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| Houston Race Notes: Acura |
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HERTA'S GREAT LATE-RACE CHARGE FALLS SHORT BY A FEW FEET
IN SENSATIONAL LONE STAR GRAND PRIX IN HOUSTON SATURDAY
XM Satellite Acura ARX-01a Chases Down Penske Porsche In Thrilling Fight
HOUSTON Bryan Herta had the large crowd at the Lone Star Grand Prix on its feet Saturday
evening in a wild finish on the JAGFlo Speedway road course around the famed Astrodome and
beautiful Reliant Stadium.
The California driver just missed taking the No. 26 XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01a sports car
to the overall victory on the tight 1.7-mile, 10-turn track many drivers called one of the roughest circuits
on the 12-race American Le Mans Series tour. Herta came from 27 seconds behind to close within .450
seconds at the checkered flag and take second overall to the No. 7 Penske Porsche driven by Timo
Bernhard and Romain Dumas.
Marino Franchitti, Dario's younger brother, started the race in the fifth position in No. 26 Acura
and fought through some heavy traffic to hand over the Andretti Green Racing machine to Herta on lap
58. Herta quickly diced his way to the front of the field and raced wheel-to-wheel with both Penske Porsches
and the No. 1 Audi driven by Rinaldo Capelli.
The only full-course yellow period came out on lap 111 and Herta drove into the pits for a fuel
stop only. Unlike the Porsche and Audi teams, Herta's crew did not add four new Michelin tires. At the
restart, Herta drove in and out of traffic to close from a 3.7-second advantage by Bernhard to less than a
second. The Houston crowd was standing and yelling for Herta to take the lead.
With one lap remaining in the two-hour, 45-minute race, Herta took his car to the rear of the No.
7 Porsche driven by Bernhard, but he had to settle for the runner-up spot at the checkered flag.
Pole sitter David Brabham was impressive in the No. 9 Highcroft Acura ARX-01a and raced with
the leaders in the first hour of competition. A strange incident on the driver exchange between Brabham
and Stefan Johansson knocked out the fuel system for over a minute and the team had to settle for fifth
overall, fourth in the LMP2 class.
The No. 15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura Lola, with drivers
Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz, started seventh and finished seventh.
The
Lowe's car never
handled well on
the bumpy Houston
track but collected
valuable
points Saturday.
LONE STAR GRAND PRIX ALMS
LMP2 Class (TV, CBS-TV, April 29, 1-3 p.m.)
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