No Rest For Brabham, Sharp After Utah

Braselton, May 27, 2009: Patrón Highcroft's David Brabham took part in a 30-hour endurance test with Peugeot only a few days after placing second in Utah with Scott Sharp. There wasn’t much time for David Brabham and Scott Sharp to catch their breath after a runner-up finish in the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura at the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix. The next day saw Brabham heading back across the Atlantic for a final pre-Le Mans test with Peugeot Sport, one that was an astonishing 30 hours. Sharp made his return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

“They’d had a look at my test mileage and realized I hadn’t done a lot,” Brabham wrote in a blog on americanlemans.com. “I was more than happy to reorganize my week just to get more time in the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP and be more familiar with the car and the team, so that when I get to Le Mans I am in a good state of mind and feel well prepared…

“(During the test) there were five drivers and we all double stinted, which was really tough. By the end of the test I was totally exhausted. I knew I would be as Salt Lake is such a demanding circuit physically. Going straight from there to an endurance test, I knew I was going to have to dig deep. I did it but it’s not the ideal preparation for a 30-hour test.

“It was great to get valuable time and more mileage in the Peugeot. It will be the last car I drive before Le Mans so there won’t be any confusion in my mind when I get back in the driving seat in a couple of weeks time - I’m in tune with the car before we get there.

“When I jumped back into the Patrón Highcroft Acura at Salt Lake, I was heading for the wrong buttons on the steering wheel,” Brabham mentioned as the buttons on the steering wheel are the opposite in the Patrón Highcroft Acura from the Peugeot. “I’ve been trying to gather as much information as possible before Le Mans, in the way that the car works, the traction control, and the tires, just gathering banks of information to ensure I am well on top of things when I get to Le Mans.”

Scott Sharp placed 14th in his first Indy 500 since 2007 'SHARP' IN INDY RETURN: Sharp placed 14th in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, his first race there since 2007. He drove a Tequila Patrón-sponsored entry for Panther Racing that completed all 200 laps.

“We're obviously a little disappointed with the end result, but this is still a great race to be involved with,” Sharp wrote on his americanlemans.com blog. “It is very easy to get yourself pumped up about this one event even though you try to remain calm. When you don't get the end result you were chasing it is a little bit depressing. But looking back on the day I am really grateful for the guys at Panther. Many of these guys hadn't worked together before, but we had some great stops and beat people out of the pits which was great.

“We made it to the end, but it would have been nice to be fighting around 10 spots higher up the leaderboard,” he added. “It certainly makes you want to come back here even stronger.”

The 77th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is scheduled for 3 p.m. CET (10 a.m. EDT) on Saturday, June 13 to 3 p.m. CET (10 a.m. EDT) on Sunday, June 14. SPEED will provide live television coverage. Flag-to-flag coverage of the race, qualifying and practice will be available at radiolemans.com.