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Gil de Ferran’s storybook weekend continued Friday with pole position for the Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón, the final race in the Brazilian legend’s storybook career. His best lap of 1:11.206 (113.148 mph) at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the de Ferran Motorsports XM Acura ARX-02a barely beat out good friend but close rival David Brabham in the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura.
De Ferran announced in August that he is stepping out of the cockpit to focus on strengthening and growing the scope of the team. But there is still one more race to go. He will close his career by teaming with Simon Pagenaud in the four-hour season finale for the American Le Mans Series.
“It’s no secret this will be my last race,” de Ferran said. “There is a lot of ‘last this’ and ‘last that’, so there are all kinds of emotions. When you’re strapped in the car, you’re not thinking about ‘This is the last time’; you think about going quicker and keeping your eye on the ball. At times it’s not easy but I have a job to do and that’s to extract the best out of the car.”
He extracted just enough, nipping Brabham by 0.092 seconds in one of the tightest qualifying sessions of the year. Brabham - who qualified at 1:11.298 (113.002 mph) - and teammate Scott Sharp lead the LMP1 championship by 21 points heading into the weekend. Class winners earn 25 points, and the Brabham/Sharp pairing needs to complete 70 percent of the overall winner’s distance Saturday to score points and clinch the title.
Jonny Cocker qualified the Drayson Racing Lola B09/60-Judd third in class and fifth overall at 1:12.745 (110.754 mph).
De Ferran retired from open-wheel competition with a pole position at Texas in 2003. He went on to win the race and would like nothing more to end his sports car career on a similar note.
“I have to admit it was tough. We’ve been struggling with the handling of the Acura. We’ve made a lot of changes going one way or going back the other. We had a good setup for qualifying. I still don’t think the car is as good as it can be. The car had a bit of an under steer so I was throwing the car into the corners like a go-cart and it was fun. I’m glad we came out with the pole, there were some anxious moments.
“I won my last IndyCar race at Texas in 2003. I was also on pole there; so far I’m keeping my record intact,” he added. “I need to stop thinking in those terms though. This is anybody’s race and we need to execute. I should drive no different. I pride myself for being a rational person and if you’re racing for a million dollars or 10 cents you should drive the same way. That’s the way I have to approach it for tomorrow.”
Lowe’s Fernandez Racing’s Luis Diaz qualified first in LMP2 – his fourth class pole of the year – and third overall in the team’s Acura ARX-01b that he will drive with Adrian Fernandez. Diaz’s best lap was a 1:11.310 (112.983 mph) that held the top spot overall for the majority of the session’s first half.
Diaz and Fernandez are seeking their record-tying eighth P2 victory of the season, and they already wrapped up the class driver championship at Mosport in August. Lowe’s Fernandez also clinched the team title two weeks ago at Road Atlanta and Petit Le Mans.
“The car was fantastic. It has been fantastic since the first day,” Diaz said. “It’s a very special weekend for the whole team. We expected to be competitive because the Acura was very competitive here last year. And with a few adjustments and the great Michelin tires, the car was fantastic. I knew Gil was a talented driver so it was nice to be up there for a while, even if it was for a moment.”
Diaz was 0.741 seconds quicker than Dyson Racing’s Butch Leitzinger, who turned in a best lap of 1:12.051 (111.821 mph). Leitzinger will drive the Mazda-powered Lola B09/86 coupe with Marino Franchitti. The two are the only drivers to beat the Lowe’s Fernandez duo this year. The car also was the class pole-sitter the last three events.
