Frank Montagny celebrates his win, an important one for the team
Andretti Green Racing
Highcroft
De Ferran Racing
Fernandez Racing
Dyson Racing
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Andretti Green Racing
Franck Montagny, #26 XM Satellite Radio Acura:
"I'm very happy for the XM Acura team. It's a strong team with good drivers and everybody works very hard. This feels good to claim the top spot. I felt very confident coming into the race that we could have a good result. I'm quite happy."
James Rossiter, #26 XM Satellite Radio Acura:
"We put ourselves in the strongest position possible for the end of the race by making the driver change when we did. Franck did a great job in the car and the XM team did a great job on the strategy. It was a very challenging weekend. I only had 20 minutes of dry running before I started the race, so I really didn't know the track very well. But, even last night, Franck and I were looking at maps to learn the circuit and trying to improve ourselves. The team gave us a great car and we just did the best we could."
Michael Andretti, co-owner, Andretti Green Racing:
"This feels really good. With everything that has gone on with this team over the course of the year, I'm just so happy that we were able to finally get this done. I'm so happy for every person that works on that team. They deserved this."
Highcroft
atron Highcroft Racing on the Podium at Detroit
Patron Highcroft Racing continued its run of podium finishes to secure second overall and in the LMP2 class at round nine, the Detroit Sportscar Challenge presented by Bosch at Belle Isle, on Saturday, August 30. The latest stellar performance from the Patron Highcroft crew helped drivers Scott Sharp and David Brabham to slash the LMP2 championship gap from 10 points to four heading in to the last two rounds of the season.
The team's relentless efforts, in conjunction with the development programs of Honda Performance Development and Wirth Engineering, ensured that the Patron Highcroft Acura was quick virtually out of the box. The team's immaculate preparation undoubtedly played a major part in delivering the second overall pole position of the season, from which followed a second place finish in the race. Patron Highcroft's high point-scoring finish follows Acura's announcement on Friday that they will move to LMP1 with the team for 2009.
Duncan Dayton, Patron Highcroft's team principal, said, "We just keep closing in on that LMP2 championship lead and it's very cool. The Patron Highcroft crew did a fantastic job. We didn't quite have the car at the end but we got solid points here today. We were quick all weekend and now the championship gap is down to just four points. It's great for Acura to get a one, two, three, and leave Detroit leading the Manufacturer's championship on such a significant weekend. My congratulations go to Andretti Green Racing on taking their first victory of the season.
"Scott drove an unbelievable first stint, he literally drove the wheels off the car and was setting fastest lap after fastest lap. He got blocked by traffic and Simon [Pagenaud] got by, but it was an impressive drive. We have the best driver pairing in the series and I'm thrilled with Scott and David. Now it's on to Petit Le Mans and with a lot of points still in play, we're taking the championship race down to the wire."
A blistering start from Sharp ensured that the Patron Highcroft Acura led the field around the twisty 2.07-mile street circuit unchallenged through two yellow flag periods within the first hour. Sharp delivered an impressive stint, only relinquishing the lead after he was blocked in heavy traffic.
"Today's result finishes off an unbelievable weekend," said Sharp. "The team did a great job and the car performed brilliantly. We made some changes just before the race that proved worthwhile. The car felt strong and I had a really good race. I was conserving fuel and careful through the traffic. I was picking up a lot of rubber on my tires, due to the nature of the track, and the car began sliding around a bit. I got blocked on the back straight and Simon got by, but we've scored great points here today. We've been chipping away at the championship gap especially over the last few rounds and now everyone knows we are here and ready for the fight."
Joining the field fifth overall and fourth in class, Brabham passed Gil de Ferran following the restart from the third full course yellow. With just 45 minutes of the race remaining, Brabham passed the LMP1 Audi of Marcel Fassler to bring the Patron Highcroft Acura home in second.
Brabham commented, "I'm really pleased with this result. We've scored two wins and a second place in the last three races, so nearly maximum points. It all comes down to fantastic work from the Patron Highcroft team. The car was flying and I was really hustling before we hit the last yellows. I had great grip on the Michelin tires but that naturally went away during the yellow. So, I didn't quite have enough to tackle Franck [Montagny] at the end. We needed to score as many points as possible and we did that today. Scott drove beautifully to set us up for a great result and overall we are feeling and looking really strong."
De Ferran Racing
DETROIT, MI (30 August, 2008) – Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud took their second podium finish of the year at Belle Isle in Detroit today and formed part of an Acura ARX-01b P2 podium sweep in the latest round of the American Le Mans Series.
Pagenaud started the race aboard the Panasonic-sponsored #66 entry on the front row of the grid. He ran second in the early stages of the race but moved into the race lead, passing Scott Sharp in turn eight after one hour and 23 minutes.
