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16 July 2010

Round five at Lime Rock Park marks the crucial halfway point in the American Le Mans Series title battle, but outstanding form and a hat-trick of race wins from David Brabham and team-mate Simon Pagenaud sees the Highcroft duo leading the LMP class title fight by 11 points from Klaus Graf.

Win number three last time out at Salt Lake City sealed perhaps the team’s most impressive victory of the season so far. Stellar strategy and pit stops partnered with fantastic driving from the Brabham/Pagenaud pairing delivered the third consecutive win despite suffering a substantial straight-line speed disadvantage, as much as 30mph, to their turbo-powered counterparts.

“It was another great performance by the team at Salt Lake City,” said Brabham. “The momentum from the last few series races has been great for the team and we just keep coming back stronger.

“It’s a special time as everything is gelling together; everyone is happy in their role and the chemistry which makes success is definitely happening at Highcroft. Everyone’s on it and we need to be to win the championship.”

The new LMP class combines the heavier but more powerful LMP1 cars with the lighter and more nimble LMP2 category machines for the first time this year but round five at the twisty Lime Rock Park circuit promises to sway back in favour of the team based nearby at Danbury, Connecticut.

“We always look forward to racing at Lime Rock as we have such fantastic support from the local fans,” continued Brabham.

“We’ve been able to give a good showing there in the last couple of years. Victory in 2008 and my pass on Timo Bernhard is always a good memory and we looked promising for the win last year until we got a puncture, so we know the HPD ARX-01c is very capable of doing the job at Lime Rock and we’re all looking forward to it.

“It’s quite a tight, twisty, track more like a street circuit without walls than anything else, which should favour the LMP2 cars. The Highcroft car has always done well at street circuits, having won at Long Beach, as it’s certainly more nimble than the LMP1 cars, so that will definitely help us. But you never know in this series and we have just got to make sure we don’t go there being too complacent.

“Any sort of points lead is vital in this series as with only nine races, one DNF could completely ruin your championship hopes. We’ve got a busy schedule coming up so it’s important for the team to continue to do the job we are doing with the focus we have.”

Before the racing action begins, Brabham will be taking to the track on Tuesday 20 July to help the team’s Miles to End Malaria campaign. Highcroft Racing fans have been bidding for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of a driving lesson with the Malaria No More UK ambassador at the wheel of one of Lime Rock Park’s BMW M3s.

One lucky winner will enjoy expert tuition during five laps around the famous Lime Rock circuit – the scene of Brabs’ famous 2008 American Le Mans Series victory where he passed Porsche driver Timo Bernhard in a stunning move around the outside of turn one.

In addition, the winner will also get the chance to see the master in action and receive a souvenir photograph with Brabham, also signed by Highcroft Racing’s Simon Pagenaud and Marino Franchitti.

You can still join Brabham and Highcroft Racing’s mission to end malaria deaths in Africa by visiting http://www.milestoendmalaria.org