It was a great weekend for Acura, Highcroft and Brabham
Highcroft
Andretti Green Racing
Fernandez Racing
de Ferran Racing
Penske Racing
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Highcroft
Patron Highcroft Racing's wild chase through Lime Rock's winding road course ended in the sweetest victory the team has ever tasted. David Brabham, who has fast become the American Le Mans Series' leading expert in late-race heroics, made a spectacular pass of Timo Bernhard in the #7 Penske Porsche in the last two minutes of the Northeast Grand Prix, bringing the team, and Acura, their first overall ALMS win. The team, which started this afternoon's race on pole, took its first American Le Mans Series LMP2 class victory at the Tequila Patron Long Beach Grand Prix this past April.
Milestones aside, the victory was additionally sweet for the Patron Highcroft team because it is headquartered in nearby Danbury, Connecticut, just over an hour from the Lime Rock track. Connecticut native Scott Sharp shared driving duties with Brabham en route to the Patron Highcroft team's historic triumph.
"To get this overall win is just an amazing feeling," said an elated Brabham afterward. "It was a non-stop battle out there the whole race. With the sand [surrounding the course] it was very easy to go wide, which I did once. Loads of cars were going off. I am just massively relieved we won! And what an amazing finish - it was really a wild chase the whole way. With traffic the way it was, I was fighting for a clear lap. Although I never touched anyone or had any close calls, I knew if I had stuck my nose in close quarters, we would have been hit. It was a high-wire waiting game for the right opportunity, which I knew would come. When I came around Turn One on the second-to-last lap, and saw that the Penske had balked, I knew I could go for it. The Acura was so 'dialed in' - it was flying- so I knew I could do it. The Acura really stuck to the ground when I was passing the Porsche; I knew I was quicker and had to go for it. The Acura ARX-01b hiccupped slightly because I was low on fuel, but we coasted down the last hill and took the checker. I can say one thing for sure - there is going to be a big celebration at Patron Highcroft Racing tonight."
"My stint was definitely action packed!" said Sharp, who started the race from the pole position. "When I first got out there, we were concerned that we might be a little loose [experiencing oversteer] because we were in this morning's practice. We were trying to hang out until the tires warmed up. On the first lap, one of the Porsches almost put me in the grass and I didn't want to get in the marbles and block him, so he got underneath me. I lost momentum and got passed by a couple more cars, and was pretty ticked off. Then I was really surprised, five laps later, when I was running tight with Simon Pagenaud [in the #66 De Ferran Racing Acura] on a chicane turn. I was about to pick up the throttle and 'boom,' he hit me from behind and I spun. That was way too early in the race for that to happen. Nevertheless, I kept pushing as hard as I could in traffic, and got into a good rhythm, and ended up being able to turn some good laps. The guys put together a great race strategy, and fixed the rear deck after the Pagenaud incident, so David got into a car that was in great shape."
Team owner Duncan Dayton could not say enough about the team that made this long-held dream come true. "To come back from the adversity of getting punted from behind, pit and change the floor the way the crew did - these guys did an incredible job of getting us back out there. Wirth Research [chassis consultant] has this new quick-change rear [assembly]. With that, we were able to get right back out there. Because the lap times are so quick here, you'd usually be down a lap or two in a situation like ours, but with the new quick-change rear that Wirth brought to the race, it made the fix incredibly easy. And with David driving the Acura the way he did at the end, he just pulled out an amazing finish for us. Scott also did a really great job. When you lose a piece that affects the aerodynamics, it makes the car pretty tough to drive, but Scott drove it home really well. Hats off to the guys on the crew. They just did an absolutely top-notch job. To achieve this kind of success, in our own back yard, when we all have our families, friends and sponsors here, is incredibly meaningful to us."
"Wow, you couldn't have written a better story for our group at Acura and HPD (Honda Performance Development)." Said Erik Berman, President of HPD. "It was a wild weekend with the front row of the grid all Acura. We looked out of the running in the middle of the race. The Patron Highcroft team did some heroic work in the pits to stay on the lead lap. It was an amazing race. I followed Robert Clarke in this position and Robert did a massive amount of work to help make this win possible. I am proud of all of the Acura teams and I am sure he is, too. Winning overall is new milestone for this young Acura program. But we have to continue to work hard and keep pushing. I want to congratulate Duncan [Dayton] and the whole Patron Highcroft Racing organisation for a superb effort in this Lime Rock victory."
Andretti Green Racing
Franck Montagny, #26 XM Satellite Radio Acura
"The XM Acura was good to drive today. I think that Marco and I did well with what we had. It was just unfortunate that 14 minutes into the race, we were a lap down and at that point there isn't much we could do. It was nice to be able to show that the car was fast since we were the quickest on the track. Now, we'll be ready to go to Mid-Ohio."
Marco Andretti, #26 XM Satellite Radio Acura
"I was disappointed with my run. My radio wasn't connected right and I couldn't hear the team for awhile. Then I was able to run pretty well through the traffic after fixing the radio. It's very tough to come from behind here. I had to drive through all of the GT cars. The P1 cars are very hard to pass too, because of their straightaway speed. The leaders just got a huge gap at the start and we were running through traffic, so that made it difficult. It was fun to drive the XM Acura again."
Fernandez Racing
Lowe's Fernandez Racing Finishes Fourth at Lime Rock
While Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz claimed their best result of the season to date with a fourth-place class and fifth-place overall result in the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix this afternoon, they also saw a potential podium finish slip from their grasp.
