In Profile – De Ferran Motorsports

Former double CART World Series champion and 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran had driven for some of the most legendary and successful motorsports team owners including Jackie Stewart and Roger Penske, so it was no surprise that the Brazilian ultimately formed his own team in 2008 and that de Ferran Motorsports would take its first outright victory within 12 months of the team’s formation.

Thriving on building a team from scratch, Gil laid the foundations of de Ferran Motorsports in late February 2008 and spent the next four months along with General Manager, John Anderson, in a newly acquired raceshop in Brownsburg, Ind., bringing together crew and office personnel plus support and transport equipment so as to make their American Le Mans Series debut in the Utah Grand Prix last May.

Immediately de Ferran Motorsports was in contention. Gil just missed out on claiming pole-position on the tough Miller Motorsports Park track near Salt Lake City and driving with promising young French star Simon Pagenaud the pair ultimately came third overall, the Frenchman having set a new LMP2 class lap record at the wheel of their #66 de Ferran Motorsports Panasonic ELS Acura ARX-01b sports car.

De Ferran later won the outright pole at Mid-Ohio and continued to display amazing potential with the new Acura program. Near-miss finishes at Mosport, Detroit and Laguna Seca gave the ALMS tour a glimpse of de Ferran Motorsports’ future.

For the 2009 ALMS season, de Ferran and Pagenaud are driving an all-new Acura AXR-02a in the ultimate ALMS division, LMP1, and having claimed front row starts in the opening three races – including two pole-positions – Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud celebrated the first American Le Mans Series victory for de Ferran Motorsports at Long Beach.

2008 American Le Mans series – Formguide

Car: Panasonic / ELS Surround / Acura ARX-01B / Acura (LMP2)

DATE EVENT / TRACK

May 18 Larry J. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix. Miller Motorsport Park, Tooele, Utah.

# 66 de Ferran Motorsports Formguide: Qualifying Pos – 2nd o/a / 2nd LMP2 (de Ferran) – started from 24th / 7th. Race Pos – 3rd o/a / 3rd LMP2, Pagenaud set fastest LMP2 race lap, 1:32.816 (118.221mph) – record.

July 12 Northeast Grand Prix. Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn.

# 66 de Ferran Motorsports Formguide: Qualifying Pos – 2nd o/a / 2nd LMP2 (Pagenaud). Race Pos – 14th o/a / 7th LMP2.

July 19 Acura Sports Car Challenge. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio.

# 66 de Ferran Motorsports Formguide: Qualifying Pos – 1st (de Ferran), 1:07.969 (119.596mph) – record. Race Pos – DNF o/a /DNF LMP2, fire .

August 09 Generac 500 At Road America. Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.

# 66 de Ferran Motorsports Formguide: Qualifying Pos – 7th o/a / 5th LMP2 (de Ferran). Race Pos – 18th o/a / 8th LMP2.

August 24 Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport. Mosport Raceway, Bowmanville, Ont., CAN.

# 66 de Ferran Motorsports Formguide: Qualifying Pos – 7th o/a / 5th LMP2 (Pagenaud). Race Pos – 7th o/a / 5th LMP2 (led 27 laps).

August 30 Detroit Sports Car Challenge. Detroit Belle Isle, Detroit, Mi.

# 66 de Ferran Motorsports Formguide: Qualifying Pos – 2nd o/a / 2nd LMP2 (Pagenaud). Race Pos – 3rd o/a / 3rd LMP2 (Pag led 6 laps).

Sept 26 Petit Le Mans. Road Atlanta, Braselton, Ga.

# 66 de Ferran Motorsports Formguide: Qualifying Pos – 8th o/a / 5th (Pagenaud). Race Pos – 8th o/a / 5th LMP2.

October 10 Monterey Sports Car Championships. Laguna Seca Raceway, Salinas, Calif.

# 66 de Ferran Motorsports Formguide: Qualifying Pos – 4th o/a / 4th LMP2 (de Ferran). Race Pos – 4th o/a / 2nd LMP2 (led 21 laps).

Profile – Acura in Motorsport

The Acura brand enjoyed two outright American Le Mans Series race wins with its new LMP1 challenger in the opening three races of the 2009 campaign having recorded its most successful racing season ever with six LMP2 class victories and two overall wins in the demanding ALMS in 2008. But the dateline of the Acura racing machine dates back over 60 years, to when the Honda Motor Co. was established in 1948.

