Simon Pagenaud (right) ensured de Ferran Motorsports picked up where it left off as the American Le Mans Series burst back into action at Lime Rock after a two months summer break.
Having dominated the opening two practice sessions, the impressive young Frenchman grabbed pole position for tomorrow’s American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix to be staged at the scenic circuit situated near Lakeville in Northwest Connecticut. Pagenaud shares No. 66 XM Radio de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a with team owner Gil de Ferran and the on-form duo are seeking their third win on the bounce having triumphed in both previous ALMS rounds staged on the streets of Long Beach and at Salt Lake City.
“This was definitely an interesting session,” admitted Pagenaud who beat both an approaching rain shower and the similar Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-02a of David Brabham. “It’s always a pleasure to battle with a talented driver like David Brabham. I’m glad I got the lap out of the car. We made a few changes before qualifying, but only positive points. The de Ferran team did an awesome job to decide the strategy looking at the weather forecast provided by the XM system. I got my lap when I needed to, so it was pretty much a perfect situation. The inside of the track is a much better starting position so it’s really an advantage to be on pole. I’m a happy man.”
“It was a very exciting qualifying session for us,” confirmed team mate de Ferran. “We’ve been very worried about the conditions, so trying to play the weather and getting the tires to the right temperatures at the right time was a real balancing act. Our engineers did a great job to get all of that strategy right for the qualifying and Simon obviously did a great job with the car.”
As well as paying tribute to Pagenaud, de Ferran also praised the team’s latest real-time weather monitoring technology supplied by partner XM during the mid-season break. He said: “The weather looked threatening even before the beginning of the session. This was our first race utilizing the XM Weather system and what a race to have it! It was absolutely crucial; it really guided our qualifying strategy.”
Having qualified on pole position for the fourth time in five rounds, de Ferran Motorsports is now targeting further success in tomorrow’s American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix - a spectacular two hour 45 minute showdown staged on the challenging 1.53-mile circuit.
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