Acura Puts on a Strong Show for St. Petersburg
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