David Brabham must feel like he hasn’t come back down. The joyous jump on the top step of the podium at Le Mans after winning in GT1 for Aston Martin is forever etched in the minds of Brabham’s faithful followers who saw their hero take his first win at Le Mans in 14 tries.
“It was quite a special day. Le Mans to me is the most important race of the year, ” Brabham said at Lime Rock Park, site of this weekend’s American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix and the start of the second half of the American Le Mans Series season. “After so long, sometimes I think it’s better to wait awhile because it feels that much better. We were pretty confident heading into the race with the preparations Aston Martin had done. During the race we had one of those perfect races. We had good speed. We had zero problems considering the weather. I started the race and finished the race so I got spoiled. “
Now it’s back to work with Highcroft Racing and Acura in North America. Brabham is one of the core members of a Highcroft squad that is based in nearby Danbury, Conn. With an LMP2 podium finish at St. Petersburg and Brabham’s overall pole position at Houston, the early part of Highcroft’s Acura program can be rated a success.
Brabham, a veteran of 66 starts and 12 career wins in the American Le Mans Series, knows that more is coming as both Highcroft and Acura continue to progress.
“This program is a lot bigger than the Aston Martin program. The Highcroft team is newer for sure, ” Brabham said. “To see this team develop as quickly as it has and compete as well as it has for the first part of the season has been awesome and it’s been great to be a part of it. When I first did the deal with Duncan to be a part of this program, he didn’t have a lot of people on board. He’s been bringing in a lot of good, talented people - people with experience but ultimately together as a team are fairly young. We’ve been learning a lot and have been doing not a bad job considering how new everyone is. “
Round Six of the American Le Mans Series is the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix, set for 3 p. m. ET on Saturday, July 7 at Lime Rock Park. CBS Sports will televise the race at 1 p. m. ET on Sunday, July 8.
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