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ALMS: AGR Acura Aims to Close the Deal in Houston
Written by: RACER Staff   http://www.racer.com
04/17/2007 - 07:00 PM
Houston, Texas
 
Franchitti and the AGR Acura team upstaged the Audis and Porsches at Long Beach before being hamstrung by a full-course caution. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

After leading off the 2007 American Le Mans Series with an impressive debut victory in the LMP2 class at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Andretti Green Racing team believes that it missed out on an overall victory at Long Beach last Saturday, due to the timing of the race's only caution period. Instead, it was its class rival the Penske Porsche team that claimed the win.

Dario Franchitti was leading the race for AGR having started from pole position, but the team was caught out by the rules regarding how long each driver could be in the car. The 100-minute race was the shortest in American Le Mans Series history, and the rules for the event stated that each driver had to drive for at least 30 minutes, but for no longer than 70 minutes. Franchitti could not pit as soon as the caution came out towards the 30-minute mark, because he would not have completed the minimum time required. However, the rest of the field behind him were able to dive in at the earliest opportunity.

"We showed that our car was the one to beat," said Franchitti, who was sharing the Acura with regular driver Bryan Herta. "We sealed our fate when we pitted under green, but we were looking for another yellow flag period and it didn't happen."

The Scottish driver was philosophical though, despite eventually finishing sixth overall.

"You learn those things in sports
car racing," he said. "AGR is a tremendous operation and we'll come back and fight for the win."

Franchitti will give way to his brother Marino for this weekend's race in Houston, with Dario heading to Japan for an IndyCar Series race, but the team still is confident of its prospects.

"I expect a lot of bumping and shoving on the tighter street course at Houston," said Herta. "I have had some good runs on the old Houston downtown street course and I am looking forward to the new track at Reliant Park. But driving an Champ Car and a prototype car will be much different. We'll have to get different braking points and the gearing will be different. In a Champ Car, you would set up people to pass at certain corners. In the Acura prototype car, you have to pass any place at any time.

"With the four separate classes, speeds are drastically different. But it will be an exciting event for the fans. I think the new chassis could be very competitive on the tight circuit."




Catch up on the latest in racing each month in RACER. In this month's issue: David Phillips investigates the secrets of Porsche's production-line approach to race car construction.