THE LINE

July 22, 2009

(Image by John Thawley)
Simon Pagenaud and Gil de Ferran (No. 66 de Ferran Motorsports XM Acura ARX-02a) won their third straight race last Saturday at the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. The lead was handed to Simon Pagenaud when David Brabham - who was well on his way to a second straight Lime Rock victory with Patrón Highcroft Racing teammate Scott Sharp in their No. 9 Tequila Patron Acura ARX-02a - suffered a punctured tire with 13 minutes left. Brabham ended up finishing second, 43.776 seconds behind the Frenchman. De Ferran and Pagenaud haven’t lost since the St. Petersburg street race in early April. “We started in the middle of last year; not only do we have a steep learning curve in sports cars, but we started a team from scratch,” said team owner de Ferran. “We are just over a year old, and we really used these last two months to our advantage. I am quite happy about the evolution of the team. We had a little good fortune today. But it was good. We had a good race.” The race-long duel between the two lead Acuras was marred by the nature of the short and tight Lime Rock circuit and the fact that the ALMS "Challenge" class cars (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup spec. cars) used to fill the field acted like mobile chicanes. “I honestly didn’t have the pace to come back on him,” Pagenaud said. ““I am going to remember this race forever. I think my heart rate was at maximum all race because of the traffic and the ending.” Dyson Racing won for the first time in the Series since 2005 as Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti (No. 20 Mazda-powered Lola) broke a four-race victory streak for Lowe’s Fernandez Racing and Acura in the P2 class. It was Mazda’s first class victory in the Series since Mid-Ohio in 2005. Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long (No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR) won in GT2 for the fourth straight race, defeating Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer's Ferrari F430 GT. In the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge, the de Ferran Acura was the winner among the prototype entries for the third consecutive race. The Flying Lizard Porsche won the trophy for GT cars for the second time this season. The revolutionary competition awards teams and manufacturers who have the greatest overall performance with the smallest environmental impact. Next up for the ALMS is the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The race is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, August 8. The race will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 9 on ABC. American Le Mans Radio presented by Porsche and Live Timing & Scoring will be available at Racehub on americanlemans.com. See some fantastic photos from Lime Rock courtesy of photographer extraordinaire John Thawley by clicking here.

Corvette Racing. A new era in major league American road racing is set to begin when Corvette Racing will debut two new Corvette C6.R GT2 class entries at the American Le Mans Series’ annual visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Acura Sports Car Challenge. The Nos. 3 and 4 cellulosic E85-fueled, V8-powered Corvettes - though ostensibly similar-looking to the previous GT1 versions - are all-new from the ground up and will go up against BMW, Ferrari and Porsche for class supremacy during the rest of the 2009 season. Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen will drive the No. 3 Corvette C6.R, and Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin will pilot the No. 4 team car at Mid-Ohio. The GT2 specifications will basically become the new Global GT class in 2010. The Pratt&Miller-prepared Corvette team is fresh off their win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month when Magnussen, O’Connell and Antonio Garcia won the GT1 class and gave Corvette Racing its sixth victory in the world’s greatest sports car race since 2001. Corvette Racing owns more Series victories (70) than any other entrant in the American Le Mans Series and has won eight consecutive GT1 championships (2001-08).

(James Jordan/MAZDASPEED)
Todd Lamb (No. 84 AMG/Traqmate/Luna-C Racing MX-5), of Atlanta, Ga., claimed his fourth-consecutive SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup win in Round Five at Barber Motorsports Park, part of the Porsche 250 Presented by Legacy Credit Union weekend. Marc Miller (No. 28 Team MER/MOCA/Race Now for Autism/MMP MX-5), of Holland, Mich., and Justin Piscitell (No. 89 ALARA Racing/DAMG Racing/MAZDASPEED MX-5), of Patterson, N.Y., completed the podium. Lamb won the 26-lap, 61.88-mile contest by 3.965 seconds over Miller, averaging 81.765 mph in the race, which ran without a single yellow flag.

(Grand-Am)
Alex Gurney (No. 99 GAINSCO Pontiac Riley with Jon Fogarty) fended off Scott Pruett (No. 01 TELMEX Lexus Riley with Memo Rojas) in a 20-minute sprint to win Sunday's Porsche 250 presented by Legacy Credit Union by .759 seconds, tying the Daytona Prototype point standings with only four races remaining in the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season. Michael Valiante (No. 6 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley with by John Pew) finished third, 1.261 seconds back. Andrew Davis, and Robin Liddell (No. 57 BryanMark Financial/Stevenson Automotive Pontiac GXP.R) captured their second win of the season in the Acxiom GT class.

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, July 23, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

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