ALMS: Title for Acura and the Fernandez/Diaz duo as Brabham and Sharp win in Mosport

From the American Le Mans Series

David Brabham and Scott Sharp won drove their Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-02a to an overall victory at the Grand Prix of Mosport Sunday. The win clinched the LMP1 manufacturer championship for Acura, the marque's first in the American Le Mans Series.

Brabham and Sharp drove a trouble-free race to beat the de Ferran Motorsports Acura of team boss Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud by two laps. The de Ferran XM Acura led the first half-hour before losing gearbox oil, an issue that plagued the Pagenaud-de Ferran duo throughout.

Intersport Racing's Jon Field, who battled for the overall lead early with Gil de Ferran, and Clint Field placed third in P1 and fourth overall in their Lola B06/10-AER.

Brabham and Sharp extended their driver’s championship lead to 17 points with 55 points remaining over the next two events.

In LMP2, Luis Diaz and Adrian Fernandez won for the seventh time in eight races after a fantastic battle with Dyson Racing's Marino Franchitti and Butch Leitzinger. They wrapped up the class' drivers title in their Acura ARX-01b.

Franchitti and Leitzinger led by less than a second with 12 minutes left before the engine let go and forced Leitzinger to pull the car off track and to a stop at Turn 2. Van der Steur Racing's Radical SR9-AER of Gunnar van der Steur and Adam Pecorari placed third in P2.

In GT2, Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen scored a historic victory for Corvette Racing with the team's first in class. Magnussen crossed the finish line in his Corvette C6.R 0.331 seconds ahead of Risi Competizione's Pierre Kaffer, who teamed with Jaime Melo. The second Corvette C6.R of Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin placed third in class.

The win at Mosport was O'Connell’s seventh at the circuit, the most of any driver at any venue in the American Le Mans Series. He made his 100th start Sunday.


Grand Prix of Mosport; Sunday's results:

1. (1) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-02a (1, P1), 131.
2. (2) Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Simon Pagenaud, France; Acura ARX-02a (2, P1), 130.
3. (6) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (1, P2), 127.
4. (4) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B06/10 AER (3, P1), 125.
5. (3) Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Lola B09 86 Mazda (2, P2), 118.
6. (13) Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Corvette C6.R (1, GT2), 117.
7. (19) Jaime Melo, Brazil; Pierre Kaffer, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (2, GT2), 117.
8. (12) Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (3, GT2), 116.
9. (11) Dirk Werner, Germany; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (4, GT2), 116.
10. (14) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (5, GT2), 115.
11. (15) Ian James, England; Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford (6, GT2), 115.
12. (17) Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT2), 115.
13. (18) Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Dodge Viper Comp Coupe (8, GT2), 113.
14. (10) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E92 M3 (9, GT2), 110.
15. (16) David Murry, Cumming, GA; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT MK 7 (10, GT2), 105.
16. (9) Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Dirk Mueller, Germany; BMW E92 M3 (11, GT2), 71.
17. (7) Tony Burgess, Canada; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Lola B06/10 AER (4, P1), 63.
18. (5) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Lola B09 86 Mazda (4, P2), 43.
19. (8) Adam Pecorari, Aston, PA; Gunnar van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Radical SR9 AER (3, P2), 116, Excluded.