Gil de Ferran climbed aboard the car 13 minutes later and rejoined in fourth place. He later suffered a half spin during his stint but recovered to finsh fourth overall and third in the P2 class. The result was the second podium finish for de Ferran Motorsports in its debut season. de Ferran and Pagenaud previously finished third on debut at Miller Motorsports Park.
de Ferran Motorsports will now begin preparations for Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on October 1-4. Regular drivers Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud will be joined by Indy 500 winner and IndyCar championship points leader Scott Dixon aboard the Panasonic Acura for the 10 hour/1000 mile event.
GIL DE FERRAN
"Today was a great day with Acura finishing 1-2-3 and not a bad day for our team as well with our second podium of the year.
"The race came down to strategy. We did everything right but the yellows didn't fall exactly where we needed them.
"Simon did a great job early on and made a pass to lead the race. He drove very well and the car was working great.
"We came out fourth after the driver change, but I made a mistake and had a half spin that cost us a couple of positions. We were able to recover back to third at the end. It was a good race overall."
SIMON PAGENAUD
"I'm pretty happy with the day overall, the race went very well and I was able to lead at the end of my stint and the car was behaving really well.
"It was great to grab our second podium after Miller Motorsports Park. Our guys prepared the car really well and they made great calls with the strategy.
"I'm delighted for Acura to have three cars on the podium for the first time. Overall, it was a fun weekend for me. I really enjoyed the Belle Isle track."
Fernandez Racing
Lowe's Fernandez Racing Finishes Ninth in Detroit
It was a disappointing day on the streets of Belle Isle Raceway as a mechanical failure removed the #15 Lowe's Acura ARX from contention in the Detroit Sports Car Challenge presented by Bosch. Fernandez and Diaz crossed the finish line ninth in class and 24th overall. The checkered flag brought the first one-two-three finish for Acura with the #26 car of Andretti Green Racing's Franck Montagny and James Rossiter claiming the top spot.
After qualifying fourth overall yesterday, Luis Diaz started the race from the third spot on the grid as the third-place #16 Dyson car was sent to the back for changing their qualifying tires due to damage. Aside from being hit from behind by the #7 Porsche at the start, Diaz managed to avoid trouble in the action-packed opening laps.
He was running third overall just past the halfway point of the race when he brushed the wall at Turn Three due to a mechanical failure. A broken bolt at the top of the left rear upright required extensive repair work to the suspension, however the team managed to complete the work in time to send Adrian Fernandez out on track. Fernandez emerged 20 laps down but was able complete 70 percent of the race distance allowing the team to retain its ninth-place points.
Adrian Fernandez, #15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "We don't know what happened. We think something broke on the car. We are not 100 percent certain but it is very disappointing."
Luis Diaz, #15 Lowe's Acura ARX: "It was a very bad day for me. At the exit of Turn Three I felt the car snapping on me and brushed the wall. I barely, barely brushed the wall. I didn't do anything differently. I didn't lose the car or anything like that. I feel bad about this result and we will keep working very hard."
Dyson Racing
DETROIT, MI August 30, 2008 The second annual American Le Mans Detroit Sports Car Challenge was an entertaining race with engaging stand-alone chapters. Adding to the fan's enjoyment was the run of the #16 Porsche RS Spyder of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith. They qualified third yesterday, but elected to change tires after this morning's warm-up, which meant they started the race from the rear of the grid. Smith started the car and was twentieth after two laps, tenth after fourteen and fifth on lap twenty-eight. The 16 car finished sixth in the LMP2 class, followed by the sister car of Marino Franchitti and Butch Leitzinger in eighth, maintaining the team's third place in the ALMS team championship.
Franchitti started the #20 car eighth in class and stayed in the leading group for the first hour and a half before pitting on lap fifty-seven and handing the car over to Leitzinger. A stop-and-go penalty for a loose wheel nut in the pit lane during the stop dropped the car a position and an unscheduled pit stop under green on lap seventy- one to replace a deflating right rear tire kept them from moving up the order. Leitzinger maintained a competitive pace but was not able to repeat his second in class finish from last year.
One of the more noteworthy chapters unfolded the last half hour of the race as Dyson held off spirited assaults and drove the last half of his stint mirroring the hard fought battle at the front head of the field.
"We did very well here last year and started this weekend where we left off with a very solid qualifying effort," said Dyson. "Both our cars kept good respective pace, but we didn't have enough raw speed today. During the stints, we found the track had changed dramatically since Saturday. This balance shift was more than we had anticipated, and it kept us from contending, ultimately."
The American Le Mans Series goes from the largest island park in America to its headline ten-hour Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta on October 4. The penultimate round of the series produced the second closest finish of last year's season with less than a second separating first and second after 1000 km of racing.