With tomorrow’s grid for the second round of the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach set on points, the paddock was littered with stories of surprise and disappointment.

While Guy Smith “earned” his second successive Long Beach pole after topping the P1 points at Sebring in the Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda, the Muscle Milk squad of Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr were forced to lament “what if”.

The HPD duo will start second with neither driver able to get a dry lap today. The German duo will have their sights set on becoming the first ALMS team to take back-to-back wins at Long Beach.

“It’s a long day at the race track. It’s hard for the boys to prepare the racecar and then not get to run,” Graf said.

“We had a pretty good car in the wet this morning and were able to try some Michelin wet tires on our Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD car for the first time so that was good. It also helped to check other components of the car in the wet, which is important for the ongoing season.

“The fact that qualifying got cancelled is not what we wanted to see because I think we had a good shot of getting pole position on the race track. Overall I think we’re in good shape for the race even if we didn’t run in the dry today. I think the Muscle Milk HPD car will do just fine.”