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American LeMans
ALMS: Laguna Seca Post-Race Notebook
Brabham's dream season, Rubbings racing?, Robertson to gain Ford technical support?, Orbit's Cosmo and Baker inherit ALMS Challenge win, PTG's future and more!
John Dagys  |  Posted October 11, 2009   Monterey, CA
After close to 10 years of trying, David Brabham claims his first American Le Mans Series championship. (PHR)
David Brabham’s Dream Season

Despite achieving success in nearly every category of sportscar racing over the last decade, there were still two major accomplishments eluding David Brabham heading into the 2009 season: an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and an American Le Mans Series championship.

Brabham has now achieved both, in what’s considered to have been a dream season for the veteran Australian driver.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of great years. But to win Le Mans and then to win the American Le Mans Series championship... I think overall, it’s the pinnacle of my career,” Brabham said. “This series means so much to me because I’ve been here from the start. It’s like a big family. But the racing is extraordinary. So for a driver to be part of that is pretty special.”

It’s been a long time coming for Brabham. His 19 Series victories, including wins in all four categories, ranked him as the most successful ALMS drivers without a championship. Brabs came close numerous times, but had them slip away on each occasion.

In 1999, he lost the inaugural LMP title after his co-driver collided with another car in the final race. Four years later, Brabham likely would have claimed the GTS championship if he’d competed in the two season-opening races. And just last year, he and co-driver Scott Sharp were eliminated from a strong chance at the LMP2 title after an accident in the penultimate round at Petit Le Mans.

“I’ve finished second a few times and it’s all gone down to the last race,” Brabham said. “And for whatever reasons, it didn’t happen.”

Four years ago, Brabham almost gave in the towel. With no prototype options in sight, he felt it could have been the beginning of the end of his career with a move to GT racing.

“Right about the 2006 season, there wasn’t a lot of options out there,” he said. “The Panoz [Esperante] opportunity was there.. and it was either do nothing or go out there in a GT2 car. At the time, you’d think, ‘Is this the end of my career?’ I couldn’t see a prototype opportunity coming up. But you’ve got to keep sticking at it. You never know when that next door opens.”

That chance came in 2007 when Acura launched its LMP2 program, and Highcroft Racing recruited Brabham as its lead development driver for its new prototype. And the rest was history.

“When the Acura door opened, it made me have a new life,” Brabham said. “All of a sudden I got back into a prototype. The last three years has been an amazing journey. It’s been a special time certainly in my life.

“Now when I look back at that GT2 time, it was actually a blessing because I can now read the [GT] traffic so well because I know exactly what the cars are capable of doing. You can only do that if you’ve driven all the different cars, and I’ve driven every one of them, and have won in every category too.”

On the heels of his long overdue first ALMS title, Brabham can’t imagine being elsewhere. Together with co-driver Sharp and team owner Duncan Dayton, Patron Highcroft Racing has grown from an occasional contender into a proven race winner and now to ALMS champions.

Life couldn’t be better for Brabham after this remarkable year.

Rubbings Racing?

Saturday’s down-to-the-wire battle for GT2 honors was without a doubt the most heated duel this season, but unfortunately ended in a way that nobody wanted to see.

With just a handful of minutes left on the clock, class leader, and newly crowned GT2 champion, Jorg Bergmeister, came under attack from a hard-charging Jan Magnussen. The speedy Dane in the No. 3 Corvette C6.R had closed to within seconds of the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche and was clearly the quickest car in the cool nighttime conditions.

Magnussen managed to take the lead with two minutes remaining, passing Bergmeister on the front straight in the pit exit lane. But officials deemed the move illegal and forced the Corvette to surrender its position. Magnussen obliged, however, quickly reeled the German back in on the last lap.

The two collided in the final corner and began banging fenders in the drag race to the checkered flag. Bergmeister dived to the inside, with Magnussen getting clipped by the Porsche, sending him hard into the concrete wall just shy of the start/finish line. Bergmeister wound up taking the win by a mere 1.037 seconds.

“Going into the last corner I was too far away to make a proper attack, but Jorg parked the car,” Magnussen said. “I didn't see that, so I slid up and hit him a little – he went sideways and I managed to get on the inside. It was a drag race up the hill, and I managed to get ahead of him. Then he turned me into the wall, and he kept turning in. Then I spun around the nose of his car."

Magnussen walked away unhurt, but was no doubt disappointed with the outcome. The nose-to-tail battle brought back memories of the 2007 Twelve Hours of Sebring, when Bergmeister battled Risi Competizione’s Jamie Melo to the checkered flag, but ending in a less spectacular fashion.
Flying Lizard Motorsports' Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long scored the GT2 win in what could be considered a controversial finish. (LAT)

“I’m definitely sorry Jan went into the wall,” Bergmeister said. “I didn’t want that to happen. But it was a banging game. I’m glad he’s OK. It was tough racing. The Corvette passed me the first time at the hairpin but he went in way too deep and I was able to get back around him. He was a little quicker I have to say. I wasn’t trying to figure out where he was gaining time on me. I was trying to stay on track and in front.”

Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan commented: "Those last six laps were as exciting as I've seen in motor racing in a long time – two great teams, two great cars, two great drivers. It's unfortunate it ended the way it did. I think we're going to review the videotapes and see what we can do to ascertain what went wrong there. I'm sure we'll be working with the sanctioning body to address it and put into place safeguards to make sure incidents like this won't happen again.”

While Bergmeister and co-driver Patrick Long walked away with the victory and championship this time, they’ll no doubt come under attack from the Corvettes in the future, as GT2 could turn into an all-out war in 2010.

Ford To Give A Helping Hand To Robertson?

Robertson Racing’s GT2 pole at Petit Le Mans certainly gave the privateer squad a lot of exposure. It even caught the eye of Ford Racing officials, who came over to the Robertson’s tent after qualifying to discuss the possibility of providing future technical support for the team's Doran-built Ford GT-R.

Team manager Andrew “H” Smith told me he’s never pursued working with the Blue Oval before, as he felt they needed to prove the car’s potential on the track before asking for support. With the Ford GT-R making significant gains all season, culminating with the popular Petit Le Mans pole, the team could be rewarded for its hard work and dedication.
Any possible future support from Ford Racing would be purely technical and not financially based. (John Dagys)

“If there’s anything they can do to help us, we’ll take it,” Smith said. “It certainly won’t be, ‘Here’s a million dollars, let’s go racing.’ It would be, “How can we support you technically?’

“If they can help us with what they already have in place... wind tunnel, shaker rigs, information that may have been gathered when they were developing the [production] car. All of that stuff may be out there and that may be able to help us. It will be a big push going into the off-season to see what they can provide.”

Smith also discussed the possibility of adding a second car to the squad for next year, but it would be entirely dependent on funding.



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