Honda Car Forum

David Brabham made a spectacular pass of Romain
Dumas entering
Turn Eight on the 70th lap of the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series
feature Saturday to win the
highly-competitive LMP2 class ion the famed streets of Long Beach.

The victory
was the first for the upstart Patrón Highcroft Racing team
in the ALMS and the sec-
ond for Acura since the manufacturer's entry in the road racing series
in 2007.

Brabham took over the No. 9 Patrón Highcroft Acura ARX-01b
prototype sports car from his
teammate, Scott Sharp, on the 46th lap and charged from fifth position to the
lead on the next-to-last lap
in a sensational wheel-to-wheel battle with Dumas in the Penske Porsche. The
win follows Patrón High-
croft Racing's best previous finish of second at St. Petersburg two weeks
ago.

The one-hour, forty-minute contest on the 1.98-mile, 11-turn circuit by
the Long Beach harbor
turned into an Acura-Porsche battle in the last 10 laps, as Brabham drove from
three seconds behind to
the lead. Brabham's winning margin was 1.06 seconds at the checkered
flag after 71 laps.

Brabham's triumph was his 13th career win in ALMS,
and the popular second-generation racing
star became the first driver to win in all four classes in the 10-year history
of the American Le Mans Se-
ries. Brabham previously set an ALMS mark by being the first driver to win
poles in all four classes.

Brabham's win marked the Brabham Long Beach
victory for the Brabham family, as older
brother Geoff won the Formula Atlantic events here in 1981 and 1982.

Trailing
Brabham and Sharp in the LMP2 division were Dumas and Timo Bernhard in the
Pen-
ske car, followed by Patrick Long and Sascha Maassen in the other Penske Porsche,
and Bryan Herta
and Christian Fittipaldi in the XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b.

Herta, a
former open-wheel pole winner at Long Beach, ran as high as second Saturday
before
handing the drive chores to Fittipaldi on Lap 46. The Andretti Green crew made
a superb pit stop and
Fittipaldi battled with the Porsches and the Acuras to finish fourth Saturday.

Tequila Patrón ALMS Race

1. PATRÓN HIGHCROFT ACURA ARX-01b No.
9


2. Penske Porsche No. 7

3. Penske Porsche No. 6

4. ANDRETTI GREEN ACURA ARX-01b No. 26

6. LOWE'S FERNANDEZ ACURA ARX-01b No.
15

UPCOMING ALMS RACE:

Event: Miller Utah Grand Prix

Track: Miller Motorsports
Park, Tooele, Utah (3.08 miles)

Date: Sunday, May 18, 2008, 1 p.m. (MDT)

Distance:
2 hours, 45 minutes

TV: SPEED, May 18, 3 p.m. EDT

ACURA QUOTES:

DAVID BRABHAM (#9 Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-
01b): "That was a pretty wild pass on Romain [Dumas]. I knew
we were quicker than the Penske cars in the corners. They
were a little quicker on the straights. I just had faith that some-
thing was going to open up for me. If there was an opportunity, I
was going to go for it. I shifted down to first off the corner and I
was able to shoot by him to the next turn. I clipped the front
wing in the early part of my stint and the aerodynamics weren't
just right for our Patrón Highcroft Acura. I just kept charging and
looking for a spot to pass. Then, it opened up and I went by
him. It is good to have a Brabham back in the winner's circle at Long Beach.
Plus, to win here for Patrón in their
title race and in the backyard of Acura is very big for our team. Winning in
four ALMS classes is great for me but
it doesn't mean as much as this effort that the team put forth today. We
didn't have a good car on Thursday
when practice opened. But the crew worked hard to develop a balance and Scott
and I worked well together.
This is very exciting for me and the rest of the team."

SCOTT SHARP (#9
Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b): "I am
so fortunate to have a teammate like
David who has been so open to work with me on this team. I am thrilled to bring
Patrón into the winner's circle
today. I didn't get a lot of time in the car this week since the setup
was a little off on Thursday. David did a great
job getting the car right for the race. I was still trying to find my braking
points in the first five laps today. Once I
got comfortable with the car I think we put in some good, consistent laps.
This is a great feeling to win. We were
joking with the Patrón guys before the race that they didn't want
to give out the post-race trophies to a different
team. Now, they're passing them out to our crew. We knew if we got to
the end, we had a chance to win."

DUNCAN DAYTON (Team Owner, #9 Patrón
Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b): "I
can't believe how many
man-hours it took to get here in Victory Lane. This win is a huge tribute to
the guys in the shop and the crew
and drivers here at Long Beach. My heartfelt thanks for Acura for their support
as well as HPD [Honda Perform-
ance Development]. They worked so hard to help us last year. And this victory
is very exciting for Patrón. They
came on with our team this year and we were able to win their race here at
Long Beach. Long Beach has a rich
history in motorsports and it is an honor to win here. We came here with the
wrong setup on Thursday and we
had to fight our way back into contention for today. It is a tremendous feeling
to get to the top of the podium
against the Penske team."

ROB HILL (Team Manager, #9 Patrón Highcroft
Racing Acura ARX-01b): "This
is a huge win for the Patrón
Highcroft Acura team. Winning at Long Beach is very special. Long Beach has
always been good to me, dating
back to the Ganassi days in CART. Our team has come together for the past year
and we are still learning. But
I am very proud of David and Scott and the whole crew for putting together
a winning effort today. It is special to
win the Patrón race here and to win so close to Acura's national
headquarters. That pass by David over the
Penske Porsche was spectacular and it shows his driving talent at its best."

JACK
SPURNEY (General Manager, Honda Performance Development, Inc.): "This
win is a culmination of a
lot of hard work and determination by everyone at Honda Performance Development
and our Acura racing
teams. This was many people working very hard to get Acura to this position.
It is so special to stand on the top
of the podium here at Long Beach, right in the backyard of Acura and HPD. I
want to wish a well-deserved con-
gratulations to Duncan Dayton and the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura
team."