Acura LMP1 Passes Test at Sebring

(L-R) Gil de Ferran and Scott Sharp pilot new LMP1 Acuras while Luis Diaz follows in an LMP2 Acura at Sebring Winter Testing. (Patron Highcroft Racing.)

Acura brought a pair of the new cars to Sebring: one for Patron Highcroft Racing, and one for De Ferran racing. The two teams will campaign the cars in the 2009 American Le Mans Series.

The new cars, developed by Honda Performance Development of California and Wirth Research in England, use a four-liter version of the engine used in the Acura ARX-01b LMP2 cars. The four-valve, DOHC engine produces approximately 620 horsepower on 100-octane E-10 gasoline (gas with 10% ethanol.)

Scott Sharp drive the Acura ARX-02a at Sebring. (Patron Hightcroft Racing)

Fast in Testing

After spending the first session making minor adjustments, particularly to the brakes, the Acuras came out charging in the second session. De Ferran driver Simon Pagenaud turned in the day’s fastest time with a lap of 1 minute, 45.053, followed by Patron Highcroft driver Scott Sharp who ran 1 minute, 46.824 seconds.

On the second day of testing the Pagenaud’s Acura ran a fast lap of 1:44:814, averaging 126.723 mph around Sebring’s 3.7-mile, 17-turn road circuit, beating Marco Werner's standing qualifying record, set in 2007 in an Audi R10 TDI.

Patron Highcroft owner Duncan Dayton speaks to the press at the Acura ARX-02a’s formal introduction. (Patron Highcroft Racing)

Luis Diaz, in the Lowe Fernandez racing Acura ARX-01b LMP2, ran almost as fast as the new LMP1 cars. 

Scott Sharp was not worried that the P1 was not significantly faster. “It is all part of developing a brand new race car,’ he told reporters. “Everyone on the team is building confidence and it was great for me to score a lot of laps today to really get into a rhythm. "

David Brabham, who had four class wins in LMP2 in 2008, echoed co-driver Sharp’s sentiments. “This stage of the testing program is all about getting miles on the car. It is a brand new car and it is extremely sophisticated and we obviously need to learn as much as possible.”

The Acura ARX-02a in Patron Highcroft colors. De Ferran racing will run one sponsored by XM Radio. (Patron Highcroft Racing)

Patron Highcroft team owner Duncan Dayton was optimistic about the upcoming season. "I believe the battle that Acura had with Porsche and Audi last year was some of the greatest racing in the history of sports car competition in North America and we now look forward to challenging Audi and Peugeot for LMP1 honors at the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March."

Season Opens With Sebring 12 Hours

The 2009 American Le Mans Series opens with the 57^th running of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, on March 21. This grueling endurance race tests cars, drivers, and crews to their limits; it will be particularly tough on new cars.

Acura faces stiff competition for overall honors at Sebring.

Audi has won at Sebring for the past eight years. This year they will debut their latest turbo-diesel creation, the R15TDI, at Sebring, where it will race head-to-head with the new Acuras. Puegeot, which won the 2007 Le Mans Series and finished second to Audi at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008, is expected to bring its diesel-powered 908 LMP1 cars as well.

As Patron Highcroft driver Dario Franchitti explained it, “Sebring is the toughest race of the year and it is first up on the schedule."

Source: Autoweek.com

The ARX-02a’s intricate and highly adjustable rear suspension. (Patron Highcroft Racing)

The LM-AR7 V8 makes around 620 horsepower on E10 gas. (Patron Highcroft Racing)