Paguenaud, De Ferran Streak On At Lime Rock

Lime Rock, July 19, 2009: After a rookie season of near-misses, it’s starting to look like de Ferran Motorsports can do no wrong. Simon Pagenaud and Gil de Ferran won again in the American Le Mans Series, their third straight on the year, in the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park on Saturday.

Pagenaud crossed the finish line in his Acura ARX-02a 43.776 seconds ahead of David Brabham, who appeared to be on his way to a second straight Lime Rock victory with Patrón Highcroft Racing teammate Scott Sharp. A punctured tire with 13 minutes left ended those hopes.

Pagenaud and de Ferran battled hard against "home" team Patrón Highcroft Racing. Click here for Hi-Res 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.”

It was a fantastic battle between the two Acuras. More often than not, things were nip-and-tuck between the two around the tight and twisty track and through the traffic. Patrón Highcroft seemed to be in ideal position to repeat last year’s maiden overall victory by taking fuel and left-side tires only during its last scheduled stop. The move allowed Brabham to get out of the pits before Pagenaud, who pitted two laps earlier, came around.

Twenty minutes later, Brabham pitted to replace rear tires and Pagenaud blew by.

“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's Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti gave the team its first Series win since 2005. Click here for Hi-Res Dyson Racing won for the first time in the Series since 2005 as Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti broke a four-race victory streak for Lowe’s Fernandez Racing and Acura in the class. Franchitti moved ahead of Luis Diaz five minutes into the race, and the Lola-Mazda coupe gained valuable laps when the Acura pitted to replace its rear shock and also experienced downshift problems.

By the time Adrian Fernandez rejoined the race, Franchitti led by six laps.

“I don’t think we could have picked a better place (for the first win in the Lola-Mazda),” said Franchitti, who won for the first time in the Series. “It was a combination of a lot of hard work for both cars I have been so close, either overall or in class, it is really a sweet victory. I’m getting a sore face from grinning.”

There wasn’t much grinning with about five minutes to go. Leitzinger gave the team a late scare with a brief stall when he had to avoid a spinning GT2 car. The Lola-Mazda’s clutch also malfunctioned early in the race, and Leitzinger had to restart the car following pit stops and after the stall on battery power.

“What a fantastic starter motor,” quipped Leitzinger, who was part of the team’s victory at Mosport four years ago, also in a Lola chassis. “It felt a little destined to win today. When the car spun out in front of me and then we didn’t have a clutch, trying to go uphill, I thought it was over. But this is how it was going to go and it really was a great day. Marino did a stellar job. It is the first of many for him. I am very proud to drive with him. We are happy to be a part of his first win.”

It was Mazda’s first class victory in the Series since Mid-Ohio in 2005 when Guy Cosmo and Jamie Bach won in a Mazda rotary-powered Courage in P2.

Fernandez and Diaz placed second in class Saturday. Gunnar van der Steur and Adam Pecorari placed third in van der Steur Racing’s Radical SR9-AER, the first race for the team since St. Petersburg last year.

Jörg Bergmeister won in GT2 for the fourth straight year as he and Patrick Long extended their class victory streak to four races. The Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, a new tub since its last race at Utah, won by a lap over Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer – the reigning Le Mans class winners - in their Ferrari F430 GT.

“I think I’m with the right teams and the right teammates,” Bergmeister said of his Lime Rock dominance. “The new car was really performing well. I got in the car with an 18-second lead and tried to maintain that gap. Jaime was pushing really hard before they received a penalty (for speeding in pit lane). Then the guys told me I could take it a little easier.

Porsches reigned in GT classes with Flying Lizard (right) winning in GT2 and Gruppe Orange winning in the Challenge class. Click here for Hi-Res

I wouldn’t say it’s a typical Porsche track. You saw how well the Ferrari was in qualifying and I think it’s fairly even here. There are other tracks that are much better for the Porsche. Just before warm-up we made a change with the differential and I think that’s why we had such a good car.”

Long made what turned out to be the winning pass barely a half-hour in. The two cars ran nose-to-tail from the start and also mixed it up with BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team’s two BMW M3s as well. America’s lone Porsche factory driver had been pushing Kaffer’s Ferrari for a number of laps and was never more than a half-second behind.

The Lizard car also gained nearly a full lap on the wave-by during the race’s lone caution period.

“If you read the finishing order over the last few races, it may look like we’re walking away with the show. But there are so many cars that are giving us really tough challenges,” Long said. “I knew I had a race car that could not only lead the race but pull away as well. The first time we got among the Challenge cars and then through some prototypes, I knew it was going to be fantastic.”

BMW Rahal Letterman Racing’s Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand placed third in class with their BMW M3, the pairing’s first podium of the year.

Bob Faieta and Wesley Hoaglund won the Challenge class in their Gruppe Orange Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry. They appeared headed for a runner-up finish before the leading Snow Racing Porsche suffered a failed starter on its last stop.

“I lost radio contact and didn’t know what was going on. So I just drove as hard as I could,” said Faieta, the class pole-winner Friday. “I kept seeing them in the pitlane.

“The track is tight and technical but you couldn’t ask for a better race track,” he added. The weather was awesome, the track was great. Gruppe Orange put together a great team. Traffic really wasn’t an issue. These guys are so professional that they never put me in a bad spot.”

The only adjustment the team made to the car was a minor swaybar adjustment Friday. Aside from that, a one-minute penalty for Hoaglund working on the car (he didn’t know that was illegal) was the only problem the Gruppe Orange car experienced.

“One of the airjacks didn’t work so I tried to pick the car up, not knowing that I couldn’t work on it,” Hoaglund said. “So a 60-second penalty later, I thought I had given away our first win. But our spotters did a great job; they’re an experienced group and really served us well.”