At the very venue he made his American Le Mans Series debut a year ago, Simon Pagenaud turned in the fastest time in Friday’s test for this weekend’s Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park. Pagenaud posted the five fastest times in the de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a during the two-hour session.
Pagenaud’s best time was a 1:31.687 (119.677 mph), good enough to best Patrón Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham and his Acura LMP1 entry by an impressive 1.157 seconds (1:32.844 and 118.185 mph). But in addition to Pagenaud’s five quickest laps, teammate and team owner Gil de Ferran had the next two fastest circuits. In the team’s debut here last year, the pairing placed third overall and in LMP2 with Pagenaud posting the race’s fastest lap.
The young Frenchman is having a tremendous week, having won the Spa 1,000-kilometer race five days ago in a factory Peugeot diesel. His first race in the LMP1 coupe also saw him qualify on pole position and turn the fastest race lap.
“The first few laps today I was struggling a little bit,” Pagenaud admitted. “I had to get used to repositioning in the cockpit and a different perspective from the seat. But the Acura is very, very good here. There are a lot of high-speed corners here, and I enjoy these kinds of circuits. I think it will be a very good week for us.”
Both Acura P1 entries have won races this year – Brabham and Scott Sharp at St. Petersburg, and Pagenaud and de Ferran at Long Beach in the most recent round.
Dyson Racing’s Guy Smith was the fastest LMP2 driver and was third overall in the Mazda-powered Lola B09/86 that he is sharing with Chris Dyson. The Englishman nipped Lowe’s Fernandez Racing’s Adrian Fernandez on the final lap of the session, a 1:34.670 (115.906 mph). Fernandez was 0.541 seconds adrift in the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b that he is driving with Luis Diaz. The pairing won the first three rounds of the season and own a hefty lead in the championship.
After the two P2 cars, Intersport Racing’s Jon Field was third in P1 in the Lola B06/10-AER that he will drive with son Clint and Chapman Ducote. The car’s best time was a 1:36.531 (113.671 mph). Autocon Motorsports’ Lola-AER of Bryan Willman and Mike Lewis was next, followed by the brand new hybrid-powered Ginetta-Zytek 09HS from Corsa Motorsports with drivers Johnny Mowlem and Stefan Johansson.
The car stands to be the first hybrid to compete in a major endurance race. Its fastest time was a 1:38.875 (110.976 mph), only a few days after arriving in the US from a shakedown in England last week.
“It’s honestly a steep learning curve,” Mowlem said. “Normally you would do these types of things in private and behind closed doors. Instead we’re doing it in public. But we are making progress.”
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