Media Release: Brabham Aims To Continue Road America Winning Streak
London, UK – Friday, August 13, 2010; David Brabham is fully focussed on maintaining his run of Road America class wins as the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón heads for round seven at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and the LMP championship fight enters the final third of the season.
Brabham boasts a flawless record at the 4.048-mile circuit billed as ‘the Spa of North America’, fending off the Penske Porsche to take the LMP2 spoils in 2008 and taking outright LMP1 victory last year ahead of the de Ferran car. Perhaps that’s because Brabham bills it as one of his favourites. He said; “I love this track. It is the best track in America for me by far. I love the carousel – it’s such a wonderful challenge. “My favourite Road America memory is probably when we won the class after a great battle at the front in 2008. The AGR car got ahead with a couple laps to go and then hit a back marker, so we came through to win the race. It was a really important time in the championship to win and I’m sure this year’s race will be as equally important for the title fight.” The reigning LMP1 champion heads to round seven with yet another podium and hefty points haul under his belt, following a nail-biting finish at Mid-Ohio – Patrón Highcroft teammate Simon Pagenaud bringing the HPD ARX-01c home just 0.506 seconds behind the race winning Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda. With just three rounds remaining, Brabham and Pagenaud lead the LMP title fight by 23 points from Porsche CytoSport’s Klaus Graf, who missed out on the round six battle following a heavy accident in testing. The Highcroft pairing have finished podium perfect all season, with an even balance of a hat-trick of race wins and a trio of second place finishes so far securing Brabham and Pagenaud’s position at the top of the title fight. Back-to-back races for round seven at Road America, followed the next weekend by the Series’ only Canadian round at Mosport, are sure to pose a pivotal point in the 2010 season, before the championship finale – the 13th annual Petit Le Mans – in October. Although one of his top tracks, Brabham once again predicts that downforce with play a key part in the race result. He continues: “The most challenging aspect of Road America for us will be getting the downforce levels right. We have been developing and learning more about the new aero kit every race and we are hopeful that we’ll be able to maximise its potential throughout the next three rounds. “You’ve got to be really quick on the straights at Elkhart Lake. Obviously we can’t compete with the straight-line speed of the more powerful LMP1 machines in the newly combined LMP class, but we are hoping that our package will start to come into its own. You’ve still got to be able to get around the corners, so we’ll be looking to find a finely tuned balance. “Without doubt, the back-to-back rounds at Road America and Mosport will be crucial to our championship chances. The Highcroft crew just get stronger and stronger every round as we need to do because the competition is fierce. “We’re looking forward to having CytoSport back in the fight but that’s even more reason to keep focussed and doing what we do - delivering faultless driving, pit work and strategy to take maximum points every race. It’s going to be fun and I’m looking forward to it.” The action for round seven of the American Le Mans Series, powered by eStar, at Road America kicks off with testing on Friday, August 20. Official practice precedes qualifying which takes place at 3.40pm (local time) on Saturday. The green flag is set to fall for two hours and 45-minutes of racing action at 2.05pm (local time) on Sunday, August 22. Live race audio is available online at www.radiolemans.com while the full event schedule, live timing, and latest ALMS news can be accessed via www.americanlemans.com -Ends- Please click on the thumbnails below to download the images. For further information on David Brabham, including his career history and biography, visit www.davidbrabham.com David Brabham Media Contact Emma Spearing, Hazel PR: Mobile: +44 (0)7736 341828 E-mail: emma.spearing@hazelpr.com
Tags: