American Le Mans Series

Patrón Highcroft Racing Detroit preview

© American Le Mans Series

Patrón Highcroft Racing heads to Belle Isle for Round 9 of the American Le Mans Series and the Detroit Sportscar Challenge presented by Bosch this weekend, August 29 & 30. The team is aiming to clinch its third consecutive win of the season at the challenging street circuit. Another awesome race at Mosport last weekend secured the team’s fourth win of the year with drivers Scott Sharp and David Brabham now within 10 points of the LMP2 championship lead.

“We are excited about the upcoming race in Detroit as our Acura ARX-01b is particularly well-suited to street circuits,” said Duncan Dayton, Patrón Highcroft Racing Team Owner. “Scott and David have both been driving extremely well and we are looking forward to continuing our battle with the Penske Porsches. After winning three out of the last four races we feel we have great momentum going into Detroit. I am particularly proud of the way the team is working together and I attribute our success to their incredible efforts.”

On a roll with two consecutive wins, at Road America and Mosport, Sharp and Brabham are fired up for what will be a tricky race on the tight Belle Isle circuit where overtaking will be no easy task. Brabham helped to deliver third for Patrón Highcroft Racing at Detroit last year while Sharp, who has been impressive in what is his first ALMS season, will draw from a wealth of IRL and sportscar experience to tackle Belle Isle for the first time in a prototype car.

“It’s hard not to be really pumped heading into this weekend’s Belle Isle race after Mosport,” said Sharp. “The Patrón Highcroft team is on such a great roll and we just need to keep it going. Belle Isle is a very tough street circuit. It’s really tight, single groove in many areas and changing surfaces, which all make it very difficult to pass. However, with the level of performance we have been able to get out of the Acura, I’m thrilled to return with a high performance prototype rather than an Indycar. The level of technology in these cars should really shine on a track like Belle Isle.”

Consistency has been the key for Patrón Highcroft Racing this season and the team’s hard work has given its drivers a chance to win the LMP2 championship title. With four wins and two second place finishes to its credit, Patrón Highcroft lies second in the LMP2 Team championship, just 17 points behind the two-car Penske Porsche team, while Acura is six points behind Porsche in both the Chassis and Engine Manufacturer championships.

David Brabham commented: “We finished third in Detroit last year and we know that the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura is really strong on the street circuits, so we should be able to put in another solid performance. I’m looking forward to it.”

For the first time in series history, ALMS fans were able to tune in to watch live qualifying at Mosport. Speedtv.com, the American Le Mans Series, and Radio Le Mans will once again team up to deliver live streaming of qualifying at Detroit.

To watch the team go for its second pole position of the season:

* Visit http://gms.speedtv.com/Online/?SID=*3 at 4:30 PM ET on Friday, August 29th to access the Acura On-Board Pass Player.
* Click on the Qualifying session button to the right of the video player (under the ‘Now Showing’ tab) to activate the video stream.
* For a larger viewing window, click on the tab (highlighted in yellow) to expand the video player.

Presented by Acura, the live streaming feed is 1 hour long. Archived video highlights of the qualifying session will be available soon after on SPEEDtv.com’s ALMS page at http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/lemans-alms, and at AmericanLeMans.com

The Detroit Sports Car Challenge presented by Bosch is scheduled for 2:35 PM ET on Saturday, August 30th from Belle Isle in Detroit, MI.

* The ninth round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series will be aired live on SPEED.
* Live radio coverage will be available from American Le Mans Radio at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA’s Live Timing & Scoring.
* XM will air the race from 6 to 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 31 on XM Channel 144.