Winning momentum continues at Mosport
Taking the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura to the winners circle once again at Mosport, sealing back-to-back wins following victory at Road America, was fantastic for the entire team. Mosport marked our third win of the season, leaving us 17 points ahead in the title fight with just the Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca races left to conclude the 2009 season.
The last couple of races have gone really well for us. The team have really picked themselves up to put the pressure back on the de Ferran team and the Mosport victory was a great effort. To extend the championship lead at this point in the season was crucial, especially as we head towards long races where extra points are available. Obviously it’s important that we continue this form, have a solid run at Petit Le Mans and get as many points as we can.
The first thing we set our sights on at Mosport was pole position, which we got, so then it was a case of focussing on winning. When de Ferran had their issue, we just had to make sure we got to the finish. I backed off, as we didn’t have to push, but it was quite cold out there so the tyre temperatures dropped quite quickly and the car started to slide around and become a bit of a handful. I had to pick up the pace so the tyres warmed up, but that was really the only thing I had to contend with other than being careful through the traffic, which really wasn’t an issue.
We’ve all had our share of bad luck this year, if you can call it that, and the de Ferran car was in front of us when they had the problem. However, it just proves that any little problem means you’re effectively out of the race and if you get caught behind someone it’s very difficult to get past. Strategy and reliability are the two key ingredients for this championship.
It would have been great to have had another straight fight with de Ferran, as we did at Road America, but it wasn’t to be. But we’ve handed them a couple of wins this season, so what goes around comes around, I suppose.
The Patrón Highcroft team have worked relentlessly over the last few races to take their game to another level. We’ve looked at every detail to see how we can improve, which you can always do, and we have put a lot of time and energy behind that analysis and we are starting to see the benefits as a result.
The team has been strong in the previous rounds but a puncture at Lime Rock and damage to the car at Mid Ohio, making it impossible for us to make up ground, stinted our progress. Regardless, we’ve performed perfectly and everything has come together in the last two races. It’s been good for the American Le Mans Series to have the de Ferran and Highcroft teams fighting all season and I hope the fans are enjoying the battle.
As the season draws to a close, we’ve just got to continue what we are doing, but it’s really important for us to finish Petit Le Mans. There will be a lot of emphasis on reliability, so we will try to drive like we are driving now, as hard and as fast as we can, but with the aim of making sure we are in a strong position at the end of the race.
We know that Petit Le Mans is important but we will be treating it like any other race. We just have to carry the same way of thinking we’ve adopted in the last few races, where we’ve been strong, through to the final rounds of the season. If we can do that, focus on the next races in turn and not worry about the championship, because that will sort itself out, we should be in a promising position to take the championship spoils.
David Brabham
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David Brabham, Scott Sharp, Patrón Highcroft, 2009 ALMS Champions
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David Brabham, Scott Sharp, Patrón Highcroft, 2009 ALMS Champions
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