Recap: American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix

Of the five races at Lime Rock Park, I would have to say that this was the best one, and that is saying quite a lot, considering some of the races that have taken place there. I have been fortunate enough to attend all five, and the action this year was intense. It turns out that the American Le Mans Series cars did in fact make use of the two new optional chicanes constructed. However, that did not stop some of the faster prototypes such as the Acuras and Porsches to record sub-50 second laps. Although the Audi R10s started well back in the field, they quickly moved up, taking advantage of de Ferran getting forced off the track in the first turn and several other hangups for some prototypes.

The Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche led for much of the early stages in GT2, but after suffering a flat tire and a stop/go penalty, fell back in the field, letting the Lizards battle for 1st. Much credit must go to that team though, as they fought back and earned a 2nd place finish on the last lap of the race.

The late-race heroics though came at the hands of David Brabham, who in the Patron Highcroft Racing Acura managed to pass Timo Bernhard in the Porsche RS Spyder in the first turn with 90 seconds to go after battling lap traffic and continuously trying to reel in the then 1st place car. Bernhard spun in turn one despite no contact between the No. 9 and No. 7 cars. To add to the drama, Brabham ran out of fuel halfway through the last lap, but was able to coast to the finish. It was Acura's 1st ever overall victory, and a hard earned one at that. Also good to see Scott Sharp earn a victory in his backyard.

Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen battled back from a lap down to beat their sister car, driven by Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta. You may remember last year that O'Connell and Magnussen struggled; they already have more wins this year (4) in five races than they did all of last season (3). Wolf Henzler and Jorg Bergmeister brought home the win in GT2 for Flying Lizard Motorsports, adding to their GT2 season points lead.

Overall, a very memorable race, and we will see if next weekend's race at Mid-Ohio will be able to match the intensity that was seen at Lime Rock. All signs point to yes, as Mid-Ohio is comparable to that of Lime Rock (numerous right and left-handers, fast laps, etc.) although it is a longer track overall.