Backstretch Motorsports

Corvettes Lead GT1 at Six-Hour Mark in Le Mans

Routine Race So Far for Corvette Racing; Safety Cars Play Key Role in First Quarter of Race

LE MANS, France, June 13, 2009 – A quartet of Corvettes took control of the GT1 class in the first six hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The No. 63 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Jan Magnussen, Johnny O’Connell, and Antonio Garcia has led from the start at 3 p.m., completing 88 laps at the six-hour mark. The No. 64 Compuware Corvette C6.R of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta, and Marcel Fassler was second in the GT1 class, 2 minutes and 6 seconds behind its sister car. The No. 73 and No. 72 Corvette C6.Rs of Luc Alphand Aventures were third and fourth respectively with 86 laps completed. [read more...]

The diesels of Peugeot and Audi are sandbagging? David Brabahm has said that two of the three Peugeots are running track set-up the third depending on fuel-load tire wear set up.

The Aston Martin drivers like Jos Verstappen believes the leading diesels have not yet shown their true pace. [read more...]

Stéphane Sarrazin really wanted this pole position, probably more than Peugeot who were more focused on finding the best possible set up for the race itself. The crew of the #8 car, Frenchmen Sarrazin, Bourdais and Montagny, weren’t hiding their ambition tonight to win the race, having failed twice before. The rest of the Peugeot squad will be starting from third, fourth and fifth positions on the grid. [read more...]

Pairing scores overall victory in return to debut venue

A year ago, Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud were elated with a third-place finish in their American Le Mans Series debut at Miller Motorsports Park. Oh, how times have changed. The de Ferran Motorsports pairing dominated the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix on Sunday for their second overall victory in a row.

Pagenaud took the checkered flag in the team’s Acura ARX-02a by a comfortable 73.693 seconds over Patrón Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham and Scott Sharp. The winning duo led all but two laps as Pagenaud qualified on pole position and posted the fastest race lap for the second year in a row. The Frenchman and his Brazilian mentor also won the previous round at Long Beach. [read more...]

Simon Pagenaud captured pole position for de Ferran Motorsports with a new track record at the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix on Saturday, a year after the team’s debut in the American Le Mans Series. Pagenaud qualified his Acura ARX-02a with a time of 1:30.645 (121.052 mph) to best David Brabham by 0.736 seconds.

Pagenaud and team owner Gil de Ferran will drive the XM Acura after placing third overall and in the LMP2 class last season. The de Ferran team moved up to LMP1 for 2009 and took its first victory in the last Series round at Long Beach. Pagenaud earned his second Series pole position after qualifying first at St. Petersburg. [read more...]

Gavin, Beretta win in Series farewell for Corvette in GT1; Long, Bergmeister win for Lizards in GT2

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. [read more...]

David Brabham and Scott Sharp scored an overall victory for Acura at the aptly named Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg on Saturday as the auto manufacturer swept both prototype classes in the second round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series.

Brabham and his Acura ARX-02a finished 32.150 seconds ahead of Adrian Fernandez as Acura took the top two overall positions. Fernandez was the LMP2 winner for the second straight race with Luis Diaz in Lowe’s Fernandez Racing’s Acura ARX-01b. [read more...]

January 28, 2009 — Flying Lizard Motorsports, the 2008 American Le Mans Series GT2 team champions, completed a successful three-day test at Sebring this week. The team launched their new 2009 Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs during the American Le Mans Series Winter Test, in preparation for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, to be held on March 21.

The team will field two Porsches - the No. 44 and the No. 45 - in the 10-race ALMS season. ALMS GT2 2008 driver’s champion Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) and Patrick Long (USA) are teaming in the No. 45 Porsche for the 2009 season. In the No. 44, pilots Seth Neiman (USA), Darren Law (USA), and Johannes van Overbeek (USA) will share driving duties. All five drivers attended the test this week. Bergmeister, Long, Law and van Overbeek all arrived in Sebring Monday morning after driving a collective 20 hours at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Law won overall in the DP class with Brumos Racing and Bergmeister and Long won GT with TRG.

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Wolf Henzler and Jorg Bergmeister, both Porsche factory drivers and 2008 American Le Mans Series GT champions with their Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, received the All-American First Team At Large award at Saturday night’s 39th annual American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) All-America Team ceremony, presented by A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. AARWBA members annually elect drivers to the Team from seven categories: Stock car, open-wheel, drag racing, road racing, short track, touring series and at-large.

Penske Porsche RS Spyder drivers Romain Dumas (France) and Timo Bernhard (Germany) were elected to the All-American Second Team in the road racing category as well. Other All-American Team drivers to earn Horsepower Trophies were: Tony Schumacher and Cruz Pedregon (drag racing); Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards (stock car); Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves (open wheel); Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas and David Brabham/Scott Sharp (road racing); Johnny Benson and Justin Allgaier (touring series); Jerry Coons Jr. and Donny Schatz (short track); and Raphael Matos (at-large).

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BRASELTON, Ga., Oct. 4, 2008 – A race that began with Johnny O’Connell’s daughter singing the national anthem on the starting grid at Road Atlanta ended 9 hours and 41 minutes later with a victory in the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans for O’Connell and his teammates Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows. O’Connell and Magnussen clinched the American Le Mans Series GT1 drivers championship with their eighth win of the season in the No. 3 Compuware with one race still to run.

[read more...]