ALMS: David Brabham and Scott Sharp finish third and win championship

From the American Le Mans Series

Gil de Ferran (Simon Pagenaud) rode into the sunset with a victory in his final race Saturday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to close the 2009 American Le Mans Series.  He beat his long-time open-wheel competitor Adrian Fernandez (Luis Diaz) by just 0.662 seconds.

The Patrón Highcroft Acura finished second in class and third overall, more than enough to secure the LMP1 driver championship for David Brabham and Scott Sharp, and the team title for Patrón Highcroft. The championships were the first for all.

Autocon Motorsports’ Tony Burgess, Chris McMurry and Bryan Willman placed third in P1 and fourth overall in the best finish for the team’s Lola B06/10-AER this season.

Back in LMP2, Diaz and Fernandez closed their championship year in grand style, tying a class record for victories (8) in a season with their Acura ARX-01b. The class victory was doubly meaningful as the Lowe’s Fernandez Acura won the prototype portion of the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge.

Team Cytosport’s Porsche RS Spyder of Greg Pickett and Klaus Graf finished second in class despite retiring late in the race with suspension problems. Dyson Racing’s Butch Leitzinger and Marino Franchitti placed third.

Flying Lizard Motorsports' Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister won the GT2 race and championship Saturday. It also gave Porsche its 100th Series class victory, a first for any manufacturer.

Bergmeister finished 1.037 seconds ahead of Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen after the two cars banged side-to-side coming out of the final turn. As they beat on each other toward the finish, Magnussen went around hard into the outside wall just before the start-finish line. He was unhurt.

Farnbacher Loles Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Wolf Henzler and Pierre Ehret was third in class.

The second Flying Lizard Porsche of Johannes van Overbeek and Seth Neiman won the GT trophy for the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge and also claimed the season-long title.

ORBIT Racing’s Guy Cosmo and John Baker were winners in the Challenge class in their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. The pairing were originally second before Shane Lewis and Mitch Pagerey were excluded in post-race technical inspections.

Gruppe Orange’s Nick Parker and Don Pickering were second, Richard Rodriquez and Galen Bieker placed third for P7 Racing.

The result was more than enough to secure the class championship for the Snow Racing tandem of Martin and Melanie Snow, who had to retire early with engine issues.

The 2010 American Le Mans Series opens with the 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, March 20 from historic Sebring International Raceway.

Saturday’s race results:

1. (1) Simon Pagenaud, France; Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Acura ARX-02a (1, P1), 168.
2. (3) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01b (1, P2), 168.
3. (2) David Brabham, Australia; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Acura ARX-02a (2, P1), 164.
4. (9) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Tony Burgess, Canada; Lola B06/10 AER (3, P1), 159.
...
6. (14) Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (1, GT2), 155.
7. (10) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (2, GT2), 155.
8. (13) Wolf Henzler, Germany; Pierre Ehret, Santa Rosa, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (3, GT2), 154.
...
14. (31) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B09 86 Mazda (9, P2x), 150.
...
16. (23) John Baker, New York, NY; Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, C), 144.
...
18. (30) Donald Pickering, Reno, NV; Nick Parker, Seattle, WA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, C), 140.
19. (25) Galen Bieker, Burbank, CA; Robert Rodriquez, Zephyr Cove, NV; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (5, C), 140.
Etc.