ALMS: Flag-to-flag victory for Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud in Mid-Ohio

From the American Le Mans Series

Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud went flag-to-flag Saturday to win the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, their fourth consecutive overall victory in the American Le Mans Series.

Team owner de Ferran qualified on the overall pole position, and the pairing won at Mid-Ohio for the first time in their careers.

The victorious team boss crossed the finish line  8.358 seconds ahead of  David Brabham and the Acura that he drove with LMP1 championship co-leader Scott Sharp.

Intersport Racing’s local tandem of Jon and Clint Field drove their car to a third-place P1 finish. The father-son duo was fifth overall.

Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz won their fifth LMP2 race of the year and were third overall. The class championship leaders ran second to Dyson Racing’s Marino Franchitti.

Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister tied a Series record with their fifth straight GT2 victory.

Long and his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR beat the new Corvette C6.R Johnny O’Connell drove with Jan Magnussen by 21 seconds.

The Porsche made just one pit stop compared with two for the Corvettes. The strategy was risky but was a winning call as the tank of E10 and michelin tires lasted 80 minutes.

Dirk Müller and Tommy Milner placed third in class with a late pass of the second Corvette sending the duo to its third podium of the year.

Martin and Melanie Snow won their second Challenge class race of the year in their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race. The Snows beat Guy Cosmo, who teamed with John Baker for their first podium of the season, to the finish by two laps.

Bob Faieta and Wesley Hoaglund, who won at Lime Rock in the last round, were third.

Next Round: Sunday, August 16 at Road America.

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Saturday’s Race results:
1. (1) Simon Pagenaud, France; Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Acura ARX-02a (1, P1), 118.
2. (2) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-02a (2, P1), 118.
3. (3) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (1, P2), 116.
4. (6) Greg Pickett, Alamo, CA; Klaus Graf, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (2, P2), 116.
5. (7) Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B06/10 AER (3, P1), 115.
6. (26) Stefan Johansson, Sweden; Johnny Mowlem, England; Ginetta-Zytek 09HS (4, P1), 114.
7. (10) Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (1, GT2), 108.
8. (12) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (2, GT2), 108.
9. (13) Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; Dirk Müller, Germany; BMW E92 M3 (3, GT2), 107.
10. (15) Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (4, GT2), 107.
etc.