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| Long Beach Race Notes: Acura |
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HIGHCROFT ACURA TEAM COMES BACK TO TAKE FOURTH
SATURDAY IN 1st LONG BEACH AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES RACE
Franchitti Dominates With AGR Acura In The First Hour, Lowe's Team Takes 8th
LONG BEACH, Calif. Dario Franchitti and the No. 26 XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01a
were the class of the American Le Mans Series field Saturday in the series' debut at the famed Long
Beach Grand Prix. Unfortunately, the Andretti Green Racing driving pair of Franchitti and Bryan Herta
didn't end up in Victory Lane.
Franchitti, the first pole winner for the new Acura sports car program, drove away from the 25-
car field and held a 30-second advantage when he pitted under the green flag on lap 46. Herta jumped
in the Acura with a full fuel tank and four fresh Michelin tires but trailed the first five cars when he exited
pit lane.
At the finish of one-hour, 40-minute race on the 1.9-mile street circuit in downtown Long Beach,
the two Penske Porsches topped the charts with a solid race strategy and their second straight victory in
the ALMS tour. Third went to the Dyson Porsche, followed by the No. 9 Highcroft Acura ARX-01a codriven
by Stefan Johansson and David Brabham.
The Highcroft crew did an excellent job in the pits with Johansson handing off the driving chores
to Brabham under the only yellow flag period of the 73-lap race. Brabham battled for a leading position
right out of pit lane and spun his mount in a runoff area. The Aussie drove back hard from 11th to fourth
and was the top Acura finisher.
The Franchitti-Herta pair had to make a late fuel stop and came home both sixth overall and in
the LMP2 division, as the top six finishers all came from the smaller engine prototype class. Seventh
was the first LMP1 Audi, followed by the No. 15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura Lola B06/40 co-driven by
Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz. Fernandez was in position to place his car on the podium at Long
Beach when he was force to pit for fuel on the final lap.
The American Le Mans Series travels to Houston next weekend for the Lone Star Grand Prix
near Reliant Stadium and the famed Astrodome
on Saturday, April 21, at 5:30 p.m. (CDT).
LONG BEACH GRAND PRIX ALMS
LMP2 Class
1. Penske Porsche No. 7
2. Penske Porsche No. 6
4. HIGHCROFT RACING ACURA ARX-01a No. 9
6. ANDRETTI GREEN ACURA ARX-01a No. 26
7. LOWE's FERNANDEZ ACURA Lola No. 15
ACURA QUOTES:
DAVID BRABHAM (#9 Highcroft Racing
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