de Ferran Motorsports enters exciting new territory when the 2009 American Le Mans Series blasts off on Saturday.
The Indianapolis based race team debuts its new no.66 XM Radio Acura ARX-02a prototype in the world famous Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring having stepped up to the premier LMP1 category since the conclusion of the 2008 campaign.
The spectacular day-night season-opener marks the latest major milestone for de Ferran Motorsports - the ambitious new outfit founded by former Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time CART Champ Car champion Gil de Ferran.
After being chosen by Acura to race one of its Acura ARX-01b prototypes in the LMP2 class, the team made its first appearance at the Salt Lake City round in May 2008. Despite missing the start of last year’s ALMS - and thus the 2008 running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring - de Ferran and his impressive young French team-mate Simon Pagenaud were quickly to the fore. Sharing the driving duties, the pair took four front row grid positions (including one pole position), led six races and scored three podium finishes from just eight starts in what was a momentous debut season.
“While it’s a huge honor to be representing Acura in the top LMP1 class, it’s also a big task and an enormous responsibility,” explains team owner and race driver Gil de Ferran. “So much has happened that, at times, it’s hard to remember that we are not yet a year old. First we had to put the team together from scratch; then we had to race against proven rivals in what’s widely reckoned to be the toughest sports car series in the world. And there’s been no rest over the winter. Since the end of last season, we’ve been flat out on the LMP1 program. It has been 24/7 for almost 12 months.”
“In theory, recent rule changes should ensure that gasoline powered cars are more competitive with the turbocharged diesel machines that have been dominating sportscar racing in recent years,” continues de Ferran. “The XM Radio Acura ARX-02a has shown plenty of potential during pre-season testing at Sebring and everyone involved in this project has done a lot of work to develop not only our reliability but also the performance the brand new Acura. However we are under no illusion over the size of task facing us. But that doesn’t mean, though, we won’t be doing everything within our powers to do well - we don’t go racing to finish second or third!”
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