Lucas Luhr (born 22 July 1979) is a German BMW factory racing driver, currently competing for BMW and

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 ...

in the GTLM category of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship.

Early career

Born in

Mülheim-Kärlich Mülheim-Kärlich is a town in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Weißenthurm. It is situated west of Koblenz, a few km from the Rhine. It is the site ...

, Luhr began his career in karts in 1989. Throughout the early 1990s, he won several local and national karting trophies. He became a factory driver for the CRG company in 1994, winning the European Karting Championship and placing 4th in the

Karting World Championship The Karting World Championship is a kart racing competition organised by the Commission Internationale de Karting, CIK-Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. It is held annually since 1964, and is karting's flagship event. The FIA (In ...

. In 1995 he moved to the Jolly Kart factory team, competing in the European and World championships. Luhr moved to cars in 1996, becoming vice-champion of the German

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

championship. He raced in the

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship ...

in 1997 and 1998, winning the 1998 season opening round at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has h ...

Porsche factory career

Luhr became a

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company ...

factory driver for the 1999 season. He won the 1999 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland championship driving for the UPS Junior Team. In 2000, he moved to the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' h ...

, driving a

Porsche 911 GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

-R for Dick Barbour Racing and partnering with Dirk Müller. He collected class wins in the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second rou ...

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

1000 km Nürburgring 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length&nb ...

, and Race of 1000 Years in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, as well as the ALMS GT class championship in his first season. Luhr began the 2001 season with a class win in the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...

, driving for

White Lightning Racing White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

. In the ALMS, he partnered with Sascha Maassen at

Alex Job Racing Alex Job Racing is a former professional sports car racing team based in the United States. The team, which is noted for its long-time association with Porsche, has competed in the American Le Mans Series, the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge series, and the ...

, again in a 911. The duo won the

, but had a disappointing season as the

BMW M3 GTR The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mode ...

s dominated the season. Luhr and Maassen finished 4th in the championship. In 2002, Luhr and Maassen dominated the ALMS GT class, winning seven of ten races, including Sebring and

Petit Le Mans The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...

. Luhr also won the GT class at Le Mans, driving with

Kevin Buckler Kevin Buckler (born c. 1959) is an American race car driver and entrepreneur. He founded Adobe Road Winery and currently owns The Racer's Group, a professional sports car racing team; TRG Motorsports, formerly a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team; and ...

and

Timo Bernhard Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June ...

for

The Racer's Group The Racer's Group, or TRG, is a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship racing team located in Petaluma, California, owned by Kevin Buckler and his wife Debra. TRG has competed professionally in road racing since 1995. The team formerly competed in ...

. For 2003, Luhr continued his winning ways with Maassen and AJR. The duo Sebring for the third straight year, giving Luhr his fourth straight class win, tying him with Bob Holbert for most consecutive class wins. In June, the pair, joined by

Emmanuel Collard Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques. Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Serie ...

, captured the GT class at Le Mans. Luhr and Maassen would take 5 wins from 9 races and win the ALMS GT championship for the second straight year. After a second place at Sebring, Luhr moved to the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

for the 2004 season. He and Maassen won 6 races driving for Friesinger Motorsport and won their third consecutive championship together. In 2005, Luhr's primary job was the development of the new Porsche RS Spyder, which was to make its full-time debut in 2006. He also raced in the big events in 911s, winning the

and the

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their ...

. Luhr also won the Laguna Seca 4 Hours LMP2 class, in the debut race of the RS Spyder. For 2006, Luhr rejoined Maassen, but moved to

Penske Racing Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organizati ...

to drive the RS Spyder. The duo had a rough start to the season, netting only one class win. Luhr would finish the season driving with Romain Dumas and take two more victories to end as vice-champion with Maassen. Luhr also won the

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smalle ...

overall, driving with

, Marcel Tiemann, and Mike Rockenfeller.

Audi career

For 2007, Luhr became a factory

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. ...

driver. Luhr raced in the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB- FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The s ...

(DTM) series, driving an

Audi A4 DTM The Audi A4 DTM is a 4-door touring car ( DTM) constructed by the German car manufacturer Audi. It was first developed for use in the 2004 DTM season, replacing the Audi TT DTM at the end of the 2003 DTM season. Based on the Audi A4, it was ...

for Audi Sport Team Rosberg. He participated in the

, driving the LMP1 class R10 TDI. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

he drove in the American Le Mans Series with Marco Werner in an Audi R10, the pair won the LMP1 class drivers title after six overall wins and eight class wins. He was also fourth overall at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

. In the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans race, Luhr crashed Audi's new R15 TDI into a tire wall during the 7th hour. Race officials declared the car unable to finish the race. For 2010, Luhr has been driving in select events for

factory-supported teams in GT races. He competed in the VLN and at the

Nürburgring 24 Hours The Nürburgring 24 Hours is a 24-hour annual touring car and GT endurance racing event that takes place on a combination of the Nordschleife ("North Loop") and the GP-Strecke ("Grand Prix track") circuits of the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palat ...

for Team Abt Sportsline, and also for Phoenix Racing at the

. He also competed in the

Rolex 24 at Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout ...

finishing 3rd for Level 5 Motorsports.

