ALMS: St. Petersburg 2009 - II Fecha

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American Le Mans Series - Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg

Sabado 4 De Abril - 12:30pm Canal SPEED


LONG, BRABHAM AND de FERRAN ON ST. PETERSBURG

Three American Le Mans Series drivers who figure to be key players in this weekend’s Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg were part of Media Day on Thursday in downtown St. Petersburg. They spoke on the second round of the season, being on the Florida coast and what else the event offers.

Patrick Long, Flying Lizard Motorsports
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2)
“St. Pete is a little of a home track, and I am excited to be here (Long lives in Bellaire, Fla). The American Le Mans Series is unique with the four classes of competition. Last year, I drove a prototype against these guys (referring to Acura’s Gil de Ferran and David Brabham). This year I am in a GT car. Overall, it should be a wild race.”



(When to be aggressive and when to be patient?) “Turn 1 is a big passing opportunity. It is also a huge risk zone. The front straightaway is part of the airport runway, and the width is almost unheard of in street course racing. After Turn 1, you have to watch your line as the street narrows and turns into almost a bottle neck.”

David Brabham, Patrón Highcroft Racing
Acura ARX-02a (LMP1)

“There are a lot of street races around the world. And at St. Pete, the whole city gets behind the race. Everyone on the team is really looking forward to it. The atmosphere makes a big difference (lifting the spirits surrounding the paddock, pit lane, racetrack).”

“Coming to this race is a great window of opportunity for my family. We (his wife and children included) have come here to enjoy Florida and St. Petersburg. We were on the beach yesterday. … And I go racing on Saturday.”

Gil de Ferran, de Ferran Motorsports
Acura ARX-02a (LMP1)
“2004 was when I was first here. I was commentating for IndyCar Racing on TV. Since then, it is a little bit of a family outing. I came here with my wife and two kids. We make a great weekend of it.

“For me as a driver, I have never driven here in my life. I enjoy street circuits and I hope to do well. I don’t know much about the track and will be taking more track time (leading up to the race) to familiarize myself.”

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Lucas Luhr - St Petersburg 2008 LMP1

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1 Lap a St. Petersburg con Allan McNish en el Audi R10

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Drayson Barwell - St Petersburg, ALMS 2008

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KEYS TO THE CITY: GT2 AT ST. PETERSBURG

Manufacturer depth offers different takes on street circuit

With an astounding seven manufacturers present in GT2 for the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, strategies and setups are likely to be different for each entry. The goal remains the same though – stay clean and collect as many American Le Mans Series championship points as possible. We asked representatives from each marque why they will be successful this weekend and what the keys to Saturday’s race might be.

Dominik Farnbacher, Driver
Panoz Team PTG, Panoz Esperante GTLM
“The key factor in my eyes will be qualifying. It is so hard to overtake here. If someone is on the proper racing line and perfectly defends their position, it is almost impossible to go around. You have to have a fast car or be on the straight with a lot of power to get around. The transition from airport tarmac to street pavement can be tricky, plus there is an elevation change and the circuit falls away from you through Turn 3. That is a very tricky part of the track.”



Tommy Milner, Driver
BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team, BMW M3
“Now that we’re past Sebring, you take a look at the other cars and see what they are capable of. Our advantage is that the car is really good under braking and in mid-corner speeds. This track really suits us more than Sebring, for example. We don’t depend too much on straightline speed here.”

Gregory Loles, Owner
Farnbacher Loles Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
“I think the Porsches, including our car, should be very good on this type of circuit. We have a good amount of torque in our cars, and our guys are well-versed on street circuits, both in this Series and in others. There are a lot of good places to pass here, unlike some other street circuits. We are keeping an eye on the weather. If qualifying is wet tomorrow, we feel very good about our car’s performance and handling. But we’d still like a dry race.”



Jaime Melo, Driver
Risi Competizione, Ferrari F430 GT
“I like street circuits and especially St Pete; it’s fast but at the same time very technical. The schedule is very tight and there is not much track time, so strategy will be important - something that’s taken care of very well by our engineers Rick Mayer and Don Shaver. The track is quite difficult to set up the car as there’s a long straight and hard braking and a few very slippery corners.”

