right off the truck," Gavin said. "I learned a lot from Tommy. He was a bit of a Guinea pig for me today. Seeing how the tires lasted, seeing it through the longer run. It was harder to get ahead of (Müller); I finally managed to squeeze through. Then it was about managing and saving the tires. The Michelin tire was great, I was pleased with the performance. It got a bit hairy, with extra traffic, and there were a lot of cars going off. It kept you on your toes. But I had enough gap to stay ahead of the BMW."