Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud went flag-to-flag Saturday to win the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, their fourth consecutive overall victory in the American Le Mans Series. Team owner de Ferran qualified on the overall pole position, and the pairing won at Mid-Ohio for the first time in their careers.
The victorious team boss crossed the finish line in the de Ferran XM Acura ARX-02a 8.358 seconds ahead of Patrón Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham and the Acura that he drove with LMP1 championship co-leader Scott Sharp.
The emotions of the weekend were just as challenging for de Ferran as the race itself. Team fueler Keith Jones was badly injured in a pitlane fire at Mid-Ohio last year. Winning for the first time at the circuit and on the weekend where he announced he will retire as a driver at the end of the season were tough to overcome.
“Certainly what happened here last year was a huge landmark in my life and to all of our team,” de Ferran said, trying to hold back tears. “At the end of the day, you cannot perform if you are a complete mess. You have to keep your emotions in check at all times and be 100 percent rational. This was my most
emotional race. Mind management is very important . But crossing the finish line – I couldn’t hold back.”
But it was a joyful celebration. The former two-time CART champion and Indy 500 winner watched Pagenaud drive a brilliant opening stint against Sharp. The young Frenchman drove the first 77 minutes before handing off to de Ferran, who didn’t give up the lead. A quick splash late was all the Acura needed.
“We have had a good weekend,” said Pagenaud, who set the fastest race lap for the third straight event. “The crew made good decisions at the right time. It is great to have an improvement over the year. It was a fun race to drive. We managed to save a lot of fuel in my stint. “
“I have been coming to Mid-Ohio for many years,” added de Ferran, who saw his team win its fourth straight MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge prototype trophy for overall performance as well as fuel and environmental efficiency. “It has been a great reception. It is also great for the championship. We have to win every time out. It is very hard because I have a lot of respect for Patrón Highcroft and their drivers. They are a fantastic team and a great opponent.”
Intersport Racing’s local tandem of Jon and Clint Field drove their AER-powered Lola B06/10 to a third-place P1 finish. The father-son duo was fifth overall.
Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz won their fifth LMP2 race of the year and were third overall in the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b. The class championship leaders won the race with a short-fill for fuel on the race’s final caution period while running second to Dyson Racing’s Marino Franchitti.
The Acura was the first car out of the pitlane, beating the de Ferran Acura and receiving a free pass by the safety car, which had to pick up overall leader de Ferran.
“Here on the track with a lot of corners the best place to pass is on the straights. So we needed a good strategy and not get into trouble,” Diaz said. “At the end we entered the pits four to five laps after they (Dyson) did. It was a fantastic job by our guys.”
Four different cars in class led at one point – the Acura, both of Dyson Racing’s Mazda-powered Lola B09/86 coupes and the Team Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder. Dyson’s Marino Franchitti and Cytosport’s Klaus Graf were locked in a battle for second before contact and a spin broke the Lola-Mazda’s suspension and elevated Graf and team owner Greg Pickett to second in class, 10.482 seconds behind the Acura.
“It was fantastic,” Fernandez said. “We wanted to keep the tires at the end. We are really proud. It was a great fight with Marino. I was going to make his life difficult. The Acura has been good on fuel mileage and very reliable. I have to believe as a team, as a whole package, it was an impressive performance.”
Franchitti and teammate Butch Leitzinger, who won in P2 three weeks ago at Lime Rock, were good enough for third place.
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