St. Pete preview and ramblings

[MOTV8]

Okay, so ...no Speed World Challenge, and no GT1 Corvettes...they race again at Long Beach the third weekend in April, so you're all stuck with sweet Lou in GT2.

LG Motorsports preview

Racing series ALMS

Date 2009-03-31

LG Motorsports - Taking It To The Streets; Curren / Gigliotti Together Again With Whelen Engineering On Board

Bonita Springs, Fla. March 30, 2009 The flaming paint scheme of the #28 LG Pro Long Tube Headers GT2 Corvette will be taking it to the streets this week when the American Le Mans Series makes its annual return to St. Petersburg, Florida for the 2009 Aucra Sports Car Challenge. Sporting a new partner on the rear quarter panel, Whelen Engineering's ace pilot, Eric Curran will team up with three-time World Challenge Champion and team owner Lou Gigliotti. This will be Curran's third outing in the #28 Corvette.

"We're really happy to be making the St. Pete trip," noted team owner, Lou Gigliotti. "We appreciate the opportunity to participate in the American Le Mans Series and feel we have a future in the GT2 division."

"It's great to have Eric back in the car again," added Lou. "He's a great driver and a fierce competitor. We've always enjoyed a friendly relationship with Eric's sponsor, Whelen Engineering, so we couldn't be happier with this working arrangement. I really think it's a win- win all the way around. It's great exposure for Eric and Whelen Engineering and it puts LG Motorsports where we want to be... racing in the GT2 Division of the American Le Mans Series."

In 2008, LG Motorsports made five starts (Sebring, St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Salt Lake City and Petit Le Mans) in the Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6. The best finish was sixth at Salt Lake City. The team's 2008 Sebring debut was cut short on Lap 99, retiring due to overheating issues. Teamed At St. Petersburg, team with Doug Peterson, the duo finished in eighth place in the highly competitive GT2 class. At Long Beach, the #28 car finished in 10th position in GT2 with co- driver Doug Peterson. At Salt Lake City, they suffered damage from contact with other competitor but finished sixth in class. Finally, at Road Atlanta, the car was officially retired due to mechanical issues after completing just 37 laps.

"We've sorted out a lot of the car's issues since 2008," said Gigliotti. "As a privateer, you're left to work things out on your own. The guys at LG Motorsports have worked hard over the winter and we're convinced we have a very competitive package. I have a lot of confidence in the team and in my co-driver, Eric. St. Pete is a shorter event, so Corvette fans should look to see us leave it all out on the track. We're here for the win... count on it! We're left alone to fly the Corvette banner and we intend to make Corvette owners proud!"

A fixture at the front of the World Challenge GT field, Eric Curran has competed professionally in the NASCAR Camping World, American Le Mans, Grand Am Rolex, Koni Challenge, & World Challenge series since 2000. Curran has driven more than 30 different types of race cars ranging from front wheel drive to rear wheel drive and from 150 hp-750hp and over 40 total wins under his belt. In 2008 at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, Eric helped propel LG Motorsports to their highest finishing position in the team's young ALMS career, running as high as 3rd place and finishing 6th.

On deck for the American Le Mans Series is the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg from the St. Petersburg street circuit.

-credit: lgm

[MOTV8]

Spoiler Alert - Results Posted

SHARP, BRABHAM LEAD ACURA’S ST. PETE SWEEP

Acura scores first victories at St. Petersburg

The Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg proved not to be much of one for Patrón Highcroft Racing. Scott Sharp and David Brabham won the second round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series with a convincing victory in the season’s first street race.

Brabham and his Acura ARX-02a finished 32.150 seconds ahead of Adrian Fernandez as Acura took the top two positions and swept the prototype classes for the first time. Fernandez was the LMP2 winner for the second straight race with Luis Diaz in Lowe’s Fernandez Racing’s Acura ARX-01b.

Brabham and Sharp won their second overall event together. They have won five times class, having scored four in LMP2 together last year.

Fernandez and Diaz were a lap clear of Dyson Racing’s Guy Smith and Chris Dyson in the team’s first Mazda-powered Lola B09/86. The second entry of Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti were third after a mid-race stop to replace a cut front-right tire.

Intersport Racing’s Clint Field, Jon Field and Chapman Ducote were second in P1 driving their AER-powered Lola B06/10. They finished ahead of the pole-sitting de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a, which finished the race stranded on course with electrical problems.

Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister won in GT2 by two laps in their Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The pairing, class champions together in 2005, gave Porsche its first victory at St. Petersburg after wins by Ferrari in 2007 and 2008.

Long drove the opening stint and was one of the last drivers to pit, coming in when Joel Feinberg crashed at the 53-minute mark to bring out the race’s lone caution period. He had gained a lap over the rest of the field and increased that advantage when he went around the safety car as it picked up overall leader Fernandez.

Dirk Müller and Tommy Milner were second in GT2 class as Müller picked up two positions in the final 15 minutes driving one of BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team’s BMW M3s. He was more than 15 seconds ahead of Panoz Team PTG’s Dominik Farnbacher, who drove the Panoz Esperante GTLM with Ian James. The pairing finished third for the second straight race.

Fernandez and Diaz also were prototype winners in the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge, which goes to the fastest and most energy efficient entry. Hand and Milner were GT winners in their BMW.

The Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach is the next round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series. The race is set for 4:15 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 18 from the famed Long Beach street circuit in southern California. The race will be televised from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 19 on ABC. Qualifying is scheduled for 4 p.m. PT on Friday, April 17. American Le Mans Radio and Live Timing and Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.

Results

Pos Num CL Car Driver Laps Behind Gap CP Fastest Driver

1 9 P1 Acura ARX-02a David Brabham 93 --- --- 1 Scott Sharp

2 15 P2 Acura ARX-01B Adrian Fernandez 93 -32.150 -32.150 1 Luis Diaz

3 16 P2 Lola B09 86 Mazda Guy Smith 92 -1 lap -1 lap 2 Guy Smith

4 20 P2 Lola B09 86 Mazda Butch Leitzinger 91 -2 lap -1 lap 3 Butch Leitzinger

5 45 GT2 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Joerg Bergmeister 88 -5 lap -3 lap 1 Joerg Bergmeister

6 37 P1 Lola B06/10 AER Clint Field 88 -5 lap -7.780 2 Jon Field

7 92 GT2 BMW E92 M3 Dirk Mueller 86 -7 lap -2 lap 2 Dirk Mueller

8 21 GT2 Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford Dominik Farnbacher 86 -7 lap -30.460 3 Dominik Farnbacher

9 28 GT2 Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 Eric Curran 85 -8 lap -1 lap 4 Eric Curran

10 44 GT2 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Darren Law 84 -9 lap -1 lap 5 Darren Law

11 40 GT2 Doran Ford GT MK 7 Andrea Robertson 83 -10 lap -1 lap 6 David Murry

12 87 GT2 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Dirk Werner 74 -19 lap -9 lap 7 Dirk Werner

13 66 P1 Acura ARX-02a Simon Pagenaud 66 -27 lap -8 lap 3 Gil de Ferran

14 11 GT2 Dodge Viper Comp Coupe Joel Feinberg 38 -55 lap -28 lap 8 Joel Feinberg

15 22 GT2 Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford Tom Sutherland 38 -55 lap -65.499 9 Tom Sutherland

16 90 GT2 BMW E92 M3 Bill Auberlen 28 -65 lap -10 lap 10 Bill Auberlen

17 62 GT2 Ferrari F430 GT Pierre Kaffer 27 -66 lap -1 lap 11 Pierre Kaffer

Holy crap, only 17 cars on the grid...which obviously helped Lou and hired shoe Eric Curran, they brought it home 4th in GT2!!!

Eric Curran, Driver

LG Motorsports, Corvette C6

"In my first race with the team at Miller Motorsports Park last year I got the car up to third place, the team’s highest running position to date. The team has shown constant improvement and we feel we have the potential to get on the podium." This week at St. Pete, the LG Pro Long Tube Header Corvette partnered with Whelen Engineering to card a fourth place finish in GT2, ninth overall.

Long Beeeotch up next!

[dewey]

Pos Num CL Car Driver Laps Behind Gap CP Fastest Driver

1 9 P1 Acura ARX-02a David Brabham 93 --- --- 1 Scott Sharp

2 15 P2 Acura ARX-01B Adrian Fernandez 93 -32.150 -32.150 1 Luis Diaz

3 16 P2 Lola B09 86 Mazda Guy Smith 92 -1 lap -1 lap 2 Guy Smith

4 20 P2 Lola B09 86 Mazda Butch Leitzinger 91 -2 lap -1 lap 3 Butch Leitzinger

5 45 GT2 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Joerg Bergmeister 88 -5 lap -3 lap 1 Joerg Bergmeister

6 37 P1 Lola B06/10 AER Clint Field 88 -5 lap -7.780 2 Jon Field

7 92 GT2 BMW E92 M3 Dirk Mueller 86 -7 lap -2 lap 2 Dirk Mueller

8 21 GT2 Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford Dominik Farnbacher 86 -7 lap -30.460 3 Dominik Farnbacher

9 28 GT2 Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 Eric Curran 85 -8 lap -1 lap 4 Eric Curran

10 44 GT2 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Darren Law 84 -9 lap -1 lap 5 Darren Law

11 40 GT2 Doran Ford GT MK 7 Andrea Robertson 83 -10 lap -1 lap 6 David Murry

12 87 GT2 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Dirk Werner 74 -19 lap -9 lap 7 Dirk Werner

13 66 P1 Acura ARX-02a Simon Pagenaud 66 -27 lap -8 lap 3 Gil de Ferran

14 11 GT2 Dodge Viper Comp Coupe Joel Feinberg 38 -55 lap -28 lap 8 Joel Feinberg

15 22 GT2 Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford Tom Sutherland 38 -55 lap -65.499 9 Tom Sutherland

16 90 GT2 BMW E92 M3 Bill Auberlen 28 -65 lap -10 lap 10 Bill Auberlen

17 62 GT2 Ferrari F430 GT Pierre Kaffer 27 -66 lap -1 lap 11 Pierre Kaffer

Holy crap, only 17 cars on the grid...which obviously helped Lou and hired shoe Eric Curran, they brought it home 4th in GT2!!!

Ahead of the Ford, the Viper and the spaghetti mobile!!!!

[Desertdawg]

Lou and Eric for 10 minutes running... Sounds killer!!!

!!Linky!!