Brabham and Sharp win Mosport title

Norris McDonald

MOTORSPORT REPORTER

David Brabham of Australia and Scott Sharp of the United States won the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Mosport today and they did it in a walk.

At the end of the 2-hour, 45-minute timed event, Brabham and Sharp's Prototype 1 Acura ARX-A rocket was nearly two laps — 5 miles — ahead of second-place finishers Gil de Ferran of Brazil and Simon Pagenaud of France, who were also racing a P1 Acura ARX-A.

Adrian Fernandez of Mexico and his countryman, Luis Diaz, finished third overall in an Acura ARX-B and first in the Prototype 2 class.

Johnny O'Connell of Oakwood, Ga., and Jan Magnussen of Denmark finished first in the GT2 class (and sixth overall) in their Corvette C6-R. It was the first victory for Chevrolet since Corvette dropped down to the GT2 division three races ago.

It was O'Connell's 100th race start in the ALMS and his seventh victory at Mosport — many shared in previous years with his former partner, Ron Fellows of Mississauga.

Brabham and Sharp also won their class in the Mosport round of the ALMS season a year ago but they had a much tougher time of it then. Only 19 cars were on track today as compared to 31 a year ago and organizers blamed the economic meltdown in the United States for the shortfall.

Brabham, whose official margin of victory was one lap but who knew it was nearly two — was almost nonchalant in Victory Lane.

"When you have a race like that, it's easy to make mistakes," he said. "With no pressure, there's a tendency to let the mind wander. I had to concentrate hard on my breathing and my rhythm and just let the time wind down."

Sharp was more enthusiastic. "Man, it gets better and better all the time," he said. "I won three Trans-Am races here and now two in this series. I love coming to Mosport!"

O'Connell was content to let Magnussen — who drove the last half of the race and was in the most wheel-to-wheel battles — take the credit for the victory.

"This is totally cool for everybody at Corvette racing," he said. "That was probably one of the best drives I've seen out of Jan. That was total rock star."

While there was some excitement up front early on in the race, the die was cast in the first 20 minutes when de Ferran had to pit to have the oil in his car's gearbox topped off.

The gearbox problem persisted and both de Ferran and Pagenaud had to keep pitting to have the leaking fluid replenished. Every time they had to stop, however, they fell further and further behind and, before long, the Brabham-Sharp team were able to put their car on cruise control.

Some of the best racing of the weekend occurred in the GT2 division. The scrap between the Corvettes and the Ferraris was worth the price of admission.

In particular, one joust that lasted for several laps featured Magnussen's Corvette going through corner after corner, side-by-side, with the Ferrari of Swiss driver Pierre Kafferas if their side doors were glued together.

This at speeds of more than 100 miles an hour.

Team owner and driver de Ferran, who has announced his retirement as a driver at the end of the season, made a very uncharacteristic mistake early in the event when he was forced to pit the first time because of that gearbox problem.

As the crew was servicing the car, he undid his safety harness and started to get out of the cockpit — apparently thinking it was time for co-driver Simon Pagenaud to take over.

But driver switches usually don't take place until approximately the halfway mark of the 2-hour, 45-minute timed contest so de Ferran had to get back into the car and do up his belts again.

And then, if that wasn't enough, on his out lap on cold tires he slipped off the track at the notorious turn 2. However, he was able to keep the car from hitting the tire wall and moments later rejoined the race with gusto.

Chris Dyson of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., crashed out of the event on Lap 43 when he passed a GT2 car going into turn one and just simply lost control.

He wasn't hurt when he backed the car into the tire wall but the P2 Lola B09 Mazda he co-drives with Guy Smith of England was too badly damaged to continue.

It was a bad day all-'round for Dyson racing as the Lola-Mazda driven by Butch Lietzinger and Marino Franchitti blew a motor later in the event.

Jon Field made things interesting at the start of the race when he vaulted, literally, from his fourth starting position to first place on the opening lap.

Field, who shares the driving of the family-owned Intersport Racing P1 Lola B06 with his son Clint, flew past front-row starter de Ferran like he'd been shot out of a gun.

De Ferran got the lead back but Field wasn't to be denied. He sailed past the leader a second time but then had to pit because of a vibration in the front end of the car. Although Field and his son soldiered on, the stop pretty much put an end to their race as they finished six laps behind the leader, albeit in fourth place overall.

The family team had much better luck in the second ISMA Lites series race today, the main support series for the headlining ALMS.

Kyle Marcelli of Barrie, driving the Intersport Racing Elan DP02, won the event handily after finishing second in the series' first race of the weekend yesterday.

Although Lucas Downs of Butterfield, Minn., who finished second today, was only half a second back at the checkers, he was not really a threat. Matt Downs, also of Butterfield, Minn., finished third.

Although Marcelli was thrilled with his victory today, he indicated that his second place yesterday was perhaps more satisfying.

"I was trying a pass for the lead (he'd started third) and there was a bit of contact and I spun," he said. "With 15 minutes remaining (in the 30-minute timed race), I had to battle back from 11th to second."

Marcelli has his fingers crossed that he'll share the driving with the Fields at the 10-hour Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta next month. He was in the big prototype for a practice session several weeks ago at Mid-Ohio and reportedly performed well.

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