Fernandez was unlucky and could have been higher
de Ferran
Fernandez
Andretti-Green
Highcroft
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de Ferran
DE FERRAN AND PAGENAUD TAKE PODIUM ON DEBUT
SALT LAKE CITY, Ut. (May 18, 2008) -- de Ferran Motorsports scored a podium finish on debut today with Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud driving the No. 66 Acura ARX-01b prototype through to third place from the back of the field.
A last lap spin in qualifying yesterday forced de Ferran to relinquish his front row starting position - moving to the back of the pack with fresh rubber. The former Indy 500 winner swiftly moved through the pack, gaining more track position when electing to not to pit under the first safety car period.
de Ferran had moved into the LMP2 class lead after 73 minutes before handing over to Pagenaud. The young Frenchman continued the team's strong pace, setting the fastest lap of the race and moving into the race lead at the 2 hour, 5 minute mark.
Despite battling radio communication problems with the de Ferran Motorsports crew, Pagenaud made his final stop five minutes later for fuel and tires. In his final stint, the Panasonic ELS Sound Acura had moved back through the pack to be third at the checkered flag.
GIL DE FERRAN
"It really was a great day for us. To get on the podium and finish so close to the leader is a fantastic result.
"I had to be careful coming from the back of the pack but the car certainly had good speed. The first yellow was a little too early for us but the end result is outstanding --- I couldn't be more pleased.
"Simon did a brilliant job at the finish, but for me, sitting on the pit wall, the final 10 minutes seemed to take forever.
"We now have a large break before the next race at Lime Rock so we will have plenty of opportunity to regroup, take a breath and put some more testing miles under our belt to be even better prepared for our second race.
"Thanks again to Acura, Panasonic and all our guys on the crew -- everyone is delighted with the day."
SIMON PAGENAUD
"It was certainly busy out there on track. The first few laps after I got in the car was pretty tough making my way through some of the GT cars.
"But the car was getting better and better as the race went on. I was pushing very hard towards the finish trying to catch the Porsche but I really enjoyed race -- it was probably the best race I've had in my career.
"A few more laps would have been handy but it is always good to start on a high note, but not too high -- third place will keep everyone really motivated to do even better next time.
"The most stressful part for me was sitting on the sidelines when Gil was in the car -- that was a new experience for me -- but I really did enjoy this style of racing."
Fernandez
Lowe's Fernandez Racing Finishes Fifth in Utah
It was a valiant effort by Lowe's Fernandez Racing and drivers Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz in the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix this afternoon which, unfortunately, resulted in an unrepresentative fifth-place class and overall finish.
The team inherited a front row starting position after the second-place car of de Ferran Motorsports was regulated to the back of the field for changing tires following an off-course excursion in yesterday's qualifying session. Diaz made a great start passing the # 7 Penske Porsche of Timo Bernhard on the opening lap and was able to stay on the heels of the more powerful LMP1 cars which moved to the front in the early stages.
Diaz briefly lost the LMP2 advantage in traffic but was able to repass the Porsche on a Lap 13 restart to assume the overall lead of the race after the LMP1 leaders pitted. He showed that the #15 Lowe's Acura ARX was definitely the class of the field as he pulled away from not only the second-place LMP2 car of de Ferran but the Audis as well. He held the overall lead until Lap 38 (1 hour 11 minutes in) when he pitted to turn the controls over to Fernandez.
After tremendous service by the crew under the green flag stop, Fernandez emerged fourth in class and sixth overall with scheduled pit stops still in line for the frontrunners. Fernandez, however, fell victim to wrong place, wrong time on Lap 47 as the #20 Dyson Porsche rejoined the track directly on the racing line after an off-course excursion. The resulting light contact resulted in Fernandez losing the right-front dive plane which affected the handling of the #15 machine. He battled both an ill-handling car and traffic in the closing stages to a fifth-place result.
Adrian Fernandez, #15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "I think we had the car to win today. Luis proved it and I was out there running pretty easily. Traffic in this series can be very frustrating -- very unpredictable -- and you just never know what is going to happen. One of the Dyson cars went off and came back on track and suddenly just turns into the corner in front of me. I never expected it. He was coming very slow and when you are that slow, you don't jump onto the racing line. I was at least 40 miles an hour quicker than him. Once we damaged the dive plane, we had a lot of push in the car. Towards the end, the car was better but it was a little too late. Luis did a tremendous job. We just have to keep doing this and one day we will get our race. It was a frustrating end."
