Highcroft gives LMP1 Acura first win

With the Acuras by far the fastest machines in the disappointing 17-car entry - an all-time low for the championship - it was always likely that either Highcroft or De Ferran Motorsports would give the company its maiden LMP1 win at the Florida street track.

At first it looked like De Ferran would have that honour, as owner/driver Gil de Ferran stormed away from Sharp at up to one second per lap in the opening stint. Sharp was then further delayed with a trip off the road, briefly dropping him behind the LMP2 Fernandez Acura, although he narrowed the gap back to under 10 seconds as the leaders hit traffic.

Highcroft then benefited from the timing of the race's only caution. Although Duncan Dayton's team had a slow stop and fell back behind the Fernandez car, it was able to make its driver change under yellow, whereas De Ferran had stopped just before the pace car came out.

When racing resumed with 47 minutes to go, Adrian Fernandez briefly led overall before Brabham put the LMP1 Acura back in front. De Ferran's victory hopes ended soon afterwards when the car developed recurring electrical problems and tumbled down the order.

While Brabham and Fernandez cruised home to clinch first and second overall, and both prototype class victories, the two Dyson Lola-Mazdas made it to the finish in third and fourth, despite a warm-up crash for Chris Dyson and an early spin by Marino Franchitti.

The early GT2 leaders all hit trouble before half-distance. Pierre Kaffer led from pole at first in the Risi Ferrari, but after briefly falling behind Bill Auberlen's BMW, Farnbacher Loles Porsche driver Wolf Henzler hunted down and passed the Sebring class winner within 11 laps.

However none of the trio made it much further. Kaffer suffered a suspension failure, the BMW failed to restart after its pitstop, and Henzler lost 12 laps due to damage from a severe puncture.

That allowed the Flying Lizard Porsche of Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long to take a comfortable victory. Dirk Muller and Tom Milner fought through to a distant second in the new Rahal Letterman BMW, battling past the PTG Panoz and the LG Riley Corvette after losing ground during the stops.

Pos  Cl    Drivers                Car                 Time
 1.  LMP1  Brabham/Sharp          Acura ARX-02a       1h55m53.705s
 2.  LMP2  Fernandez/Diaz         Acura ARX-01b          + 32.150s
 3.  LMP2  Dyson/Smith            Mazda Lola B09 86      +  1 laps
 4.  LMP2  Leitzinger/Franchitti  Mazda Lola B09 86      +  2 laps
 5.  GT2   Bergmeister/Long       Porsche 911 GT3        +  5 laps
 6.  LMP1  Field/Field/Ducote     Lola B06/10 AER        +  5 laps
 7.  GT2   Mueller/Milner         BMW E92 M3             +  7 laps
 8.  GT2   Farnbacher/James       Panoz Esperante        +  7 laps
 9.  GT2   Gigliotti/Curran       Riley Corvette C6      +  8 laps
10.  GT2   Neiman/Law             Porsche 911 GT3        +  9 laps
11.  GT2   Robertson/Murry        Doran Ford GT MK 7     + 10 laps
12.  GT2   Werner/Henzler         Porsche 911 GT3        + 19 laps
13.  LMP1  de Ferran/Pagenaud     Acura ARX-02a          + 27 laps
14.  GT2   Feingerg/Hall          Dodge Viper            + 55 laps
15.  GT2   Sutherland/Phinney     Panoz Esperante        + 55 laps
16.  GT2   Auberlen/Hand          BMW E92 M3             + 65 laps
17.  GT2   Melo/Kaffer            Ferrari 430 GT         + 66 laps