Eric Curran, Driver
LG Motorsports, Corvette C6
“In my first race with the team at Miller Motorsports Park last year I got the car up to third place, the team’s highest running position to date. The team has shown constant improvement and we feel we have the potential to get on the podium. This week at St. Pete, the LG Pro Long Tube Header Corvette will be partnering with Whelen Engineering. Plus, we’re really happy that Corvette fans will have our GT2 Corvette flying the Corvette banner for them.”



Chris Hall, Driver
Primetime Race Group, Dodge Viper Competition Coupe
“This will be a tough challenge for us because of our front-engine configuration and weight of the car. Tracks like Sebring, Utah and Road America allow us to stretch the legs of the car, and you can’t really do that here. But with all that said, I think we’ll be much better than we were last year. We have to get to the finish to have a chance, and that will be our focus.”

Andrew "H" Smith, Team Manager
Robertson Racing, Doran Ford GT MK 7
“Keeping it clean and out of the pits will be what the race boils down to. If you get in trouble here, then it’s over. There is no time to make up positions. You have options at a race as long as Sebring. Having a mid-engine car like ours does help in the transition from turn to turn. It’s definitely the way to go and keeps the car balanced.”

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Buenisimo Oscar !!

Accidente Van Overbeek 2008

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ALMS: Todo para los Acura en calificación

La calificación del campeonato American Le Mans Series en el Honda Grand Prix de St Petersburg, segunda carrera puntuable, ha tenido un solo protagonista: Acura.

Sus LMP1 y LMP2 han sido totalmente hegemónicos en la sesión de calificación con sus dos ARX-02a en primera línea, el mejor tiempo para Simon Pagenaud con el coche de Gil de Ferran, y el segundo para Scott Sharp con el de Highcroft Racing. Para redondear el dominio y siendo además el primer LMP2, Luis Diaz llevaba el ARX-01b de Fernandez Racing a la tercera plaza. Los dos Lola B09/86 Mazda de Dyson Racing saldrán cuarto y quinto.

Quedando vacante GT1 con la ausencia de Corvette Racing, los GT2 tenían una emocionante batalla por la pole que se iba a las filas de Ferrari, el 430 GT2 de Risi Competizione pilotado por Jaime Melo. Wolf Henzler era segundo con un Porsche 997 RSR de Loles Farnbacher precediendo a los dos BMW E92 M3 que ha recibido una reducción de su peso mínimo cortesía del IMSA.

La carrera se disputará mañana con una duración total de 1 hora y 45 minutos.

Parrilla de salida:
1. De Ferran/Pagenaud Acura ARX 02a 1:03.776
2. Brabham/Sharp Acura ARX 02a 1:04.722
3. Fernandez/Diaz Acura ARX-01B 1:05.178
4. Dyson/Smith Lola B09 86 Mazda 1:05.464
5. Leitzinger/Franchitti Lola B09 86 Mazda 1:05.666
6. Field/Field/Ducote Lola B06/10 1:09.044
7. Melo/Kaffer Ferrari 430 1:12.892
8. Henzler/Werner Porsche 911 RSR 1:13.173
9. Hand/Auberlen BMW E92 M3 1:13.267
10. Müller/Milner BMW E92 M3 1:13.458
11. Bergmeister/Long Porsche 911 RSR 1:13.465
12. Farnbacher/James Panoz Esperante 1:14.109
13. Murry/Robertson Doran Ford GT-R 1:14.281
14. Gigliotti/Curran Chevrolet Riley Corvette 1:14.633
15. Feinberg/Hall Dodge Viper 1:15.938
16. Sutherland/Phinney Panoz Esperante 1:15.996
17. Law/Neiman Porsche 911 RSR 1:18.592

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Patron Highcroft Racing On The ALMS Front Row At St. Petersburg For Saturday

Scott Sharp did all he could Friday to shake the disappointment of a less than stellar season opening event for Danbury based Patron Highcroft Racing.



