Patrón Highcroft Racing completed a strong day's testing at the American Le Mans Series 'Wheels Down' Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway today with all three drivers getting the chance to get behind the wheel of the team's Acura ARX-02a.
Dario Franchitti was the first driver behind wheel in the morning session after the team returned to the track after fixing a brake issue.
In the afternoon second session, the team completed a trouble free run with Scott Sharp recording his first laps of the test, followed by David Brabham.
Sharp set the second fastest time of the day during his stint, stopping the clocks at 1 minute, 46.824 seconds.
Patrón Highcroft Racing will return to the track tomorrow for the final day of the American Le Mans Series 'Wheels Down' test with sessions scheduled from 9.10am to10.50am, 1.00pm to 2.40pm and 4.00pm to 5.30pm.
Sebring will host the opening round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series on March 21 - the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
SCOTT SHARP"The team had a very productive session this afternoon for Patrón Highcroft Racing with the new Acura."We were able to do a lot of laps and we were able to make several significant changes to the car and really fine tune the set-up and point us in the right direction."It is all part of developing a brand new race car. Everyone on the team is building confidence and it was great for me to score a lot of laps today to really get into a rhythm."
DAVID BRABHAM"This stage of the testing program is all about getting miles on the car."It is a brand new car and it is extremely sophisticated and we obviously need to learn as much as possible."To do that you basically need to do lots and lots of laps which we were able to achieve this afternoon."That was extremely encouraging and every time we run we learn more about the car and gather more data."
DARIO FRANCHITTI"It was nice to get some limited running this morning - I was able to get into the new Acura and get a dozen laps under my belt."It was a great opportunity to get the feel of the LMP1 Acura because it is a lot different to any other car that I have ever driven."The potential is certainly there but we have a way to go to maximize that. Between all guys at Patrón Highcroft Racing and HPD they will certainly work it out."The big challenge is the fact that Sebring is the toughest race of the year and it is first up on the schedule."
