Highcroft spun and won at Lime Rock to put them in good stead for Mid Ohio
Acura
Porsche
Corvette
Michelin
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Acura
LEXINGTON, Ohio -- David Brabham's sensational late-race pass on the tight road course at Lime Rock Park last Saturday made history for the Acura American Le Mans Series sports car program.
Brabham, the personable Aussie, and his teammate Scott Sharp gave the young Acura ALMS racing organization its first overall victory in a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the No. 9 LMP2 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b prototype machine.
Brabham made a similar maneuver early this year in the streets of Long Beach to win the LMP2 class over the Penske Porsche with a last-lap pass to give the Patron Highcroft team its first ALMS win.
Now, with two wins and a pole already in five races, Brabham and Sharp come to the demanding Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Saturday's Acura Sport Car Challenge starting at 2:10 p.m. EDT.
But the Patron Highcroft duo won't be the only Acura squad holding down the fort at Mid-Ohio.
Former Indy 500 winner Gil de Ferran comes back to the popular Ohio racing facility for the first time since he won the pole position in the 2001 CART event. The two-time CART champion retired from the cockpit in 2003 after winning his final race at Texas, the IndyCar Series finale that year. After serving as the sporting director for Honda Formula One for three years, de Ferran decided to form his own racing operation and teamed with Acura. De Ferran also decided to return to driving as well as serving as team owner. Gil's new team made its ALMS debut in May at Utah. De Ferran teamed with young French star Simon Pagenaud to place third in No. 66 Panasonic ELS Surround team's first race.
The tough Mid-Ohio course will host a stellar field in the Acura Sports Car Challenge that includes Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, Mazda, Corvette and the Acura teams of Patron Highcroft Racing, de Ferran Motorsports, Lowe's Fernandez Racing and Andretti Green Racing.
The No. 15 Lowe's Acura contingent of Mexican driving stars Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz, who drove wheel-to-wheel with the winning Porsche throughout the 12 Hours of Sebring, have switched from the Lola chassis to the new Acura ARX-01b car in 2008 and shown impressive speed in 2008. Fernandez is a two-time winner at Mid-Ohio after taking the checkered flag in the 1998 CART race and the 2006 Grand-Am event. Diaz has been a strong contender at Mid-Ohio throughout his career including Indy Lights, Formula Atlantic and Grand-Am.
The Andretti Green Racing brings newcomer and 24 Hours of Le Mans star Franck Montagny as the new primary driver of the No. 26 XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b at Mid-Ohio. Montagny, who placed second at Long Beach last April in the final Champ Car race, will team with Indy Lights Series star Rafael Matos, who'll race the XM Acura Saturday and his Indy Lights both days (three races total).
Montagny is a past Formula One driver, testing for Renault, Toyota and Jordan and racing six races for Super Aguri in 2006. The French driver has been a factory Peugeot driver for the past two years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
ACURA QUOTES:
DAVID BRABHAM (#9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-0ba): "The Lime Rock was a big one. It was close to the team headquarters (in Danbury, CT) and Acura's first overall win. It has been good year so far for me with wins at Long Beach, Le Mans and Lime Rock. Long Beach was very special. To win there for Patron in their title race and in the backyard of Acura was big for our team. Winning in four ALMS classes is great for me but it doesn't mean as much as the effort that the team put forth. The Long Beach and Lime Rock wins was a very exciting for me and the rest of the team. The Mid-Ohio circuit is a very physically demanding course."
SCOTT SHARP (#9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b): "To get the first overall win this year for Acura and Patron, it's a big accomplishment. This event will be the fourth different type of car I will have raced at Mid-Ohio. I drove in the Trans-Am and clinched the title here in 1993. I raced in a Champ car in the 1990s and last year in the Indy car. This Acura is really close to an open-wheel car."
LUIS DIAZ: (#15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura ARX-01b): "We are getting more comfortable with the new Acura chassis. This new Acura ARX-01b car has more downforce and handles better. We have been very competitive at the first few races this year but we have had some bad luck so far. Mid-Ohio should be a good circuit for our Lowe's Acura."
ADRIAN FERNANDEZ (#15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura ARX-01b): "We are working on getting the Acura package and total Acura family stronger. We are learning a lot from every race, and I think we are making a lot of gains right now with our Acura engine and chassis. We are trying to make adjustments for Mid-Ohio. I have won in ChampCar and sports cars before at Mid-Ohio."
