The Tafel Racing team used a risky pit strategy and an unlikely omen to bring their Ferrari F430GT to victory in the American Le Mans Series race on Saturday. 

As Dirk Mueller prepared to switch into the driver’s seat of his team’s Ferrari F430GT halfway through Saturday’s American Le Mans Series race, he noticed something very peculiar about his helmet.

“It was covered with ants,” Mueller said after the race.  He alerted a teammate, who used an air hose to blow the insects out.  “I knew then that it was a good sign, because I almost had a head full of ants.”

Oddly enough, he was completely right.  Mueller’s teammate, Dominik Farnbacher, brought the Tafel Racing Ferrari into the pits in third place behind two Porsche 911 GT3 RSR’s from Flying Lizard Motorsports.  They would need some luck to get back onto the track before the two Porsches.

So the team opted for a very unlikely scenario: save time by keeping the same tires on for the entire race.

It was risky.  If the tires lost any grip, the Ferrari would not be able to brake well or keep up through corners.  But the gamble paid off, and Mueller made it out of the pits before either of the Flying Lizard cars, then held off their furious pursuit on the last lap to claim victory in the race’s GT2 category.

Mueller’s just glad he noticed his helmet problem before it became a bigger hassle.

“I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if I hadn’t noticed [the ants],” he said.  “I’m just glad I didn’t have to call into the pits and say, ‘Tony, I’m coming in.  My head is full of ants.”