Racing has always been a major part of Honda’s DNA, as company founder Soichiro Honda was a confirmed race enthusiast. The legendary visionary immediately led his company into competition and motor racing has provided a tremendous training ground for engineers and designers of Honda and Acura cars ever since.

Engineers who have developed championship racing engines are often assigned to design the engines of Honda and Acura passenger cars. In fact, the chief engineer of the race-inspired engine powering the new Acura RSX sports coupe previously worked on championship winning Honda Formula One engines.

Honda has been successful in every form of motorsports in which it has competed. Honda-powered cars won six consecutive Formula One Constructors’ World Championships (1986-91) and five consecutive Formula One Drivers’ World Championships (1987-91).

Honda captured Championship Auto Racing Teams open-wheel driving championships from 1996 to 2001, as well as four Manufacturers’ Championships and 65 race victories from 1995 to 2002. More recently, Honda scored five consecutive Indy 500 wins and IndyCar drivers’ championships (2004 -2008).

The Acura marque begins its third decade as auto manufacturer in North America, which makes it an infant in the automotive world. But Acura has already established a racing legacy. Race-prepared Acura Integra automobiles won two consecutive International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) International Sedan Manufacturers’ Championships and three consecutive IMSA International Sedan Drivers’ Championships (1988-90).

The Comptech Racing Acura-Spice GTP Lights race car, powered by a modified Acura NSX engine, carried driver Parker Johnstone to three consecutive Manufacturers’ Championships and three consecutive drivers’ championships in the prestigious IMSA Camel GTP Lights series (1991-93).

The Comptech Acura also captured the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring in 1993. Furthermore, the RealTime Racing team earned Acura seven Manufacturers’ Championships in the ultra-competitive SCCA Speed World Challenge Touring Car Series.

Acura entered the very competitive American Le Mans Series in 2007 with three factory-supported teams (Andretti Green, Fernandez and Highcroft) competing the LMP2 class against a variety of auto manufacturers, including Porsche and Mazda.

Acura debuted in sensational fashion in 2007 with an LMP2 class victory in the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring with Bryan Herta, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti driving the Andretti Green XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01a. The three Acura teams totaled 10 podium finishes in Acura’s debut American Le Mans Series season.

In 2008, Acura’s LMP2 machines scored six class wins, most in class, while David Brabham and Scott Sharp drove the Patrón Highcroft Acura ARX-01b to Acura’s first overall triumph at Lime Rock Park in July. This year, Acura has advanced to the uppermost category of ALMS competition by entering two cars in the LMP1 class, with de Ferran Motorsports and Patrón Highcroft Racing campaigning the all-new Acura ARX-02a on the 10-race circuit – both teams scoring wins in the opening three rounds.

http://www.acura.com

http://www.acura.com/MotorSports.aspx/Motorsports

2009 Acura engine/chassis specifications American Le Mans Series

In profile – Honda Performance Development Inc (hpd)

Honda Performance Development (HPD) has quickly grown from a small cast of young, aggressive racing engineers to one of the most successful motorsports organizations in the world. Established in 1993 in a small warehouse north of Los Angeles, HPD took on the daunting task of constructing high-revving power plants to battle many of the world’s top manufacturers in the extremely-competitive Champ Car open-wheel series.

The Indy 500 in 1995 showed a glimpse of Honda’s potential for impressive performances. And when Andre Ribeiro crossed the finish line with his Honda-powered Reynard Champ Car at Loudon, N.H., on August 20, 1995, the open-wheel world was changed for the next decade.

Ribeiro’s victory was HPD’s first win and launched an amazing wave of Honda success in Champ Car with six consecutive drivers’ championships, four Manufacturers’ Championships and 65 race wins from 1995 to 2002. Ironically, HPD engines recorded 65 pole positions in the same time frame. Dario Franchitti recorded the last Champ Car win for HPD on the Scot’s home continent at Rockingham, England on Sept. 14, 2002. Gil de Ferran set the all-time, oval-track qualifying record with his Penske Reynard Honda at California Speedway in 2000 with a spectacular 241.428 mile-per-hour lap.

In 2003, Honda moved to the IndyCar Series in an effort to capture HPD’s first Indy 500 victory and race head-to-head with archrival Toyota Popular Tony Kanaan drove the Andretti Green Honda Dallara to the first IndyCar win for Honda and HPD on the one-mile oval at Phoenix, Ariz., on March 23, 2003.

