Today’s Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series race at Long Beach was won by Simon Pagenaud and Gil de Ferran – the drivers of the No. 66 XM Radio/Panasonic Acura ARX-02a. Though the pair had lead for a good portion of the race, the margin of victory remained only 1.016 seconds ahead of fellow Acura drivers, Scott Sharp and David Brabham in the No. 9 Patrón Spirits Company machine.

P2 honors went to the third Acura entry – the No. 15 Lowe’s sponsored car piloted by Luis Diaz and Adrian Fernandez. This strong finish secured all three steps of the overall winner’s podium for Acura.

In GT1, the Compuware Corvettes returned for mixed results. The No. 4 of Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin took the class victory and finished 6th overall. The No. 3 sister entry driven by Johnny O’Connell faced mechanical issues and was forced to drop out of the race after only 42 of the total 76 laps.

A wide range of manufacturers made the podium in GT2, with Porsche taking over the top step with the No. 45 entry of Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister. Second in class went to the No. 62 Ferrari’s Pierre Kaffer and Jaime Melo, with the No. 92 BMW’s Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller gracing the third step.

The top finishers included:

Pos   No  Class  Car                  Drivers
  1  #66     P1  Acura ARX-02a        Simon Pagenaud
                                      Gil de Ferran

  2   #9     P1  Acura ARX-02a        Scott Sharp
                                      David Brabham

  3  #15     P2  Acura ARX-01B        Luis Diaz
                                      Adrian Fernandez

  4  #16     P2  Mazda / Lola B09     Guy Smith
                                      Chris Dyson

  5  #20     P2  Mazda / Lola B09     Butch Leitzinger
                                      Marino Franchitti

  6   #4    GT1  Chev Corvette C6-R   Olivier Beretta
                                      Oliver Gavin

  7  #37     P1  Lola B06             Jon Field
                                      Chapman Ducote
                                      Clint Field

  8  #45    GT2  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  Patrick Long
                                      Jörg Bergmeister

  9  #62    GT2  Ferrari 430 GT       Pierre Kaffer
                                      Jaime Melo

 10  #92    GT2  BMW E92 M3           Tommy Milner
                                      Dirk Müller

Related Links:
American Le Mans Series: Schedule, Standings, Latest News, Videos

Sebastien Loeb finished first for the fourth time this year during the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal. The Citroen C4 driver came out ahead of Mikko Hirvonen, Dani Sordo, Petter Solberg, and Henning Solberg – all of which rounded out the top five respectively.

This win allowed Loeb to increase his World Rally Championship points lead over Hirvonen, who is currently in the second position in the standings.

For the full results from this weekend’s rally, please use the following link:

Results from the 2009 WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal

The updated standings can be found here:

2009 World Rally Championship Standings

The appropriately named Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg provided an excellent showcase for two of the Acura teams in the American Le Mans Series this weekend. The The Patrón Spirits Acura of Scott Sharp and David Brabham took the overall win, with the Lowe’s Acura of Luis Diaz and Adrian Fernandez coming in a close second, only 32 seconds behind and still on the lead lap. The strong finish also allowed Diaz and Fernandez to snag the top honors in the P2 class.

St. Petersburg also marked the departure of the series’ current GT1 class, with the two remaining Corvette C6Rs pulling out in favor of future GT2 action instead. The Compuware Corvettes are expected to return to the track for the next event in Long Beach on April 18th, 2009.

In GT2, the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR driven by Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister grabbed a class victory, finishing in the 5th position overall. By the checkered flag, the team had gained a two lap lead over their nearest GT2 competitors, Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller in their BMW E92 M3 entry.

The top finishers included:

Pos   No  Class  Car                  Drivers
  1   #9     P1  Acura ARX-02a        Scott Sharp
                                      David Brabham

  2  #15     P2  Acura ARX-01B        Luis Diaz
                                      Adrian Fernandez

  3  #16     P2  Mazda / Lola B09     Chris Dyson
                                      Guy Smith

  4  #20     P2  Mazda / Lola B09     Marino Franchitti
                                      Butch Leitzinger

  5  #45    GT2  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  Patrick Long
                                      Jörg Bergmeister

  6  #37     P1  Lola B06             Chapman Ducote
                                      Jon Field
                                      Clint Field

  7  #92    GT2  BMW E92 M3           Tommy Milner
                                      Dirk Müller

  8  #21    GT2  Panoz Esperante      Ian James
                                      Dominik Farnbacher

  9  #28    GT2  Chev. Corvette C6    Lou Gigliotti
                                      Eric Curran

 10  #44    GT2  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  Seth Neiman
                                      Darren Law

Related Links:
American Le Mans Series: Schedule, Standings, Latest News, Videos