Gil de Ferran finally got his win at Long Beach and de Ferran Motorsports took its first victory in the American Le Mans Series. In its rookie season in 2008, the team finished on the P2 podium three times and this year they jumped up to P1.

Gil de Ferran last won a race in 2003 in his final IndyCar race at Texas, and he had never won at Long Beach despite starting on pole three times in CART. The defining moment in the race came in pit lane when the main adversary car was penalized 20 seconds for a pit stop violation. Simon Pagenaud moved from second to first at the green flag and led 18 laps before Scott Sharp retook the lead while at the same time clipping the back of the young Frenchman (Pagenaud admitted it was his mistake). Sharp held the lead until he pitted to hand the car over the David Brabham. That’s when officials assessed the penalty. Gil de Ferran re-entered the race with an 18-second lead over Brabham and maintained his gap through traffic and trouble. Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz earned their third straight LMP2 victory for Lowe’s Fernandez Racing as Acura swept the two prototype classes for the second straight race.

Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin will go down in the record books as the winners of the final GT1 race for Corvette Racing in the American Le Mans Series. The duo won at Long Beach for the second time in three years in their Corvette C6.R. The race marked the end of an era in Corvette Racing. The 24 Hours of Le Mans will mark the final GT1 race for the team, which has won there five times since 2001. August will see the debut of Corvette Racing’s GT2 entry, a mighty challenge that will see the Series’ most decorated team face off against Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar, Panoz and others.Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long won in GT2 for the second straight race with a victory over Risi Competizione’s Ferrari driven by Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer.

3mmm
photo 1: De Ferran Motorsport at his maiden victory
photo 2: Long Beach 2009 the last race for Corvette C6.R
photo 3: The Lizard Motorsprot Porsche 911 is winning in GT 2








American Le Mans Series at Long Beach
1. Simon Pagenaud / Gil de Ferran            Acura ARX-02a (LMP 1)      76 laps
2. Scott Sharp / David Brabham               Acura ARX-02a (LMP 1)      76 laps
3. Luis Diaz / Adrian Fernandez              Acura ARX-01B (LMP 2)      75 laps
4. Guy Smith / Chris Dyson                   Lola B09 86 Mazda (LMP 1)  75 laps
5. Butch Leitzinger / Marino Franchitti      Lola B09 86 Mazda (LMP 1)  74 laps
6. Olivier Beretta / Oliver Gavin            Corvette C6.R (GT 1)       73 laps
7. Jon Field / Clint Field / Chapman Ducote  Lola B06/10 AER (LMP 2)    71 laps
8. Patrick Long / Jörg Bergmeister           Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT 2) 71 laps