Visit Florida Racing claimed the first victory for a new-spec LMP2 car in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship at Laguna Seca.
A lunge at the Corkscrew by Renger van der Zande on race leader Dane Cameron secured the result in the final two minutes of the 2 hour 40 minute contest on Sunday afternoon.
Having started third with Marc Goossens behind the wheel, the Gibson-powered Ligier worked through the field before Van der Zande made his daring move on the defending series champion.
Ricky Taylor dominated early on in the pole-sitting Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, but Cameron – who took over from Eric Curran – moved ahead at the second round of stops.
The Action Express driver rode a mid-race full course yellow period to retrieve Bill Auberlen's beached BMW from the turn one gravel, before its final stop for tyres and fuel with 45 minutes remaining.
However, Van der Zande closed in during the final stint as Cameron came into contact with a GT car, enabling the Dutchman to seize an opportunity to make a late bid for the lead.
Cameron couldn't find the pace or the time to stage a fightback, with Van der Zande crossing the line two seconds ahead of his pursuer.
Ricky and Jordan Taylor completed the podium to increase their championship advantage heading into the final round at Road Atlanta next month.
The brothers now hold a 29-point cushion over Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa in the sister Acion Express entry, who could only manage fifth.
Fourth went to the JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA-07 Gibson driven by Stephen Simpson and Misha Goikhberg.
In GT Le Mans, BMW drivers John Edwards and Martin Tomczyk claimed their first victory of the season after recovering from an early spin.
Edwards was pitched into a rotation at the first corner, but kept his place on the lead lap and returned to conntention during the full course yellow.
The BMW squad then decided to take a gamble with the M6's fuel, sending Edwards out on a 1 hour 15-minute stint to the chequered flag.
With his fuel running low, Edwards came under a hail of pressure from Toni Vilander in the pole-sitting Ferrari 488, but held on to win by less than a second.
Vilander controlled the race's opening stint before handing over to team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella. The Ferrari sat second after the full course yellow, before Vilander reclaimed the lead with a well-timed lunge on Edwards heading into the final corner.
However, the Ferrari still needed to pit, and with 35 minutes remaining Vilander took on fuel and a new set of tyres to set off in pursuit of his lost lead.
Despite getting past Antonio Garcia's Corvette and the Porsche of Dirk Werner, the Finn couldn't manage to supercede the BMW.
GT Daytona honours also went to the team that saved the most fuel, as championship leaders Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen won their first event of the year.
Balzan effectively managed an empty tank to cross the line six seconds ahead of Andy Lally in the Acura shared with Katherine Legge, while Joerg Bergmeister took third in the Park Place Motorsports Porsche.
The pole-sitting Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini ended up seventh after Madison Snow made contact with a GTLM Corvette at the start.
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