FRANCK MONTAGNY (#26 XM Satellite Radio AGR Acura ARX-01b): "I'm very excited to join Andretti Green Racing and the XM Acura program. I am looking forward to working with the team. We tested at Mid-Ohio recently so I feel good about the race. I know how competitive the American Le Mans Series is and know how challenging this race will be. I'm anxious to race."
RAFAEL MATOS (#26 XM Satellite Radio AGR Acura ARX-01b): "I'm very excited to be driving the XM Acura at Mid-Ohio in addition to my duties for the Firestone Indy Lights Series. I got to test AGR's XM Acura car at Mid-Ohio earlier in the season, which I think will help me get up to speed much quicker. I am looking forward to driving with Franck."
GIL de FERRAN (#66 Panasonic ELS Sound de Ferran Motosports Acura ARX-01b): "I'm having a great time driving a race car again. But in addition, I am enjoying the out of the cockpit activities as a team owner. It's been a very fun project. We are learning about sports car racing right now. It is different from open-wheel racing. But driving the prototypes is a lot like driving an open-wheel car. The car handles very similar to an Indy Car. This Acura is very close to a Formula One car with very high technology. It's so much fun to drive."
SIMON PAGENAUD (#66 Panasonic ELS Sound de Ferran Motosports Acura ARX-01b): "I am thrilled to be a part of de Ferran Motorsports and to drive with a legend like Gil. It was exciting to compete with this team and compete in the American Le Mans Series. This series has some of the most sophisticated racing cars in the world. And there are some great drivers too. I think there at 14 guys who have driven in F1 in the ALMS this year."
Porsche
ALTANTA - July 16 --Only days after fierce competition at Lime Rock Park, where the Porsche and Acuras did LMP2 battle and the Porsche and Ferraris tangled in GT2, the American Le Mans Series moves to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, for the Acura Sports Car Challenge.
The race, which will last two hours and 45 minutes, will take the green flag on Saturday, July 19, at 3:30 PM EDT, will be broadcast live on American Le Mans Radio, available at www.americanlemans.com, which also has live timing and scoring. The event will be telecast on a delayed basis on NBC-TV at noon EDT on Sunday, July 20. This is a recent change announced earlier in the week by NBC, which will also extend its usual two hour broadcast to two hours, 30 minutes.
"As Acura is sponsoring the race, and we know they will have a big crowd from their nearby factory in Ohio, we hope to turn the tables on them and score a win at Mid-Ohio," said Patrick Long, Porsche's only American factory driver, who led the Lime Rock race early in the event in the #6 Penske Porsche RS Spyder before the Brabham/Sharp Acura eventually won the event.
Four RS Spyders will again contest the sixth round of the American Le Mans Series, which runs in conjunction with the IndyCar Series. Sharing the cockpit of the #6 car are Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA), with LMP2 points leader Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) manning the #7 RS Spyder. Penske Racing prepares both race cars. Maassen/Long lost track position at Lime Rock due to miscommunication on its pit stop/driver change, and Bernhard was passed by the winning Acura with two laps to go.
Still, Dumas/Bernhard maintained their LMP2 points lead and Porsche kept their manufacturers championship lead by finishing second. Their overall wins at Sebring and Salt Lake City, along with the class win at St. Petersburg, have put them in control of the drivers points, while the combined efforts of Penske Racing and Dyson Racing have kept Porsche ahead on the manufacturers side.
The Porsche-supported US customer team, Dyson Racing, also runs two RS Spyders: Chris Dyson (USA) and Guy Smith (Great Britain) with the #16 vehicle as well as Butch Leitzinger (USA) and Marino Franchitti (Great Britain) in #20. While celebrating Dyson Racing's 25th anniversary in professional racing last week at Lime Rock, the Dyson cars were running second and third deep into the race before a pair of unfortunate accidents caused lower finishes and a lot of work before this Saturday's event.
"I love racing in Mid-Ohio, it's my favorite circuit," says Sascha Maassen. "It's a very fast track with many corners, left and right, up and down - it's a real roller coaster."
Timo Bernhard, who, with Dumas, has won overall the past two years at Mid-Ohio in the RS Spyder, agrees: "This track is a true challenge, very demanding. It's a great track for drivers, not just because of the courage it requires but above all because it takes skill."
