De Ferran, Pagenaud Get Much Anticipated First Win in Long Beach ALMS Race
By Bram • Apr 19th, 2009 • Category: American Le Mans, News, Notes, Results, Your Series. Your Driver.
The Acura team of Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud scored its first ALMS career win by taking at Long Beach (Dan Boyd/ALMS)
Gil de Ferran finally got his win at Long Beach, and de Ferran Motorsports took victory in the American Le Mans Series on Saturday as de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud won at the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. de Ferran and his Acura ARX-02a beat Patrón Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham across the finish line on Shoreline Drive under yellow.
Pagenaud made a sensational first-turn pass of Scott Sharp to grab the lead in the one hour, 40-minute sports-car event. Pagenaud, pole winner at St. Petersburg, came from the second starting spot to vault to a four-second advantage by Lap 11 in the No. 66 de Ferran XM Radio Acura ARX-02a prototype.
de Ferran last won a race in 2003 in his final IndyCar race at Texas. He and Simon Pagenaud were close during the team’s rookie season in 2008. The defining moment came in pit lane when the Patrón Highcroft car was penalized 20 seconds for a pit stop violation.
Brabham and Scott Sharp did maintain their LMP1 championship lead.
The caution came out with less than five minutes left when Boris Said’s LG Motorsports Corvette C6 erupted in flames just past the start-finish line.
Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz earned their third straight LMP2 victory for Lowe’s Fernandez Racing as Acura swept the two prototype classes for the second straight race. The Lowe’s Fernandez Acura ARX-01b finished five seconds ahead of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith in the first of Dyson Racing’s Mazda-powered Lola B09/86 coupes.
Smith led in class early before the pit stop cycle. The sister car of Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti finished third in class.
Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin will go down in the record books as the winners of the final GT1 race for Corvette Racing in the American Le Mans Series. The duo won at Long Beach for the second time in three years in their Corvette C6.R.
Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister won in GT2 for the second straight race with a victory over Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer. The Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR took victory two weeks ago at St. Petersburg and held off a hard-charging Ferrari, which started from the rear of the grid.
Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach
Long Beach street circuit, Long Beach, Calif.
Saturday’s results
1. (2) Simon Pagenaud, France; Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Acura ARX-02a (1, P1), 76.
2. (1) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-02a (2, P1), 76.
3. (3) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (1, P2), 75.
4. (4) Guy Smith, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola B09 86 Mazda (2, P2), 75.
5. (5) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Lola B09 86 Mazda (3, P2), 74.
6. (8) Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6.R (1, GT1), 73.
7. (6) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Chapman Ducote, Miami, FL; Lola B06/10 AER (3, P1), 71.
8. (11) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (1, GT2), 71.
9. (21) Pierre Kaffer, Germany; Jaime Melo, Brazil; Ferrari F430 GT (2, GT2), 71.
10. (12) Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Dirk Mueller, Germany; BMW E92 M3 (3, GT2), 70.
11. (14) Richard Westbrook, England; Johannes Stuck, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (4, GT2), 70.
12. (19) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (5, GT2), 70.
13. (20) Ian James, England; Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford (6, GT2), 69.
14. (18) Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Dodge Viper Comp Coupe (7, GT2), 68.
15. (7) Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola B06/10 AER (4, P1), 67.
16. (13) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E92 M3 (8, GT2), 67.
17. (15) David Murry, Cumming, GA; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT MK 7 (9, GT2), 67.
18. (10) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Dirk Werner, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT2), 67.
19. (17) Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Boris Said, Carlsbad, CA; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (11, GT2), 64.
20. (16) Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Dominic Cicero, Portland, OR; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (12, GT2), 43, Transmisson.
21. (9) Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Corvette C6.R (2, GT1), 42.
