PATRÓN HIGHCROFT RACING HEAD THE LMP2 PACK AT PETIT LE MANSPatrón Highcroft Racing dominated proceedings in the LMP2 class at Road Atlanta , setting the fastest time in the day and the dark in preparation for this weekend's Petit Le Mans.
Simon Pagenaud set the pace in the morning session - the Frenchman's times tumbling as the track became drier after morning showers.
Pagenaud eventually lowered his mark to 1 minute, 11.759 seconds - good enough to lead the LMP2 class and be fourth fastest overall.
The factory-backed Honda Performance Development team elected to skip the afternoon session to fit the race gearbox and suspension components.
That decision turned out to be ideal with heavy rain hitting the 2.54 mile circuit and only nine cars electing to hit the track in damp conditions.
In the two-hour evening night session, Marino Franchitti kicked things off for the reigning American Le Mans Series LMP1 champions by bedding in race components including the new gearbox and brakes.
He worked his way down to 1:12.663 - 4th overall and first in LMP2 before handing over to Pagenaud.
The Frenchman's stint was interrupted by lots of traffic and a red flag period, but he continued his strong pace from this morning.
David Brabham climbed aboard to complete the two-hour session. The Australian and the Highcroft engineers made further improvements to the car - eventually lowering their fastest time to 1:12.261.
In total, the Patrón Highcroft team completed 40 laps, recorded the sixth fastest time overall and lead the LMP2 category over championship rivals Team CytoSport and Dyson Racing.
While delighted with the day's progress, the Highcroft crew will be able to sleep extra soundly tonight for the first time in three years. Unfortunately, major Thursday practice crashes in the past two years at Road Atlanta have forced the team to build brand new racecars from replacement tubs.
The team will have a final one-hour practice session tomorrow from 9:30am before David Brabham takes the wheel for qualifying at 3:50pm.
In Saturday's race - the final round of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón - Highcroft need only to complete 70% of the race distance to claim its second consecutive drivers, teams and manufacturers championships.
The team is also in line to clinch the prototype class in the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge environmental award with a strong performance on race day.
DAVID BRABHAM"It was nice to get some laps tonight. We've made some great progress and the car feels really nice."We just need to make some little adjustment to make it a bit better."If we had to race it right now - then no problem."The guys have done a great job coming here with this package and giving us drivers a good car."In qualifying tomorrow I'm probably not expecting to be on pole because the Porsche is always extremely fast here and we still have a weight disadvantage."But qualifying is not going to win us the race and we just have to concentrate on the setup and go and do the best we can."I'm not overly concerned where we start on Saturday to be honest."
SIMON PAGENAUD"The HPD is pretty good and I am very happy at the moment. The team did a great job preparing the car for the race with all the new components going on this afternoon."I think we are pretty confident with the race car we have and the balance is really good."We know our reliability has been excellent all year and we have big ambitions for the race."Getting to 70 per cent is still a long way away but we have a great race car which we are all confident in."To be honest, I really can't wait for race day. I think it is going to a great event and I hope we are going to be able to battle for the class win as well as the championship."This is a very special event for the Series with many manufacturers taking part and the addition of the Porsche hybrid is a really good addition for the race."I'm looking forward to having a great day on Saturday."
MARINO FRANCHITTI""The Patrón Highcroft guys did a fantastic job getting the car stripped and rebuilt with all the race gear for the night session."I was out there first and had to bed in all the race stuff. No matter how much technology advantages, one thing never changes and that is the fact you have to go out there and bed in gears, diffs and brakes and bring them all up to temperature nice and gently."I got a couple of good laps in as it started to get dark. The car is certainly very good and has improved from where we have started."We're making small changes to get it where we want to be and we're working towards having a very comfortable race car."That is really what we are looking for. Everyone is up to speed and we all got some laps tonight so we'll have a longer run tomorrow morning and see how it is."
