Simon Pagenaud drove from 33rd - third to last - to the lead in 78 minutes Saturday during the Six Hours of Laguna Seca.
His teammate Marino Franchitti battled hard with Dyson's Guy Smith for most of the last two hours of the race before Smith's Lola came to a sudden halt - oil filter blown up - with 24 minutes to go.
“Today was an absolutely flawless demonstration of endurance racing,” said David Brabham, who completed the winning team. “With everything that happened out there, we made no mistakes in the pits. My teammates performed perfectly. This is the way to head off to Le Mans with this momentum.”
Klaus Graf, Memo Gidley and Sascha Maassen (Porsche RS Spyder) took the second place finish in front of Christophe Bouchut, Mark Wilkins and Scott Tucker who won the LMP challenge class.
“It’s a nice feeling to win again,” Bouchut said. “It was a great race, and this time we had to fight really hard until the end. The car was working really well. We had no problems at all. I just pushed the car to the maximum to keep our position.”
Kyle Marcelli, Tom Sutherland and Tom Wickardt finished second in the class, 7.105 seconds behind the winners.
In GT, Patrick Long (Porsche) won by 0.365 second over Joey Hand (BMW M3 GT; Dirk Mueller) he passed eight minutes before the checkered flag, on the last restart.
"We came from P8 and worked our way through a very competitive field,” said Long who drove with Jörg Bergmeister this week-end.
It was a close battle all race long. Midway through the race, the top seven was even separated by... seven seconds!
The GT Challenge victory went to brothers Jeroen and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen who drove alongside Tim Pappas. The team led through the six hours and finished a lap ahead of closest rivals, Andy Lally, Rene Villeneuve and Henri Richard.
The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the Utah Grand Prix on Sunday, July 11.
ALMS Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Race:
1. (35) Simon Pagenaud, Montmorrillon, France; Marino Franchitti, Edinburgh, Scotland; David Brabham, Maidenhead; HPD ARX-01c (1, LMP), 237.
2. (2) Klaus Graf, Dornham, Germany; Sascha Maassen, Lontzen, Belgium; Memo Gidley, San Rafael, CA; Porsche RS Spyder (2, LMP), 230.
3. (8) Christophe Bouchut, France; Mark Wilkins, Toronto, ON; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 229.
4. (9) Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, Ontario, Canada; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 229.
5. (19) Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield, Germany; Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (3, GT), 227.
6. (17) Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E92 M3 (4, GT), 227.
7. (14) Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings, UK; Olivier Beretta, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (5, GT), 227.
...
12. (7) Elton Julian, Los Angeles, CA; Christian Zugel, Holmdel, NJ; Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Oreca FLM09 (10, LMPC), 222.
...
15. (1) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire, UK; Andy Meyrick, Chester, UK; Lola B09 86/Mazda (13, LMP), 220.
...
17. (24) Jeroen Bleekemolen, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Haarlem, The Netherlands; Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 219.
18. (26) Andy Lally, New York, NY; Rene Villeneuve, Woodland Hills, CA; Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 218.
19. (25) Juan Gonzalez, Monterrey, Mexico; Butch Leitzinger, Rebersburg, PA; Rudy Junco Jr., Monterrey, Mexico; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 217.
Etc.
His teammate Marino Franchitti battled hard with Dyson's Guy Smith for most of the last two hours of the race before Smith's Lola came to a sudden halt - oil filter blown up - with 24 minutes to go.
“Today was an absolutely flawless demonstration of endurance racing,” said David Brabham, who completed the winning team. “With everything that happened out there, we made no mistakes in the pits. My teammates performed perfectly. This is the way to head off to Le Mans with this momentum.”
Klaus Graf, Memo Gidley and Sascha Maassen (Porsche RS Spyder) took the second place finish in front of Christophe Bouchut, Mark Wilkins and Scott Tucker who won the LMP challenge class.
“It’s a nice feeling to win again,” Bouchut said. “It was a great race, and this time we had to fight really hard until the end. The car was working really well. We had no problems at all. I just pushed the car to the maximum to keep our position.”
Kyle Marcelli, Tom Sutherland and Tom Wickardt finished second in the class, 7.105 seconds behind the winners.
In GT, Patrick Long (Porsche) won by 0.365 second over Joey Hand (BMW M3 GT; Dirk Mueller) he passed eight minutes before the checkered flag, on the last restart.
"We came from P8 and worked our way through a very competitive field,” said Long who drove with Jörg Bergmeister this week-end.
It was a close battle all race long. Midway through the race, the top seven was even separated by... seven seconds!
The GT Challenge victory went to brothers Jeroen and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen who drove alongside Tim Pappas. The team led through the six hours and finished a lap ahead of closest rivals, Andy Lally, Rene Villeneuve and Henri Richard.
The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the Utah Grand Prix on Sunday, July 11.
ALMS Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Race:
1. (35) Simon Pagenaud, Montmorrillon, France; Marino Franchitti, Edinburgh, Scotland; David Brabham, Maidenhead; HPD ARX-01c (1, LMP), 237.
2. (2) Klaus Graf, Dornham, Germany; Sascha Maassen, Lontzen, Belgium; Memo Gidley, San Rafael, CA; Porsche RS Spyder (2, LMP), 230.
3. (8) Christophe Bouchut, France; Mark Wilkins, Toronto, ON; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 229.
4. (9) Kyle Marcelli, Barrie, Ontario, Canada; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 229.
5. (19) Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield, Germany; Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (3, GT), 227.
6. (17) Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E92 M3 (4, GT), 227.
7. (14) Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings, UK; Olivier Beretta, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (5, GT), 227.
...
12. (7) Elton Julian, Los Angeles, CA; Christian Zugel, Holmdel, NJ; Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Oreca FLM09 (10, LMPC), 222.
...
15. (1) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire, UK; Andy Meyrick, Chester, UK; Lola B09 86/Mazda (13, LMP), 220.
...
17. (24) Jeroen Bleekemolen, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Haarlem, The Netherlands; Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 219.
18. (26) Andy Lally, New York, NY; Rene Villeneuve, Woodland Hills, CA; Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 218.
19. (25) Juan Gonzalez, Monterrey, Mexico; Butch Leitzinger, Rebersburg, PA; Rudy Junco Jr., Monterrey, Mexico; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 217.
Etc.