The Norwalk native put the Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-02a Prototype on the front row for Saturday's Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The event is the second of the season on the American LeMans Series schedule. The Patron Highcroft team is in its first season in the LMP1 category in ALMS and debuted their newly designed Acura's two weeks ago at the season opener at Sebring International Raceway.

But the Twelve Hours of Sebring came up a few ticks of the clock short for the team when a transmission failure 10 hours and 10 minutes into the event knocked out the team of Sharp, David Brabham and Dario Franchitti.

This week it's just Sharp and Franchitti piloting for the 1 hour and 55 minute event at St. Petersburg, which shares the card on the street course with the season opener for the IRL IndyCar Series.

Sharp toured the 1.8-mile St. Petersburg street course in 1:04.799. Simon Pagenaud of de Ferran Motorsports claimed his first American Le Mans Series pole position Friday with a lap of 1:03.776 (101.606 mph). Pagenaud will share driving duties in the event with team owner Gil de Ferran. Sharp and Pagenaud made it all an all Acura front row.

"I think we are in really good shape for tomorrow because the car is very consistent," Sharp said. "All the times I ran in qualifying were very strong and close to our fastest lap, but I couldn't stretch it any further. We made a few changes prior to qualifying and I think we learned a great deal. We need to gain a bit of speed compared to the [de Ferran Motorsports] car but overall I think we had a good session. [Saturday] should be a really good race. We have been working all day with the race set-up in mind to make sure the car remains consistent and we can keep the Michelin tires underneath us throughout the race. Especially if it is hot, the track can be very greasy and I think we can shine if that happens."

Saturday's event will be broadcast on ABC at 1:30 p.m. Brabham and Sharp were second at St. Petersburg last year in the LMP2 class.

"This is the first time we have come to a street circuit with this car and we are making strong progress," Brabham said. "We're not really sure what the best direction is because we don't have any street race experience to draw on with the Acura ARX-02a. It is great to be learning a lot and that is what it is going to be like throughout the season. We're on the front row and we're ready for a good race with the de Ferran guys. . . . Any street circuit with traffic can be a big challenge and that will be the case [Saturday]."

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OVERALL POLE WINNER SIMON PAGENAUD

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Street Smart Melo Takes GT Pole at St Pete



Risi Competizione's Jaime Melo showed that he and the team have lost nothing of their Sebring speed and form by taking a convincing GT class pole position today at St Petersburg (FL). It is the first time that Risi Competizione has secured pole position at the 1.8 mile temporary street course, and it marks the 13th of his ALMS career.

The Brazilian's Ferrari F430GT recorded a fastest time of 1:12.892 on his fifth fastest lap, and was almost three tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival -- a country mile on a street course. Melo and his team mate, Pierre Kaffer of Germany, are both fans of the track, despite the latter having only driven here for the first time this morning in damp track conditions.

Melo said after qualifying: "As everyone knows, this is a really tough track so it's important to start from pole. I didn't think it was a very good lap but it was enough to be on pole so I'm happy; it's a track where you need to take a lot of risks, especially in qualifying, and I got what I wanted. The guys did a very good job on the car and Rick [Mayer, race engineer] on the set up so we are good for the race. There's still some mid-corner understeer which penalised me a bit, but for the race I don't think that will be a problem."

The 2007 GT2 Drivers' Champion has endured a difficult build up to the season, having broken his ankle in November, but proved today that he has returned to the American Le Mans Series as committed and fast as ever. "My ankle is a lot better compared to Sebring, where I had some cramps during the race" said Jaime. "I spent the time between Sebring and here in Houston [the team's base] and did some special exercises for it so hopefully it will be okay now. Every week is better."

A large number of guests from Risi's main sponsor, Motorola, will be attending the 1 hour 55 minute race tomorrow, and they will all be hoping to see the red Ferrari cruising to its second consecutive race win of the 2009 ALMS season. As one of the most stalwart of ALMS entrants, the privately-owned Houston team is, however, well aware of the high level of competition and the challenge ahead from the Porsches and BMWs in the GT2 class. Let the racing begin!

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ALMS EN VIVO EN ESTE MOMENTO SPEED!!!

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Live Timing:
http://www.americanlemans.com/index_live2.php