Backstretch Motorsports

Gil de Ferran won his third straight pole position at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Friday…seven years since his last. The storybook debut season for De Ferran Motorsports continued with de Ferran’s first pole in the American Le Mans Series, a record-breaking 1:07.969 (119.596 mph) for the Acura Sports Car Challenge.

De Ferran’s Acura ARX-01b led a second straight overall sweep of the front row for Acura in a home race before thousands of Honda and Acura employees and guests. The two-time CART and former Indianapolis 500 winner qualified 0.224 seconds ahead of Patrón Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham, who sat on the pole a week ago at Lime Rock and won the race overall with Scott Sharp.

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David Brabham did it again. Another late-race pass meant victory in the American Le Mans Series, this time a historic first overall victory for Acura and Patrón Highcroft Racing. Brabham passed Penske Racing’s Timo Bernhard with 90 seconds left Saturday to win the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix with Scott Sharp.

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Racing at home never felt so good for David Brabham and Dirk Werner. Brabham scored his fifth overall pole position and Werner his first class pole in qualifying Friday for the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. Brabham’s Patrón Highcroft Racing and Werner’s Farnbacher Loles Racing both are based in nearby Danbury, Conn., about 50 miles from the freshly repaved circuit.

Brabham’s lap of 46.696 (115.642 mph) came on his final flying lap around the new 1.51-mile, 10-turn layout as Acura swept the front row with its ARX-01b entries. Brabham’s second overall pole with Acura came at the expense of Simon Pagenaud, driving de Ferran Motorsports’ entry with team owner Gil de Ferran. The young Frenchman turned a time of 47.082 (114.694 mph).

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LAKEVILLE, Conn. (May 24, 2008) – Kuno Wittmer, of Montreal, Que., further enhanced his SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship point lead with a victory Saturday at Lime Rock Park. Polesitter Pierre Kleinubing, of Coconut Creek, Fla., and Chip Herr, of Lititz, Pa., completed the podium for the first of two SPEED Touring Car races at Lime Rock Park over Memorial Day Weekend.

Starting second, Wittmer immediately launched into the lead in the No. 44 Acura/RealTime/Eibach/Red Line Acura TSX as polesitter Kleinubing was left spinning his tires at the line. Once Kleinubing got away, he slotted into second behind Wittmer and ahead of the No. 97 Tindol Motorsports MAZDA6 of Herr.

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Although most of Scott Sharp’s big news in the past 10 years has been centered on his great results in open-wheel racing, his professional career began in sports cars in the 1980s. He achieved great success in his first SCCA season in 1986, bringing home the GT2 Championship and Rookie of the Year honors. Proving that was no fluke, he went on to claim back-to back SCCA GT1 championships in 1987 and 1988.

Moving to the Trans-Am Series in 1989, Sharp quickly proved he also had what it took to excel when he became the youngest champion in an SCCA professional series in 1991. He secured his place in the pantheon of sports-car racing champions when he brought home another Trans-Am Championship in 1993.

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That’s the $64,000 question as American Le Mans Series teams ready themselves for the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels. For the first time, the field will compete on the 3.048-mile, 15-turn perimeter circuit at Miller Motorsports Park for the fourth round of the 2008 season. And indeed, some in the paddock believe this will be the fastest venue in Series history.

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De Ferran Motorsports’ debut in the American Le Mans Series is getting closer and closer each day. The newest member of the Acura Motorsports stable will make its highly anticipated first start at next week’s Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels. So what’s going through team owner and driver Gil de Ferran’s mind as his first start in the Series approaches?

“It’s hard to imagine that just a few months ago this was just a conversation,” said de Ferran, who will team with fellow newcomer Simon Pagenaud. “We still have a lot of preparation to go through. We still are getting used to running the car and so on and so forth.

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Marco Werner’s affinity for street circuits shone again Friday. The Audi factory driver captured the overall pole position for Saturday’s Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg presented by XM Satellite Radio with a record run, besting Penske Racing’s Romain Dumas as Audi looked to regain its winning ways in the American Le Mans Series.

Werner’s best lap was a 1:02.825 (103.144 mph) around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn circuit on the bayfront of St. Petersburg. His time also beat Dumas’ overall pole-winning time from 2007 by 0.214 seconds in the diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI he will share with Lucas Luhr.

And it could have been even better. Werner was on pace to improve his time on the next lap before running too hard into Turn 8 and spinning the car. The R10 did stop before impacting the tire barrier so there was no damage.

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