By the 2004 season, the normally-aspirated V-8 engine produced by HPD was the dominant motor in the IndyCar Series, as Honda drivers scored 14 victories in 16 races, including Honda’s and HPD’s first Indianapolis 500 win, when Buddy Rice took the Rahal Letterman Honda Panoz to the coveted Winner’s Circle at the world’s most famous race track. HPD’s machinery took the series manufacturers’ title, the drivers’ crown, the Rookie of the Year award and the Indy 500 in one clean sweep.

In January, 2005, HPD moved its headquarters into a state-of-the–art complex in Santa Clarita, Calif., home to one of the most advanced engine-design and preparation facilities in all of motorsports.

The 2005 IndyCar season was almost as successful as the 2004 campaign, with Dan Wheldon taking his Andretti Green Racing car to the Indy 500 and series championships with the Honda power plant. A total of 12 Victory-Lane celebrations took place for the HPD staff, as Honda dominated the series once again.

Toyota and Chevrolet decided to leave the IndyCar Series following the ’05 season, leaving HPD and partner Ilmor to supply all of the engines for the 2006 IndyCar Series, including all 33 starters at the Indy 500.

And the HPD crew was equal to the task again, as the entire 500-mile race on May 27, 2006 was run without a single engine failure. No manufacturer had ever supplied the full field of the world’s biggest race without some malfunction during the event. But history was made in that year’s Indy 500.

In 2007, HPD took on an entirely new project. For the first time since HPD’s inception, a new V-8 engine was designed and produced wholly from Santa Clarita headquarters for the new Acura sports-car program in the American Le Mans Series.

The Acura program won its very first race, the 2007 12 Hours of Sebring, with Bryan Herta, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti steering the XM Satellite Radio Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX-01a to the LMP2 class title. During the 2007 season, the three Acura sports cars from the Andretti Green, Fernandez and Highcroft operations collected 10 LMP2 podium finishes and prepared for a championship run in 2008.

Acura waged a spirited and sensational battle with the Penske Racing Porsches in 2008 ALMS competition. Acura claimed six class wins, including overall victories at Lime Rock and Detroit, and four overall pole positions, showing its prowess against the more-powerful Audi LMP1 machines, despite running in the LMP2 category.

In Detroit, Acura announced its goal to move into the LMP1 division in 2009 and compete for the ultimate sports-car prize, the overall championship in the American Le Mans Series. This year, de Ferran Motorsports and Patrón Highcroft Racing campaign the new Acura ARX-02a chassis with a powerful four-liter, normally-aspirated V-8 engine. Acura also continue to compete in the LMP2 class, with Lowe’s Fernandez Racing operating an Acura ARX-01b.

Location:

25145 Anza Drive, Santa Clarita, Calif., USA 91355. Tel: (661) 294-7300. Fax: 7320.

Background:

Honda Performance Development (HPD), a subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., is the technical operations center for Acura and Honda's high-performance racing engines. HPD coordinates Acura’s participation in the American Le Mans Series and Honda's participation in the IRL IndyCar Series.

General:

Key Personnel: Erik Beckman (President), Jack Spurney (General Manager), Roger Griffiths (Race Team Manager). Established – April 1 1993. Employees – 125.

http://www.hondaracing.com/

http://www.acuranews.com/

Profile – the american le mans series

Background

The American Le Mans Series has regularly served up the closest and best racing in the world making it North America’s premier sports car competition in just 10 years.

Seconds have historically separated some of the world’s top drivers and teams in action-packed races lasting up to 12 hours in duration and covering over 1,400 thrilling miles.

Dr. Don Panoz established a new era in North American motor racing when he formed the American Le Mans Series in 1999 having watched the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Nowadays many of the world’s top manufacturers, drivers and mechanics contest the ALMS from the legendary airport strip in Sebring – the Floridian venue staging the 100th ALMS race in March – to picturesque Road America, to the streets of St. Petersburg and Long Beach to the rolling hills of Mid-Ohio and Road Atlanta.

The Series features a format in which four classes of sports cars battle head-to-head in the same race. With two or sometimes three drivers per car, team work and precision are essential in every race. Pit stops for driver changes, tire changes and refueling help contribute to the excitement of lead-swapping and overtaking on the track.

Each ALMS entry competes for its individual class championship within the overall context of each race. This brings another dimension to the racing and increases difficulty, as racers in each class must navigate the twisting, demanding circuits while sharing the track with entrants from faster or slower classes. As a result, overtaking is spectacular and sensational.

