Highcroft won their first P2 class win after a great late race pass
Highcroft
Andretti-Green
Fernandez
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Highcroft
PATRON HIGHCROFT RACING TAKES VICTORY AT THE TEQUILA PATRON ALMS AT LONG BEACH
David Brabham First Series Driver to Bring Home Top Honors In All Four Classes
It was a sweet victory for Patron Highcroft Racing tonight on the winding streets of the southern California shoreline. David Brabham and Scott Sharp drove the #9 Acura ARX-01b flat out for the 1-hour, 40-minute challenge, and brought the team its first victory. First in the LMP2 class, the team took third place overall.
Brabham, who got in the #9 car with 45 minutes left in the challenge, fought his way through the ranks steadily throughout his stint. With 20 minutes left, he passed Christian Fittipaldi in the #26 Andretti Green Acura and Adrian Fernandez in the #15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura, improving to fifth position. With less than five minutes to go, Brabs was in a fierce battle with Romain Dumas in the #7 Penske Porsche for the LMP2 class win. Coming down the back straight in the final minute of the race, David saw an opening, took it, and passed Dumas, clinching the win. On his way to the podium to celebrate, Brabs said, "Dumas and I went down the back straight and he moved to one side, moving straight in front of me. I was just waiting for the right opportunity. I knew I was quicker, so when I saw my chance, I just went for it. He tried to protect his line, but I went to the inside. It was just good racing and the Acura engine performed beautifully.For the whole team to win for Duncan and Patron is just fantastic. We came back from fifth or sixth to win. The team gave me a great car. I could see we were stronger than the Penske Porsches. I have to give huge credit to the team. To go up against the Penske Porsches with their having been so dominant is just fantastic. To cross the finish line first is a win on so many levels for the whole team, which put in a lot of work over the winter. It is paying off in spades this season. All in all, there is a huge difference when you win - you go to the next race knowing you can win, instead of just hoping."
Scott Sharp started the race and said, "I had a good run. With the track temperature as cold as it was this morning, we didn't learn much in practice. So, when I first got out there for the race, I was finding my braking points and apexes. But I got into a great rhythm pretty quickly, moved up steadily and had good lap times. I felt really comfortable out there in the Acura. The team did a great job with the car. As far as traffic on a street circuit like this, when you're behind someone, your lap is ruined.If you get stuck behind a slower car, you just hang on until you can break through."
Team owner Duncan Dayton was ecstatic about tonight's win. As he walked to Winner's Circle, he said, "It was just unreal tonight. The team ran a great race all the way through. It was fantastic the way it all unfolded - Scott did a great job in the first half to keep up a great pace. Going into tonight's race, he only had about eight laps on the circuit. We pitted during yellow and Penske Racing had pitted during green, so we thought we were going put a lap on the Penskes, but the Pace Car was a little slow, so we didn't get the lap we thought we were going to get. Then, we put David in the car and he put the hammer down.To beat Roger Penske straight up in a dogfight is just an extraordinary feeling. It was a really great effort by everyone on the team. And to do it for both Patron, the race's title sponsor, and for Acura, in its backyard, at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, makes it all the more thrilling."
Andretti-Green
Herta, Fittipaldi Claim Fourth in LMP2 at Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 19, 2008) - XM Satellite Radio Acura drivers Bryan Herta and Christian Fittipaldi scored a fourth-place finish Saturday in the LMP2 class at the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach.
Bryan Herta, #26 XM Satellite Radio Acura:
"We struggled with track position, obviously. The Audis got around us and then we just got parked behind them. Toward the end of my stint, we had a tire going down slowly and we had to deal with that until we caught a caution. Christian did a good job, but we just really had to battle hard today. We overcame some adversity and brought the car home. It was a good day for Acura, but it was not the finish we were looking for."
Christian Fittipaldi, #26 XM Satellite Radio Acura:
"It was just a very average day for us. I think we had much better equipment than our finish represented. We were one of the only cars that didn't change tires, so I was really sliding around by the end of the race. We were hoping that would be a move that would work for us, but it didn't unfortunately. It certainly isn't the finish that we were hoping for, but we just have to turn the page and move on."
Fernandez
Lowe's Fernandez Racing Sixth in Long Beach
Lowe's Fernandez Racing finished sixth in class and eighth overall in the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. It was a disappointing result following a strong showing throughout the weekend including a front row starting position.
Luis Diaz assumed initial driving duties aboard the #15 Lowe's Acura ARX-01b LMP2 prototype, but began to battle understeer in the early stages of the 100-minute race. Due to a series of pit stops, he was shown in the lead when he pitted on Lap 44 (60 minutes into the race) to turn the controls over to Adrian Fernandez.
After the pit stops cycled through, Fernandez was shown third in class and fourth overall with 35 minutes remaining. All hopes for a charge to the front fell by the wayside as Fernandez suffered from both understeer and lack of grip. David Brabham and Scott Sharp brought home the first class victory of the season for Acura.
Fernandez will depart Long Beach this evening for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Mexico City tomorrow. The 80-lap race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez will start at 1:00 pm local time and will be broadcast on ESPN at 10:30 am PST on Sunday. David Green qualified the #5 Lowe's car 32nd this afternoon. However, Fernandez will be starting from the back of the field due to the driver change.
Adrian Fernandez, #15 Lowe's Acura:
"I am very disappointed. We started with a good car for Luis, but when I jumped in we had absolutely no grip on the front of the car. I couldn't turn anywhere. I have no idea what happened. I just didn't have a race car and I was fighting to stay on the track. I was heading to the wall all the time. I just couldn't make the car turn. It doesn't matter if you have a good race car to start the race, you have to have a good car for the whole race. We have to study to see what happened but it was a very disappointing day. I want to say congratulations to Highcroft Racing and Acura on their win today."
Luis Diaz, #15 Lowe's Acura:
"This weekend looked very good for us at the beginning but, for some reason, we were having problems with the car on long runs. The car wasn't that competitive in the race, unfortunately, for reasons I don't know. I had a good start but one of the Porsches passed me. I was being careful with traffic and lost some ground there but I think I did the right thing because, at the end, Adrian was fourth and had a clear shot at the Penskes and Audis. Unfortunately, we couldn't fight at the end. I know we have the team to find out the problem. Once we can sort this out, I know we will be okay because at Sebring we were very good. I am confident we will have a good car for the next race."