Dumas tested in Mid-Ohio with Patrick Long and is optimistic for the race: "We have always done well here. And there's no reason why this shouldn't be the case this year."
In the GT2 class for production-based sports cars, Porsche teams launch into the second half of the season leading the championship points. Multi-time ALMS champion Joerg Bergmeister and his teammate Wolf Henzler (both Germany) won not only in Sebring and Salt Lake City this season but also at Lime Rock last weekend with the #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Lizard team drivers Johannes van Overbeek (USA) and Patrick Pilet (France), along with the third pairing of Seth Neiman (USA)/Lonnie Pechnik (USA) will round out that team's Porsche entries.
The GT2 pole-sitters from Lime Rock, the Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Dirk Werner (Germany) and Richard Westbrook (Great Britain), is coming off its fine second-place finish last weekend. And the VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR returns to the series after a one-race hiatus, with Nicky Pastorelli and brother Francesco Pastorelli (The Netherlands) at the helm.
Starting the race at Lime Rock Park, the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR car features a new four-liter engine with a further improved drivability. Here is a comparison between the 3.8-liter engine and new four liter powerplant. The horsepower remains the same.
Dyson are now 25 years and one race
Corvette
Midterm Report: Mid-Ohio Marks Second Half of Season for Corvette Racing
Chevy's Factory Team Looks Back on Six Races and Looks Ahead to Six More
LEXINGTON, Ohio, July 16, 2008 -- With six races in the rearview mirror and six races on the road ahead, Saturday's Acura Sports Car Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course marks the start of the second half of the season for Chevrolet's factory road racing team. Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen have won four of the five American Le Mans Series contested to date, driving the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R to victories in Sebring (with third driver Ron Fellows), Long Beach, Salt Lake City, and Lime Rock. On June 15, they finished second in the GT1 class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, again joined by Fellows. Defending GT1 champions Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin scored a win in St. Petersburg in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R, and they finished third in the GT1 division in Le Mans with Max Papis as third driver.
"The team and drivers have done a fantastic job since the start of the 2008 season," said GM Racing Road Racing Group manager Steve Wesoloski. "The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the key event of the year for Corvette Racing, and that was our focus in the first half. It was vital that both Corvettes survive every race because they were the cars going to Le Mans. The drivers knew what was expected, and they delivered. Competing against your teammates can be frustrating, but they raced hard and fair. The drivers understand that having both cars finish is a win for Corvette Racing.
"If I were doing a midterm report, I'd start with the engine, which is the heart of the race car. Our LS7.R small-block V-8s have performed flawlessly on both the E10 that we ran at Sebring and the cellulosic E85R ethanol that we have used at every ALMS event since St. Petersburg. Our partnership with GM Powertrain and Katech Engine Development has again produced perfect results. Chassis development is ongoing, and the engineers continue to improve the performance of a platform that's been raced since the program's inception.
"In the second half of the season we'll focus on the Green Challenge competition at Petit Le Mans that the series has created in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and SAE International," Wesoloski revealed. "The Green Challenge will measure performance, fuel efficiency and environmental impact -- and we will prepare just as hard for this competition as we do for any race. Fuel efficiency is extremely important in the current circumstances, and when coupled with a renewable alternative fuel like cellulosic E85R ethanol, the Green Challenge becomes a significant opportunity for Corvette Racing and GM to demonstrate our technology.
"Our technical partners are also looking at ways to put Corvette Racing in front in the Green Challenge, whether it's Michelin tires with reduced rolling resistance or Mobil 1 lubricants that minimize frictional losses and improve fuel economy. It's a big project, and one that we relish as a race team. We want to win the Green Challenge trophy for Chevrolet and GM."
Going into the Mid-Ohio round, O'Connell and Magnussen have a slim 12-point lead (106-94) over Gavin and Beretta in the race for the GT1 drivers championship. A victory in Ohio will bring 20 points -- but a DNF before completing 70 percent of the race brings zero.
"In the last few years we had a lot of bad luck, but this year the luck has gone our way more often than not," said O'Connell. "In order to win in this series, you have to have a great team, great race cars like the Corvette C6.R, and a little bit of luck. Jan is very quick, we get along well, and we complement each other's strengths. Hopefully we will be able to keep the momentum going, but we know there is still a long way to go this season.