American Le Mans Series events can span anywhere from 100 minutes to 12 hours, making the Series one of the most intriguing and demanding forms of racing in the world.

Competing under similar rules as those governing the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the American Le Mans Series brings the pedigree of the famed French racing classic to North America.

The Series delivers high-performance and technologically-advanced racing competition via its four classes. There is cutting-edge technology in the prototypes, coupled with the showroom-floor link in the GT machines.

The Series also introduced the Green Challenge™ in 2008 at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans, a race-within-a-race that scores teams on the amount of energy they use, greenhouse gases (GHG) they emit and amount of petroleum they displace. For 2009, longtime partner Michelin is the title sponsor of the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge.

With this combination of high-speed, factory-supported teams and major-market races, American Le Mans Series events are televised with unique, technologically-advanced equipment through the ABC and NBC networks, and the expanding SPEED Channel. Additional coverage is delivered to Europe via MotorsTV and worldwide major and regional broadcasters.

At all American Le Mans Series events, spectators have the ability to view the cars, drivers and teams ‘up close’ in the paddock area, as opposed to from a far-away seat or behind a barrier fence. Each event also features a driver autograph session, and the open paddock offers fans the opportunity to meet their favorite drivers.

A rarity in today’s professional sports world is the ‘open pre-race grid’ for fans, along with other activities like Tech Talks, Fan Forums and Driver Chats. This type of interaction gives American Le Mans Series fans a tremendous ability to learn about the sport quickly, in a fan-friendly atmosphere rarely seen in other sporting events.

Four classes

LMP1 – Features some of the most technically sophisticated race cars in the world, the top Le Mans Prototype (LMP) division is LMP1 – purpose-built racing machines like the Acura ARX-02a. These ultra-engineered racing cars produce between 600-700 horsepower, have a minimum weight of 900 kilograms (approximately 1,985 pounds), can accelerate from 0-100mph in three (3) seconds and reach top speeds in excess of 200mph.

LMP2 – The smaller purpose-built race cars include the Acura ARX-01b. Lighter and more nimble than their LMP1 brethren, LMP2 cars produce between 500-550 horsepower and have a minimum weight of 825 kilograms (approximately 1,820 pounds).

GT1 – Features production-based but highly modified two-wheel drive race cars producing between 600-650 horsepower and with a minimum weight of 1,150 kilograms (approximately 2,535 pounds).

GT2 – Production-based, moderately modified two-wheel drive race cars. 450-500
horsepower and a minimum weight of 1,125 kilograms (2,480 pounds).

Points allocation

All American Le Mans Series championship points are awarded by class. To earn points, a race car must complete 70 percent of the distance of the overall winning car regardless of class. There are no bonus points.

The winning car/driver in each class must take the checkered flag, and driver(s) must comply with minimum/maximum driving limits in the regulations for each event. The top-10 finishers in each class are awarded points.

Race duration

Less than four hours

Points allocation

20-16-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1

Four hours to less than eight hours: 25-21-18-15-13-11-9-8-7-6

Eight hours and over: 30-26-23-20-18-16-14-13-12-11

http://www.americanlemans.com

2009 American Le Mans Series – Calendar of events

Date event (duration) / Trackdistance/tv

March 21 57th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring (12hrs)3.7 miles, 17 turns
Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Fla

April 4 Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg 1.8 miles, 14 turns
Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla (1hr 55m)

April 18 Patrón Grand Prix of Long Beach (1hr 40m)1.97 miles, 11 turns
Streets of Long Beach, Calif.

May 17 Larry J. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix 3.08 miles, 15 turns
Miller Motorsport Park, Tooele, Utah (2hr 45m) Speed TV Live

July 18 Northeast Grand Prix (2hr 45m)1.54 miles, 8 turns
Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn. Speed TV Live

August 8 Acura Sports Car Challenge (2hr 45m)2.25 miles, 13 turns
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio NBC TV Delayed

August 16 Generac 500 At Road America (4hr) 4 miles, 12 turns
Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. Speed TV Delayed

August 30 Mobil 1 Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport 2.46 miles, 10 turns
Mosport Raceway, Bowmanville, Ont., CAN Speed TV Live

Sept 26 Petit Le Mans (1,000-miles or 10hrs)2.54 miles, 12 turns
Road Atlanta, Braselton, Ga. Speed TV Live

October 10 Monterey Sports Car Championships (4hr)2.23 miles, 11 turns
Laguna Seca Raceway, Salinas, Calif. Speed TV Live