Diaz started the race in fifth position and, while encountering understeer in the opening stages, was turning laps quicker than the leaders toward the end of his one-hour stint. He turned the #15 Lowe's Acura ARX over to Fernandez on Lap 69 in fourth place overall and third in class.
Following several lengthy caution periods and a pit stop for fuel and tires, Fernandez was the fifth of only five cars on the lead lap. He managed to work through the traffic separating him from the fourth-place LMP2 of Sascha Maassen to mount a charge on the #6 Porsche with just over 30 minutes remaining.
That was when misfortune struck and Fernandez encountered an electrical problem which caused the engine to lose power. Able to finish but unable to challenge, the team ended the day fourth in class.
Adrian Fernandez, #15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "It was a tough day for us. We were looking good for a top-three finish but, towards the end, we had an electrical problem that affected the engine. Even the GT's at top speed were faster than us after that. Then I had an off. I thought the Corvette saw me when I was beside him but he started to accelerate better than me. We went into a braking zone and I thought he was going to give me room. To avoid him, I spun. We really didn't lose anything there in the end because the engine was running poorly with the problem. It's a shame but we will come back. The car wasn't the greatest today in terms of setup but I think we could have made it into the top three. We never gave up but, like I said, it was a tough day."
Luis Diaz, #15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "Like Adrian said, it was a tough day for us. We had good pit stops and a good strategy but, unfortunately, we had the electrical problem. That took us out of contention here."
de Ferran Racing
De Ferran Motorsports' assault on the Lime Rock round of the American Le Mans Series today was delayed by gearbox issues which pushed the Acura ARX-01b of Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud back to 14th place overall.
After starting on the front row of the grid, Simon Pagenaud challenged the pole car of Scott Sharp at the green flag but got caught wide in turn two and lost a number of spots after running off the circuit. The young Frenchman began a great fightback, only to make contact with Sharp after 11 minutes and subsequently having to complete a stop-go penalty for the incident.
Pagenaud began another comeback through the pack, but entered the pits after 46 minutes after suffering gearbox issues. With team boss Gil de Ferran now behind the wheel, the de Ferran Motorsports crew completed several additional pit stops to solve the gearbox issue - forcing the Panasonic-sponsored team to finish 17 laps adrift of the race winner.
The de Ferran Motorsports squad will now head to the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course next week for the Acura Sports Car Challenge - round six of the 2008 American Le Mans Series.
GIL DE FERRAN
"We are certainly disappointed but we can hold our heads high because we had a very fast car today. The car got stuck in gear which is a shame because we were looking good to earn a very strong result.
"It was unfortunate what happened to Simon off the start but he was able to charge back through the field.
"We need to investigate what happened mechanically but there were certainly a lot of incidents out on track today - we were not alone in that regard."
SIMON PAGENAUD
"Things didn't go our way today but I am pleased that the car was so competitive.
"I made a great start and was ahead of Sharp but had to take a wide line and got caught outside and went off.
"I was able to fight back but then had contact with the same car and had to take a stop-go penalty. The car was still really strong and we still had a good chance to do very well until the gearbox problem happened."
Penske Racing
Penske Porsches Finish Second, Third In Lime Rock
LIME ROCK, Conn. (July 12, 2008) -- Saturday afternoon's American Le Mans Series (ALMS) event saw the No. 7 LMP2 Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas finish second overall (and in the LMP2 class) and the No. 6 LMP2 Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Patrick Long and Sascha Maassen finish third overall/in class.
The No. 7 machine of Bernhard/Dumas, who now lead the LMP2 drivers championship by 24 points, took the lead at the one-hour mark, just before a 25-minute caution period, and led for an hour and 43 minutes before being overhauled by the Brabham/Sharp Acura, forcing them to settle for second place. Both the Porsche and the Acura spent the last 30 minutes trying to stay out of trouble created by slower traffic, a marginal fuel supply, and a track littered with dirt and rocks from previous mishaps during the race.
Bernhard, who held the lead for most of that time, would build a 10 to 15-second lead, only to get stuck behind a group of slower GT cars and have the margin shrink to one to three seconds. Both cars had made only one fuel stop, but both teams thought they could make it to the end with all the yellow flags that had ensued, and by utilizing the leanest fuel mode they could.
Two laps from the end -- merely 90 seconds from the finish - after Bernard lost a bout with traffic, Brabham attempted to pass Bernhard on the outside. Bernhard stuck the nose of the car on the inside line, but the Acura cut him off, and Bernhard had to slam on the brakes, which locked up the rear end and caused him to spin onto the grass.
"I thought I could go faster than him, but I had bad luck in traffic, and he caught up to me," said Bernhard. "When he cut in front of me, I ran out of room on the inside line, and would have crashed into the barrier if I held that line. I decided it was better to spin and avoid contact, thus making sure I finished second, than it was to crash and put our season points in danger."
The No. 6 Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Maassen/Long got off to a strong start, with Long taking the overall lead on the first lap -- a lead he held until lap seven - and holding the LMP2 class lead for the first hour of the race. However, towards the end of the race, Maassen made contact with the No. 20 Dyson entrant, which resulted in a one-minute penalty. A strong driving performance allowed Maassen and Long to finish in third place overall/in class.
Porsche leads Acura in the LMP2 manufacturer's title chase by 13 points after five races.