
The 2009 Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg was the second round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on April 4, 2009. The Acura ARX-02a earned its first overall victory under the Patrón Highcroft Racing team after early leader de Ferran Motorsports suffered mechanical issues. Acura also won the LMP2 category with Lowe's Fernández Racing, while GT2 was won by the Porsche of Flying Lizard Motorsports.
Report
Qualifying
In qualifying solely for the GT2 category, due to the lack of GT1 class competitors for this event, Jaime Melo in the Risi Competizione Ferrari led the pack before a red flag stopped the session due to an incident involving eventual fifth place qualifier Patrick Long in the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche. Farnbacher-Loles and the two BMWs completed the top of the GT2 grid.
In prototype qualifying the Acura of Simon Pagenaud dominated by earning de Ferran Motorsports a pole position by nearly a second over the other Acura of Patrón Highcroft Racing. Acura also led the LMP2 category as the Lowe's Fernández Racing car was piloted by Luis Díaz to third overall, beating the closest Dyson Lola-Mazda by three tenths of a second.
Qualifying result
Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.[1]
| Pos | Class | Team | Qualifying Driver | Lap Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1 | #66 de Ferran Motorsports | Simon Pagenaud | 1:03.776 | 
| 2 | LMP1 | #9 Patrón Highcroft Racing | Scott Sharp | 1:04.722 | 
| 3 | LMP2 | #15 Lowe's Fernández Racing | Luis Díaz | 1:05.178 | 
| 4 | LMP2 | #16 Dyson Racing Team | Guy Smith | 1:05.464 | 
| 5 | LMP2 | #20 Dyson Racing Team | Marino Franchitti | 1:05.666 | 
| 6 | LMP1 | #37 Intersport Racing | Chapman Ducote | 1:09.044 | 
| 7 | GT2 | #61 Risi Competizione | Jaime Melo | 1:12.892 | 
| 8 | GT2 | #87 Farnbacher-Loles Racing | Wolf Henzler | 1:13.173 | 
| 9 | GT2 | #90 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing | Joey Hand | 1:13.267 | 
| 10 | GT2 | #92 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing | Dirk Müller | 1:13.458 | 
| 11 | GT2 | #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports | Patrick Long | 1:13.465 | 
| 12 | GT2 | #21 Panoz Team PTG | Dominik Farnbacher | 1:14.109 | 
| 13 | GT2 | #40 Robertson Racing | David Murry | 1:14.281 | 
| 14 | GT2 | #28 LG Motorsports | Eric Curran | 1:14.633 | 
| 15 | GT2 | #11 Primetime Race Group | Joel Feinberg | 1:15.938 | 
| 16 | GT2 | #22 Panoz Team PTG | Tom Sutherland | 1:15.996 | 
| 17 | GT2 | #44 Flying Lizard Motorsports | Seth Neiman | 1:18.592 | 
Race
Race result
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).[2]
| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Tire | Laps | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | |||||||
| 1 | LMP1 | 9 |  Patrón Highcroft Racing | .svg.png.webp) David Brabham  Scott Sharp | Acura ARX-02a | M | 93 | 
| Acura AR7 4.0 L V8 | |||||||
| 2 | LMP2 | 15 |  Lowe's Fernández Racing |  Adrian Fernández  Luis Díaz | Acura ARX-01B | M | 93 | 
| Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 | |||||||
| 3 | LMP2 | 16 |  Dyson Racing Team |  Chris Dyson  Guy Smith | Lola B09/86 | M | 92 | 
| Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4 | |||||||
| 4 | LMP2 | 20 |  Dyson Racing Team |  Butch Leitzinger  Marino Franchitti | Lola B08/86 | M | 91 | 
| Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4 | |||||||
| 5 | GT2 | 45 |  Flying Lizard Motorsports |  Patrick Long  Jörg Bergmeister | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | M | 88 | 
| Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | |||||||
| 6 | LMP1 | 37 |  Intersport Racing |  Jon Field  Clint Field  Chapman Ducote | Lola B06/10 | D | 88 | 
| AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8 | |||||||
| 7 | GT2 | 92 |  BMW Rahal Letterman Racing |  Tommy Milner  Dirk Müller | BMW M3 GT2 | D | 86 | 
| BMW 4.0 L V8 | |||||||
| 8 | GT2 | 21 |  Panoz Team PTG |  Ian James  Dominik Farnbacher | Panoz Esperante GT-LM | Y | 86 | 
| Ford 5.0 L V8 | |||||||
| 9 | GT2 | 28 |  LG Motorsports |  Lou Giglotti  Eric Curran | Chevrolet Corvette C6 | D | 85 | 
| Chevrolet LS3 6.3 L V8 | |||||||
| 10 | GT2 | 44 |  Flying Lizard Motorsports |  Darren Law  Seth Neiman | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | M | 84 | 
| Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | |||||||
| 11 | GT2 | 40 |  Robertson Racing |  David Robertson  Andrea Robertson  David Murry | Ford GT-R Mk. VII | D | 83 | 
| Ford 5.0 L V8 | |||||||
| 12 | GT2 | 87 |  Farnbacher-Loles Motorsports |  Wolf Henzler  Dirk Werner | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | M | 74 | 
| Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | |||||||
| 13 DNF | LMP1 | 66 |  de Ferran Motorsports |  Gil de Ferran  Simon Pagenaud | Acura ARX-02a | M | 66 | 
| Acura AR7 4.0 L V8 | |||||||
| 14 DNF | GT2 | 11 |  Primetime Race Group |  Joel Feinberg  Chris Hall | Dodge Viper Competition Coupe | D | 38 | 
| Dodge 8.3 L V10 | |||||||
| 15 DNF | GT2 | 22 |  Panoz Team PTG |  Tom Sutherland  Ryan Phinny | Panoz Esperante GT-LM | Y | 38 | 
| Ford 5.0 L V8 | |||||||
| 16 DNF | GT2 | 90 |  BMW Rahal Letterman Racing |  Bill Auberlen  Joey Hand | BMW M3 GT2 | D | 28 | 
| BMW 4.0 L V8 | |||||||
| 17 DNF | GT2 | 62 |  Risi Competizione |  Jaime Melo  Pierre Kaffer | Ferrari F430GT | M | 27 | 
| Ferrari 4.0 L V8 | |||||||
References
- ↑ "ALMS Qualifying" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. 2009-04-04. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- ↑ "ALMS Provisional Race Report" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. 2009-04-04. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2009-04-04.