MALARIA NO MOREWhile the team continues the race to retain its ALMS title crown in 2010, the team will also continue its race to defeat an even bigger rival - malaria deaths in Africa.Patrón Highcroft Racing has again teamed up with Malaria No More to raise funds and awareness for this disease which kills a child every 30 seconds in Africa. The team also ran a special Malaria No More livery at the 24 Hours of Le Mans to promote the cause.With the purchase of a simple $10 mosquito bed net, fans can help combat this disease - either by visiting http://www.milestoendmalaria.org or just texting the word "MILES" to 85944 on their cell phone.Fans can also bid for exclusive autographed souvenirs and unique at-track experiences at http://www.milestoendmalaria.org/auction.
ROAD ATLANTA TIMETABLE
Friday, October 1, 2010
9:30 pm - 10:30 pm: Practice - ALMS (All Classes)12:30pm - 1:30 pm: ALMS Autograph Session3:15 pm - 3:40 pm: Qualifying - ALMS (GT2 / GTC / GTH)3:50 pm - 4:15 pm: Qualifying - ALMS (LMP1 / LMP2 / LMPC)
Saturday, October 2, 2010
9:15 am - 9:40 am: Warm-up - ALMS (All Classes)11:30 am: Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda2
HIGHCROFT RACING AT ROAD ATLANTA
2009 Acura ARX-02a Brabham/Sharp/Franchitti
Qual: 26th (10th in P1) No Time Race: 6th 180 laps
2008 Acura ARX-01b Brabham/Sharp/Franchitti
Qual: 12th 1:08.064Race: DNF (9th in P2) 16 laps (Accident)
2007 Acura ARX-01a Brabham/Johansson/Kerr
Qual: 5th 1:10.000Race: 8th (6th in P2) 365 laps
2006 Lola EX257/AER Dayton/Meira/Gidley
Qual: 9th 1:12.316Race: 3rd (3rd in P1) 389 laps
ROAD ATLANTA TRACK FACTS
Track Distance: 4.09 km / 2.54 milesPole Time: 66.94 secondsAverage Speed: 220 km/h / 137 mphFastest Corner: Turn 1Max Corner Speed: 245 km/h / 152 mphMax Lat G's: 4.0 GMax Lat G's Corner: Turn 1Slowest Corner: Turn 7Min Corner Speed: 100 km/h / 62 mphTop Speed (ARX-02a): 290 km/h / 180 mphTop Speed (ARX-01c Est): 280 km/h / 174 mphFull Throttle: 78%Max Braking G's: 3.1 GNo. of Braking Zones: 6Gear Changes: 22Left Turns: 4Right Turns: 9No. of Turns: 13
- The fastest track in the ALMS- Tracks first turn is where drivers face the biggest amount of lateral G's (tied with Laguna Seca)- The track's slowest corner is comparatively faster than any other track's slowest corner- Circuit where drivers run the longest in full throttle- Ranked second in number of G's drivers face under braking- Tied for second in number of right hand turns
HIGHCROFT DRIVER FACTS
DAVID BRABHAM
Starts: 100Wins: 23Top 3: 59Top 5: 76Top 10: 97Poles: 13Fastest Lap: 7
SIMON PAGENAUDStarts: 25Wins: 8Top 3: 19Top 5: 20Top 10: 25Poles: 4Fastest Lap: 9
MARINO FRANCHITTIStarts: 51Wins: 3Top 3: 17Top 5: 27Top 10: 48Poles: 5Fastest Lap: 3
ALMS LMP POINTS STANDINGS
DRIVERS152 - David Brabham152 - Simon Pagenaud136 - Klaus Graf98 - Chris Dyson92 - Guy Smith84 - Jonny Cocker79 - Greg Pickett68 - Paul Drayson 51 - Sascha Maassen51 - Marino Franchitti
CHASSIS152 - Honda Performance Development143 - Lola136 - Porsche
ENGINE152 - Honda Performance Development136 - Porsche98 - Mazda84 - Judd82 - AER
TIRE171 - Michelin120 - Dunlop
TEAM152 - Patrón Highcroft Racing136 - Muscle Milk Team CytoSport98 - Dyson Racing84 - Drayson Racing67 - Autocon Motorsports39 - Intersport Racing
ROAD ATLANTA ON TV
USASPEEDSaturday, October 211:00am- 9:30pm (eastern) - Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda2
EUROPEMotors TVSunday, September 55:00pm - Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda2
UNITED KINGDOMMotors TVSunday, September 54:00pm - Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda2