"Our race last year at Mid-Ohio was an example of luck going wrong," O'Connell recalled. "I won the GT1 pole and then the car was disqualified for failing the stall test. That set the tone for our race. I look forward to going back there to rectify that. Mid-Ohio is a great track that lends itself to our type of racing. I went to college in Ohio at Dennison University, so my history goes back a long way at Mid-Ohio."
Gavin and Beretta are hoping that the second half of the season will bring a change of fortune to the No. 4 Corvette C6.R.
"It's been an interesting season so far," said Gavin. "We've seen the introduction of cellulosic E85R, which is a great part of the Corvette Racing program. Alternative fuels are something that the ALMS and Corvette Racing really want to promote, and we're making a big effort to become greener. We've found an improvement in performance with cellulosic E85R, and our small-block V-8 engines are running strong. That's been a massive plus to the program.
"We've had great crowds at every event, so I think the ALMS is very strong as a series. We would certainly like to see more entries in the GT1 class, and I hope that the Aston Martin returns to contest the second half of the season.
"In terms of results, it's been a bit of a scrap for the No. 4 Corvette," Gavin conceded. "We've had some problems, and that happens sometimes in racing. We're making the best of it to put those behind us. We have a new crew chief in Mike West, and he's learning quickly. It's a big job, and he's done extremely well. Olivier and I have been fast at every event, but we have to translate that into victories in the second half of the year."
With upcoming races at Mid-Ohio, Road America, Mosport, Detroit's Belle Isle street course, Road Atlanta, and Laguna Seca, Corvette Racing still has a long and winding road to travel until the GT1 championships are decided.
Corvette Racing's next event is the Acura Sports Car Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, scheduled to start at 2:10 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 19. NBC will televise the race tape-delayed on Sunday, July 20, at 12 p.m. EDT.
Michelin
LEXINGTON, OHIO (July 15, 2008) - Michelin heads to the Acura Sports Car Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for its first back-to-back weekend of racing on the 2008 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) schedule following a perfect weekend at the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park.
Having captured all four class poles and wins at Lime Rock, Michelin technical partner teams and drivers enter Mid-Ohio leading every championship and having scored a perfect 20 of 20 possible class wins in 2008 ALMS competition. They expect to continue to be aggressive at Mid- Ohio.
The victory at Lime Rock Park by the Patrón Highcroft Acura driven by David Brabham and Scott Sharp, the first ever for Acura and the team, extends the current Michelin overall ALMS win streak to 40 consecutive races.
Mid-Ohio is one of the most demanding and technically challenging tracks in the ALMS. The mix of 13 high- and low-speed turns combined with elevation changes makes the 2.25-mile circuit a tough test for drivers and tires. Despite its challenges, or perhaps precisely because of them, Mid-Ohio is a favorite track for Michelin and many of its technical partner teams.
The Michelin line-up for Mid-Ohio includes the prototypes from: Audi; Porsche (Penske and Dyson); Acura (XM Andretti Green; de Ferran Motorsports; Lowe's Fernandez Racing; and Patrón Highcroft Racing), and the GT entries from Corvette; Porsche (Flying Lizard Motorsports and Farnbacher Loles Racing) and the Ferrari (Risi Competizione and Tafel Racing).
To illustrate the level of performance in the ALMS, consider that although the less powerful ALMS P2 class prototypes are approximately 20-25 mph slower on the straight-aways than Indycars, they run virtually identical laps times. That ALMS prototype performance is keyed by three factors: greater downforce; ceramic brakes; and MICHELIN® tires that help the top ALMS prototypes achieve greater cornering speeds.
The Mid-Ohio circuit runs in a clockwise direction with 8 of the 13 turns right-handers, making setting up the left side of the car critical. "Since the cars are all different, we have three MICHELIN tire compound options, so we can mix and match different MICHELIN tires to optimize the performance and strategic choices for each team," said Karl Koenigstein, Michelin motorsports technical team leader for ALMS.
"Michelin and many of our technical partner teams often test at Mid-Ohio so we expect everyone to be very aggressive right from the first minutes of practice," said Koenigstein.
QUALIFYING PRESSURE Qualifying is important at Mid-Ohio as the narrow track makes passing very difficult, and, with the LMP2 and GT2 classes featuring strong and deep fields, any spots won on the starting grid should provide an advantage in track position for the two-hour 45-minute race. Michelin technical partners all broke their respective tracks records in qualifying at last year's race.