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ALMS: Patron Highcroft Brings Home First Overall Win at Northeast Grand Prix
Written by: Marshall Pruett   
07/13/2008 - 11:29 AM
Charlotte, NC
 
The team, which started this afternoon's race on pole, took its first American Le Mans Series LMP2 class victory at the Tequila Patron Long Beach Grand Prix this past April. (Photo: americanlemans.com) ยป More Photos

Patrón Highcroft Racing's wild chase through Lime Rock's winding road course ended in the sweetest victory the team has ever tasted. David Brabham, who has fast become the American Le Mans Series' leading expert in late-race heroics, made a spectacular pass of Timo Bernhard in the #7 Penske Porsche in the last two minutes of the Northeast Grand Prix, bringing the team, and Acura, their first overall ALMS win. The team, which started this afternoon's race on pole, took its first American Le Mans Series LMP2 class victory at the Tequila Patron Long Beach Grand Prix this past April.

Milestones aside, the victory was additionally sweet for the Patrón Highcroft team because it is headquartered in nearby Danbury, Connecticut, just over an hour from the Lime Rock track. Connecticut native Scott Sharp shared driving duties with Brabham en route to the Patrón Highcroft team's historic triumph.

"To get this overall win is just an amazing feeling," said an elated Brabham afterward. "It was a non-stop battle out there the whole
race. With the sand [surrounding the course] it was very easy to go wide, which I did once. Loads of cars were going off. I am just massively relieved we won! And what an amazing finish – it was really a wild chase the whole way. With traffic the way it was, I was fighting for a clear lap. Although I never touched anyone or had any close calls, I knew if I had stuck my nose in close quarters, we would have been hit. It was a high-wire waiting game for the right opportunity, which I knew would come. When I came around Turn One on the second-to-last lap, and saw that the Penske had balked, I knew I could go for it. The Acura was so ‘dialed in' – it was flying- so I knew I could do it. The Acura really stuck to the ground when I was passing the Porsche; I knew I was quicker and had to go for it. The Acura ARX-01b hiccupped slightly because I was low on fuel, but we coasted down the last hill and took the checker. I can say one thing for sure – there is going to be a big celebration at Patrón Highcroft Racing tonight."

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