LATE RACE HEARTBREAK HITS PATRÓN HIGHCROFT VICTORY DREAMSPatrón Highcroft's dreams of a class victory at Sebring went up in smoke today - literally. An electrical issue and subsequent small fire with three and half hours remaining delayed the reigning American Le Mans Series champions after they had build a dominant five lap lead.
Simon Pagenaud came into the pits to complete a triple-stint after eight and half hours of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida.
As his replacement teammate Marino Franchitti was about to enter the car, he noticed smoke coming from the "passenger" side of the HPD ARX-01c. An electrical issue had ignited a small fire which was quickly extinguished by the team.
Quick work from the Highcroft crew not only patched the damaged electrical system but ensured the car would run faultlessly for the remainder of the race. However, the 24 minutes the car remained stationary in the pits turned a five lap lead into a six lap deficit.
The efforts of Franchitti and David Brabham in the remainder of the race sliced that lead back to four laps but the Highcroft squad were forced to settle for second place in the LMP2 class behind the Porsche RS Spyder of Greg Pickett, Klaus Graff and Sascha Maassen.
The team finished fifth overall and completed 349 laps of the historic Sebring circuit - a result which exactly mirrors the team's efforts from 2008.
Before the electrical issue, Pagenaud had completed a triple stint, extending the lead from three laps after six hours, to five laps at the end of his stint.
The team's second place class finish netted the team 26 points in the combined LMP1/LMP2 championship - kicking off the 2010 American Le Mans Series presented by Patrón in a strong position, only four points off the championship lead.
Patrón Highcroft Racing will not set its sights one of its favorite ALMS venues - the streets of Long Beach. The team earned its first Series victory at the Long Beach Grand Prix in 2008 and also started from pole position there last season.