Luis Diaz, #15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "I have mixed emotions today. The team gave us a great car but this series can be very tough because you have the mix of the different classes and the traffic. On one side, I am happy because the car was unbelievable -- really unbelievable. On the other, I think the team deserved a better result. It was not in our hands today but I am optimistic. I cannot wait until the next race."
Andretti-Green
Herta, Fittipaldi Claim Seventh in LMP2 at Utah
TOOLE, Utah (May 18, 2008) - Bryan Herta and Christian Fittipaldi drove the XM Satellite Radio Acura to a seventh-place finish in the LMP2 class at Sunday's running of the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix.
Bryan Herta, #26 XM Satellite Radio Acura:
"It was bad luck for the XM Acura team this weekend. We had a set back when Christian spun in qualifying and we had to start back a little bit, but he really did a great job and got us up into the top five very quickly. Unfortunately when Highcroft spun, there was nothing we could do about it. Even after the damage we were still pretty competitive, but when you go a lap down on a three-mile track, there just isn't anything you can do about it."
Christian Fittipaldi, #26 XM Satellite Radio Acura:
"I was trying to avoid contact with the Highcroft car coming into the corner much quicker. I thought I had made it by him, but he started going backward and ran into me. We made a mistake and made changes to the car while the pits were closed, which gave us the penalty. In general the XM Acura car was very competitive. We went by Gil (de Ferran) and the GT cars on the first lap and got to the front quickly, which makes it even more frustrating for us."
Highcroft
PATRON HIGHCROFT RACING SUSTAINS EARLY-RACE DAMAGE
HERCULEAN EFFORT IN PITS RETURNS TEAM TO TRACK FOR POINTS-PAYING FINISH
Scott Sharp, piloting the #9 Acura ARX-01b, ran near the head of the field at the beginning of Round Four of the American Le Mans Series season. Coming through Turn One on a restart, roughly half an hour into the challenge, Sharp was clipped by Butch Leitzinger in the #20 Dyson Porsche. As Sharp spun from the impact, he was tagged by Christian Fittipaldi in the #26 Andretti Green Acura, damaging Sharp's rear suspension severely. Sharp pitted and the team worked feverishly to get the #9 Acura back in the contest.
"What a shame. We had a just a great car," said Sharp, after handing off driving duties to David Brabham. "We had a little electrical problem at the start of the race. The car wouldn't accelerate properly, especially coming out of the low-speed corners. But we made a few adjustments in the cockpit, changed some settings and we were able to get it running normally. By then, I was about six or seven seconds behind." As Sharp came through Turn One on a restart after a caution period, "I slid down underneath the Dyson car," said Sharp. "Everything was fine. Then, all of a sudden, 'snap.' I think I had a little help there. Then Christian came around, and I was hoping he was going to miss me, but he happened to hit me at an angle that just clobbered the rear suspension. It's a real shame. The guys have done an amazing job all week. For the team to do a major front-suspension change on the first test day so quickly, then change the rear suspension today and get us back out there so fast, really shows how tightly this team is working. So, even though we were relegated to just running for points, thanks to their efforts, at least we'll be able to score some."
After the crew's stellar job in returning the # 9 car to the track, Brabham drove until the conclusion of the two-hour, 45-minute event. Due to its perseverance, the team - which earned its first-ever LMP2 class victory at the Long Beach Grand Prix last month - completed the minimum 70 percent race distance requirement to earn points toward the championship.
"Obviously we're all disappointed today, and probably no one more than Scott," said Brabham while relaxing after the race. "Even though we sustained significant damage to the rear suspension, the team did a great job getting us back out there. At the beginning of my run, I had a problem with the rear of the car due to the oil on Turns One and Two. The car just felt odd, so I was very careful. But the team said we had to push more to get to the required 70 percent distance. The car responded beautifully and just kept getting better and better. We were doing pretty good lap times in the end and achieved our objective, which was to get points."
Team owner Duncan Dayton agreed. "We salvaged two points, which was great. For the crew to get the car repaired and running so fast was terrific. And, our lap times were right up there at the end of the race. The car was just fantastic. Scott had trouble at the restart - started third, improved to second and then, just got tagged. It's one of those high-speed balletic dance moves - someone steps on your toe and it all goes wrong. Nevertheless, we made the best of an unfortunate event and two points is two points. Hopefully we'll make it up by the end of the season."