Post-Audi career

In 2011, Luhr competed in the FIA GT1 World Championship for

JR Motorsports JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, CARS Tour, and occasionally in the NASCAR Advance Auto Pa ...

, winning the drivers' championship with

Michael Krumm Michael Krumm (born 19 March 1970) is a German professional racing driver who won the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship driving for JR Motorsports. Biography Born in Reutlingen, Krumm married Japanese tennis player Kimiko Date on 1 December 2001 a ...

in a

Nissan GT-R The Nissan GT-R (Japanese: 日産・GT-R, ''Nissan GT-R''), is a high-performance sports car and grand tourer produced by Nissan, unveiled in 2007. It is the successor to the Skyline GT-R, a high performance variant of the Nissan Skyline. Alt ...

. For 2012, Luhr competed in the

for

Muscle Milk Motorsports Muscle Milk Pickett Racing (formerly known as Muscle Milk Motorsports and Muscle Milk Team Cytosport) was a motorsports group from Indianapolis, Indiana. The team was founded in 2007 by CytoSport co-founder and former IMSA GT Championship driver ...

, where he was the LMP1 champion and the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

for

Starworks Motorsport Starworks Motorsport is an American automobile racing team based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, currently competing in the new for 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The team was established in 2010 by Peter Baron and runs a Riley Daytona Pro ...

where he finished 12th in points with one race win. In 2013 he has returned to Muscle Milk in ALMS LMP1 and also won the

SP7 class in a

Manthey Racing Olaf Manthey (born 21 April 1955 in Bonn) is a German former race car driver, and current owner of Porsche team Manthey Racing. Manthey's career as a driver began in 1974. In the 1980s, he won two races of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft. Re ...

Porsche. On 26 July 2013 it was announced that Luhr would make his

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

debut with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing at

Sonoma Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southe ...

in conjunction with RW Motorsports.DiZinno, Tony
SFHR, RW combine to provide Lucas Luhr his IndyCar debut at Sonoma
''NBC Sports'', 26 July 2013, Retrieved 2013-07-26 It was his first open wheel race since he competed in German Formula Three in 1998.

''Top Speed''

Luhr was featured, along with

Marion Jones Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is an American former world champion track and field athlete and former professional basketball player. She won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the 2000 ...

and Marla Streb, in the large format film, ''Top Speed'', hosted by

Tim Allen Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) and Mike Baxter on the ABC/ ...

. Luhr's appearance in the film focuses on his championships in the

while he was driving for

. The film was produced by

MacGillivray Freeman Films MacGillivray Freeman Films is an American film studio based in Laguna Beach, California and founded in the mid-1960s by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman. It produces documentaries, feature films, and IMAX films. History MacGillivray Freeman F ...

Accolades

* FIA GT1 World Championship GT1 class champion: 2011 *

LMP1 class champion:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

LMP2 class champion:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

GT class champion:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

* FIA GT N-GT class champion:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

GT class winner:

GT/GT2 class winner:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

overall winner: 2006, 2011 *

GT2 class winner:

GT class winner:

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

champion: 1999

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete DTM results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † Retired, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race winner's distance.

Complete GT1 World Championship results

IndyCar Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete NASCAR results

Whelen Euro Series – EuroNASCAR PRO

( key) (Bold – Pole position. ''Italics'' – Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained) Season still in progress.

References

External links

Official websiteFourtitude Magazine profileTop Speed Official WebsiteMacGillivray Freeman Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luhr, Lucas 1979 births Living people German racing drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers FIA GT Championship drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers American Le Mans Series drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers People from Mayen-Koblenz Racing drivers from Rhineland-Palatinate Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Porsche Supercup drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers IndyCar Series drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Team Penske drivers Sarah Fisher Racing drivers Audi Sport drivers Team Joest drivers Jota Sport drivers Team Rosberg drivers BMW M drivers Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Rowe Racing drivers Cheever Racing drivers Level 5 Motorsports drivers Starworks Motorsport drivers